ERIC LERNER
2006 Aniboom Awards Winner
"Music Video" Category
live action video/3D animation
MR. FORTUNE
HOMETOWN: Israel/USA
EDUCATION: Bezalel Academy of Art & Design, Jerusalem, Israel
The Beginning:
I was born in the United States but raised in Israel. As I was growing up there wasn't much of an animation or design industry in Israel, at least not anything that I was aware of. I spent my high school years in California, where I finally got a chance to learn more about the field and get serious about it. Manga and Anime was really blowing up at the time so I think that was a big influence, plus animation classes really opened my eyes and mind to a lot to the different possibilities of animation. Eventually, I learned the most at Bezalel. That was really a time of discovery for me. I studied graphic design, illustration and also a bit of animation. Today I mostly go to the web to see new things and keep up. There is an endless amount of talent out there, it's overwhelming.
Why he loves what he does:
Animation, in my opinion, is an extremely high form of art: it combines nearly every creative discipline into one end product; it packs the expressiveness of illustration, in motion, set to a soundtrack, all together creates an amazing medium for story-telling. There is something very captivating about characters moving around, something so easy to identify with or relate to.
So, what'd he do with the cash?
As for the money I won (in the Aniboom Awards 2006), it's boringly stashed away in a bank, waiting to be spent on, well, probably equipment for my future personal studio. Fun!
The Update
The last time we spoke with Eric, he was working for
Partizan Lab in London, creating a commercial that required he fly around the world. We now know that this commercial was in fact the new Coca Cola ad created specifically for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing China called
"Birdnest Stadium".
According to Partizan, the company Eric Lerner signed with in 2006, he was hired on the strength of his graduation project, Mr. CityMen, a collection of five shorts depicting a day in the life of five 3D characters in a live action urban setting. They include desk slave Mr. Deja vu, laid back Mr. Fortune, and the imaginative Mr. Dreamer.
Congratulations, Eric, on the great commercial!
Watch his Coca Cola Commercial, "Birdnest Stadium"
Watch "Mr. Fortune"
See Eric's bio at Partizan Lab