Peter Thaler studied directing and animation at the Film Academy Baden-Wurttemberg where he made a number of short and experimental films. He worked as a director of animation and as art director on numerous music videos and adverts. In 1999 he started Pictoplasma, in the search for a new figurative aesthetic in the digital age. Together with Lars Denicke, Peter Thaler runs the annual Pictoplasma Festival in Berlin and New York, curates institutional exhibitions and has edited numerous compilations on character design.