If you’re a fan of Stargate SG-1 then you should know Jeff Kleiser’s name. 

It’s not your fault if you don’t, he can’t be found in a single episode of the show, but along with CGI Fridays host Ed Kramer, and future podcast guest Frank Vitz, they created the visual language of 1994’s Stargate movie – the iconic kawoosh of the Stargate opening and morphing helmets of the Jackal Guards and Horus Guards – that are now indelibly linked to the series.

But how we got there has more twists and turns – and Tide – than you might expect from a résumé that groans under the weight of visual effects triumphs.

Jeff Kleiser's full IMDb profile reads:

The Legen of Ne Zha (visual effects supervisor: synthespian studios)

Defrost: The Virtual Series (TV Short) (vfx consultant)

RoboCop (visual effects supervisor: Perception NYC)

Ra.One (visual effects supervisor)

Surrogates (visual effects plate supervisor: Synthespian Studios)

X-Men: The Last Stand (visual effects supervisor: Kleiser-Walczak)

Scary Movie 4 (visual effects supervisor: Synthespian Studios)

Slither (senior visual effects supervisor: Kleiser-Walczak)

Fantastic Four (executive producer: Kleiser-Walczak - as Jeff Kleiser)

Son of the Mask (visual effects supervisor: Kleiser-Walczak)

Exorcist: The Beginning (executive producer: Kleiser-Walczak)

Scary Movie 3 (executive producer: Kleiser-Walczak - as Jeff Kleiser)

X-Men 2 (senior visual effects supervisor: Kleiser-Walczak)

The One (senior visual effects supervisor: Kleiser-Walczak)

X-Men (creative advisor: Kleiser-Walczak)

The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man (Video short) (animation director)

The Rage: Carrie 2 (digital effects executive producer: Kleiser-Walczak)

Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (digital effects producer: Kleiser-Walczak)

It's My Party (computer animation supervisor: Kleiser-Walczak)

Judge Dredd (computer animation supervisor: Kleiser-Walczak)

Honey, I Shrunk the Audience (Short) (animation director - uncredited)

Stargate (executive producer: Kleiser-Walczak - as Jeff Kleiser)

Clear and Present Danger (computer animation supervisor: Kleiser-Walczak)

Secrets of the Luxor Pyramid (visual effects supervisor: Kleiser-Walczak)

Luxor Live (Short) (visual effects supervisor)

Theater of Time (Short) (visual effects supervisor)

In Search of the Obelisk (Short) (visual effects supervisor: Kleiser-Walczak)

Honey, I Blew Up the Kid (digital effects supervisor: Kleiser-Walczak - uncredited)

Flight of the Navigator (digital effects supervisor)

Still of the Night (optical effects: EFX Unlimited, New York - as J. Kleiser)

Summer Lovers (special optical effects: EFX Unlimited - as Jeff Kleiser)

TRON (computer production supervisor: Digital Effects Inc.)

Xanadu (layout artist: special visual effects unit)

The Blue Lagoon (special optical effects)