Eric Patrick is an independent filmmaker, freelance animator, Guggenheim fellow, musician, and educator. He is currently a

tenure Tenure is a category of academic appointment existing in some countries. A tenured post is an indefinite academic appointment that can be terminated only for cause or under extraordinary circumstances, such as financial exigency or program disco ...

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

in the Radio-TV-Film program at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

. Originally from Port Arthur,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, he played in a band throughout the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

before he studied art and film at the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

. He completed his MFA in experimental animation at

California Institute of the Arts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art university in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both ...

(1997).

Films

Patrick's films focus on low-tech, traditional, film-based techniques to explore ideas of consciousness and decay. According to the Southern Arts Federation, his films are "filled with eerily beautiful visuals that evoke a surreal, otherworldly feel which is complemented by the absence of a traditional narrative." He has been awarded grants from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the Texas Filmmakers’ Production Fund, and The Rooftop Film Fund. His films have won awards at The Black Maria Film Festival, The Humboldt International Film Festival, Semana de Cine Experimental de Madrid, South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW), The

Ann Arbor Film Festival The Ann Arbor Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Ann Arbor in the U.S. state of Michigan. Established in 1963, it is the fourth-oldest film festival in North America (after the Yorkton Film Festival, 1947; Columbus International Film ...

, U.S.A. Film Festival,

Big Muddy Film Festival Big or BIG may refer to: * Big, of great size or degree Film and television * ''Big'' (film), a 1988 fantasy-comedy film starring Tom Hanks * '' Big!'', a Discovery Channel television show * ''Richard Hammond's Big'', a television show present ...

, and Festival de Cinema Independent de Barcelona. His filmwork includes ''Stark Film'' (1997), ''Ablution'' (2001), and ''Startle Pattern'' (2005).

Animation

Patrick has also worked as a commercial animator, most prominently for the

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...

program ''

Blue's Clues ''Blue's Clues'' is an American live-action/animated children's television series, created by Angela C. Santomero, Todd Kessler, and Traci Paige Johnson, that premiered on Nickelodeon as part of its Nick Jr. block on September 8, 1996, and ...

''. He has taught film and animation production at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

Austin,

University of North Carolina Greensboro The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG or UNC Greensboro) is a public research university in Greensboro, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina system. UNCG, like all members of the UNC system, is a stand-al ...

, and

. His writing on animated documentaries and on ritual in animation have appeared in Animac journal.

References

External links

Eric Patrick
at Canyon Cinema * American experimental filmmakers American animated film directors Animators from Texas Living people Film theorists Stop motion animators Animation educators People from Port Arthur, Texas People from Evanston, Illinois Clear Lake High School (Houston, Texas) alumni University of New Mexico alumni Northwestern University faculty Film directors from Illinois Film directors from Texas Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-animator-stub