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Steve Jobs' new baby Pixar, the creator of 1995 mega-hit Toy Story and 1998's A Bug's Life, is more than just a computer animation studio. It stands poised to become one of the largest entertainment forces of the 21st century. Born in the 1980s as the special effects division of Lucasfilm, the company was spun off in 1986 and acquired by Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Computer. The new company was dubbed Pixar, after the first 3-D graphics system (the Pixar Image Computer) developed by the computer scientists and animators that worked there. Pioneers in computer animation Computer graphics genius Ed Catmull (now Pixar's CTO) and former Disney animator John Lasseter were among the pioneers of 3-D computer animation, and set the tone that Pixar was to follow. Lasseter's Luxo Jr., a short computer-animated piece about two anthropomorphic lamps, blew away the industry when it premiered at SIGGRAPH, the annual convention of the computer graphics industry. Computer animation would redefine the possibilities for the medium - in fact, it would do for the future of animation what stop-motion photography had for the first 80 years of film. After the premier of Luxo Jr., Pixar focused on honing its burgeoning medium by producing animation for commercials while Lasseter continued working on short films like Tin Toy, which won an Academy Award for Best Animated Short in 1988. Enter Disney In 1986, Pixar and Disney entered a deal for the development of CAPS (Computer Animated Production System), which uses computers to color hand-drawn images. Then, in 1991, Disney convinced Pixar to produce three feature-length computer animated movies. The first of these films, and the first of its kind, was the celebrated Toy Story, which Lasseter directed. Originally designed to follow the adventures of the pressed-metal soldier from Tin Toy, Toy Story evolved into a completely fresh story set within the world of dolls. Let's do lunch The film became the top-grossing movie of 1995. Audiences were wowed by the graphics, but what won the most praise (and several Oscars) was the movie's powerful story line. The box office receipts, and the merchandising revenue from items such as Pixar's Toy Story CD-ROM (which remains the most successful CD-ROM of all time), gave Pixar a pleasant financial boost. But with only a 13 percent cut of the profits, Pixar's situation was far from ideal. Enter CEO Steve Jobs, the business mind of the venture. Though he was busy as the interim CEO for Apple Computer, Jobs took time to negotiate a better deal with Disney. After a lunch meeting with Disney's Michael Eisner, Jobs walked away with a deal that would offer Pixar 50 percent of box office and merchandising income in addition to a four-movie deal that would provide Pixar with Disney's distribution and market expertise. It's a wonderful Bug's Life A Bug's Life, Pixar's next full-length feature, was released in late 1998. It represented yet another milestone in the development of computer animation. The film had a much larger budget, and was shot in larger format, allowing for even more detailed images than those in Toy Story. With the help of ever-improving technologies, animators were able, for example, to make faces with more detailed expressions, and plants with softer, more organic textures. Despite the fact that DreamWorks SKG released a similarly themed feature at the same time (ANTZ), A Bug's Life was a massive success. While Jobs still sits at the helm as CEO, he has relinquished the day to day management of the animation house to John Lasseter (EVP of Creative Development), Ed Catmull (CTO and Pixar co-founder), and Sarah McArthur (EVP of Production). Meanwhile, Jobs is the company's main public figure, and he plays an active role in issues surrounding corporate strategy, marketing, deal-making. In September 1999, Ann Mather, formerly SVP of finance and administration at Walt Disney's international theatrical film division, was named CFO and EVP of Pixar Animation Studios. The success of Toy Story 2 ($479 million worldwide) has meant large profits for the company in each of the last two quarters. Next on the calendar: a comedy called Monsters, Inc. that is set for a 2001 release date.
Because of Pixar's rapid growth and the lack of computer engineers skilled in Pixar's RenderMan imaging software, Pixar actively recruits new employees on its web site: www.pixar.com, where openings are listed regularly. Pixar also recruits eligible candidates from select art and film schools. "We do check references, they count," reports one insider. "The animators have a reel, the artists have a portfolio, the technical production people can point to movies or tv shows/commercials they worked on." "Stuff goes through the human resources department" and divisions post openings with HR. "They do the initial screening and then forward on viable candidates" to the manager that has the opening.
A bit more corporate Employees at Pixar find say that though "the atmosphere has shifted a little more towards the corporate side in the past few years" and the company "is beginning to feel much more like a 'Hollywood' studio, the environment is still great, really relaxed." "In general, the people are pretty cool" because Pixar is a "flexible employer with excellent employee benefits and a relaxed working atmosphere," although some feel "it has lost some of the of the feel which made it more attractive in the beginning." There is "no dress code, or anything silly like that" but "the work hours get long, and Pixar tends to keep the payscale low," particularly for those in entry-level positions, "just because the name is big." Pixar does offer a social environment in which "there are a number of informal employee-organized physical activities." Pixar employs a full-time Employee Continuing Education Director "who organizes classes on drawing, improvisational comedy, story structure" and various other topics. "In production (actually making a movie), the workweeks can exceed 70 hours" as projects come to completion, but for most non-production staff "normally they work 40 hours." But for those asked to put in the extra time there are "perks like free sodas and some snacks, and getting food brought to you." "Part of working at Pixar is understanding production demands, and managing your time accordingly," insiders say. But despite the demanding positions, employees say working at Pixar "is not good, it's great," and many feel as one production engineer who says, "I can't think of a better place to work for."
Pixar Animation Studios Recruiting 1001 West Cutting Blvd. Point Richmond CA 94804
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