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Episode 419 — Pixar President Jim Morris
Jim Morris is President of Pixar Animation Studios, where he oversees all of the company’s productions and operations. Morris began working at Pixar in 2005. Films under his supervision include RATATOUILLE, UP, TOY STORY 3, CARS 2, BRAVE, MONSTERS UNIVERSITY, INSIDE OUT, THE GOOD DINOSAUR, FINDING DORY, CARS 3, COCO and INCREDIBLES 2. As a producer, Morris most recently made the live-action Disney feature JOHN CARTER with director Andrew Stanton. He also produced Pixar’s WALL•E, which won the Academy Award® for Best Animated Feature. Morris was also awarded Producer of the Year in Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures from the Producers Guild of America, the AFI Award, the Golden Globe and the Visual Effects Society Best Animated Feature Award for WALL•E.
Prior to joining Pixar, Morris held a range of key positions for 17 years in various divisions of Lucasfilm Ltd. He served as President of Lucas Digital Ltd., and managed its three divisions, Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), Skywalker Sound and Lucasfilm Animation. As ILM’s General Manager for more than 13 years, he supervised a staff of over 1,400 artists and technicians, and guided the largest visual effects facility in the entertainment industry.
With Morris’ oversight, ILM created the groundbreaking and Academy Award®-winning visual effects in JURASSIC PARK, DEATH BECOMES HER, TERMINATOR 2 and FORREST GUMP. Other notable projects completed under his management include MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, TWISTER, SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, STAR WARS: EPISODE I, STAR WARS: EPISODE II, THE PERFECT STORM, PEARL HARBOR, MINORITY REPORT, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, MASTER AND COMMANDER, and three films in the HARRY POTTER series.
Morris joined ILM in 1987 as a Producer of visual effects for films and commercials. Among Morris’ producing credits are James Cameron’s THE ABYSS (which earned the Academy Award® for Best Achievement in Visual Effects), and Steven Spielberg’s ALWAYS.
Before joining ILM, Morris was Executive Producer at Arnold & Associates, where he oversaw the company’s three offices and produced commercials for clients such as Atari, Chevron and Mattel. Prior to that, Morris was Executive Producer at One Pass, where he headed the commercial production division. He also served in the production departments at advertising agencies J. Walter Thompson, and Foote, Cone & Belding in San Francisco. Morris worked as a producer and director for PBS, and began his career as a cameraman and editor at NBC.
Morris is the recipient of the Producers Guild Digital 50 Award, the Visual Effects Society Board of Directors Award and the Visual Effects Society Founders Award. He has also been named a VES Fellow. Morris served for many years as President of the San Francisco Film Commission, and is Founding Chair of the VES. He is a member of AMPAS, PGA, BAFTA, VES and ASIFA, and currently serves as a member of Motion Picture Academy’s Finance Committee. Morris earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Film and a Master of Science degree in Television/Radio from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University.
In this Podcast, Allan McKay interviews Pixar’s President Jim Morris about his career both at ILM and Pixar; working with legendary Directors such as James Cameron, Steven Spielberg, Andrew Stanton and Robert Zemeckis; behind-the-scenes and Innovations of JURASSIC PARK and FORREST GUMP; the unpredictable magic of live action projects; how limitations inspire VFX inventions; and why “Problems aren’t an impediment to the job. Solving problems IS the job.”
Jim Morris at Pixar: https://www.pixar.com/leadership#morris
Jim Morris on IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0606640/
Jim Morris on VFX Summit: http://vfxsummit.com/portfolio_page/jim-morris/
Pixar Website: https://www.pixar.com
Pixar on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@pixar
Pixar on Twitter: @Pixar (https://twitter.com/Pixar)
Pixar on IG: @PIxar (https://www.instagram.com/pixar/?hl=en)
Jim Morris at Syracuse University Alumni Association: https://cusecommunity.syr.edu/s/1632/17/interior.aspx?sid=1632&gid=2&pgid=4409&cid=8093&ecid=8093&crid=0&calpgid=61&calcid=4454
EPISODE 419 — PIXAR PRESIDENT JIM MORRIS
Hello, everyone!
This is Allan McKay. Welcome to Episode 419!
I’m sitting down with Pixar President Jim Morris to talk about his career both at ILM and Pixar, as well as his collaboration with Directors like James Cameron, Steven Spielberg, Andrew Stanton and Robert Zemeckis.
I’m really excited to sit down with Jim. We talk about:
- The Start of His Career at ILM;
- Working with James Cameron and Steven Spielberg;
- Behind the Scenes and Innovations of JURASSIC PARK;
- How Limitations Inspire VFX Inventions;
- VFX Serving the Actors in FORREST GUMP;
- Jim’s Move to Pixar;
- Creative Challenges of Animated Projects;
- Finding Creative Solutions;
- A Day in the Life of Pixar President;
- The Unpredictable Magic of Live Action Projects;
- As well as why:
- “Problems Aren’t an Impediment to the Job. Solving Problems IS the Job.”
It is a great honor to have Jim join the Podcast!
Please take a moment to share this Episode with others.
Let’s dive in!
FIRST THINGS FIRST:
[01:27] Have you ever sent in your reel and wondered why you didn’t get the callback or what the reason was you didn’t get the job? Over the past 20 years of working for studios like ILM, Blur Studio, Ubisoft, I’ve built hundreds of teams and hired hundreds of artists — and reviewed thousands of reels! That’s why I decided to write The Ultimate Demo Reel Guide from the perspective of someone who actually does the hiring. You can get this book for free right now at www.allanmckay.com/myreel!
[50:51] One of the biggest problems we face as artists is figuring out how much we’re worth. I’ve put together a website. Check it out: www.VFXRates.com! This is a chance for you to put in your level of experience, your discipline, your location — and it will give you an accurate idea what you and everyone else in your discipline should be charging. Check it out: www.VFXRates.com!
Okay, what did you think? I’d like to thank Jim for coming on the Podcast. It was an absolute honor! If you enjoyed this Episode, please share it with other people.
Until next week –
Rock on!
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