About the filmmaker:
Born in Ottawa, Canada, and raised in Pittsburgh, PA, Ben Zelkowicz began making stop motion films in high school while taking classes at the Pittsburgh Filmmakers. At Oberlin College, where he double majored in English and Biopsychology, he continued to experiment with clay animation on Super8, producing three films in as many years. Realizing that his heart was not really in neurologic research (despite having two papers published in a major scientific journal), he applied to the graduate program in experimental animation at the California Institute of the Arts. Encouraged to explore a wide variety of media, he chose to focus on the two he found most appealing-- stop motion and sand on glass.
In May 1999, Ben was offered a job animating on the stop motion TV show, “Gary and Mike,” at Will Vinton Studios in Portland, OR. While in Portland, Ben began work on “The ErlKing” in a corner of his apartment. Upon his return to CalArts in September, 2000, he chose to make it his thesis. He graduated in May, 2002.
Ben is currently working on a stop motion film, “Golem,” inspired by Jewish legends of the man of clay.

Paul Berkolds, baritone, has peformed solo recitals, oratorio and opera in Europe and Australia as well as in the United States, Canada, Taiwan and Mexico. Appearances with U.S. opera complanies include Michigan Opera Theatre, Hawaii Opera, Utah Opera, Dayton Opera, Orlando Opera and the Houston Grand Opera Spring Festival, and lead roles in European companies in Toulons, France, and Riga, Latvia. Featured roles among the 40 in his repertoire include Escamillo in Carmen, Figaro in The Marriage of Figaro, Basilio in The Barber of Seville, Tomsky in Pique Dame, Colline in La Boheme, and Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Berkolds has increasingly turned his efforts to performing new music, and in doing so, has premiered or sung first performances of works by numerous composers that include David Diamond, David Vayo, Martin Herman, Arnolds Sturms, Talivaldis Kenins, Nick Strimple, Mark Trayle, Imants Mezaraups and Mark Bobak.