David Condolora

Lessons from a week at Pixar.

When I accepted my new position at Pixar, I came home to find a spread of Pixar toys on the kitchen table, with a large card that said “Can!” on the front. It was an echo of the words of Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story, and an affirmation that I can fly. I’ll always cherish that card and that moment.

I’ve now spent one week at Pixar Animation Studios. An editor I recently worked with called it “the Valhalla of animation”, and he was right. Though I’ve only been there a week, I can already see how special a place it is, and indeed what a privilege it is to be there. The culture, the environment, even the work itself is so different and infused with creativity and meaning. It’s palpable, something you can see in the brick and taste in the water.

A place like Pixar is a place where one can learn. Steve Jobs once told a potential employee, “You’re like a small sapling, and we can take you and make you into a great tree.” Pixar is a place where that can happen, if you let it. And I’m determined to let it, soaking in everything I possibly can.

Here is a sample swatch of the color Pixar is painting in my life:

Always be both a teacher and a student. You always have something to learn, and often the person you learn from can surprise you. Have the humility to always be open to instruction, along with the confidence to share your expertise with others. Everyone stands to gain from this.
Be responsible for yourself. In many ways, Pixar still operates like the small company it once was, and this is possible because it trusts its employees to be responsible for themselves. When people are given responsibility rather than rules, they’re empowered to rise to the occasion, rather than live in fear of making a mistake.
People matter more than ideas. Pixar’s president Ed Catmull is brilliant, and I admire him more than anyone else in animation. In this video, he explains how in filmmaking people are more important than ideas. After all, it’s from people that ideas spring. This philosophy is engendered in Pixar’s culture, where relationships are encouraged alongside creative and personal development.

This merely scratches the surface of the densely rotating mass of Pixar that my brain is still attempting to sort out. But it’s a solid foundation for anyone in any line of work.

To infinity…