I was surprised and quite frankly, blown away by how consistently articulate, quick-witted, professional and effective she was as a leader. Brenda came to Pixar with a long, established career in animation under her belt. Brenda then went on to direct her own feature animation film with DreamWorks called The Prince of Egypt , which was released in Soon after, Brenda began developing her own project. Rumor had it that she had been indecisive, unconfident and ineffective as a director.
But for me and others who worked closely with the second-time director, there was a palpable sense of outrage, disbelief and mourning after Brenda was removed from the film. Brenda knew exactly what film she was making and was very clear in communicating her vision, the story artist said, and the film she was making was powerful and compelling. It would never fit neatly into the Pixar canon of films made exclusively from and for the male perspective, she explained with audible heaviness in her throat.
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I would later hear these same kinds of sentiments echoed even by male crew members who lived through the director change. During the summer of , I personally worked on Brave while Brenda was still in charge. I likewise never felt that she was uncertain about the kind of film she was making, or how to go about making it. Emma Coats, a former Pixar story artist who worked on Brave, told BuzzFeed that Brenda would advocate for those who were often talked over in meetings. Coats eventually left Pixar, and animation all together, because of how disheartened she was about what happened to Brenda in More recently, actress and screenwriter Rashida Jones and her professional partner Will McCormack addressed their decision to leave their posts as writers on Toy Story 4.
We encourage Pixar to be leaders in bolstering, hiring, and promoting more diverse and female storytellers and leaders. We hope we can encourage all those who have felt like their voices could not be heard in the past to feel empowered. Rashida joined Pixar during the tail end of my time with the company. I once asked a male coworker on the Toy Story 4 crew what she was like to work with. She looks nothing like a movie star in person. Women, Work, and the Will to Lead , has helped me make sense of the way women were treated at Pixar.
As discussed in the best-selling book, an experiment conducted at Columbia Business School in showed that our subconscious gender biases often have the effect of branding successful women, especially those in leadership roles, as dislikable while male leaders with similar qualities are seen as deserving and admirable.
The researchers presented one group of mixed gender students with a story of a successful entrepreneur named Heidi, and another mixed group with the same story about Howard. While both groups rated Heidi and Howard as competent, the majority of students who read the Heidi bio found her to be dislikable, selfish, manipulative and someone they would not want to work for. The response to Howard, whose bio was identical except for the name, was almost unanimously positive. Physically and mentally burnt out from years of bumping my head against the glass ceiling, I left Pixar at age 30, hoping to find a workplace where I could genuinely thrive.
While most people are not consciously aware of their own bias, women everywhere are still widely expected to remain communal, selfless and submissive in order to be liked and appreciated, even in the notoriously liberal city of San Francisco. I unknowingly encountered these unconscious biases, and maybe even acted from them myself, at the very start of my time at Pixar. One day during my internship, I baked a pie and brought it in to share with my team for a morning department meeting. As a very social, outgoing guy who was warm and friendly to everyone else on the team, I found this avoidant behavior from my first boss to be both confusing and unnerving.
The morning that I brought in the pie, he finally looked me right in the eyes with a fruit-tart-filled smile on his face. So I did just that. During my last few months on a studio production, I credited my male graphic design counterpart in the studio who was conveniently working on another show with a short list of my best strategies and solutions. When I was just about to wrap from that same production, my manager and production designer scheduled a private sit down with me. I openly expressed that I believed my being a woman was a clear impediment to my career at Pixar, and neither one of them protested this theory.
They seemed compassionate to my plight and recognized that many of my grievances with studio politics and practices were legitimate. But instead of offering to help me change or even navigate those challenges, they both encouraged me to start looking for a new job. There are plenty of other companies out there that will gladly give you the kind of treatment and creative challenges you deserve, he told me in a rare moment of candor. Throughout the day I received many touching and sweet reply emails, welcome goodbye hugs and well wishes from my peers and superiors alike.
A long-standing producer even pulled me aside to tell me how true my parting words read to him, asking if I would reconsider my resignation. I looked up to see my least favorite production designer leaning coolly against the door frame, his pose smooth and slinky like a guy trying to pick me up in a bar. As always, his presence made my body go tight and my stomach roll over with tension, but I forced a cordial smile in his direction anyway.
When he wished me luck with my next job my shoulders dropped away from my ears a bit. He paused for a moment, crossed his arms over his black v-neck shirt, and shook his head.
But then he spoke again: I uncapped the sharpie marker that was in my hand and turned my back to him. We smirk with a hint of irreverence, we force out an unnatural chuckle, we shrug and try to let it slide off our backs. After he left, I let the tense air in the room fill my lungs again. Regardless of what anyone else thinks or has to say about my place in this world, I can still chose my next adventure, open the next door, continue searching for more.
