Brett Leonard

Brett Leonard is a film director and producer from America. A number of his films feature computer animation effects which, at the time the films were made, were considered cutting-edge and groundbreaking. The Lawnmower Man, his 1992 film, used computer animation extensively, and a second virtual reality based film, Virtuosity, continued this trend. Hideaway and The Dead Pit, on the other hand, are fairly straightforward horror films, the first an adaptation of the Dean Koontz novel of the same name, and the second featuring a zombie-infested mental health facility.

Leonard is also known for his music videos - two for Peter Gabriel, two for Billy Idol and one for MC Twist. Gabriel's Kiss That Frog video is notable for being entirely computer generated; the first of its kind in 1993.

In 1998 and 1999, Leonard worked with the IMAX 3D format, producing T-Rex: Back To The Cretaceous and Siegfried And Roy: The Magic Box. T-Rex became the first 3D movie to gross over a hundred million dollars, quite an achievement when you bear in mind it can only be viewed on the special IMAX screens.

Recent films include Man-Thing, a comic adaptation, Feed and the 2007 Highlander movie, The Source. Feed slipped under the radar somewhat, but is a surprisingly complicated film which is reminiscent of Se7en, Cell and The Silence Of The Lambs, dealing with the topic of 'feederism', and once again reflecting Leonard's fascination with the virtual world and its effect on real life. Now, of course, virtual reality is passé and the new fear is the internet; Feed reflects this change well.

Selected Filmography

The Dead Pit, 1989
The Lawnmower Man, 1992
Hideaway, 1995
Virtuosity, 1995
T-Rex: Back To The Cretaceous, 1998
Siegfried And Roy: The Magic Box, 1999
Texas, 2002
Man-Thing, 2005
Feed, 2005
Highlander: The Source, 2007