Part of Family Programming
A Conversation with Pete Docter & Jonas Rivera from Pixar Animation Studios
Description
Join us for a fun and educational online talk with Pete Docter and Jonas Rivera from Pixar Animation Studios, the award-winning team whose creative partnership has produced the beloved films Up and Inside Out. The focus of the discussion will be on the storytelling process and how personal aspects of the filmmaking team’s lives are often examined and utilized to discover the emotional core of their films. 2020 has been a particularly challenging year for children around the world. We hope this exciting opportunity will help kids process their own complex feelings, and inspire them to think about creative outlets they can explore to express themselves. Pete will also be doing some live drawing that participants can follow along with at home. We recommend viewing Up and/or Inside Out before the event.
Recommended for ages 6 and up.
This special event, hosted by SFFILM Education, has been put together with children, parents, and teachers in mind. It is also free and open to the public.
Attendees who RSVP for this event will be automatically registered for the online conversation. You will receive an email with the Zoom link that will allow you to join the Q&A. We recommend that you download and install Zoom on your computer or mobile device in advance, and set yourself up with a free account. Attendees will have a chance to participate in the Q&A by sending in questions privately to our moderator.
Learn more about how to use Zoom and attending our virtual events here.
Pete Docter is the Oscar-winning director of Monsters, Inc., Up, and Inside Out, and Chief Creative Officer at Pixar Animation Studios. He is currently directing Disney and Pixar’s upcoming feature film Soul with producer Dana Murray and co-director Kemp Powers, which is set to release November 20, 2020.
Starting at Pixar in 1990 as the studio’s third animator, Docter helped develop the story and characters for Toy Story, Pixar’s first full-length animated feature film, for which he also was supervising animator. He served as a storyboard artist on A Bug’s Life, and wrote initial story treatments for both Toy Story 2 and WALL•E. Aside from directing his three films, Docter also executive produced Monsters University and Academy Award-winning Brave.
Docter’s interest in animation began at the age of eight when he created his first flipbook. He studied character animation at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in Valencia, California, where he produced a variety of short films, one of which won a Student Academy Award. Those films have since been shown in animation festivals worldwide and are featured in Pixar Short Films Collection Volume 2. Upon joining Pixar, he animated and directed several commercials, and has been nominated for eight Academy Awards including Best Animated Feature-winners Up and Inside Out and nominee Monsters, Inc., and Best Original Screenplay for Up, Inside Out and WALL•E. In 2007, Up also was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Jonas Rivera joined Pixar Animation Studios in 1994 to work on Toy Story as the studio’s first and only production intern at the time. He advanced roles on almost every subsequent Pixar feature film until becoming producer of the studio’s 2009 film Up. In 2015, Rivera teamed up again with director Pete Docter for Inside Out, which won an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and was nominated for Best Original Screenplay. He most recently produced Toy Story 4, which also won an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
Rivera’s various past roles at the studio include art department coordinator for A Bug’s Life, marketing and creative resources coordinator on Toy Story 2, art department manager on Monsters, Inc., and production manager on Cars.
In his executive role as senior vice president, production, Rivera oversees all of feature film production at the studio. A Bay Area native, Rivera grew up in Castro Valley and graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in film production.