(written from a Production point of view)
Erik Zimmerman (born 27 October 1976; age 47) is a visual effects artist at Digital Domain as well as a professional photographer. He was one of Digital Domain's digital artists on 2009's Star Trek.
Zimmerman was born in Newton, New Jersey. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Film, with a concentration in cinematography, from Boston, Massachusetts' Emerson College in 1998. He then earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in Visual Effects from Georgia's Savannah College of Art and Design in 2005.
From January 2002 through February 2003, Zimmerman was the Visual Effects Coordinator at Automa. While there, he served as the Visual Effects Supervisor on the 2002 made-for-television movie The Santa Trap, which featured Adrienne Barbeau and Corbin Bernsen. He also did effects work on the 2003 family film Holes in addition to planning and executing effects tests for the Warner Bros. films The Last Samurai and Looney Tunes: Back in Action.
In November 2005, Zimmerman worked for eight months as an effects artist at Digital Domain where his projects included effects animation for the film My Super Ex-Girlfriend. He then joined Rhythm & Hues to serve as Lighting Technical Director on the hit 2006 animated film Happy Feet.
Zimmerman returned to Digital Domain as a visual effects artist in October 2006. He has worked on several films for the studio since his return, including Meet the Robinsons, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, The Golden Compass, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, and Paramount Pictures' The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009, starring Rachel Nichols).
In addition to his effects work, Zimmerman also has a career in photography. He has taken photographs for such clients as The Boston Globe, Alternate Press, The Boston Phoenix, and various independent record labels and music bands.