Creativity Inc by Ed Catmull

The book,Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration, describes the lessons learned by Ed Catmull while working at Pixar Animation and Disney Animation.  Growing up Ed Catmull had a simple dream.  He wanted to produce the first fully computer animated feature film.  He had this vision many years before it was technically feasible.  Along with the founders of Pixar, they worked at the technical edge of what was possible on screen.

In 1972 while at the University of Utah, Ed worked worked on a short film using a computer to digitally animated a hand.  He worked out the mathematical models to digitally describe an uneven or curved surface. (4 min.)

Ed provides a more rounded perspective on Steve Jobs.  Steve poured millions of his own money to keep Pixar afloat while it was finding its way, changing from a hardware company into a computer animated movie studio.  Ed had the opportunity to observe Steve grow and mature and learn from his mistakes.  Steve appreciated people with passion and would change his mind immediately if from a previously held position if the other person presented solid evidence.

Recently the managers at Pixar took over the management at Disney Studios.  They found a talented workforce afraid to make a mistake.  After an initial misstep with the Princess and the Frog.  The Disney Animation studio has had a resurgence beginning with Tangled and continuing through Frozen.  The management team of Ed Catmull and John Lasseter were able to transfer to Disney the candor and egalitarian values have helped sustain a culture of excellence at Pixar.

At Pixar studios a small group of people known as the brain trust offer critiques of films at various points during production.  They point out areas of concern but do not offer a specific way to resolve the problem as that would stifle creativity. (7 min.)

Ed Catmull on the success of Pixar Studios.   They set the standard for excellence and continually attempt to learn from their failures.  I found discussion on both the technical complexity of computer animation and the nuances of managing a creative corporate culture to be very informative.  All stories begin as ugly babies that need to be carefully attended to before they can grow into a feature film. At Pixar they have built structure around a creative process while watching out for the failures of other successful film production companies.