'Coco,' 'Despicable Me 3' and More Creators Talk Top Animated Films | Animation Roundtable - video Dailymotion

Hollywood Journal

Chris McKay ('The LEGO Batman Movie") and Nora Twomey ('The Breadwinner'), also joined the roundtable.

Transcript

00:00:00Hello and welcome to Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter.

00:00:09I'm Carolyn Giardina and I'm here with Nora Toomey, Chris McKay, Lee Unkrich, Kyle Balda, Lori Forte, and Tom McGrath.

00:00:18So first question, what do you enjoy most about bringing an animated character to life?

00:00:23The thing that I enjoy the most about bringing an animated character to life is being in the audience where people are being moved by the character.

00:00:32You're starting with nothing, you're starting with a computer model, the voice, putting it all together and you're trying to create a performance that audiences can have empathy for and they can be rooted in.

00:00:43I think that's the kind of magic that feels so great when you see the audience responding to that.

00:00:50When you're selecting the voice, how much do you consider their public persona?

00:00:54For me, quite a bit. I think, yeah, that you want to play off, either play off something or in the case of like something like Will Arnett,

00:01:02somebody who's really good at doing fragile men and poking holes in the superego kind of person.

00:01:09So I think about that a lot.

00:01:12When you were creating Will's character, to what extent did you consider the way Ben Affleck or Christian Bale has played Batman?

00:01:19Yeah, there was a lot of discussions about that and about, I mean, when we first did the first Lego movie, the Ben Affleck version wasn't out yet,

00:01:30but we were thinking about the way Batman's been portrayed in every media and the idea of having this guy have this incredible ego.

00:01:41You think you're my greatest enemy?

00:01:42Yes! You're obsessed with me!

00:01:44No, I'm not.

00:01:45Yes, you are.

00:01:46No, I'm not.

00:01:47Yes, you are!

00:01:48Who else drives you to one-up them the way that I do?

00:01:50Bane!

00:01:51No, he doesn't!

00:01:52Superman!

00:01:53Superman's not a bad guy!

00:01:54Then I'd say that I don't currently have a bad guy. I am fighting a few different people.

00:02:00What?

00:02:01I like to fight around.

00:02:02One of the joys of being able to do a character like this is because we have a lot of kids who can't go see Batman versus Superman or Suicide Squad

00:02:11and don't have, maybe they have a relationship with Batman through the comics, but we could be the first movie that sort of introduces them to Batman and that world and stuff like that.

00:02:21So it's really rewarding to be able to do that.

00:02:23All right.

00:02:24Laurie, what made John Cena the right actor to play Ferdinand?

00:02:28To me, John embodies Ferdinand. I mean, he is this big, hulking wrestler and he's got muscles that have muscles. He's just enormous.

00:02:37And you think that you should be scared of him, that he's a brute, that he's fierce, and he's so the opposite.

00:02:43I'm Ferdinand.

00:02:45You look at me and think big.

00:02:48You think scary.

00:02:50You think, well, at least he's not in a china shop.

00:02:55Oh, no.

00:02:56John loves this and identifies with this character so much.

00:02:59And as a matter of fact, he mentioned to us in the first time we met him that he loved this character because he felt growing up he was that character.

00:03:07He was bullied when he was a kid and he was smaller when he was a kid.

00:03:12And so he decided to buff up and work out and he's done that his whole life.

00:03:17And basically, people don't bother him anymore.

00:03:20They don't bully him anymore.

00:03:21But I think it's sort of the theme of our movie really is you can't judge a bull by its cover.

00:03:27You can't really look at someone and you shouldn't really look at someone and judge them for what they look on the outside because really who they are is really who they are in their heart and on the inside.

00:03:38And John embodies that completely.

00:03:40Lee, how did you find your Miguel?

00:03:42It's really hard to find kids who can act.

00:03:44And I knew that going into this project and it proved to be very true because we saw hundreds and hundreds of kids all over the United States and in Mexico.

00:03:53And we just, I had to, I had to thread such a needle with Miguel because I needed a kid of a certain age.

00:03:59He needed to be Latino.

00:04:01He needed to be able to sing.

00:04:03I needed him to be around 12, but, you know, animated movies take so long to make, I couldn't have his voice change on me.

00:04:09You want to be like your hero? You should sign up.

00:04:12Uh-uh. My family would freak.

00:04:14Look, if you're too scared, then well, have fun making shoes.

00:04:18Come on, what did De La Cruz always say?

00:04:22Seize your moment?

00:04:25Show me what you got, muchacho.

00:04:28I'll be your first audience.

00:04:37Thankfully, one day, Anthony Gonzalez walked into our lives.

00:04:41And we originally hired him just to do kind of temp scratch voice for our story reels.

00:04:46And one day we just turned to each other and we said, you know what, I think we found our Miguel.

00:04:51That's great.

00:04:52That's great.

00:04:53And, Nora, for The Breadwinner is a story about a young girl growing up under the Taliban regime.

00:04:57Could you talk about how you found your protagonist?

00:05:00One of our casting directors put up posters all around Afghan markets in Toronto.

00:05:06It was a co-production, so we have to, you have to spend your money in Ireland or Luxembourg or Canada.

00:05:11We were under strictures on how we could, where we could spend our money and how, so it was also, I suppose, a low budget film.

00:05:20So we just, we just had lots of, lots of people come in to try out for the part.

00:05:24And Sara Chaudry came in and, um, it was really just the case.

00:05:28There was just one really, um, piranha.

00:05:30She was 11 years old, um, but she could go places with her performance.

00:05:35I usually just pretend I work here.

00:05:37If you look like you believe it, then they will too.

00:05:40See?

00:05:41We're cleaners.

00:05:42You know, again, when you think of a booth, which is, you know, dark, you just have a, a microphone and I would, uh, stand in, uh, with her.

00:06:05And, um, she was just able to take everything on, but then shake it off at the end of the day, you know?

00:06:10She was just an incredible actor.

00:06:12So, yeah.

00:06:13Kyle, in Despicable Me 3, you had Steve Kroll playing a dual role this time because we met, uh, Gru's brother, Drew.

00:06:19So, tell us about the decision to have him voice both brothers and how did you kind of shape the second one so that they weren't exactly the same?

00:06:27Well, there was no question that, from the beginning, that he was gonna voice Drew because he brought so much to, to Gru and, and just trying to figure out, like, who is, who's this alter ego of, of Gru?

00:06:39Like, what's the other side of this personality?

00:06:41Um, and, you know, what could give a nice contrast and, and sense of appeal to it?

00:06:46So, um, you know, he did so much to kind of sculpt this other persona that is, like, the polar opposite of, of who Gru is.

00:06:55Gru is really chromogeny and, and, uh, really gruff about everything.

00:06:59And, and, Drew is, is a really sunshiny guy and, and just very kind of bombastic and dynamic.

00:07:04Oh!

00:07:05Oh!

00:07:08Oh!

00:07:09Oh!

00:07:10Oh!

00:07:11Oh!

00:07:12Oh, oh!

00:07:13Oh.

00:07:14Oh!

00:07:15Oh, oh!

00:07:16Oh!

00:07:17Oh!

00:07:18Oh!

00:07:19Oh, oh, oh!

00:07:20Oh, oh!

00:07:21Oh, oh!

00:07:22Whoa!

00:07:23Oh!

00:07:24Oh, oh!

00:07:25Oh, oh!

00:07:26It was just this nice juxtaposition between these two, you know, so Steve really fleshed that out and then I don't think there's any other way that we could have ever had that scene where the two brothers are pretending to be each other and they're trying to, you know, bring out the best and worst qualities of each other's character if it hadn't come through Steve.

00:07:46And Alec Baldwin as the boss baby. How did that happen?

00:07:51You know, it's interesting. I love what Lee was saying before Alec, you know, doing child authenticity in a voice is very difficult.

00:08:00And then we had a similar situation where Miles Bakshi came in to do Scratch voice. He was so authentic.

00:08:06And we went through the casting process to listen to hundreds of kids, but they didn't feel as real as Miles did.

00:08:14And so it's just like you got the part, you know, and the problem was it took five years when we started.

00:08:21I think he ended up, he started when he was 10, he ended as 15 and his voice did change and we had to like pitch it up a little bit.

00:08:27And luckily we had recorded so many versions. We were able to like get what we needed, but it was very difficult with, because animation takes forever.

00:08:34With Boss Baby and Marla Frazee's book, for me, I connected very personally with it because I had lived it with my brother and thought like there was a, you know, this relationship.

00:08:44You know, you think of the character first and then, and then you find, once the character's pretty solidified, you want to go, well, who would be the best voice for this character?

00:08:52What have you learned about puppies?

00:08:54Hey, puppy!

00:08:55No, Jimbo, puppies are evil. Stacy, read back the notes.

00:08:58I can't read. What's it say?

00:09:03This is my team? A muscle head, a bunch of yes men, and a doodler?

00:09:07Exactly! Affirmative!

00:09:08Put that cookie down. Cookies are for closers.

00:09:13Period!

00:09:14I think hands down, Marla Frazee emailed Jeffrey Katzenberg, myself, and producer Ramsey Naito all said Alec Baldwin.

00:09:21I mean, it's just one of those, felt like a no-brainer in a way.

00:09:24And part of it for me is when I talked to him about it, he had great insight on it because he had lived it with his brothers.

00:09:31And it was all sibling rivalry, and he connected it with it, and so that was the selling point, you know?

00:09:36And he likes to improvise, I've worked with him before, and so you know he always brings more than what's on the page.

00:09:41Now, in his case, as you pointed out, it takes a long time to make these movies.

00:09:45Now, during the course of making Boss Baby, Alec started playing Donald Trump on SNL, and then Donald Trump won the presidency.

00:09:54I know.

00:09:54That happened just a few months before the movie came out, so with that in mind, what were the internal conversations about that, and did that impact the marketing at all?

00:10:02To me, I just see Alec, he's a master impersonator, and he does a great De Niro, and he does a great Trump, and he does, and you know, this is, we'd finished the movie before the elections really came out.

00:10:13So it was kind of a surprise to us, you know, and it's just like, well, Alec's out there doing his thing, you know?

00:10:18But in no means was it saying we're telling a movie about baby Trump in a way, because we get that a lot.

00:10:25But it was funny, because on, like, doing press tours, everyone in Russia thought it was a movie about Putin.

