Delivering Mini-Movies with Deep Impact
Pixar’s VP of Development delves into the origins and mission of SparkShorts.
By Lindsey Collins
Iwas wrapping up as producer of Finding Dory and transitioning into a new role as head of development here at Pixar. One of the things I felt was really important was to find ways to give opportunities to a broader group of storytellers at the studio. I worked with our president, Jim Morris, and the rest of the creative leadership, and came up with SparkShorts, a quicker and less resource-intensive “experimental” shorts program that would allow us to make two or three shorts per year instead of just the one theatrical short like we had been doing. And with more storytelling opportunities, we’re able to tell a more diverse group of stories.
SparkShorts are like the indie-filmmaking wing of Pixar. There’s complete creative freedom. Filmmakers are able to assemble their own brain trust, build their own teams, and there’s no pressure to deliver a final product of a certain style. Initially we didn’t even know if anyone outside of Pixar would see any of these. So filmmakers are really able to express themselves creatively, in terms of the stories they want to tell, the style and look they wish to employ, or the technology they might want to test out.
Each one of these shorts is unique in terms of its story and visual style. As amazing as our theatrical shorts are, there was definitely a pressure to make something that would look as polished and perfect as our feature films. Because of this they took longer to make and Pixar’s creative leadership was much more involved in guiding them along. With SparkShorts there’s no pressure to meet a visual standard. Kitbull was hand drawn. Out has a very painterly look. The title character in Purl is animated on twos and fours. The creative expression is really unchecked.
The SparkShorts directors and producers are people at the studio that we have our eye on. Maybe they’ve pitched shorts in the past. Or they’ve really excelled at another creative role at the studio and we want to give them a chance to tell their own story. When we find someone who’s passionate about an idea and we put them in a room with other incredibly talented people, with minimal oversight and a tight budget, it allows us to take some risks in a relatively safe way. Disney+ was eager to include Pixar content on the service, so they asked us if we had anything in the pipeline besides our feature films. We told them about our SparkShorts, and screened the first few for them, and they loved them immediately. The timing was perfect and we’re thrilled that all of our SparkShorts so far are now able to reach a broad audience through Disney+.
Each one of our SparkShorts has been a very personal story. We’re dealing with some emotional issues here: inequality in the workplace, autism, immigration, coming out. Many of these topics are rarely addressed in mainstream animation. So my hope is — and so far this has been the case — that these shorts speak to people in a deeply resonant way. And that people are able to see their own stories represented on screen in a way maybe they haven’t before. ◆
Lindsey Collins is the VP of Development and Producer at Pixar who oversees the SparkShorts program at the studio.