creating Creativity from Pixar’s CEO
Over-coming the unseen Forces that stand in the way of true Inspiration.
fm Roto Scopers.com 21 April 14 enhanced by Peter/CXO Wiz4biz
1. Creating a Creative Culture. “Creativity, Inc” is a book by Ed Catmull, a man who is president of both Walt Disney Animation studios and Pixar, two places you might have heard of. The book is co-written by Amy Wallace and it mainly deals with how to have a healthy creative culture in a company.
2. A good Story-line. Catmull & Wallace have plenty of advice to offer and the good thing is that every piece of advice in the book is given through a story and, luckily, Catmull’s life is full of wildly interesting anecdotes.
3. Good Advice. “Creativity, Inc” is full of fantastic advice for managers, employers, and basically everyone that wants to have a healthy atmosphere & happy employees at their company.
4. Behind the Scenes. The very best part of the book is the insight into Pixar & Disney provided. Catmull is one of the founders of Pixar and he’s been there since the very beginning. In the book, we get the story of how he got there – driven by the dream of making the first computer-animated movie ever. We see how he eventually succeeded and, most interestingly, how this made him feel goal-less and how he dealt with that.
5. Waking up the Sleepy Giant. As the book progresses we get the full story behind Pixar’s growth, the merger with Disney & how it affected both studios. We see what John Lasseter & Catmull did to revive Disney and what they are doing to bring Pixar back to the incredible level they reached a few years ago. It’s these anecdotes that make the book a great read for any Disney/Pixar or even Movie fan. Plus, you have to realize Ed Catmull is friends with:
a) John Lasseter – an American animator, film director, screenwriter, producer and the CEO of Pixar,
b) Andrew Stanton – an American film director, screenwriter, producer, & voice actor based at Pixar’s – who was A Bug’s Life (1998) (co-director) + Finding Nemo (2003), & WALL-E (2008). He also co-wrote all three Toy Story films & Monsters, Inc. (2001). Finding Nemo & WALL-E earned him 2 Academy Awards.
c) Lee Unkrich, an American director, film editor & screenwriter. He is a longtime member of the creative team at Pixar where he started in 1994 as a film editor. He later began directing, first as co-director of Toy Story 2. After co-directing Monsters, Inc. & Finding Nemo, Unkrich made his solo directorial debut with Toy Story 3, for which he won the Academy Award.
d) Steve Jobs Co-founder, Chairman, & CEO of Apple Inc. Primary investor and CEO of Pixar and
e) plenty more people on Disney’s 9 Old Men +
f) others who are regularly quoted in the book.
6. The Pixar Brain-trust. One of the most fascinating chapters deals with the Brain-trust, the group of Pixar directors, writers & producers who meet every couple of months to give feedback to every director working at Pixar It’s just impossible to put down this book,when every couple of pages you get so much insight into the studios we all love.
7. If you are an Animation fan, especially of Disney or Pixar, I highly recommend “Creativity, Inc” to you. You’ll learn a lot about the history of Pixar, you’ll get insight into the inner workings of the companies & you’ll truly “get” the insane amount of work that goes into creating & maintaining a creative culture in these places. It will change your way of thinking about plenty of things, I guarantee it.
Comments: Are there any Insights you could share from reading the book?