00:10:30So it's like, believe what you want to believe, you know, I guess, but if you look at it, it's a little bit different.

00:10:34So it's interesting, because, you know, you bring up a great point.

00:10:37When you start these things, like six years ago, five years ago, you never know what's going to be going on in the world at any time,

00:10:44and you can be, you can, for better or for worse, you can fall into something, you know, that you could never foresee, you know?

00:10:51And whether, you know, you like the president or not, you know, it's interesting.

00:10:56That was the farthest thing from our mind in making the movie, and then Alec is just going to do what he does, you know?

00:11:02Well, because these take so long to make, when is it, when is it pencils down?

00:11:07I mean, have you had to ever make a very last-minute change on any of your movies?

00:11:13I remember back on Monsters, Inc., you know, we were posting Monsters, Inc. when 9-11 happened,

00:11:18and we had a few moments in that film that felt, you know, under the circumstances, not quite right anymore.

00:11:24And so we did do a mad scramble there at the end to completely redo a scene,

00:11:29just because it just, it wasn't sitting with us quite right.

00:11:31So it does happen now and then.

00:11:33The rest of you?

00:11:34Yeah, my movie, we basically started two and a half years before we released it.

00:11:39We had no script, and we did it in two and a half years,

00:11:42so we were constantly finishing this movie as it was making its way towards the release date.

00:11:50We had kind of a crazy schedule, so I was constantly tweaking the movie up until,

00:11:54I mean, I was doing animation in December for a movie that was released on February 10th.

00:12:00So, yeah, we were down to the wire, for sure.

00:12:05With the opening fairly close to Batman v Superman coming out,

00:12:09were there any decisions or discussions made about the relationship between those films?

00:12:14You know, we definitely made some people uncomfortable at Warner Brothers,

00:12:18and, you know, there was conversations about, you know, jokes that we had in there,

00:12:23and whether, you know, whether Zack Snyder or Christopher Nolan,

00:12:28we, you know, we made a joke about Iron Man sucks,

00:12:32and had to go, you know, make sure that Marvel was okay, and that sort of thing.

00:12:36Yeah, there's quite a few.

00:12:37And the fact that we also had a lot of characters from other properties from outside of,

00:12:41we had Warner Brothers characters, but we had characters from outside too,

00:12:44so I kept the lawyers real busy.

00:12:47I mean, for that, in the original Lego, there were a lot of characters.

00:12:52What was it about the Batman that you decided that was the one you wanted to do the standalone for?

00:12:57What I pitched the studio was that I wanted to do Jerry Maguire as directed by Michael Mann

00:13:03with a lot of Batman jokes in it,

00:13:04and the treatment was, Seth Graham Smith and Chris and Phil and I, to a certain extent,

00:13:11wrote a good treatment that the studio liked,

00:13:14and it was very clear that that should be the next movie that we did,

00:13:18and Will Arnett's version of Batman was something we all wanted to play with,

00:13:23and play in that world.

00:13:24So it made a lot of sense for that to be the next movie,

00:13:27and so, yeah, that's why we sort of just took off.

00:13:31And Kyle, what about for you?

00:13:32What were the decisions about, you know, starting this next sequel?

00:13:36What were you looking to do?

00:13:38Mostly we're looking to, you know,

00:13:40we've seen Gru go from being like a supervillain to a dad

00:13:44in the first Despicable Me,

00:13:46and then in the second one, he becomes a husband,

00:13:49and we wanted to go deeper into him finding, you know,

00:13:52his long-lost brother and connecting with his family in this sense.

00:13:55But also, you know, things have been going so well for Gru,

00:13:58he started working for the Anti-Villain League,

00:14:00all these things started happening in his romantic life,

00:14:03his family life,

00:14:04and we were asking ourselves what would happen

00:14:06if we took all that away from him.

00:14:07You know, he got fired, he gets humiliated,

00:14:09he has to go connect with his roots

00:14:11and go deeper into, you know, where he came from

00:14:14to kind of re-find himself and re-find his mojo, you know.

00:14:17That was one of the main ideas that we were playing with.

00:14:21For the rest of you, Lee, for example,

00:14:23when you're finishing Coco,

00:14:25is sequel on people's minds?

00:14:28Are there things that you're putting in there

00:14:29to set up a sequel?

00:14:32No.

00:14:33I mean, we rarely do that.

00:14:35I mean, we just hope that we make something

00:14:37that resonates with people,

00:14:38and, you know, sometimes the movies

00:14:40take on a life of their own afterwards,

00:14:42but at this point, you know,

00:14:44we've just tried to tell a really solid stand-alone story,

00:14:46so that's all we're really thinking about right now.

00:14:50Laura, you're nodding.

00:14:51Yeah, no, I completely agree with that.

00:14:53I think we're always so fortunate

00:14:55that we get to make a movie, period,

00:14:57that we actually can see it through

00:14:59and that it gets released

00:15:00and the studio's behind it and it's marketed,

00:15:03and so when it gets to the theater,

00:15:05all you're worried about really is finishing it

00:15:07and doing something that you hope people will like.

00:15:09Anything beyond that,

00:15:11if people love it, like, you know,

00:15:13and you get to do a second one,

00:15:15it's just, it's icing on the cake, really.

00:15:17It's, but I don't think you ever start out thinking,

00:15:21well, this is going to be a franchise or a sequel.

00:15:23You kind of hope, maybe, in the back of your mind,

00:15:25maybe they'll like it enough and there will be more,

00:15:27but I don't think we ever intend on doing that.

00:15:31In the case of Boss Baby?

00:15:33Yeah, it was difficult with that.

00:15:34I mean, I was thinking about it

00:15:34because a lot of people go,

00:15:35oh, you're setting up a sequel at the end

00:15:37because if you haven't seen the movie,

00:15:39there's this moment where

00:15:40there's this other little baby in a suit,

00:15:43and to me, it felt sad to think like

00:15:45this was all in this kid's imagination.

00:15:47I think kids wanted to think it was real.

00:15:48Is it real? Is it not?

00:15:49And that's where it's kind of inception for kids

00:15:51is the top still spinning at the end of the movie

00:15:53and it felt like, yay, it is real

00:15:56because we had this moment with this little baby

00:15:58at the end of the film with a suit on, you know,

00:16:01but I think like a lot of, and kids loved it

00:16:03and a lot of parents are going,

00:16:04oh, you're setting up for a sequel.

00:16:05It's like, well, no, you never know, you know,

00:16:08like Laurie said, you know,

00:16:10how these things are going to go

00:16:11and you can't have the hubris to go

00:16:12oh, yeah, we're going to do,

00:16:14we're not going to do two,

00:16:15we're going to jump right to three

00:16:16and just go right to there.

00:16:17So it's like you just hope

00:16:18your little baby goes out and does well

00:16:20and then start thinking where to,

00:16:23I think everyone here could probably say

00:16:25you do fall in love with your characters

00:16:26you're working with

00:16:27and you want to do more with them,

00:16:29but that's up to everyone,

00:16:32audience, you know, wise.

00:16:34That's one of the great opportunities

00:16:35about doing a sequel is that, you know,

00:16:37you get to put these characters

00:16:40that you fall in love with

00:16:40into different new situations

00:16:42and see what they do

00:16:43and see how they overcome

00:16:44different challenges

00:16:44and they just start to flesh out

00:16:47even further.

00:16:48As far as sequels go,

00:16:49you also, of course,

00:16:50did the Madagascar films

00:16:51and you did some popular voice work,

00:16:55your voice for the penguin.

00:16:56Oh, no, it's been so long.

00:17:00Where's my macchiato?

00:17:03Which actually came in hand,

00:17:04doing voice work was interesting for me

00:17:06because, A, I could pull it out in a meeting

00:17:09even with Jeffrey

00:17:10and it just sounds authoritative.

00:17:11So it's like,

00:17:12we need three million more dollars.

00:17:14What do you say, chief?

00:17:15And then he'd say no,

00:17:17but it's still like you'd at least listen to.

00:17:19But doing voice work

00:17:21was really interesting for me

00:17:22because, you know,

00:17:23I learned a lot about directing

00:17:24by being on that part of them,

00:17:26behind the mic.

00:17:27And how much,

00:17:28how nude you are

00:17:29and how naked you are,

00:17:30you don't know context-wise

00:17:31what's going on or anything.

00:17:33And so it's really a leap of faith

00:17:34and when you do a performance,

00:17:35you really aren't aware of it,

00:17:37you know,

00:17:37and so you need the feedback

00:17:39and it taught me

00:17:40to be a better director

00:17:41just like knowing,

00:17:42you know,

00:17:42even just giving actors context

00:17:44of what's going on

00:17:45to detail,

00:17:47you know,

00:17:48and never do a line read.

00:17:51That was a big thing

00:17:51because as soon as,

00:17:52being on that side of it,

00:17:54whenever you get a line read,

00:17:56it's like,

00:17:56I could have given you

00:17:57ten different versions

00:17:58of that line,

00:18:00but now I just have this version

00:18:01that you just said to me

00:18:02in your head.

00:18:03So I learned a lot of lessons

00:18:04doing it.

00:18:06I'd rather be on the other side

00:18:07of the mic though

00:18:09because it's fun working

00:18:11with actors better than yourself.

00:18:12You did squeak one voice

00:18:13into Boss Baby.

00:18:15I did,

00:18:15I played a chef,

00:18:16I think because,

00:18:17a Julia Childs type chef

00:18:20and it was kind of

00:18:22a last minute Hail Mary

00:18:23being put into the film

00:18:24so I just ran up

00:18:25and did my worst Julia Childs

00:18:28and it ended up in the movie

00:18:29and yeah.

00:18:31Now,

00:18:32Lee and Chris,

00:18:33you both started as editors

00:18:34and you're both also still

00:18:36very involved in the editing process

00:18:38on your films.

00:18:39How does,

00:18:39how does that experience

00:18:41inform your decisions

00:18:41as a director?

00:18:42or?

00:18:44Well,

00:18:45yeah,

00:18:45I mean,

00:18:45I started as an editor

00:18:46way back when

00:18:47right out of film school

00:18:48and I started at Pixar

00:18:50as an editor

00:18:51cutting the first two films

00:18:52that I worked on.

00:18:54I don't know,

00:18:54I mean,

00:18:55I've always felt like editing

00:18:56is like second only

00:18:57to directing.

