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Inside The Pixar Braintrust | Fast Company | Business + Innovation

LESSONS LEARNED

INSIDE THE PIXAR BRAINTRUST I N THIS EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT FROM CJ?EA TIVITY. INC.. ED

C A T M U L L UNVEILS ONE OF HIS KEY M A N A G E M E N T TOOLS-THE

PIXAR BRAINTRUST, W H I C H HAS HELPED THE A N I M A T I O N

POWERHOUSE SCORE 14 BOX OFFICE HITS IN A ROW.

BY ED CATMULL

A hallmark of a healthy creative culture Is that its people feel free t o s h a r e ideas, o p i n i o n s , a n d c r i t i c i s m s . O u r d e c i s i o n m a k i n g is b e t t e r w h e n w e d r a w o n t h e c o l l e c t i v e k n o w l e d g e a n d u n v a r n i s h e d o p i n i o n s o f t h e g r o u p . C a n d o r is t h e k e y t o c o l l a b o r a t i n g e f f e c t i v e l y . L a c k o f c a n d o r leads t o dysfunctional e n v i r o n m e n t s . So h o w c a n a m a n a g e r e n s u r e t h a t h i s o r h e r w o r l d n g g r o u p , d e p a r t m e n t , o r c o m p a n y e m b r a c e s c a n d o r ? B y p u t t i n g m e c h a n i s m s i n p l a c e t h a t e x p l i c i t l y .say i t is valuahlp O n e of Pixar's k e y m e c h a n i s m s is t h e B r a i n t r u s t , w h i c h w e r e l y o n t o p u s h u s t o w a r d e x c e l l e n c e a n d t o r o o t o u t m e d i o c r i t y . I t is o u r p r i m a r y d e l i v e r y s y s t e m for s t r a i g h t t a l k . T h e B r a i n t r u s t m e e t s e v e r y f e w m o n t h s or so t o assess e a c h m o v i e w e ' r e m a k i n g . Its p r e m i s e i s s i m p l e : P u t s m a r t , p a s s i o n a t e p e o p l e i n a r o o m t o g e t h e r , c h a r g e t h e m w i t h i d e n t i f y i n g a n d s o l v i n g p r o b l e m s , a n d e n c o u r a g e t h e m t o b e c a n d i d . T h e B r a i n t r u s t is n o t f o o l p r o o f , b u t w h e n w e g e t i t r i g h t , t h e r e s u l t s are p h e n o m e n a l .

While 1 a t t e n d and participate in a l m o s t all Braintrust m e e t i n g s , I see m y p r i m a r y role as m a k i n g sure that the c o m p a c t u p o n w h i c h the m e e t i n g s are based is p r o t e c t e d a n d u p h e l d . This part of o u r j o b is never d o n e because y o u

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can't t o t a l l y e l i m i n a t e

the blocks t o c a n d o r .

T h e fear o f saving

s o m e t h i n g stupid a n d .

l o o k i n g bad, o f ^ —

o f f e n d i n g s o m e o n e o r

b e i n g i n t i m i d a t e d , o f

reTM'atin'g or being.

retaUaTed a g a i n s t - -

t h e y all have a ^ a v of_

reassejtijig.

themselves. A n d w h e o .

they do, y o u j i i u s t -

address t h e m

squarely.

The Braintrust developed

organically out o f the

rare working relationship

among the five m e n

w h o led and e d i t e d

the p r o d u c t i o n o f Toy

5 t o / y - - J o h n Lasseter,

A n d r e w Stanton, Pete Docter, Lee U n k r i c h , and J o e Ranft. F r o m

Pixar's earliest days, this q u i n t e t gave us a solid m o d e l o f a h i g h l y

f u n c t i o n a l w o r k i n g g r o u p . They w e r e funny, focused, smart, and

relentlessly c a n d i d w h e n a r g u i n g w i t h each other. M o s t crucially,

they never a l l o w e d themselves t o be t h w a r t e d by the kinds o f

s t r u c t u r a l or personal issues that can render m e a n i n g f u l

c o m m u n i c a t i o n in a g r o u p impossible. After the release o f Toy

Story 2[when the Braintrust helped turn around a film in danger o f foundering], the Braintrust evolved from a tight, well-defined group

working on a single f i l m into a larger, more fluid group. Over the years, its

ranks have grown to include a variety o f people-directors, writers, and

heads o f story-whose only requirement is that thev display a knack for

storytelling. The one thing that has never changed is the demand for

candor.

Candor could not be more crucial to our creative process. Why? Because

early on, all o f our movies suck. That's a blunt assessment, 1 know, but 1

choose that phrasing because saying it in a softer way fails to convey how

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bad the first versions really are. I'm not trying to be modest or self-effacing.

