May 25, 2017

Pixar establishes experimental short film division; first film is "Smash And Grab

Pixar has launched a new in-house unit dedicated to experimental storytelling and producing short films without management oversight. Other goals of the program are to explore new creative visions and increase opportunities at the studio.

The existence of this unit was revealed in a list of talks to be given this August at SIGGRAPH in Los Angeles, where a panel titled "Smash and Grab: Off-The-Rails Filmmaking at Pixar" explained that Pixar artists will focus on "a six-month journey to create a seven-minute short film with limited resources against the backdrop of a busy studio juggling multiple feature-length productions."

The first film by the experimental unit is called Smash and Grab, directed by Brian Larsen, who was the story supervisor on the studio's recent Oscar-winning short "Piper" and story supervisor on "Brave." Brian Larsen will direct. No details about the content of the film have been disclosed, but it will probably bear little resemblance to the recent animated film with the same title.

Short films have played an important role in Pixar's development since the company's early days. This history was explored when I worked with Pixar on the book The Art of Pixar Short Films. I look forward to seeing the fruits of these efforts.