Pixar's success is mindblowing. Consider: the company has only made 15 feature films -- this month's The Good Dinosaur will be its 16th. Of those, seven have won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. In total, it has 12 Oscars and another 30 nominations. Its output has grossed more than $9billion worldwide.
Their secret? It's not as simple as it looks. Every Pixar film undergoes problems -- but it's how they fix those problems that makes them so successful. As part of WIRED’s deep dive into the making of The Good Dinosaur, perhaps its most challenging film since Toy Story 2, we picked up a few lessons from Ed Catmull and John Lasseter themselves.
Find ways to foster new talent
Every Pixar film opens with a short, which are used to experiment with new filmmakers and test new technology. For The Good Dinosaur, Lasseter picked Sanjay Patel, 41, after seeing his artwork in a Pixar hallway.
Patel's Sanjay's Super Team, about a young Indian boy and his father's relationship with religion, is unlike any previous Pixar short; not only does it embrace a new culture in the studio, it's an incredibly personal story. "Everybody at the studio gets excited about shorts, because they're so artistically free, unique and they push us technologically," Patel says.
Pay attention to well-being
After Disney bought Pixar in 2006, Lasseter and Catmull originally spent Mondays and Tuesdays at Disney, and the rest of the week at Pixar. Then they realised Disney staff were coming in on Sundays to get prep for Monday morning meetings. "I can't do that to families," Lasseter says.
They now spend Thursdays, Fridays and Mondays at Pixar, and Tuesdays and Wednesdays at Disney.
Don't focus on one idea
When pitching new ideas, Pixar employees always have to pitch three ideas. "You don't want to put all your emotional eggs in one basket, because it it doesn't work, it's wasted," Lasseter says. What one person might consider a secondary idea, could prove to be a winner later on.
Create your own Braintrust meeting
"The general notion is built on four principles," Catmull says. Those can be more simply boiled down to: surround yourself with smart people, then allow them to speak freely.
A Braintrust meeting is peer-to-peer, not boss to employee. That means no business talk or executives; although Catmull, or Pixar president Jim Morris, often attend, they don't give notes, which might stifle ideas in the early stages.
- Remove the power structure. In braintrust meetings, all decisions are left up to the director. "Some directors are looking at people who have been very successful, so there can be an implicit deference." Deference = self-censorship.
- Create an attitude of shared ownership. "Let's say two filmmakers are friends," says Catmull. "Lots of people value their friendship over the film. So they will pull back frequently. Here, they understand that the best thing we can do for our friend is make the film good."
- Be able to give and listen to honest notes. Part of the requirement of creating a candid work culture is the ability to listen and accept feedback, as well as giving it. That's difficult.
- Don't get complacent. "It's part of human nature to avoid uncomfortable situations," Catmull says. "The challenge is to keep candour strong and ever-present." And if the meeting isn't working, fix it; it's important to add fresh voices.
Constantly review the product
Ever Pixar film goes through an intensive process of iteration, testing, and further iteration. When it isn't working, share it; you can never have too many creative voices airing opinions on a project. You never know where a breakthrough is going to come from.
Share your excellence
Pixar is no longer a tech company, but the studio is still pushing the forefront of computer animation. It also engages with the wider animation community: in March 2015, after the release of Disney Animation's Big Hero 6, it released its Renderman software free for non-commercial use. "The art pushes the technology, and the technology inspires the art," Lasseter says.
Delegate
An important function of the braintrust that is often overlooked: having a trusted community of colleagues frees you to pursue other goals. For Lasseter, whose time is already spread across Disney's studioses and multiple projects, that's particularly important. "We delegate to each other. And so Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich and Pete Docter, are all making their own movies, but they take a little bit more of the creative leadership load, so they can free up time for me to direct Toy Story 4," he says.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