Pixar films are not good at first, and our j o b is to make them so~to go, as I

say, "from suck to not-suck."

T h i n k a b o u t h o w easy it w o u l d be for a m o v i e a b o u t talking toys

t o feel derivative, sappy, or o v e r t l y m e r c h a n d i s e driven. T h i n k

a b o u t h o w o f f - p u t t i n g a m o v i e a b o u t rats preparing f o o d c o u l d

be, or h o w risky it must've s e e m e d t o start IVALL-Ewith 39

dialogue-free minutes. We dare to attempt these stouVv, hut WP dnnlt get themright on theflrst pass/This is as it should be. Creativity h^ioslsiL

somewhere, and we are true beHeyersJixth^po^

feedbackand..tbeaterat^

^aTTTJ^untUji^flawed story finds its through line or a hoUow character finds

its soul.

A B A S I C T R U T H : To understand why the Braintrust is so central to P E O P L E W H O Pixar, you have to start with a basic truth: ^SQfile T A K E O N C O M P L I C A T E D who take on^omplicated creativeuerolectaiieo<5Tne C R E A T I V E 'ost at some point in the process. It is the nature o f P R O J E C T S things~in order to create, you must internalize and B E C O M E L O S T . , . . ^ ̂

almost become the project for a while, and that

near-fusing with the project is an essential part o f

its emergence. But it is also confusing. Where nr\c;.^. ^ rP^ '̂P '̂fi writer/director hadpersaertLve. he or she loses i t . Where once he or she

could see a forest, now there are only trees. ' ^ How do you get a director to address a problem he or she cannot see? The

answer depends, o f course, on the situation. The director may be right

about the potential impact o f his central idea, but maybe he simply hasn't

set it up well enough for the Braintrust. Maybe he doesn't realize that much

o f what he thinks is visible on-screen is only visible in his own head. Or

maybe the ideas presented in the reels he shows the Braintrust won't ever

work, and the only path forward is to blow something up or start over. N o

matter what, the process o f coming to clarity takes patience and candor.

A t Pixar, we try to create an environment where people want to hear each

other's notes (even when those notes are challenging) and where everyone

has a vested interest in one another's success. We give our filmmakers both

freedom and responsibility. For example, we believe that the most

promising stories are not assigned to filmmakers but emerge from within.

W i t h few exceptions, our directors make movies they have conceived o f

and are burning to make. Then, because we know that this passion w i l l at

some point blind them to their movie's inevitable problems, we offer them

the counsel o f the Braintrust.

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Y o u may be thinking, How is the Braintrust different from any other

feedback mechanism?

T h e r e _ a E £ - t ^ k e y differenceSa_asXsge_it. The first is that thg. Braintrust is

made up o f people with a deep und£rstandi2ig_of stQrytelUng,jA4»€^H^

have"Beeii"THfoTigh the process themselves. While the directors weJcome

critiques from many sources, they particularlyprize feedback from fellow

stolyi[eTlers."The second difference is that thejlirajntmsthas no authority.

The direcfor'does not have to follow any o f the specific suggestions. After

a Braintrust meeting, it_ij_up to him or her to figure out how to addresj^the

feedFacic. Giving the Braintrust no power to mandate sotutionsaffects the

dynamics o f the group in ways I believe are essential.

While problems in a film are fairly easy to identify, the sources o f those

problems are often extraordinarily difficult to assess. A mystifying plot

twist or a less-than-credible change o f heart in our main character is often

caused by subtle, underlying issues elsewhere in the story. Think o f it as a

patient complaining o f knee pain that stems from his fallen arches. I f you

operated on the knee, it wouldn't just fail to alleviate the pain, it could

easily compound it. To alleviate the pain, you have to identiiy and deal

with the root o f the problem. The Braintrust'sj3QteSj.then, are intended_to

bring the true causes o f problems to the surface--notJxuigmand a specific

remedy. We don't want the Braintrust to soiyje^a director's problem because

we believe that, in all likelihood^our solution won't be as good as the one

the director and his or her creative team comes up with.

That doesn't mean it

doesn't get tough

sometimes. Naturally,

every director would

prefer to be told that his

film is a masterpiece. But

because o f the way the

Braintrust is structured,

the pain o f being told that

flaws are apparent or

revisions are needed is

minimized. The film-not the filmmaker-is under the microscope. This

principle eludes most people, but it is critical: You are not your idea, and i f

vou identify too closelv with your ideas.j£Ou w i l l take offense when

challenged. Andrew Stanton, who has been on the giving or the receiving

end o f almost every Braintrust meeting we've had, likes to say that i f Pixar

were a hospital and the movies its patients, then the Braintrust is made up

o f trusted doctors. It's important to remember that the movie's director and

INNOVATION UNCENSORED NEW YORK Join Ed Catmull live on April 10th at Fast Company's Innovation Uncensored New York. For more Information visit: nv.lnnovatlonuncensored.com

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producer are "doctors" too. Ifs as i f they've gathered a panel o f consulting

experts to help find an accurate diagnosis for an extremely confounding

case. But ultimately, it's the filmmakers, and no one else, who w i l l make

the final decisions about the wisest course o f treatment.

