Some background is in this post by Robby Ingebretsen, son of Robert B. Ingebretsen, a classmate of Catmull and Parke who created the 3D titles; still more background is on pp. 13-14 of The Pixar Touch.

Working at Pixar is like blackberry picking.

You are constantly accruing little gems of juice/joy working on things that are wonderful to look at and experiencing an institution which is intrinsically, of necessity, pretty funny and whimsical.

It’s a wholesome activity because you’re making fun, beautiful entertainment for people.

But if you’ve ever been blackberry picking you know that it is not always an easy or pleasant activity. There are many thorns, and getting the blackberries you want requires reaching beyond what’s comfortable and sometimes slipping and stepping into the bush. Pixar can scratch you while you’re actually trying to make movies because its internal technology and management is very organic, thus a little disorganized.

If your mind/soul has a large intellectual appetite, you might question the significance of your work compared to, say, energy research, or solving interesting problems in computer science or physics.

But you have to be more zen about it than this. Blackberry picking is a trivial activity of patience and enjoyment.

Or, going in the opposite direction (depending on the day), this attitude ignores the fact that creating culture for a significant portion of the world to consume is not a minor undertaking. But, in this case, if you don’t have confidence in the story and design of the film you’re working on, a sense of triviality becomes a serious concern.

Ultimately, working at Pixar is about learning about how to communicate. I studied physics in college, but I spend every day with some amazing artists whose work has been seen and enjoyed by people of all ages around the world. The education in decision-making and storytelling that that provides is invaluable, and probably unique. And it is a thrill when you let that experience soak in.

Paul Lasseter, father of John and three other children, passed away in his sleep on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, eight days after his 87^th birthday.

He enlisted in the Navy in 1941 at the age of 17 and served in the South Pacific throughout the war. He then settled in the Los Angeles area and worked in the parts departments of Chevrolet dealers until his retirement in 2000. He was married to John’s mother, Jewell Lasseter, for 54 years, until her death in 2005.

John has said that his father’s jobs helped to inspire his own love of cars and the Cars movies.

The image above is one that I located for The Pixar Touch, but didn’t use—a detail from a Los Angeles Times auto dealer ad, February 5, 1983. Paul Lasseter is at upper right (probably wondering what in the world was to become of his youngest son, a junior animator at Disney).

#1: You admire a character for trying more than for their successes.

#2: You gotta keep in mind what’s interesting to you as an audience, not what’s fun to do as a writer. They can be v. different.

#3: Trying for theme is important, but you won’t see what the story is actually about til you’re at the end of it. Now rewrite.

#4: Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___.

#5: Simplify. Focus. Combine characters. Hop over detours. You’ll feel like you’re losing valuable stuff but it sets you free.

#6: What is your character good at, comfortable with? Throw the polar opposite at them. Challenge them. How do they deal?

#7: Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard, get yours working up front.

#8: Finish your story, let go even if it’s not perfect. In an ideal world you have both, but move on. Do better next time.

#9: When you’re stuck, make a list of what WOULDN’T happen next. Lots of times the material to get you unstuck will show up.

#10: Pull apart the stories you like. What you like in them is a part of you; you’ve got to recognize it before you can use it.

#11: Putting it on paper lets you start fixing it. If it stays in your head, a perfect idea, you’ll never share it with anyone.

#12: Discount the 1st thing that comes to mind. And the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th – get the obvious out of the way. Surprise yourself.

#13: Give your characters opinions. Passive/malleable might seem likable to you as you write, but it’s poison to the audience.

#14: Why must you tell THIS story? What’s the belief burning within you that your story feeds off of? That’s the heart of it.

#15: If you were your character, in this situation, how would you feel? Honesty lends credibility to unbelievable situations.

#16: What are the stakes? Give us reason to root for the character. What happens if they don’t succeed? Stack the odds against.

#17: No work is ever wasted. If it’s not working, let go and move on - it’ll come back around to be useful later.

#18: You have to know yourself: the difference between doing your best & fussing. Story is testing, not refining.

#19: Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating.

#20: Exercise: take the building blocks of a movie you dislike. How d’you rearrange them into what you DO like?

#21: You gotta identify with your situation/characters, can’t just write ‘cool’. What would make YOU act that way?

#22: What’s the essence of your story? Most economical telling of it? If you know that, you can build out from there.

Presumably she’ll have more to come. Also, watch for her personal side project, a science-fiction short called Horizon, to come to a festival near you.