Director. Writer. Editor. Sound Designer.
Likes: Telling Good Stories
Dislikes: Hairy Armpits
Oddball Past Time: Finding song translations to Japanese music
Favorite Videogame: The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time
Lester Calleja is an award winning film/video maker, based in Toronto, Canada. He is a contender for a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in the Film and Video Production program at York University, and aspires to visit Japan.
Drawing inspiration from nostalgia and creative idols like Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto, Lester’s first experiences with video were simple animations using a pixel animation program called Take One, which cultivated his interest in the visual and theatrical arts. He began to delve into various fields including graphic design and music, however, he was always drawn back to film as his primary mode of expression.
To Lester, film and video are the most interdisciplinary of the Fine Arts. This stance in his craft is evident in his initial accomplishments at Bishop Marrocco/Thomas Merton where he graduated with Honors, taking home the Josten’s Award for his video work, and appointed Valedictorian by his peers. His work spawned a benchmark for students at his highschool, and still serves as a basic template, helping to pioneer a documentary program that continues to have a continuing relationship with Hot Docs, where shorts are featured in the Youth section. At present, Lester is completing his final year of study in the Film and Video Production program at York University, and is specializing in Editing and Sound Design.
Going under the name Lemon Meringue Productions, Lester has created numerous shorts, ranging from 16mm film shorts like Cereal, to numerous online video works including Central Squares and most notably, the Awkward Compilation, now entering its third season. He has also been co-producer, co-director and co-writer on award-winning shorts including Expert.Ordinary and S2, and regular contender at the Toronto Youth Shorts Film Festival, and recently, a collaboration with TheHungerSite.com in the awareness short, The Purple Hero.