To get a clearer sense o f how candor is delivered at Pixar, I want to take

you inside a Braintrust meeting. This one followed an early screening o f a

Pete Docter f i l m , t h e n k n o w n as The Untitled Pixar Movie That T^kes You Inside the Mind. [It's n o w called Inside^ Outand is s c h e d u l e d for release in 2015.1 As Braintrusts go, this w a s a

cTowcJHTorTe, w i t h a b o u t 20 p e o p l e at the table and 15 m o r e in

chairs against the walls. Everyone g r a b b e d plates o f f o o d o n t h e

w a y in and, after a little s m a l l talk, g o t d o w n t o business.

Earlier, before the screening, Pete had described what they'd come up with

so far. "What's inside the mind?" he asked his colleagues. "Your emotions-

-and we've worked really hard to make these characters look the way those

emotions feel. We have our main character, an emotion called Joy, who is

effervescent. She literally glows when she's excited. Then we have Fear.

He thinks o f himself as confident and suave, but he's a little raw nerve and

tends to freak out. The other characters are Anger, Sadness--her shape is

inspired by teardrops-and Disgust, who basically turns up her nose at

everything. And all these guys work at what we call Headquarters."

That got a laugh, as did many scenes in the lO-minute preview that

followed. Everyone agreed that the movie had the potential to be, like

Pete's previous film Up, among our most original and affecting. But there seemed to be a consensus that one key scene~an argument between two

characters about why certain memories fade while others bum bright

forever—was too minor to sufficiently connect audiences to the film's

profound ideas.

M i d w a y d o w n the table. Brad Bird shifted in his chair. Brad j o i n e d

Pixar in 2 0 0 0 , after having w r i t t e n and d i r e c t e d The Iron Giant ai Warner Bros. His first m o v i e for us was The Incredibles, which opened in 2004. Brad is a bom rebel who fights against creative conformity

in any guise. So it was no surprise that he was among the first to articulate

his worries. " I understand that you want to keep this simple and relatable,"

he told Pete, "but I think we need something that your audience can get a

little more invested in."

14 Movies and 14 No. 1 Box-Off ice Hits

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N o movie studio can compete with Pixar's record o f success.

TOYSTORY Released: 1995 Box-office total: $390 million

A BUG'S LIFE Released: 1998 Box-office total: $352 million

TOYSTORY2 Released: 1999 Box-office total: $513 million

Andrew Stanton spoke next. Andrew is fond o f saying that people need to

be wrong as fast as they can. In a battle, i f you're faced with two hills and

you're unsure which one to attack, he says, the right course o f action is to

hurry up and choose. I f you find out it's the wrong h i l l , turn around and

attack the other ong, Now he seemed to be suggesting that Pete and his

team had stormed the wrong h i l l . " I think you need to spend more time

settling on the rules o f your imagined world," he said.

Every Pixar m o v i e has its o w n rules t h a t viewers have t o accept,

understand, and enjoy u n d e r s t a n d i n g . The voices o f t h e toys in

the T o y 5 t o / y f i l m s , for example, are never audible to humans. The rats in

Ratatouille walk on four paws, like normal vermin, except for Remy, our

star, whose upright posture sets him apart. In Pete's f i l m , one o f the rules-

at least at this point-was that memories (depicted as glowing glass globes)

were stored in the brain by traveling through a maze o f chutes into a kind

o f archive. When retrieved or remembered, they'd roll back down another

tangle o f chutes, like bowling balls being retumed to bowlers at the alley.

That construct was elegant and effective, but Andrew suggested that

another rule needed to be clarified: how memories and emotions change

over time, as the brain gets older. This was the moment in the film,

A n d r e w said, t o establish s o m e key t h e m e s . Listening t o this, I

r e m e m b e r e d h o w in Toy Story 2, the a d d i t i o n o f W h e e z y h e l p e d establish the idea that d a m a g e d toys c o u l d be discarded, left t o sit,

u n l o v e d , o n t h e shelf. A n d r e w felt there was a similar o p p o r t u n i t y

here. "Pete, this m o v i e is a b o u t the inevitability o f change," he said.

"And o f g r o w i n g up."

