Mike Patterson is a director and animator working in visual music, experience design, music videos and commercials. In 1985 he animated the award-winning MTV hit, Take On Me for A-Ha. Teaming up with his wife Candace Reckinger, they co-directed a string of MTV hits including the Grammy winning, Opposites Attract for Paula Abdul and most recently, Mr. Blue Sky for Jeff Lynne of ELO. In 2006, Mike's Student Academy Award winning animated film Commuter was added into the Museum of Modern Art's permanent collection along with seven Patterson-Reckinger music video clips. As a director of TV commercials at Rhythm & Hues Studios, his work integrated live action, animation and visual effects.
Patterson and Reckinger collaborated with conductor Michael Tilson Thomas in 2011 to co-direct the animated 5-screen visualization of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. The live, panoramic work marked the opening of Frank Gehry’s New World Center in Miami Beach, Florida; the world’s first multimedia symphonic concert hall.
Patterson co-created and produces Rhythms + Visions / Expanded + Live, a large-scale outdoor event series featuring international audio-visual performance artists, animated projection mapping, interactive installations, and work by USC faculty and students. Mike Patterson is an Associate Professor at USC's John C. Hench Division of Animation and Digital Arts.