00:18:57I mean,

00:18:58in terms of somebody

00:18:59really having a hand

00:19:00in shaping

00:19:01what the finished film

00:19:02is going to feel like.

00:19:03I just,

00:19:04I can't imagine

00:19:05directing a film

00:19:06without cutting it as well.

00:19:08I know there are a lot

00:19:08of directors out there

00:19:09that don't cut their own films

00:19:10and power to them,

00:19:12but I just really,

00:19:14I need to be

00:19:15in the cutting room

00:19:16just steeping myself

00:19:18in the film

00:19:19and all of its millions

00:19:20of problems

00:19:20and there's something

00:19:22about just locking

00:19:22yourself away

00:19:23and really having

00:19:24the time to think

00:19:25and go deep

00:19:27to solve problems.

00:19:28I know I've solved

00:19:29a lot of problems

00:19:30in ways that I never

00:19:31could have if I was just

00:19:32having to show up

00:19:33at a meeting

00:19:33and kind of,

00:19:35you know,

00:19:35off the cuff

00:19:35come up with a solution.

00:19:37And Chris?

00:19:37Much to the chagrin

00:19:39of the editors

00:19:39that I work with,

00:19:40I sometimes get on the machine

00:19:42and help out.

00:19:46I think in animation

00:19:47in particular,

00:19:47it's a really useful skill

00:19:49because

00:19:50the method that

00:19:52on both the Lego,

00:19:55the first Lego

00:19:55and on Batman,

00:19:56I wanted to get the boards

00:19:58in as quickly as possible

00:20:00because I think

00:20:00that's the best way

00:20:01to be able to give feedback.

00:20:02I don't actually like

00:20:03to sort of sit there

00:20:04and look at boards

00:20:04and pitch boards

00:20:06and stuff like that.

00:20:07I like to get it

00:20:08in the system,

00:20:10take the pages,

00:20:11get somebody to voice it,

00:20:13put sound effects to it,

00:20:14music to it.

00:20:14I want to try to

00:20:15get as many of us

00:20:16as possible

00:20:17to feel the movie

00:20:19as quickly

00:20:19as possible.

00:20:21So I want to have

00:20:22that experience.

00:20:23And I think,

00:20:24you know,

00:20:25I think that way

00:20:27that I can get everybody.

00:20:28We can all start talking

00:20:29and analyzing the patient

00:20:30on the table

00:20:30in a way

00:20:33where we're not

00:20:33sort of in our heads

00:20:34and we're actually

00:20:35looking at what works

00:20:37and what doesn't work

00:20:38as clearly

00:20:39as we possibly can get.

00:20:40So I try to bring

00:20:41everything in.

00:20:42And so having that skill,

00:20:44sometimes I've got to pitch in

00:20:45and help out

00:20:46or, you know,

00:20:47help people sort of like

00:20:48see what's a new way

00:20:51of trying to get

00:20:53to this material

00:20:53because you're constantly

00:20:54sort of responding

00:20:55to all of these stimulus.

00:20:56You're responding

00:20:56to the boards.

00:20:57You're responding

00:20:57to some piece of art.

00:20:59You're responding

00:20:59to something that somebody

00:21:00did as a scratch actor

00:21:01or the real actor.

00:21:02And then kind of

00:21:03the prejudices

00:21:05and assumptions

00:21:06that the editor's making.

00:21:08To me,

00:21:08that's kind of why

00:21:10I think it's important

00:21:11to sort of have that skill

00:21:12when you're working in animation.

00:21:27I've often heard it said

00:21:28that, you know,

00:21:29live action is shoot first

00:21:31then edit

00:21:32and animation is the reverse.

00:21:33It's almost edit first

00:21:34and then do the production.

00:21:36So how does that

00:21:37impact your process?

00:21:39Well, certainly for me,

00:21:40sitting at the edit myself,

00:21:42I sit with a microphone

00:21:43as well

00:21:43and I polish dialogue

00:21:44as I go.

00:21:45With the breadwinner,

00:21:46we had just one storyboard artist

00:21:48for the first pass

00:21:50of the whole film

00:21:50because I wanted to get

00:21:51a certain sensibility

00:21:53and a sensitivity into it.

00:21:54So I'd worked with a filmmaker

00:21:57who had produced

00:21:59his own short film

00:22:00with a cartoon sitting

00:22:02and had storyboarded

00:22:03on Song of the Sea

00:22:04so I knew we were aligned.

00:22:06So that's how we worked.

00:22:07He just worked really roughly

00:22:09and I would take it in

00:22:11to Ava just for that first pass

00:22:13and then I could bring in

00:22:14an editor and have those

00:22:15discussions with an editor.

00:22:16But with a film like this,

00:22:18with an independent film,

00:22:20everything is one shot.

00:22:21So even with our voice actors,

00:22:22we pretty much had to get

00:22:2390% of the material

00:22:24in one go

00:22:25because, again,

00:22:26we were talking, you know,

00:22:27about studios across the world

00:22:28from each other.

00:22:29So the more I can ingest

00:22:31and internalize,

00:22:32the more then when it comes

00:22:34to a later stage

00:22:35and an animator has a great idea,

00:22:37I know whether that's in line

00:22:38with the movie

00:22:39that we're making or not.

00:22:40So all that time initially

00:22:43is just about having

00:22:44a quiet place

00:22:44to make that first layer

00:22:46of the movie

00:22:47and then everything

00:22:47gets built on top of that.

00:22:49Now, Angelina Jolie

00:22:50came on as an executive producer

00:22:53of The Breadwinner.

00:22:54How did that come about

00:22:55and how did you work with her?

00:22:57Two of her executive producers,

00:23:00Jahan Nujem and Karim Amir,

00:23:02who made a live-action documentary

00:23:03called The Square

00:23:04about the revolution in Egypt

00:23:06or the uprising in Egypt,

00:23:08managed to get an early draft

00:23:10of the screenplay

00:23:10in front of her

00:23:12and we had some concept artwork done

00:23:15and she read the script

00:23:17and looked at the artwork

00:23:18and signed on, basically.

00:23:21So I pretended

00:23:23that I was in town on business

00:23:24and I hopped on a plane

00:23:26just so that I could, you know,

00:23:27turn up at a meeting

00:23:28and, yeah, honestly,

00:23:30it was like a continuation

00:23:32of a conversation

00:23:33rather than the start of one.

00:23:34She knew exactly

00:23:35what we were attempting to do

00:23:38with the film

00:23:39and what was interesting

00:23:41because the novel

00:23:42that the film is based on

00:23:45was published in 2000

00:23:46and I was very mindful

00:23:48of the time period

00:23:49that had passed

00:23:49between 2000 and 2014

00:23:51where we started making the movie

00:23:53and so was she, you know.

00:23:56So it was interesting

00:23:57to try and tell

00:23:58the story of a film

00:23:59knowing what we know now,

00:24:01a film that was based, you know,

00:24:03over a decade and a half ago, I guess,

00:24:05and trying to understand

00:24:07all the gray areas, I think,

00:24:08and to keep a film,

00:24:10keep it universal.

00:24:11I think these are all things

00:24:12that she was really guided

00:24:14and helped with

00:24:15all through the process.

00:24:17She did.

00:24:18Now, animation really can be used

00:24:20to tell any type of story

00:24:21but subjects such as the one

00:24:23that The Breadwinner is based on

00:24:24tend to be made more

00:24:26on the independent world.

00:24:27Why do you think that is?

00:24:29We find studios around the world,

00:24:31I think, that have a passion

00:24:33for storytelling

00:24:33but want to make stories

00:24:36that don't ordinarily get put out

00:24:38in front of young audiences

00:24:40or family audiences

00:24:41or older children.

00:24:45So with The Breadwinner,

00:24:46we worked with a co-producer

00:24:48in Luxembourg

00:24:48who had worked on Song of the Sea.

00:24:50We worked with aircraft pitchers

00:24:51in Toronto.

00:24:53But we had aligned sensibilities.

00:24:55We didn't have the same skill set

00:24:56but we had aligned sensibilities.

00:24:58Things like the Irish Film Board,

00:25:00the tax break that we have in Ireland,

00:25:01the same with Luxembourg,

00:25:03their film fund

00:25:04and the film fund in Canada, Telefilm,

00:25:08allow different stories

00:25:10to be told,

00:25:12stories about, you know,

00:25:13flawed characters

00:25:14but living in extraordinary circumstances

00:25:16that you're just not used to seeing.

00:25:17There's a freedom in that.

00:25:20You're left alone as well

00:25:21which is, to a degree,

00:25:23you're left alone.

00:25:24You don't have somebody

00:25:24breathing down your neck

00:25:25making sure that they want

00:25:26to get their investment back.

00:25:28I think there was a really

00:25:29interesting process

00:25:30where our actors

00:25:32helped inform the story.

00:25:33When we got into Animatic,

00:25:34we sent it out

00:25:35to Afghan consultants

00:25:36who gave a lot of feedback

00:25:38and we were able to adapt

00:25:40to that feedback

00:25:41but we didn't have,

00:25:44we didn't have that fear,

00:25:46you know,

00:25:47that comes with

00:25:49a massive injection of money

00:25:51from one source, I think.

00:25:53So, because they can be made,

00:25:55I think is the answer to that.

00:25:56I think that stories

00:25:57like The Breadwinner

00:25:58and films like The Breadwinner

00:25:59can be made

00:26:00with a, you know,

00:26:01this international kind

00:26:03of independent model

00:26:04because we can.

00:26:05For the rest of you,

00:26:06are there some types

00:26:07of stories that are considered

00:26:08too risky for the studio system?

00:26:11What do you find?

00:26:12I think the studio

00:26:13definitely wants to make films

00:26:14for family,

00:26:15for, you know, all ages

00:26:16and they don't want to,

00:26:19you know, they don't want,

00:26:20they want mothers

00:26:21to feel comfortable

00:26:22taking their children,

00:26:23their young kids,

00:26:23to the movies

00:26:24and not have to explain

00:26:25things to them

00:26:26or be uncomfortable by it.

00:26:27So we kind of keep

00:26:28that in mind

00:26:29but at the same time

00:26:29we're trying to make movies

00:26:31that appeal to adults as well

00:26:33and so that adults

00:26:34can go see them

00:26:35with or without children

00:26:36so it's, we're walking

00:26:38a fine line

00:26:38but there are things

00:26:39that you have to keep in mind

00:26:41and is the humor too edgy?