" P E T E . I W A N T T O G I V E Y O U A

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H U G E R O U N D O F Tills set Brad o f f "A lot o f us in this room have A P P L A U S E ' T H I S I S A F R I C K I N ' B I G up-and I mean that in the best way," I D E A , " S A I D B I R D . "The conundrum is how to become

mature and become reliable while at the same

time preserving your childlike wonder. People have come up to me many

times, as I'm sure has happened to many people in this room, and said,

'Gee, I wish I could be creative like you. That would be something, to be

able to draw.' But T believe that everyone begins with the ability to draw.

Kids are instinctively there. But a lot o f them unlearn it. Or people tell

them they can't or it's impractical. So yes, kids have to grow up, but maybe

there's a way to suggest that they could be better o f f i f they held on to some

o f their childish ideas.

"Pete, I want to give you

a huge round o f

applause: This is a

frickin' big idea to try to

make a movie about,"

Brad continued, his voice

full o f affection. "I've

said to you on previous

films, 'You're trying to

do a triple backflip into a

gale force wind, and

you're mad at yourself

for not sticking the

landing. Like, it's

amazing you're alive.'

This film is the same. So,

huge round o f applause."

Everyone clapped. Then

Brad added, "And you're

in for a world o f hurt."

CATMULL THE WISE: HOW TO LEAD A CREATIVE BUSINESS In an exclusive f our-iiour conversation, Pixar's president shares his secrets.

• Getting to Frozen. How the Disney Braintrust Grew Up

• Why Things Will Always Go Wrong-Even At Pixar

• Your Ideas Are "Ugly Babies"

A n important coirollaryjQjlig_assertion that the Braintrust must be candidJs,

that filrnmakers must be ready to hear the truth; candor is only valuablejL

the person on the receiving eiidJs open to it and w i l l i n g , i f necessary, tojfit

go o f things that don't work. Jonas Rivera, the producer o f Pete's film, tries

to make that painful process easier by "headlining" the main points o f a.

Braintrust session-distilling the many ohservatinns down to a dipf.stihie

takeaway. Once this meeting wrapped up, this is what he did for Pete,

ticking o f f the areas that seemed the most problematic, reminding him o f

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Inside The Pixar Braintrust | Fast Company | Business + Innovation

thie scenes that resonated most. "So what do we blow up?" Jonas asked.

"And what do you love? Is what you loved about the film different now

than it was when we started?"

" W H A T D O W E B L O W U P ? " R I V E R A A S K E D A F T E R T H E B R A I N T R U S T M E E T I N G . " W H A T D O Y O U L O V E ? "

"The way the movie opens," Pete responded, "1

love."

Jonas raised his hand in a salute. "Okay, that's the

movie, then," he said. "How we set up the story

has to handshake with that."

"1 agree," Pete said. They were on their way.

T h e m o s t p r o d u c t i v e Braintrust sessions e x p l o r e myriad trains o f t h o u g h t , in a w a y that is additive, n o t c o m p e t i t i v e . Take WALL-E. w h i c h was k n o w n , early o n , as Trash Planet. For a l o n g t i m e , t h a t m o v i e e n d e d w i t h o u r g o o g l y - e y e d t r a s h - c o m p a c t o r r o b o t saving his beloved d r o i d , EVE, f r o m d e s t r u c t i o n in a Dumpster. But s o m e t h i n g a b o u t that e n d i n g never q u i t e felt right. We had c o u n t l e s s discussions a b o u t it. The c o n f u s i n g t h i n g was that t h e r o m a n t i c p l o t l i n e seemed right. Of c o u r s e lA^ALL-Ewouid save EVE--he'd fallen in love w i t h her the m o m e n t he saw her. In a sense, that was precisely the flaw. And it was Brad w h o p o i n t e d t h a t o u t t o A n d r e w in a Braintrust m e e t i n g . "You've d e n i e d y o u r a u d i e n c e the m o m e n t they've been w a i t i n g for," he said, "the m o m e n t w h e r e EVE t h r o w s away all her p r o g r a m m i n g and goes all o u t t o save l^/ALL-E. Give it t o t h e m . The a u d i e n c e w a n t s it." As s o o n as Brad said that, it was like: Bing! A n d r e w w e n t o f f and w r o t e an entirely n e w e n d i n g .

M i c h a e l A r n d t

r e m e m b e r s it was

A n d r e w , m e a n w h i l e ,

w h o gave a Braintrust

n o t e o n Toy Story J that

fundamentally altered the

end o f that movie's second

act. A t that point in the

f i l m , Lotso, the pink teddy

bear and mean-spirited

leader o f the day-care-

center toys, is overthrown

after the toys' mutiny. But

the mutiny wasn't believable, because the impetus behind it didn't ring true.