Filmmaker. Musician. Artist.

John Eric Steiner is a filmmaker, artist, musician, and educator based in Santa Cruz, California. He currently serves as Technical Director for the Film and Digital Media Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

His work spans narrative, nonfiction, and experimental moving-image practices, with a focus on atmosphere, performance, and visual storytelling. His short film Magda was Oscar-qualified for 2024, received an Honorable Mention at the Melrose Hill Film Festival in Los Angeles, and was produced through Moon Unit Productions, the company he co-founded with Kasia Pilewicz in 2022.

Before joining UC Santa Cruz, Steiner worked as an editor and assistant editor, including at Hulu in Los Angeles, and previously taught filmmaking-related subjects at MIT’s Program in Art, Culture and Technology. He has also led media facilities, supported productions and exhibitions, and taught time-based media in both film and fine art contexts.

As a visual artist, Steiner’s work has been exhibited in galleries and museums, including his solo exhibition Future Memories at the Erie Art Museum in 2021. As a musician and songwriter, he has toured internationally, and his music has appeared in feature films and across television and radio, including MTV, NPR, ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, The CW, and Showtime.

Steiner studied graphic design before earning his BFA from the Studio for Interrelated Media at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, where he focused on experimental sound and video. He later received his MFA in Visual Art from Lesley University and also studied writing and directing through UCLA Extension.