00:26:42Does it push the boundaries

00:26:44a little bit too far?

00:26:46Is it a subject matter

00:26:47that we really need

00:26:48to tame a little bit more?

00:26:49Hopefully children

00:26:51can learn from something

00:26:53that's a little bit

00:26:54above their heads

00:26:55but you do have to

00:26:56walk that line

00:26:57and especially for studios

00:26:58who make family films.

00:27:00What about the rest of you

00:27:00and your experiences?

00:27:02I don't think,

00:27:03I don't know that you had

00:27:03to worry about that.

00:27:05It's hard to go like,

00:27:05you make movies for kids

00:27:06or adults, you know.

00:27:07It's like you really have

00:27:08to go from your heart

00:27:09in a way

00:27:10and you know,

00:27:11I've worked on movies

00:27:12that weren't as personal

00:27:12but when you get into

00:27:13a personal story

00:27:14you're trying to tell

00:27:15and it's kind of

00:27:16a universal thing,

00:27:17sibling rivalry.

00:27:18So everyone that came

00:27:19to the film

00:27:20had a story to tell

00:27:21and you invite people

00:27:22to tell their story

00:27:23and their version of it.

00:27:24I think innately

00:27:25the hope was

00:27:26that kids are seeing it

00:27:28through the kids' point of view

00:27:29of getting a new baby

00:27:30brother or sister

00:27:31and the adults

00:27:31are watching it

00:27:32as parents looking

00:27:32how silly their kids

00:27:34are acting

00:27:34and so it just felt like,

00:27:36you know,

00:27:36because that question

00:27:37comes up a lot.

00:27:38Do you aim for kids

00:27:39or do you aim for adults

00:27:40and if you just got to go,

00:27:41maybe we're all

00:27:42the rest of developments

00:27:43when it comes to kid humor

00:27:44but you can't really go,

00:27:47this is a movie for kids.

00:27:49You just kind of got to go

00:27:49from your gut

00:27:50and hope it plays

00:27:51to everybody.

00:27:52I think, you know,

00:27:53that's for the studio

00:27:54to worry about,

00:27:55you know,

00:27:56and then sometimes

00:27:57when you preview a movie

00:27:58and someone objects

00:27:59to something,

00:27:59it depends on how many

00:28:00people object to it,

00:28:01you know,

00:28:02or the kids like it

00:28:03or the parents don't.

00:28:04It kind of gets

00:28:05into this gray area

00:28:06and that's where you have

00:28:07to really stand up

00:28:08and go like,

00:28:09it's fine.

00:28:10No one, you know,

00:28:11treat kids like adults

00:28:12and, you know,

00:28:14and let them react to things.

00:28:17I'm sure even if

00:28:18the subject matter

00:28:19is stronger

00:28:19than a commercial movie,

00:28:21it's like kids need

00:28:22to learn this stuff.

00:28:23They need to experience life

00:28:25and there's,

00:28:26I don't think

00:28:27any animated movie

00:28:28that's really going

00:28:29to truly scar anybody

00:28:31for, you know,

00:28:32I don't think.

00:28:33Yeah, I mean,

00:28:34Watership Down.

00:28:34Watership Down,

00:28:35you're right about that.

00:28:36You're right.

00:28:37I found that

00:28:38we've had a few films

00:28:39where there were moments

00:28:41that maybe parents

00:28:42thought were too intense

00:28:44for kids

00:28:45and I found in every case

00:28:47the kids are fine.

00:28:49You know,

00:28:49usually those situations...

00:28:50Could you give us

00:28:51an example of one of those?

00:28:52Well, like,

00:28:52say, at the end

00:28:53of Toy Story 3,

00:28:54the whole incinerator,

00:28:55scene.

00:28:56There were people

00:28:57that just thought

00:28:57that was just way

00:28:58too intense.

00:28:59And what I found

00:29:00with my own kids

00:29:01and talking to a lot

00:29:02of other kids

00:29:03who saw the film

00:29:04was that they were

00:29:05fine with it.

00:29:06I think what happens

00:29:06is that when adults

00:29:07feel strong emotions,

00:29:09they naturally want

00:29:10to protect their children

00:29:11from feeling

00:29:13those strong feelings.

00:29:14But the kids,

00:29:15I found,

00:29:15by and large,

00:29:16are actually capable

00:29:18of dealing with it

00:29:20and it's actually

00:29:20good for them.

00:29:21I mean,

00:29:21that's why we go

00:29:22see movies, right?

00:29:22To experience

00:29:24strong feelings

00:29:24that maybe we

00:29:25wouldn't feel

00:29:26in our day-to-day life

00:29:27and it's just

00:29:27another way

00:29:28of kind of processing

00:29:29all of that.

00:29:30I agree with that

00:29:30completely

00:29:31because that's been

00:29:32our experience too

00:29:33when we do test screenings

00:29:34and then you get back

00:29:35parents saying one thing

00:29:36and the kids saying,

00:29:37no, I didn't feel that at all.

00:29:38So you really do get

00:29:39the fact that the kids

00:29:40are fine with it.

00:29:42And I prefer to make

00:29:44movies that make people,

00:29:46you know,

00:29:46that move people

00:29:47and make them feel

00:29:48emotions and whatever

00:29:49and I think that children

00:29:51are great to be,

00:29:54you know,

00:29:54they're so much better off

00:29:56if they can't feel

00:29:56those emotions.

00:29:57I mean,

00:29:57we have an interesting

00:29:58situation with Coco now

00:29:59because death is a part

00:30:01of the story.

00:30:02I mean,

00:30:03it's just intrinsic

00:30:03to the story.

00:30:04The movie is not about death,

00:30:06it's about family.

00:30:08And the theme is

00:30:09the Day of the Dead.

00:30:10But it's set against

00:30:10Dia de los Muertos

00:30:11and, you know,

00:30:13so death is a part

00:30:14of the story.

00:30:15But, I don't know,

00:30:17the way I,

00:30:19we're all going to die

00:30:20someday, right,

00:30:21is something that,

00:30:22you know,

00:30:22maybe people want to push

00:30:23away and not think about

00:30:24but I think it's good

00:30:26to have things,

00:30:27to tell stories

00:30:28that do kind of deal

00:30:29with these subjects

00:30:30even in simple ways

00:30:33or ways that,

00:30:34you know,

00:30:34where it's not facing it

00:30:35head on

00:30:35but at the end of the day

00:30:37we're telling,

00:30:37we're just telling a story,

00:30:38we're telling a family story

00:30:39but there are elements

00:30:41in it that,

00:30:43you know,

00:30:43may be a bit challenging

00:30:44but challenging

00:30:46in a good way.

00:30:46I think the same

00:30:47with Ferdinand.

00:30:47I mean,

00:30:48Ferdinand is a story

00:30:48about a bull

00:30:49who won't fight.

00:30:50He's not like

00:30:50all other bulls

00:30:51and, of course,

00:30:52he's going to take

00:30:52a ribbing for it,

00:30:53he's going to get

00:30:54teased about it,

00:30:54he's going to be pushed

00:30:55to be like everybody else

00:30:57and I think that's

00:30:58the takeaway

00:31:00from this movie

00:31:01is very much

00:31:02that you have to be

00:31:03who you are

00:31:04and Ferdinand fights

00:31:05to be who he is

00:31:06throughout the entire movie

00:31:07and just by virtue

00:31:09of being himself

00:31:10he changes everyone

00:31:10around him

00:31:11and it's a really

00:31:12wonderful story.

00:31:13I think it will appeal

00:31:13to adults as well as kids

00:31:15and it's,

00:31:17you know,

00:31:17I think it's,

00:31:19the bullying aspect

00:31:20or the teasing aspect

00:31:21is something that maybe

00:31:23some people might feel

00:31:24uncomfortable

00:31:24from time to time

00:31:25but, you know,

00:31:26it's such a prevalent

00:31:27part of our lives.

00:31:28I mean,

00:31:28it's just all around us

00:31:30and I think giving kids,

00:31:32you know,

00:31:32an opportunity to see

00:31:33that they don't have to,

00:31:35you know,

00:31:36kowtow to,

00:31:37they don't have to,

00:31:37you know,

00:31:38take what a bully gives them

00:31:39that they are strong

00:31:40in who they are

00:31:41if they just stand up

00:31:42for who they are.

00:31:43I think that's a really

00:31:44good message for kids

00:31:45so I think that,

00:31:47I think children,

00:31:48I think kids will get

00:31:49the adult version

00:31:50of that as well.

00:31:51In the case of Ferdinand,

00:31:53it's based on a book

00:31:55but Disney also made

00:31:57an animated short

00:31:59about Ferdinand

00:31:59back in 1938.

00:32:01To what extent

00:32:01did you reference that?

00:32:03Personally,

00:32:04I never even saw the short,

00:32:05I must say.

00:32:06I mean,

00:32:06the book is something

00:32:07I'm very fond of

00:32:08and I've always been fond of.

00:32:09I never saw the short

00:32:10so I really can't speak to that

00:32:11but they didn't,

00:32:12I don't believe our directors,

00:32:14I mean,

00:32:14they may have been aware of it

00:32:15but I think we took the book

00:32:17and I think the difficult part

00:32:19about making Ferdinand,

00:32:21especially for Carlos Sordana,

00:32:22our director,

00:32:23was it's got a beautiful act one

00:32:25and a beautiful act three

00:32:26but there's no act two

00:32:27and so he had to create

00:32:28this act two.

00:32:29We had to find the story,

00:32:31Ferdinand's journey

00:32:32and who all the characters are

00:32:33and we created some really funny,

00:32:36fun, endearing,

00:32:37lovable characters

00:32:38along the way for him

00:32:39and so I don't know

00:32:42that the short really figured

00:32:44into what we were doing.

00:32:46Often Hollywood

00:32:47has created characters

00:32:48of Speedy Gonzales

00:32:51as an example.

00:32:52How careful were you

00:32:53to avoid stereotypes

00:32:54when you were making

00:32:55your movie, Lee?

00:32:56I first pitched

00:32:58what became Coco

00:32:59six years ago

00:33:00this month

00:33:01and John Lasseter,

00:33:04I pitched him

00:33:04three different ideas

00:33:05and John immediately sparked

00:33:06to doing a film set

00:33:08against Dia de los Muertos

00:33:09and the moment

00:33:11that he gave the thumbs up

00:33:12I thought,

00:33:14oh my gosh,

00:33:14what have I done?