Because I was and always have been exactly that: These projects, which reach millions of children and adults worldwide, have consistently failed to give women equal voice on screen and behind the scenes. As has been proven time and time again in studies about the effects of media to our collective psychology , animated films are particularly important because they significantly impact the ways that children think and behave. Studios like Pixar produce international blockbusters that subliminally affect the way little boys and girls see themselves around the world, and these narratives still remain massively disproportionate and flat in terms of gender representation and characterization.
We must be infinitely more cognizant about the values that such leaders bring to a uniquely powerful and influential industry. The pervasive gender bias I regularly experienced at Pixar seemed to be a complete non-issue in my new professional home. Although the intimate work environment was not perfect, it was staffed with a proportionate gendered mix of employees who appeared to be promoted and supported equally.
The dynamics there were not at all uptight, people spoke and joked around with one another freely and to my pleasant surprise, it felt like my female-ness had little to no impact on how I was treated on both a social and a professional level.
The Boys Club () - Devon Sawa as Eric - IMDb
My time with this very co-ed design agency proved to me that a creative workplace with healthy gender balance is not only possible but is a beautiful and powerful thing to witness. Now a freelance designer , photographer and writer , Cassandra Smolcic worked at Pixar from to Her writing about chronic pain, trauma recovery, alternative healing, travel and metaphysics can be found on her blog, The Trigger Point Chronicles , and you can follow her on Instagram cassandra.
Sign in Get started. The ex-employee gave me permission to anonymously share her testimony about her experiences with the department lead: Instead he would make demeaning or sexist comments about women around me, even during meetings with the rest of the team. I would challenge him on these comments which only increased his anger towards me. I began to feel very uncomfortable around this individual because he would often try to antagonize me during meetings and give me dirty glares in the hallways.
I asked to be moved onto a different project. I found out that he has a long history of bad behavior, and that many people refused to work with him.
haha, he's leaving off a zero
When it came time for me to have a performance review, I was warned that the review from him was going to be negative. I asked that the other two production designers that I had worked with also review me, and I was told that they would not be asked. When I had my official performance review, this production designer used it as an opportunity to unload his anger on me.
When I had my exit interview with the studio I told them about his inappropriate behavior. They told me that they were aware of the situation and that he would be talked to. A few months later he was promoted, and I have heard from other people that his bad behavior continues. The film was first released through video on demand on July 17, which likely further depressed box office.
Earlier this summer, Vertical Entertainment put out a statement defending its decision to release the film. Plummer went on to earn an Oscar nomination for his work, though the film lost money at the box office. Vertical Entertainment has had a rough summer. However, none of those movies had a call sheet with four A-list actors.
Whether you know a film buff who needs to upgrade their collection, or you just want to upgrade your movie nights at home, here are eight gifts that will cast your favorite flicks in a whole new light. I don't know what are we even talking about this for? Why don't we just go home? The guy's a fucking fugitive, man. I hate this, you realize that? Who do you hate? The guy said it's the police they're after.
So why don't we just not do this, okay?
Are you even listening to me? Look at this thing. What does it say about him?
And My #MeToo Call For Radical Change
I guess he was a little bit disappointed. C'mon he's a cop Brad, we got to help him. Kyle, the guy's been shot. He needs real medical attention, I mean we could have a real doctor go down there and no one would know the difference. Look, you heard what he said, right? The only thing he's got is us. Us three, our shack, our fucking shit, okay? This doesn't have to be a big deal Brad, we pushed the car so what?
Here we go, Bradley, are you in or are you out? I said you'll have to leave or we'll call the police. That's it Barney, call the police. Yeah, Barney cause you got first big guy? Hey ah, do you like this? Put the bottle back, sir. No, he's a fucking cheese sandwich. I mean, he sucks about this, he suck's about that, he suck's about everything!. And now the bullets! He can't even protect himself!
He isn't a cop eh? Yeah, he told me. Eric, come over here please? Dead, we're dead, we're diffidently dead, we're dead, we're dead. Okay, what are we gonna do? We're gonna say it was as stupid as hell right? Kyle, I am not going back there! Where's the fucking car? Kyle, are you okay? We're getting a car! We'll get my mom's car!
We'll fucking get my mom's car!
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He's gonna kill all of us, asshole! I'm just trying to think okay? He fuckin' shot em! What the fuck is happening? We're getting the cops in here and I'm You think he wants to hear that? You don't care if his brother dies do you? I'm not the one who brought the bullets now did I? With a big mouth and I don't respect you and I never have! Fuck you, you asshole! He's got a box of em' in the closet!
Okay, why does somebody ask for bullets? I mean he's gotta have some sort of protection. Look, If anybody gets hurt now, it's because of us. Or you two, because I'm out of this. We'll- we'll just tell him we couldn't get it. Alright fine, okay I- I don't even care anymore.
Eric, I'm right this time. Simon, you got it right? He's taking it from Oh, c'mon don't be an asshole, just give us our booze! You gonna fight me for it? You wanna come and get it, I'll give it to you huh? Come and get it! What are you gonna do about it? See how this works, you motherfucker? Not so fucking tough anymore are ya! This gun's what it's all about, you filthy fuck!