Lee Lanier is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 3D

3D computer graphics

3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...

 computer animator

Computer animation

Computer animation is the process used for generating animated images by using computer graphics. The more general term computer generated imagery encompasses both static scenes and dynamic images, while computer animation only refers to moving images....

 and the author of two books for the 3D modeling

3D modeling

In 3D computer graphics, 3D modeling is the process of developing a mathematical representation of any three-dimensional surface of object via specialized software. The product is called a 3D model...

 software package Maya

Maya (software)

Autodesk Maya , commonly shortened to Maya, is 3D computer graphics software that runs on Microsoft Windows, Mac OS and Linux, originally developed by Alias Systems Corporation and currently owned and developed by Autodesk, Inc. It is used to create interactive 3D applications, including video...

—Advanced Maya Texturing and Lighting and Maya Professional Tips and Tricks—both published by Sybex. In 2002, Lanier gave an ACM SIGGRAPH

ACM SIGGRAPH

ACM SIGGRAPH is the New York–based Association for Computing Machinery's Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques. It was founded in 1969 by Andy van Dam ....

-sponsored lecture on creating a short animated film on a desktop PC; he also teaches 3D texturing and lighting effects at the Art Institute of Las Vegas

The Art Institute of Las Vegas

The Art Institute of Las Vegas – is one of The Art Institutes, a system of more than 40 educational institutions located throughout North America, providing education in design, media arts, fashion and culinary arts....

. Early in his teaching career, Lanier developed the De Anza College

De Anza College

De Anza College is a community college located in Cupertino, California. It was founded in 1967 on the site of the Beaulieu Winery and is named after the Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza...

 3-D computer animation curriculum using Maya. He presently teaches for Westwood College Online

Westwood College of Technology

Westwood College, owned by Alta Colleges Inc., is a United States for-profit institution of higher learning with 17 campus locations in six states and online learning options. Westwood is accredited by national organizations including the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of...

.

After working for Buena Vista Visual Effects at Walt Disney Studios

Walt Disney Studios (Burbank)

The Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, United States, serve as the international headquarters for media conglomerate The Walt Disney Company. The Walt Disney Studio's house offices for each of the company's divisions along with creative spaces designed for movie production. The Walt Disney...

 in Los Angeles, Lanier worked at PDI/DreamWorks

DreamWorks

DreamWorks Pictures, also known as DreamWorks, LLC, DreamWorks SKG, DreamWorks II Distribution Co., LLC, DreamWorks Studios or DW Studios, LLC, is an American film studio which develops, produces, and distributes films, video games and television programming...

 in the San Francisco bay area—where he created digital special effects for the movies Shrek

Shrek

Shrek is a 2001 American computer-animated fantasy comedy film directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, featuring the voices of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and John Lithgow. Loosely based on William Steig's 1990 fairy tale picture book Shrek!...

and Antz

Antz

Antz is a 1998 American computer animated action adventure film produced by DreamWorks Animation. It features the voices of well-known actors such as Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Jennifer Lopez, Sylvester Stallone, Dan Aykroyd, Anne Bancroft, Gene Hackman, Christopher Walken, and Danny Glover as...

. Next, he moved to Boulder City

Boulder City, Nevada

Boulder City is a city in Clark County, Nevada, United States. It is approximately from the City of Las Vegas. As of the 2010 census the population of Boulder City was 15,023.Boulder City is one of only two cities in Nevada that prohibit gambling....

, Nevada

Nevada

Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...

 where Lee formed his own company, BeezleBug Bit LLC.

Lanier's computer animated short films have played at over 200 film festivals, galleries, and museums worldwide. Millennium Bug won the Mike Gribble Peel of Laughter Award at the 1998 Ottawa International Animation Festival

Ottawa International Animation Festival

-History:In 1976, the Canadian Film Institute founded the biennial Ottawa International Animation Festival . First held August 10 to 15, 1976, the OIAF created a gathering place for North American animation professionals and enthusiasts to ponder the craft and business of animation...

 and the Silver Jury Award at the 1999 Chicago Underground Film Festival

Chicago Underground Film Festival

Chicago Underground Film Festival, founded in 1994, occurs each spring at various venues in Chicago, Illinois in the USA.Over the last 18 years it has become one of the most respected festivals in the USA and is today well attended by critics and programers. The festival's stated goal is "to focus...

.

Lanier's short films Day Off the Dead, Mirror, Millennium Bug, and 13 Ways to Die at Home have played such venues as the Sundance Film Festival

Sundance Film Festival

The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...

, Annecy Festival of Animation, the Ottawa International Animation Festival, the Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Institution

The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...

, and Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Lee is also the founder of The Dam Short Film Festival

The Dam Short Film Festival

The Dam Short Film Festival is a film festival held annually in Boulder City, Nevada, typically in early February. Lee Lanier and Anita Lanier are the original co-founders of the festival. The festival is currently run by the Dam Short Film Society, a non-profit Nevada corporation...

.

External links

• Beezlebug Bit site