00:33:15Because I realized immediately

00:33:16I had a huge responsibility

00:33:18on my shoulders

00:33:18to tell the story right,

00:33:20to be respectful,

00:33:21to be accurate.

00:33:22It was our goal

00:33:23from the very beginning

00:33:24of this project

00:33:25to not ever,

00:33:27ever fall into cliches

00:33:28or stereotypes

00:33:29and we did that

00:33:32in a number of ways.

00:33:33We made a commitment

00:33:35to hiring an all-Latino cast

00:33:36from the very beginning

00:33:37and then we surrounded ourselves

00:33:40with a bunch

00:33:40of cultural experts.

00:33:41We had three core people

00:33:43that we worked with

00:33:45and then we also

00:33:47had a number of screenings

00:33:49for different Latino groups

00:33:51of folks

00:33:52from all different walks of life,

00:33:54politicians,

00:33:55media people,

00:33:56artists,

00:33:57playwrights

00:33:58to watch what we were doing

00:34:00in a way that we had never

00:34:01lifted the veil before

00:34:03on any of our other films.

00:34:04I mean, usually we're so secret

00:34:06about what we're making

00:34:07and it's just the people

00:34:08within the studio

00:34:08that are ever seeing it

00:34:09but in the case of Coco,

00:34:11pretty much every three months

00:34:13we try to screen the films

00:34:14and we would bring people

00:34:15in from the outside

00:34:16and for me as a director

00:34:17it was really painful, right,

00:34:19because early on,

00:34:20you know,

00:34:20you don't know what you're doing yet,

00:34:21you haven't found your story

00:34:23yet we were, you know,

00:34:25I was having to show it to folks

00:34:26but it ended up being

00:34:27just a vital part of the process

00:34:29because not only did we end up

00:34:30getting, you know,

00:34:32the details really accurate

00:34:35but the ideas that they gave us

00:34:38and the comments that they made

00:34:39ended up shaping the characters

00:34:41of the film

00:34:41and shaping the story

00:34:42that we told.

00:34:43There were things

00:34:44that we discovered

00:34:44that we never would have discovered

00:34:46had we not surrounded ourselves

00:34:47with folks.

00:34:48Could you give us an example?

00:34:49Yeah, for instance,

00:34:50in talking with a lot of experts

00:34:52on Dia de los Muertos,

00:34:53we learned about this idea

00:34:55that there's a belief

00:34:57that we're all capable

00:34:58of dying multiple deaths,

00:35:00that you have an initial death

00:35:02when your heart stops,

00:35:03there's another kind of death

00:35:04when you're buried

00:35:05and nobody can see you anymore

00:35:06but then the kind of the most

00:35:09poignant death

00:35:10is this final death,

00:35:11this idea that when there's nobody

00:35:12left in the world

00:35:14who remembers you,

00:35:16when nobody remembers you anymore,

00:35:18you die this final death

00:35:19and the moment that I heard

00:35:21that story,

00:35:22I knew that we just had

00:35:23to make that the bedrock

00:35:24of the story that we're telling

00:35:25and we did.

00:35:26It's just a,

00:35:27if we had never found that,

00:35:29you know,

00:35:29we would have been telling

00:35:30a very different story

00:35:31and I don't know

00:35:31if the story would have had

00:35:33the impact that I hope Coco does

00:35:36for people.

00:35:38Online already,

00:35:41there have been some comments

00:35:42about,

00:35:43the stories are obviously different

00:35:45but that you are doing a story

00:35:47that has a Day of the Dead theme

00:35:49where Book of Life similarly

00:35:50did a few years ago

00:35:51and we had Jorge on this round table

00:35:53a few years ago.

00:35:54How do you respond

00:35:55to comments like that?

00:35:56You know,

00:35:56we were about a year into Coco

00:35:58when we found out

00:36:00that Book of Life was being made

00:36:01and my first reaction

00:36:04was honestly one of dismay

00:36:05and I wanted to pull the plug

00:36:07on what we were doing

00:36:08because I knew that

00:36:10no matter what we did

00:36:11that we would always be compared

00:36:13to that film

00:36:14and would be seen

00:36:15as not as original

00:36:16which was upsetting to me

00:36:18because when I first thought

00:36:20of the idea,

00:36:20I did a lot of research

00:36:22and I discovered

00:36:22that there had been

00:36:23no story set against

00:36:24Dia de los Muertos

00:36:25told in animation

00:36:27or live action

00:36:27in the entire history of cinema

00:36:29and so I felt like

00:36:30what we were doing

00:36:31was fiercely original

00:36:32so when I saw that

00:36:33Book of Life was being made

00:36:34I was really worried

00:36:36about it

00:36:37and what I was worried about

00:36:39is actually happening now

00:36:40because I think

00:36:41to some degree

00:36:42we are seen as less original

00:36:43but when Book of Life

00:36:45came out

00:36:46and I saw it

00:36:47it was a great film

00:36:48and thankfully

00:36:49it was a very different story

00:36:50than the story

00:36:51that we knew we were telling

00:36:52and subsequently

00:36:54I've gotten to know Jorge

00:36:55we've gotten to be good friends

00:36:56and he's been super supportive

00:36:58of what we're up to

00:36:59I mean his attitude

00:37:00as is mine

00:37:01is there doesn't need

00:37:02to be one Christmas movie

00:37:03you know

00:37:04we can tell lots of stories

00:37:05set against this celebration

00:37:07it's a beautiful celebration

00:37:08and I feel honored

00:37:11to be hopefully

00:37:12educating the world

00:37:13more about it

00:37:14and let's tell

00:37:18more beautiful stories

00:37:19set against Mexican culture

00:37:21because it's a beautiful country

00:37:22filled with beautiful people

00:37:23what about the rest of you

00:37:25well actually

00:37:25let's talk about Ferdinand

00:37:27you said your team

00:37:28went to Spain

00:37:29to do some research

00:37:30Carlos our director

00:37:32our production designer

00:37:33and my producing partner

00:37:35went to Spain

00:37:36but they went

00:37:37it wasn't research

00:37:39as much as it was

00:37:40to get inspiration

00:37:41and they went there

00:37:43to look around

00:37:43look at the environments

00:37:44to see how they can be inspired

00:37:46to capture the spirit

00:37:47of Spain

00:37:48they wanted to pay homage

00:37:49to Spain

00:37:50and at the same time

00:37:51they wanted to

00:37:52create environments

00:37:53that make you feel

00:37:55like you're in Spain

00:37:56so they did

00:37:57I think they had

00:37:58a really good time

00:37:59actually when they went

00:38:00as most people do

00:38:02when they go to foreign countries

00:38:03on trips like this

00:38:04but even Tom Cardone

00:38:06our production designer

00:38:07actually would find places

00:38:09that he just set up

00:38:09his easel and paint

00:38:10he's a wonderful painter

00:38:11and so he would just

00:38:12have all these wonderful images

00:38:14of Spain

00:38:14that he would

00:38:15you know bring back

00:38:16and show us

00:38:17and of course

00:38:18there were always these

00:38:19the fun photographs

00:38:20of them you know

00:38:22making fun of each other

00:38:23in the streets of Spain

00:38:24but it was

00:38:26yes they really

00:38:27sort of got their inspiration

00:38:30from that trip

00:38:30let's go around the table

00:38:32favorite character

00:38:33in your film and why

00:38:34I think my favorite character

00:38:36is the character

00:38:39called Razak

00:38:40who's a talib

00:38:41but he is a wise man

00:38:44and a kind man

00:38:45there's a kindness to him

00:38:46and a depth to him

00:38:47and I think if anything

00:38:49he shows

00:38:51that nothing is black and white

00:38:53that everybody has depth

00:38:55everybody is somebody's mother

00:38:56somebody's son

00:38:57somebody's husband

00:38:58you know

00:38:58and the performance

00:39:02by Kawa Adha

00:39:02who's a young Afghan actor

00:39:05who just brought

00:39:06such wonderful depth

00:39:08to this character

00:39:08and a warmth

00:39:10to his performance

00:39:10so even

00:39:11you know

00:39:11in what seemed like

00:39:12throwaway lines

00:39:13he infused it

00:39:16with such understanding

00:39:17I think

00:39:18of his own culture

00:39:19and his own history

00:39:21and the future

00:39:23of his culture

00:39:24and his country

00:39:25as well

00:39:26and you could feel

00:39:27that in his performance

00:39:28and I think

00:39:30that's probably

00:39:31why Razak

00:39:31is my favorite character

00:39:32in The Breadwinner

00:39:33Chris?

00:39:35I probably identify

00:39:36with Batman

00:39:37but Michael Cera

00:39:40as Dick Grayson

00:39:41Robin

00:39:42was my favorite character

00:39:44in the movie

00:39:45he's so indefatigable

00:39:47and positive

00:39:49and charming

00:39:51and happy

00:39:52and just

00:39:53you know

00:39:54has

00:39:54just sees the world

00:39:57you know

00:39:57in such a

00:39:59in a joyous way

00:40:00in Michael Cera's performance

00:40:02he was so giving

00:40:03and so much fun

00:40:04and playful

00:40:05and just every day

00:40:07brought something

00:40:08really unique

00:40:09and fun

00:40:11and

00:40:11I just

00:40:13you know

00:40:13I fall in love

00:40:14with that character

00:40:15all the time

00:40:15and so

00:40:16I think it's

00:40:17even though

00:40:18I think I'm probably

00:40:19a lot more like

00:40:19Will Arnett

00:40:20than Batman

00:40:22Michael Cera's Robin

00:40:23for sure

00:40:24Lee?

