The Creative Climate for Female Directors at Pixar Animation ..., Summaries of Storytelling

Download The Creative Climate for Female Directors at Pixar Animation ... and more Summaries Storytelling in PDF only on Docsity! Women and Pixar: The Creative Climate for Female Directors at Pixar Animation Studios Erica Alston Mentored By Prof. Adriana Jaroszewicz Animation, School of Film and Television Alston 2 Abstract For decades, Pixar Animation Studios has been male-dominated in its directorial staff for its films. In the 33 years since its founding, the studio has only had two women as directors for cinematic releases. Recently, the studio has announced its newest department, SparkShorts, which will aim to give voice to diverse directors in the company’s employ, like women and people of color. My research will aim to observe the creative climate of Pixar Animation Studios and discover how the company developed from male-dominated to more open to diverse voices, particularly female, in its productions, and what this gender diversity means for the future of storytelling for the studio. Introduction For years, Pixar Animation Studios has been recognized as a powerhouse in animated films. Since its cinematic debut with ​Toy Story ​in 1995, the studio has continued to release blockbuster hits with critical acclaim including ​Finding Nemo ​(2003), ​Up ​(2009), and ​Inside Out (2015). The studio is not only well-known for its animated feature films; it has also gained a reputation for releasing praise-worthy short films, including the Academy Award-winning ​For the Birds ​(2001) and ​Piper ​(2016). In the studio’s 33-year span, it has received fifteen Academy Awards for “Best Animated Film”, five Academy Awards for “Best Animated Short Film”, and had two of their films nominated for “Best Picture” (“The Academy Awards Database”). Beyond Academy Awards, the studio has also won multiple Grammy Awards, Annie Awards, and numerous others for their productions. Alston 5 equal number of male and female directors” (Schellong). The new department implies a desire from the studio to change the way its artists tell their stories by giving them an avenue The announcement of SparkShorts and Pixar’s new CCO Pete Docter leads to the question of how Pixar’s creative climate is changing from dominated by male artists to include more female artists in leadership roles. The studio’s initiatives to have a more inclusive and diverse team of female artists and artists of color who get to tell the stories that they want to tell My research will aim to gain insight into the creative climate surrounding SparkShorts, and how female animators and artists feel regarding the development of a specific department for telling diverse stories. I plan to inquire into these three questions: 1. How has Pixar’s creative climate changed for their female artists who aspire to be directors? 2. What attitudes do female artists at the studio have toward the SparkShorts department? 3. What opportunities, if any, are present in the studio’s climate for developing ideas into bigger projects? Methods I plan to conduct interviews with ten female employees at Pixar Animation Studios to gain insight into their attitudes toward the recent company changes. I would like to interview female employees primarily in the animation, story, and visual development departments since employees in these departments focus on the initial storytelling and visual direction for a story more so than the technical departments of animation studios. My questioning will include inquiries into whether the employees have directoral pursuits, and if so, if these pursuits are in the independent sector of animated film or within a studio setting. Then my questioning will turn Alston 6 to Pixar specifically, addressing whether the recent changes encourage said employees in their directorial pursuits within the studio, the general attitude toward the SparkShorts department, and the process for presenting one’s ideas for short films. Expected Results Through this investigation, I hope to build a comprehensive summary of the attitudes of female artists at Pixar Animation Studios regarding the company’s inclusion initiatives. I plan to write an article with the results of my findings, conveying the effectiveness of SparkShorts and any other changes to foster diversity beyond just commercial success. This study will yield benefits for the animated film industry as it will assess the success of the diversity initiative of a large studio and provide insight into the effectiveness of said initiatives to female artists and make it clear if studios going forward need to make changes to the nature of inclusion initiatives within a studio setting. Alston 7 Works Cited Eckardt, Stephanie. “Rashida Jones Calls Out Pixar for Mistreating Women and People of Color.” ​W Magazine​, 22 Nov. 2017, www.wmagazine.com/story/rashida-jones-pixar-john- lasseter​. Failes, Ian. “Life After Pixar: An Interview with Brenda Chapman.” ​Cartoon Brew​, Cartoon Brew, LLC, 27 Sept. 2016, www.cartoonbrew.com/animators/life-pixar-interview-brenda-cha pman-143232.html​. Grobar, Matt. “The First Woman To Direct An Oscar-Contending Pixar Short, 'Bao's Domee Shi Is On Her Way To First Feature Project.” ​Deadline​, Penske Business Media, LLC, 26 Nov. 2018, deadline.com/2018/11/bao-domee-shi-pixar-oscars-animation-interview-1202508540/. Lester, Kristen. ​Purl​. ​Youtube​, Pixar SparkShorts, 4 Feb. 2019, ​www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6 uuIHpFkuo​. Pixar Animation Studios​, ​www.pixar.com/sparkshorts​. Schellong, Megan. “Pixar's SparkShorts Set Out To Ignite More Diversity in Animation.” NPR​, NPR, 17 Apr. 2019, ​https://www.npr.org/2019/04/17/709644139/pixars-sparkshor ts-set-out-to-ignite-more-diversity-in-animation​. Smith, Stacy L., et al. “Increasing Inclusion in Animation: Investigating Opportunities, Challenges and the Classroom to the C-Suite Pipeline.” ​USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative​, June 2019. 12 October 2019. “The Academy Awards Database.” Oscars, 24 Feb. 2019, awardsdatabase.oscars.org/.