Brett Leonard is a film director. He has recently been named by The Producers Guild of America, in association with Variety Magazine, as one of its "Digital 25", recognizing the twenty five leading visionaries, innovators and producers who have made significant contributions to the advancement of storytelling through digital media.
Mr. Leonard became a globally-recognized pioneer of digital filmmaking when he directed and co-wrote the hit motion picture Lawnmower Man, starring Pierce Brosnan and Jeff Fahey. The film is considered a cult classic, way ahead of its time in the use of groundbreaking computer graphics, and the portrayal of a networked data culture.
Mr. Leonard was a key participant of the Sony 2000 think tank, a small group of media visionaries assembled to discuss the future of media by the top brass of the Sony corporation.
He directed Peter Gabriel's Kiss That Frog, the first HD all computer graphic music video/ride film. Kiss That Frog toured the world as a wildly popular theme park attraction, and won Mr. Leonard a 1994 MTV Music Video Award.
In the ensuing years, Mr. Leonard has continued to push the envelope in his feature film work, establishing himself as a pioneer of digital visual effects and cutting-edge independent film, and 3D production.
He first stepped into the third dimension with his IMAX 3D work, and directed T-Rex in IMAX 3D, which was the No.#1 hit 3D movie in history for over ten years, having grossed over $100 million worldwide on IMAX screens alone. It was also the first 3D film to use photo-realistic computer graphics and stereoscopic compositing; techniques that led to the innovations of current 3D film spectaculars such as James Cameron's Avatar.
Mr. Leonard is also known for having a keen eye for new talent, both in front of and behind the camera. He was instrumental in bringing Russell Crowe to American film audiences, giving Russell his first lead in a Hollywood film, Virtuosity, starring Denzel Washington and directed by Mr. Leonard.
Television star, Alex O'Loughlin (lead in the smash-hit series Hawaii Five-O),was given his first break by Brett, and first appeared in Mr. Leonard's films, Man-Thing and Feed.
Mr. Leonard has also been instrumental in dozens of careers behind the camera - Some of the most notable are production designer, Alex McDowell (Minority Report, The Terminal, Watchmen) who's first feature was Lawnmower Man, and director of photography Russell Carpenter, who went on to win the Academy Award for Titanic.
Most recently, Mr. Leonard is again pioneering new media forms with a musically driven feature film concept for the Internet called PopFictionLife - Believing that new content distribution platforms need their own creative "genres", Mr. Leonard and his team have focused on creating projects in a style designed specifically for "personal screens" (iPhone, iPad, etc.).
Mr. Leonard has produced and directed the first two FragFilms of the PopFictionLife concept, entitled Feel (for Hollywood Records/Disney),and The Other Country (for PFL Transmedia),both of which have been distributed world-wide through the Internet.
Mr. Leonard, in partnership with producer Wilbert Smith Ph.D., has also recently completed a feature-length documentary entitled, Hole in the Head: A Life Revealed, narrated by renowned actor Dennis Haysbert. The film had its world premiere at the International Black Film Festival of Nashville, where it won the "Director's Choice" award for socially-relevant documentary, and has been endorsed by many spiritual leaders, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who says this "story lives on and inspires us all!"