00:40:25Whenever we get

00:40:26that question

00:40:26it's like asking us

00:40:27which is our favorite kid

00:40:28right

00:40:28it's a hard one

00:40:29but in the case of Coco

00:40:31I mean Miguel

00:40:32the main character

00:40:33will always hold

00:40:34a special place

00:40:35in my heart

00:40:35you know

00:40:35he's a kid

00:40:36who is passionate

00:40:37about something

00:40:38that his family

00:40:38just doesn't allow

00:40:39but he's in a tough situation

00:40:43because he loves

00:40:43his family very much

00:40:44it's not a matter

00:40:45of just running away

00:40:46from his family

00:40:46to pursue his dreams

00:40:47you know

00:40:48he wants to figure out

00:40:49how to navigate both

00:40:50how to have the love

00:40:51of his family

00:40:52and how to be

00:40:52with his family

00:40:53but at the same time

00:40:54try to convince them

00:40:55somehow to accept him

00:40:57for who he is

00:40:58and what he is

00:40:59it's hard for me

00:41:00to separate Miguel

00:41:01from Anthony Gonzalez

00:41:02the boy who plays him

00:41:04I almost don't know

00:41:06where one ends

00:41:06and the other begins

00:41:07he just brought such life

00:41:09to the character

00:41:10and he was such a joy

00:41:11to work with

00:41:12you know

00:41:12he was 10 years old

00:41:13when we started working

00:41:14with him

00:41:15and he just turned 13

00:41:16and he

00:41:18I just

00:41:19I couldn't have found

00:41:20a more mature

00:41:20kind

00:41:21loving

00:41:22I mean

00:41:23every recording session

00:41:25started and ended

00:41:26with him hugging

00:41:26everybody in the room

00:41:28he's just an awesome kid

00:41:29he started singing

00:41:30at Olivera Plaza

00:41:31when he was a little boy

00:41:32anyway

00:41:33I'm telling you all this

00:41:34about Anthony

00:41:35because all of

00:41:36what is Anthony

00:41:37is Miguel

00:41:38as well

00:41:39in the film

00:41:40and

00:41:40I think people really

00:41:42fall in love with him

00:41:43Kyle

00:41:44well the

00:41:45Despicable Me

00:41:46universe is

00:41:47one of the big themes

00:41:48is about villains

00:41:49and

00:41:49my favorite character

00:41:51and Despicable Me 3

00:41:52is Balthazar Brat

00:41:53mainly because

00:41:54just the way

00:41:55that he evolved

00:41:56out of this

00:41:56this idea

00:41:58of a child star

00:41:59who

00:41:59his show gets cancelled

00:42:01because he

00:42:02grows into adolescence

00:42:03and he never quite

00:42:04gets over that

00:42:05so he like

00:42:05just embodies

00:42:06the villain

00:42:08that he played on TV

00:42:08and he tries to

00:42:09relive that

00:42:10in his adult life

00:42:11but personally

00:42:12just because

00:42:13I'm a child

00:42:14of the 80s

00:42:14and that he's

00:42:15so stuck in the 80s

00:42:17and all of his

00:42:17references are about

00:42:18that

00:42:18everything about

00:42:18his persona

00:42:20is based in that

00:42:20and then on top of

00:42:22that

00:42:23just the performance

00:42:23that Trey Parker

00:42:24gave us

00:42:25and how much

00:42:26he played with

00:42:27his character

00:42:27and the singing

00:42:29and all the ideas

00:42:31that he gave us

00:42:31for this great

00:42:33kind of dancey

00:42:34kind of lost boy

00:42:36that Brad is

00:42:38Laurie

00:42:40well again

00:42:41because Ferdinand

00:42:42is the lead

00:42:42of this book

00:42:44and we have

00:42:45some great

00:42:45characters

00:42:46that he has

00:42:47relationships with

00:42:48but I think

00:42:48Ferdinand

00:42:49has to be

00:42:50my favorite

00:42:50character

00:42:51in this movie

00:42:51because he's

00:42:52I mean

00:42:52not only the lead

00:42:53but he's just

00:42:54overcome so much

00:42:56and takes so much

00:42:57just to be able

00:42:58to live the life

00:42:59that he feels

00:42:59that is his

00:43:01and again

00:43:02because he will

00:43:03stay himself

00:43:05no matter what

00:43:06situation

00:43:07is thrown his way

00:43:08he just is

00:43:11who he is

00:43:12he can't be

00:43:12anything else

00:43:13he doesn't want

00:43:13to be anything else

00:43:14his life would be

00:43:15so much easier

00:43:16if he could be

00:43:17like everyone else

00:43:18and they tell him

00:43:19this but he

00:43:20doesn't understand

00:43:20he just wants

00:43:22to be who he is

00:43:23he wants to smell

00:43:24the flowers

00:43:24he wants to have

00:43:25a happy life

00:43:26he wants to

00:43:26be accepted

00:43:28for who he is

00:43:29not what he looks

00:43:29like

00:43:30and I think

00:43:31as I mentioned

00:43:32before

00:43:32I think the thing

00:43:33that really resonates

00:43:34with me

00:43:34is here's a character

00:43:35who is put in

00:43:37bad situation

00:43:38after bad situation

00:43:39and is looking

00:43:41at possibly

00:43:42the worst situation

00:43:44and yet still

00:43:45refuses to give in

00:43:47and allow himself

00:43:48to be what everyone

00:43:49perceives him to be

00:43:50and in doing so

00:43:52just the simple

00:43:53profoundness of that

00:43:54is that he tends

00:43:56to change everybody

00:43:57around him

00:43:58and he stays the same

00:43:59and it's a wonderful

00:44:00he's a wonderful character

00:44:02and I think as you said

00:44:03about your character

00:44:03your actor embodies

00:44:04the character

00:44:05I think obviously

00:44:06John Cena

00:44:07just embodies Ferdinand

00:44:08he is Ferdinand

00:44:09you see him

00:44:10and you see Ferdinand

00:44:11behind the muscles

00:44:13in his heart

00:44:13I'd say Alec

00:44:18in case he's listening

00:44:19he gave so much

00:44:21like 50 recording sessions

00:44:23which was insane

00:44:24and we had such

00:44:24a great time

00:44:25but my heart goes

00:44:26to Tim Templeton

00:44:27because I was

00:44:28the boss baby

00:44:28in my family

00:44:29and my older brother

00:44:30who I tortured

00:44:31my life

00:44:32it was really

00:44:34the kid

00:44:35the older brother

00:44:36and for me

00:44:37my goal in this movie

00:44:39was to

00:44:39A. do an apology

00:44:42a letter to my brother

00:44:43for making his life

00:44:44so miserable

00:44:44all these years

00:44:45and we came out

00:44:46the other side

00:44:46great friends

00:44:47but when you're

00:44:49dealing with a

00:44:50seven-year-old

00:44:50who's kind of

00:44:51the main protagonist

00:44:52that's where the

00:44:53heart comes from

00:44:54and I think

00:44:56it was really fun

00:44:57to play with

00:44:57a seven-year-old's

00:44:58imagination

00:44:58because as you get

00:45:01older you forget

00:45:03what it was like

00:45:04to be an imaginative

00:45:05kid

00:45:05I think Ted Geisel

00:45:06had a great quote

00:45:08about

00:45:08you know

00:45:09adults being

00:45:10obsolete children

00:45:11and so

00:45:11to me

00:45:12like you could

00:45:13really put

00:45:13the art

00:45:14the imagination

00:45:15into this one

00:45:16character

00:45:16and

00:45:17it was my brother

00:45:20and so

00:45:20the joy was

00:45:21at the premiere

00:45:22to like sit next

00:45:23to my brother

00:45:23and see if I could

00:45:24make him cry

00:45:24which he did

00:45:27so I feel like

00:45:28mission accomplished

00:45:29Lee we so often

00:45:44hear about the

00:45:44Pixar brain trust

00:45:45and the collaboration

00:45:47can you talk a little

00:45:48bit about what they

00:45:49contributed in this movie

00:45:50well

00:45:51I think I mentioned

00:45:52earlier we try

00:45:53our best to try

00:45:54to watch the films

00:45:55every three months

00:45:56while we're making

00:45:57them

00:45:57we'll gather the

00:45:58brain trust

00:45:58and screen the reels

00:45:59and it's always

00:46:01painful again

00:46:01because very often

00:46:03we you know

00:46:04there's more not

00:46:05working in the film

00:46:06than working

00:46:07but the quote

00:46:09unquote brain trust

00:46:10which is essentially

00:46:11Andrew Stanton

00:46:12John Lasseter

00:46:13Pete Docter

00:46:14Brad Bird

00:46:15now that he's back

00:46:16in the studio

00:46:16several other folks

00:46:17we get together

00:46:19and we're honest

00:46:20it's

00:46:21what was the biggest

00:46:22challenge in the movie

00:46:23that all of you

00:46:24had to overcome

00:46:24when you were

00:46:25working together

00:46:26well usually it's

00:46:27about the main

00:46:28character

00:46:28and like does the

00:46:29audience care about

00:46:30them

00:46:30does the audience

00:46:31want to go on

00:46:31this journey

00:46:31why are they

00:46:32invested

00:46:32in the case of

00:46:34Coco we always

00:46:34had an ending

00:46:35that felt strong

00:46:36from the very first

00:46:37screening

00:46:38and it was all

00:46:38about how to

00:46:38properly paint

00:46:39to that ending

00:46:40you know I trust

00:46:41all these folks

00:46:42with my creative

00:46:42life and I know

00:46:44that they want

00:46:45nothing more than

00:46:46for my film

00:46:47to be as great

00:46:48as it can be

00:46:49and I'm there

00:46:50for them

00:46:50as they're making

00:46:51their films

00:46:52so there's a lot

00:46:53of honesty

00:46:53in the room

00:46:54and the honesty

00:46:54can be painful

00:46:55sometimes

00:46:56but you know

00:46:57that it's always

00:46:58coming from a good

00:46:58place

00:46:59a place of people

00:46:59trying to help

00:47:00their fellow filmmakers

00:47:01it's never about

00:47:02ego

00:47:02it's never about

00:47:03trying to cut

00:47:04somebody down

00:47:04well you said

00:47:05the challenge

00:47:06was about making

00:47:07the audience care

00:47:08about your character

00:47:09was there a scene

00:47:10that as a group

00:47:11you had to choose

00:47:12to add or

00:47:13subtract

00:47:13well there's always

00:47:15lots of choices

00:47:16along the way

00:47:16I don't know

00:47:17that I can think

00:47:17of something

00:47:17in particular

00:47:18right now

00:47:19but the other

00:47:21great thing

00:47:22about Pixar

00:47:22is that

00:47:23having not worked

00:47:24at other studios

00:47:25I don't know

