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Brett Leonard (born May 14, 1959 in Toledo, Ohio, U.S.A.) is an American film director, producer and music video director specializing in the science-fiction and horror genres. A few of his films such as The Lawnmower Man and Virtuosity (1995) feature groundbreaking computer animation and visual effects. The Lawnmower Man is considered the first, seminal film to feature "Virtual Reality" as a cautionary tale becoming the number one commercially successful independent film of 1992, budgeted at just under $6 million and eventually earning over $150 million worldwide.
Virtuosity became the first major film to feature nanotechnology set in a cyberpunk based future with Brett Leonard casting Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington together a full 12 years before they would again co-star and many Oscar nominations later in a 2007 project.
His work with the IMAX 3D process set him apart from most directors having gained early experience with this cutting-edge presentation medium directing T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous in IMAX 3D. The film became the first number one hit 3D movie to gross over $100 million worldwide (on IMAX screens alone).
He created a sensation when he took his “Swarm Cam-Fusion Station” onto The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and guest Billy Idol, and implemented one of the first live web-casts ever, from the House of Blues, LA.
Creative Artists Agency and Intel Corporation hired him to direct a state-of-the-art "interactive show" for the CAA/Intel Media Lab to introduce the Hollywood community to the "future of entertainment" digitizing actor Danny DeVito, and using live performance animation to create the interactive animated character "Mr. Head", who guided the audience/participants through the experience.
In the music video genre Brett directed Peter Gabriel's: Kiss That Frog, the first all computer graphic (CGI) music video / motion simulator ride film to tour the world becoming the wildly popular themed entertainment attraction to win him a 1994 MTV Music Video Award. Brett's latest project is the documentary Hole in the Head.
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