TOW #21: Inside the Pixar Braintrust by Ed Catmull (Article)

           Pixar is known for its endless amounts of animated successes, but none of these movies would have made it big if it wasn’t for Pixar’s Creativity inc. and their Braintrust.  Ed Catmull, a Pixar employee who emphasizes the importance of candor while collaborating, recently wrote an article explaining the importance of the Braintrust. The Braintrust is a meeting that occurs every few months at Pixar studios to help improve the up-and-coming movies. At theses meeting, people from all areas of the company come to evaluate, criticize, and help movies become a beloved classic.

            Catmull stresses the importance of candor throughout the entire article. Candor is the quality of being open and honest in expression and is what makes Pixar’s Braintrust so successful. By including the idea of candor at the beginning and end of the article, Catmull is able to show how candor is not only important for Pixar, but for any form of collaboration. He emphasizes how candor is the reason why Pixar is triumphant in what it does and is what keeps Braintrust functional. Candor is also brought up many times through out the article, especially after Catmull gives examples of how Braintrust works.

            To fully allow his Pixar loving readers to understand how Braintrust works, Catmull uses examples from meetings about old and new Pixar movies. His first example was about a new movie entitled Inside Out (which is planned to be released in 2015). In the Braintrust meeting, Catmull recalls how the creator of the movie, Pete Doctor, starts by introducing his idea and plays a short clip; after it is finished, other members begin questioning parts and brainstorming what the audience should get from viewing the film. Other examples of how the Braintrust works including helping write a new ending for Wall-E and creating a reason for the Big Baby to turn again Lotso The Bear in Toy Story 3.

            Pixar movies are well known around the world, but would they be as successful as they are if Braintrust did not exist?  Catmull reveals the importance of candor and how it helped make Braintrust tell unforgettable stories.

http://www.fastcompany.com/3027135/inside-the-pixar-braintrust?src