00:47:26kind of how

00:47:26the process

00:47:27goes there

00:47:27but in our case

00:47:29in these meetings

00:47:30very often

00:47:31problems are pointed

00:47:32out

00:47:32people discuss

00:47:33what's not working

00:47:34about the films

00:47:35but the answers

00:47:37are never prescribed

00:47:38to us

00:47:38nobody tells us

00:47:39this is what you

00:47:40need to go off

00:47:40and do to fix this

00:47:41we just identify

00:47:42the problems

00:47:43and we're trusted

00:47:44to go off

00:47:45and do our best

00:47:46to try to solve

00:47:47the problems

00:47:47and I think

00:47:49that's what

00:47:49it's made for

00:47:50a really healthy

00:47:50creative environment

00:47:52at the studio

00:47:52it allows the directors

00:47:54to maintain

00:47:54a feeling of ownership

00:47:55creative ownership

00:47:56and responsibility

00:47:58for the films

00:47:58and yeah

00:48:01that's what's worked

00:48:02for us

00:48:02for the last 25 years

00:48:03for the rest of you

00:48:04and there's something

00:48:04that you know

00:48:05isn't working

00:48:06or that you

00:48:07you know

00:48:07how do you handle

00:48:09changes

00:48:09how is it discussed

00:48:10listening is a good thing

00:48:12and especially

00:48:12as Lee says

00:48:13if you have people

00:48:14that are honest

00:48:14but you do listen

00:48:16and I think

00:48:17the opportunity

00:48:18and you know

00:48:19it's great

00:48:20there are people

00:48:20you trust

00:48:21to bring in

00:48:22that you know

00:48:22can be honest

00:48:23and it's always helpful

00:48:24to have that

00:48:24but you know

00:48:25to screen to

00:48:26we would screen

00:48:26to the studio

00:48:27which is probably

00:48:28like I fill the theater

00:48:29with 120 people

00:48:30and you know

00:48:31when you do this

00:48:32like every couple months

00:48:33just to see how it plays

00:48:34with an audience

00:48:35that's the feedback

00:48:35you want

00:48:36you don't need

00:48:36the notes as much

00:48:37you can tell

00:48:38by the way

00:48:38the audience is reacting

00:48:39and sometimes

00:48:41you know

00:48:41you're caught

00:48:42with your pants down

00:48:43because you know

00:48:43these scenes are horrible

00:48:44and you've got to

00:48:45sit through it

00:48:45and watch it

00:48:46with them

00:48:47but it's very informative

00:48:48and helps sell a point

00:48:50or you know

00:48:51you have to be

00:48:51the first person

00:48:52as a director

00:48:52to get rid of something

00:48:54that isn't working

00:48:54you have to be

00:48:55the one to do it

00:48:56could you give an example

00:48:57of something like that

00:48:58well you know

00:48:58there's just certain sequences

00:48:59you know

00:49:01throughout the film

00:49:02where

00:49:02and that's the benefit

00:49:03of animation

00:49:04is like you were saying

00:49:06fail fast

00:49:06and get on with it

00:49:08and specifically

00:49:10I can't

00:49:10but you know

00:49:11there was a long opening

00:49:12to this film

00:49:13really kind of

00:49:14setting up the kid's life

00:49:15and then when the baby came

00:49:17and it just felt like

00:49:18it was a great musical

00:49:20kind of bit

00:49:20and it was a fun idea

00:49:23but it just felt like

00:49:24the film didn't need it

00:49:26the film started talking

00:49:27to you or me

00:49:29and just saying

00:49:30you know

00:49:30it doesn't want this

00:49:31it wants to get here sooner

00:49:32and so you just

00:49:33even though you love bits of it

00:49:35you can tear it off

00:49:36sometimes a little bit

00:49:37of there may end up here

00:49:38but you know

00:49:40you have to make those choices

00:49:43and sometimes

00:49:43they're really hard choices

00:49:44to make

00:49:45you know

00:49:45and to me

00:49:46the ending was the most

00:49:47important thing

00:49:48that's the thing

00:49:49that needed to be protected

00:49:50and so it was really about

00:49:51how does it work with that

00:49:53we're getting a little

00:49:54tight on time

00:49:54but there were a few

00:49:55other things I wanted

00:49:56to get to

00:49:56importantly

00:49:57Lori and Nora

00:49:59could you talk about

00:50:00what it's like being a woman

00:50:01working in the business

00:50:02I've always worked

00:50:03in cartoon saloons

00:50:04so nearly 20 years

00:50:06I guess

00:50:06and I've always been

00:50:07ahead of the studio

00:50:07so when I had

00:50:09my two boys

00:50:10I would

00:50:11I would fill them in

00:50:12beside me

00:50:12and you know

00:50:13they would

00:50:13you know

00:50:14make noise

00:50:15and annoy all the animators

00:50:16and that

00:50:17so in a way

00:50:18I've had

00:50:18I've been in a bubble

00:50:19I suppose

00:50:19so to speak

00:50:20we always had

00:50:21a very open atmosphere

00:50:23in our studio

00:50:24towards families

00:50:25and that

00:50:25I do think

00:50:27a lot of the problem

00:50:29with

00:50:29and I wouldn't even

00:50:31push it down to

00:50:32just talking about women

00:50:33because I think

00:50:33it affects children

00:50:34it affects fathers

00:50:35you know

00:50:36in animation as well

00:50:37and I do think

00:50:38we have to change

00:50:39the whole way

00:50:41we look at

00:50:42animation production

00:50:43I think it's just

00:50:44not realistic

00:50:46for line producers

00:50:47to think that

00:50:48you know

00:50:48you can work

00:50:48seven days a week

00:50:49you know

00:50:49or expect people

00:50:50to work seven days a week

00:50:5124 hours a day

00:50:52and kill yourself

00:50:53in a production

00:50:54and then

00:50:54start again

00:50:56you know

00:50:57I think that we have to

00:50:58be really realistic

00:50:59about how much time

00:51:00is healthy for people

00:51:01to spend on a production

00:51:03because

00:51:05otherwise we won't

00:51:07attract women

00:51:07into animation

00:51:08I think into

00:51:09the director's roles

00:51:10you know

00:51:10in animation

00:51:11you know

00:51:13anybody who wants

00:51:14to have any kind

00:51:14of a balance

00:51:15in their life

00:51:15we're not going to

00:51:16be attracted

00:51:17into directing

00:51:18and there are so few

00:51:19women directors

00:51:20in animation

00:51:21why is that

00:51:22do you think

00:51:22you know

00:51:23I have had

00:51:25a really great experience

00:51:27working in animation

00:51:28as a woman

00:51:29I have not

00:51:30come across

00:51:30any problems

00:51:31that people

00:51:32are talking about

00:51:32today out

00:51:33in the industry

00:51:34I mean

00:51:34it just

00:51:34it feels like

00:51:35everything has

00:51:36gone smoothly

00:51:36for me

00:51:37everyone has

00:51:37been wonderful

00:51:38I haven't

00:51:38I haven't had

00:51:39any problems

00:51:39like that

00:51:40and I don't

00:51:40have children

00:51:41so I didn't

00:51:42I didn't have

00:51:42that that

00:51:43that time

00:51:44you know

00:51:45constraint

00:51:45but I

00:51:46but you're right

00:51:47I do notice

00:51:48I mean

00:51:49obviously

00:51:49it's it's

00:51:50it's everybody

00:51:50knows

00:51:51there's just

00:51:51not a lot

00:51:52of women directors

00:51:53there's not a lot

00:51:53of women producers

00:51:54there are a lot

00:51:55of women executives

00:51:56in the studios

00:51:57but there's just

00:51:58there's just

00:51:58they're just not

00:51:59coming to the

00:51:59creative positions

00:52:00I'm not sure

00:52:01I know the reason

00:52:01why there are no

00:52:02women

00:52:03not enough women

00:52:04directors or producers

00:52:05or line producers

00:52:05or animators

00:52:07I mean

00:52:07there clearly

00:52:08are majority

00:52:09the majority

00:52:10are men

00:52:10but I

00:52:12I'm stymied

00:52:13to know

00:52:14whether

00:52:14you know

00:52:15whether it's

00:52:15the time constraints

00:52:16that you have

00:52:16family life

00:52:17and you can't

00:52:18take off the time

00:52:19if that's part

00:52:20of the problem

00:52:20it's a different

00:52:21is it

00:52:21is it the men

00:52:22that are hiring

00:52:23just men

00:52:23or is it the women

00:52:24hiring men

00:52:25I'm not quite sure

00:52:26there's a different

00:52:27type of encouragement

00:52:27needed I think

00:52:28and certainly

00:52:29on the breadwinner

00:52:30I noticed

00:52:30that I was using

00:52:31women in certain

00:52:33departments

00:52:33where I knew

00:52:34they could do

00:52:35the job brilliantly

00:52:36but I also knew

00:52:37there was a level

00:52:37above that

00:52:38where they could

00:52:39also move into

00:52:40but they knew

00:52:42and I knew

00:52:42to hold things together

00:52:43I'd like them

00:52:44to stay in that role

00:52:45you know

00:52:45which is terrible

00:52:46and I shouldn't do that

00:52:47and they shouldn't do that

00:52:49we should make sure

00:52:50that people can move up

00:52:51and feel the pain

00:52:54the production pain

00:52:55and your film

00:52:56mightn't be as good

00:52:56because you've made

00:52:58a hole down here

00:52:59and you've moved

00:52:59somebody up here

00:53:00you know

00:53:00so that kind of

00:53:02encouragement

00:53:02I think is necessary

00:53:04I think that

00:53:04I know again

00:53:05just to use an example

00:53:06of asking

00:53:07one of the women

00:53:10I work with

00:53:10to do something

00:53:11that was just outside

00:53:12of her job description

00:53:14and she felt

00:53:15she wouldn't do

00:53:15a good job with it

00:53:16but I was pressed

00:53:17for time

00:53:17I asked her

00:53:18to please do it

00:53:18anyway

00:53:19and she did

00:53:20a magnificent job

00:53:21you know

00:53:22so sometimes

00:53:22I have guys

00:53:23working on my team

00:53:24who might convince me

00:53:25otherwise

00:53:25you know

00:53:26and mightn't do

00:53:27such a great job

00:53:28they're all

00:53:29I think there's lots

00:53:30of different answers

00:53:31to that question

00:53:31for the rest of you

00:53:33do you make an effort

00:53:34to hire diverse crews

00:53:35is that something

00:53:36that's in your mind

