Tad Leckman began his career in visual effects as a model maker working
for Emmy Award winner Jim Dow in 1987. After building miniatures and
painting sets for a number of commercials, Tad went to UC Santa Cruz and
received a degree in English Literature with an emphasis in Cinema Studies while teaching computer
seminars for the university and working for Apple Computer. He then joined
Industrial Light and Magic's Computer Systems Engineering department in
1995 where he acted as Desktop Systems Manager, and was responsible for
supporting all Macintosh and PC computers at ILM. Tad moved back into a
creative role when he headed-up the formation and management of the "Rebel
Mac Unit," a subdivision of ILM's Computer Graphics department. This
production unit was created as an alternative production pipeline to
create hard-surface, or non-creature elements such as vehicles, robots and
architectural environments using off-the-shelf software. The group provided elements and final
shots for a wide variety of films and commercials including Star
Wars:
Episodes I and II, Star Trek: First Contact, Men In
Black, Galaxy
Quest and Planet of the Apes.
Having successfully
built the Rebel Mac Unit into a permanent part of the CG department, Tad
turned his attention to the fledgeling field of previsualization or
animatics. These "moving storyboards" allow ILM's artists to design shots
during the pre-production phase of a feature, exploring camera movement,
lens choice, blocking and duration of a shot, creating a detailed template
for the production of the actual shot. As visual effects become more and
more complex, directors are finding animatics an indispensable part of
pre-production. Under Tad's management, ILM's Previsualization Department
grew from one artist to six in the space of a year and a half, and has
become an integral part of the pre-production process.
In the Fall of 2002, Tad realized a long-time goal and transformed his hobby
of teaching, writing and lecturing about visual effects into a full-time
career. For four years, Tad was a full-time member of the faculty at San Francisco's Academy of Art University and has also taught two summer sessions of a successful intensive digital filmmaking class at NYU's Center for Advanced Digital Applications.
In 2006, Tad was hired as Chair of Visual Effects for the School of Film and Digital Media at Savannah College of Art and Design.
While Tad and his family loved living in Savannah, in 2008 they moved to Singapore where Tad serves as Lucasfilm Animation Singapore's Director of Training. This position combines Tad's production and teaching experience perfectly while allowing him to be part of a studio which produces not only animation, but also visual effects and video games.
Tad's students are working today throughout the visual effects, animation and video game industries at companies including: ILM, Lucasfilm Animation, LucasArts, Pixar, Dreamworks Animation, Digital Domain, Rhythm & Hues, Imagemovers Digital, The Orphanage, Tippett Studios, Weta Digital, Blue Sky Studios, Sony Imageworks, Matte World Digital, Framestore, Radium, DNA Productions, Blizzard, Stargate Digital, Electronic Arts, Shaba Games, and Factor Five.
Tad has lectured at the VES Festival of Visual Effects, SIGGRAPH, AnimFX NZ, The Port Townsend Film Festival, The Savannah Film Festival, Apple Computer, GDX, The Scriptwriter's Network, The Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival, and at the
Brooklyn Museum. He has served on Apple Computer's Customer
Advisory Board and is an active member of the Visual Effects Society.
ILM Credits
Feature Film
2004 VanHelsing - Previz Supervisor
2003 Peter Pan - Previz Supervisor
2003 Terminator 3: The Rise of the Machines - Previz Supervisor
2002 Gangs of New York - Previz Supervisor
2003 The Hulk - Digital Concept Artist
2002 Dreamcatcher - Previz Supervisor
2002 Dreamcatcher - Digital Concept Artist
2002 K19: The Widowmaker - Previz Supervisor
2002 Minority Report - Previz Supervisor
2002 Star Wars: Episode II - Digital Artist
2002 The Time Machine - Previz Supervisor
2002 Imposter - Digital Artist
2001 The Majestic - Previz Supervisor
2001 Planet of the Apes - Digital Artist
2001 Planet of the Apes - Previz Supervisor
2001 Big Trouble - Previz Artist
2001 The Mummy Returns - Previz Supervisor
2001 The Pledge - Compositor
2000 Space Cowboys - Previz Supervisor
2000 Space Cowboys - Assistant Visual Effects Art
Director
1999 Frankenstein (Unproduced Universal Digital Feature) - Lead Layout Animator
1998 XO (Unproduced Dreamworks Digital Feature) - Digital Concept Artist
1997 Men In Black - Rebel Mac Unit Production
Manager
1996 Star Trek: First Contact - Rebel Mac Unit
Project Leader/Digital Matte Artist
Commercials:
2001 ILM Commercial Productions I.D. - Director/Art Director/Digital Artist
2000 Energizer Titanium - Previz Artist
2000 Simpata.com "Mt. Papyrus" - Motion Graphics
Animator
1999 Rhythms DSL "Data Dancers" - Previz Artist
1998 First Union Bank "Sharks" - Motion Graphics
Animator
1997 Telecom Asia - Digital Matte Artist
1997 Doritos "Thrilling" - Technical Director
Other Credits
Short Films
2002 Corpus Delicti - Art Director
2000 The Collector - Visual Effects/Body Double