Lee Berger
President, Film
Lee Berger is the senior executive for Rhythm & Hues’ Film division, which specializes in creating computer-generated visual effects and character animation for Hollywood motion pictures. Rhythm & Hues is one of the few facilities in the world with the expertise and scale to produce effects and animation for multiple, large-scale Hollywood studio “tentpole” films simultaneously. In addition to overseeing the company’s service work, Lee also leads its creative content development efforts.
Among the recent successes for R&H under Lee’s direction are the Oscar and BAFTA-winning visual effects of “The Golden Compass,” the highly successful “Alvin & the Chipmunks” and “Night at the Museum” franchises, as well as Rhythm & Hues’ third Scientific & Technical Academy Award, for the development of its proprietary fluid simulation pipeline.
Prior to his current position, Lee served for eight years as the Film division’s executive producer, overseeing production of the Academy Award-nominated “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” and dozens of other movies.
Currently, Lee’s team is working on a full slate of upcoming releases for 2010 and ‘11. These include “Yogi Bear,” “Hop” “Red Riding Hood,” “Little Fockers,” “Charlie St. Cloud” and “Cabin in the Woods.” The studio’s recent releases include: “Knight & Day,” “Marmaduke,” “The A-Team,” “The Wolf Man,” “Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief,” “Alvin & The Chipmunks: The Squeakuel” and “Land of the Lost.”
Lee’s career in the entertainment business spans thirty years. His initial exposure to visual effects came in 1987 at Apogee Productions, where he started as an Assistant Director with industry veteran and Academy Award-winning VFX supervisor John Dykstra. Lee also worked for many years alongside director and effects whiz Bruce Dorn at his commercial production facility in Hollywood.
Lee’s first foray into producing visual effects came in 1993, as a freelance VFX producer on such projects as “Batman Forever,” “Titanic” and “Volcano,” before joining Fox-owned Blue Sky|VIFX as VP, Production. With the merger of VIFX with Rhythm & Hues in 1999, he became executive producer of the Film division. During the Ford and Carter administrations, Lee was a news cameraman at the White House. After relocating to Los Angeles, he worked on numerous features, commercials and documentaries, becoming a producer and first assistant director.
Lee is a graduate of the University of Maryland’s Radio, TV and Film program. He recently co-authored a chapter on Effects in The Oxford Handbook of Film & Media Studies with former Rhythm & Hues Film division president Richard Hollander.