00:53:36well it's absolutely

00:53:38been a priority

00:53:39at Pixar

00:53:39lately

00:53:41I mean we have

00:53:41a number of

00:53:42extremely talented

00:53:43women working

00:53:45in animation

00:53:46and in story

00:53:47and we are doing

00:53:48everything we can

00:53:49to give them

00:53:49opportunities

00:53:50to rise up

00:53:51to make sure

00:53:51that they're mentored

00:53:52properly

00:53:52to give them

00:53:54opportunities

00:53:54to direct shorts

00:53:55to pitch their ideas

00:53:57because we know

00:53:58that there's an imbalance

00:53:59and we want to fix it

00:54:01unfortunately

00:54:02it's hard

00:54:03when the timeline

00:54:04of a film

00:54:05is you know

00:54:05can be five years

00:54:06it's hard to get

00:54:07that ball rolling

00:54:09but we're doing

00:54:09everything that we can

00:54:10to try to get more

00:54:11female voices

00:54:12and just voices

00:54:15from different

00:54:16backgrounds

00:54:16telling stories

00:54:18sorry we've always

00:54:19looked for females

00:54:20because we want to

00:54:21I mean the balance

00:54:22between female

00:54:23and male

00:54:24in our departments

00:54:25especially story

00:54:26and animation

00:54:27and everything

00:54:27is really crucial

00:54:29but we haven't been

00:54:31able to find

00:54:31as many women

00:54:33who are out there

00:54:34either looking

00:54:34to come to us

00:54:35they're coming

00:54:36I think like

00:54:36when you do publicity

00:54:37you get to the benefit

00:54:38of going to a lot

00:54:39of schools

00:54:39and there are a lot

00:54:40of animation schools

00:54:41now

00:54:41and when I went

00:54:42to CalArts

00:54:42this is like mid 80s

00:54:43there was like

00:54:44maybe three girls

00:54:46out of a class of 30

00:54:47and so when you go

00:54:48to like Ringling

00:54:49or San Francisco

00:54:51School Academy of Arts

00:54:53especially

00:54:53it's not like 50%

00:54:55or beyond

00:54:56or beyond

00:54:56yeah exactly

00:54:58what you're saying

00:54:58and this girl

00:54:59this young lady

00:55:00showed me this film

00:55:01she had done

00:55:02on her phone

00:55:02showed me on her phone

00:55:04you know

00:55:04this eight minute project

00:55:05and you're going

00:55:06you're a director

00:55:07you know

00:55:08and I think like

00:55:09you know

00:55:11the industry

00:55:11has grown so much

00:55:12personally I've worked

00:55:13with women

00:55:14as partners

00:55:15as producing partners

00:55:16under women

00:55:16as heads of studios

00:55:18and so

00:55:19and production designers

00:55:20lighting

00:55:20and the most talented

00:55:21people you don't

00:55:22so I feel like

00:55:23I'm in a bubble

00:55:23and the rest of the

00:55:24world is obviously not

00:55:26but it's encouraging

00:55:28to say like

00:55:29now they have

00:55:29there's role models

00:55:31you know

00:55:32that people can look up to

00:55:33like Kathleen Kennedy

00:55:34and Stacey Snyder

00:55:35and all these people

00:55:36that can run studios

00:55:37and they can go

00:55:38wow I can do it too

00:55:39and I think maybe

00:55:39that's just drawing

00:55:40more and more people in

00:55:41and hopefully

00:55:42this next generation

00:55:43will keep building

00:55:44on that you know

00:55:45I think it's important

00:55:47you got to hire people

00:55:48and find those people

00:55:50and search for those people

00:55:51give them a seat

00:55:51at the table somehow

00:55:52give them a coordinator job

00:55:55give them

00:55:55give them a job

00:55:57where they can

00:55:58be a part of the process

00:55:59and watch

00:56:00what you go through

00:56:02so that they can

00:56:03you know

00:56:04they can meet

00:56:04the studio head

00:56:05so that they

00:56:05can you know

00:56:07see all of the pain

00:56:08of how the process

00:56:10you know works

00:56:12because I think

00:56:13what's important

00:56:13about that is

00:56:14because we have

00:56:15a diversity problem

00:56:16in general

00:56:17I think what's important

00:56:18about that is

00:56:19we don't have

00:56:22a good mechanism

00:56:22for when people fail

00:56:24you know

00:56:26a lot of straight

00:56:29white guys

00:56:29get a second

00:56:30third

00:56:30fifth chance

00:56:31but you know

00:56:33a kid like Matty Rich

00:56:34who makes

00:56:34Straight Outta Brooklyn

00:56:35you know

00:56:36he gets one other chance

00:56:37to make a movie

00:56:38and then that's it

00:56:39we need to find

00:56:40you know

00:56:42even when

00:56:43you know

00:56:43working in

00:56:44you know

00:56:44giving an editor

00:56:45a chance to fail

00:56:47somebody

00:56:47you give them a shot

00:56:49at a scene

00:56:49and they

00:56:50they don't nail it

00:56:51being able to help them

00:56:52get there

00:56:53so they can understand

00:56:54you know

00:56:54so they can

00:56:55go through that process

00:56:56and they don't have

00:56:56the stigma

00:56:57of having

00:56:58you know

00:56:59not fulfilled

00:57:00the expectation

00:57:01it's like

00:57:01no they can't do it

00:57:02they didn't nail it

00:57:03so we can't trust them

00:57:04anymore

00:57:04you have to

00:57:05find ways

00:57:06of supporting that person

00:57:07and giving them

00:57:08a safe space

00:57:08to be able to fail

00:57:09so they can do it

00:57:10again and again

00:57:10and again

00:57:11so they can get there

00:57:12and get the confidence

00:57:13and again

00:57:13get to know

00:57:14all of the people

00:57:14and go through it

00:57:16or like

00:57:16or watch me go through it

00:57:18I think that's the

00:57:19for me

00:57:20that's the most important

00:57:22thing that I'm trying to do

00:57:23right now

00:57:23with the crews

00:57:24that I work with

00:57:25is being able to

00:57:26take responsibility

00:57:27for the movie as a whole

00:57:29so that everyone else

00:57:31under me

00:57:31gets a chance

00:57:32to participate in the process

00:57:33in a meaningful way

00:57:34gets to meet all the key people

00:57:36and again

00:57:37have a safe space

00:57:38where they can

00:57:39you know

00:57:40make mistakes

00:57:41and not be punished for it

00:57:42or you know

00:57:43not be ostracized

00:57:45from the group

00:57:45because I think

00:57:46that's a big part of it

00:57:47so we're going to

00:57:48wrap up with

00:57:49one final question

00:57:50this one is

00:57:50just to be fun

00:57:51favorite Halloween

00:57:53costume growing up

00:57:54my birthday is Halloween

00:57:56so I was always sure

00:57:57I was a witch

00:57:58and I was waiting

00:57:59I thought something

00:58:00was going to happen

00:58:00on my 16th birthday

00:58:01where I would

00:58:02you know

00:58:02turn into a witch

00:58:03but it didn't

00:58:05so witch of course

00:58:07I love werewolves

00:58:09I love horror movies

00:58:10Lon Chaney's Wolfman

00:58:12loved all those movies

00:58:14Howling

00:58:15so I would make a

00:58:17you know

00:58:18we didn't grow up

00:58:20a lot of money

00:58:20so I would make

00:58:21a werewolf mask

00:58:23out of a paper bag

00:58:25that I would cut

00:58:26eye holes

00:58:27and a mouth hole

00:58:28and then I would take

00:58:29yarn

00:58:30and glue yarn

00:58:32to the paper bag

00:58:33all over it

00:58:34and you know

00:58:35get the false teeth

00:58:36and you know

00:58:37rip up a shirt

00:58:38and stuff like that

00:58:39so I was a werewolf

00:58:40a lot

00:58:41I'd have to say

00:58:43the six million dollar man

00:58:44I mean they were

00:58:46the cheesiest costumes

00:58:47it was like the plastic

00:58:48mask with the rubber band

00:58:50and then like the

00:58:50the plastic drape

00:58:52was it the track suit?

00:58:54yeah

00:58:54but it was like

00:58:55printed on plastic

00:58:56and it was the most

00:58:56cheesy thing

00:58:57but yeah

00:58:58I mean he was my

00:58:58ultimate idol

00:58:59as a child

00:59:00and so

00:59:01anything having to do

00:59:02with six million dollar man

00:59:03was

00:59:03my favorite costume

00:59:06which became

00:59:07my costume several years

00:59:08was just

00:59:09something I enjoyed

00:59:10doing as a kid

00:59:10was making

00:59:11full plate mail

00:59:12like a knight's armor

00:59:14out of cardboard

00:59:16and silver duct tape

00:59:17and just you know

00:59:18trying to deck myself out

00:59:20in full armor

00:59:20and walk around

00:59:21the city like that

00:59:22ask my candy

00:59:23well those are

00:59:25very male answers

00:59:26and my answer

00:59:26is going to be

00:59:27completely different

00:59:28but I guess

00:59:28my favorite costume

00:59:30because it's so silly

00:59:31but I was a marshmallow

00:59:32so it was just

00:59:35a giant marshmallow

00:59:36and marshmallow

00:59:36little hat cap

00:59:37with little marshmallows

00:59:38in it

00:59:38and I was a little

00:59:39chubby kid

00:59:40so you know

00:59:41it sort of fit

00:59:42probably

00:59:45some fun ones

00:59:46as kids

00:59:47but

00:59:47I crashed

00:59:48a South Park

00:59:50Halloween party

00:59:51and I went

00:59:51as an 80s animator

00:59:53and I wore

00:59:53a fanny pack

00:59:54and these

00:59:54kind of puffy

00:59:55sweatpants

00:59:56and a Michael Bolton

00:59:56t-shirt

00:59:57and had this wig

00:59:58with a headband

00:59:58and these teeth

00:59:59and no one knew

01:00:00my friends didn't even

01:00:01know who I was

01:00:01and I remember

01:00:02Matt and Trey

01:00:02just looking at me

01:00:03because I'd sit

01:00:04alone at this table

01:00:05drinking this beer

01:00:06and they just go

01:00:06oh let that guy

01:00:07I think it was

01:00:08the most gratifying

01:00:09Halloween

01:00:09just like kind of

01:00:10freaking people out

01:00:11that you kind of know

01:00:12you know

01:00:12it was just

01:00:13well we're out of time

01:00:14thank you so much

01:00:16all of you for joining us

01:00:17thank you

01:00:17thanks

01:00:18thank you

01:00:18we're out of time

'Coco,' 'Despicable Me 3' and More Creators Talk Top Animated Films | Animation Roundtable

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