The director of Oscar-nominated 'Turning Red' shares how she moved up through the ranks at Pixar from intern to VP of creative

• Domee Shi is the VP of creative at Pixar and the director of "Turning Red" and "Bao."
• She started in the industry as an animation student and interned at Pixar before getting hired full-time.

Domee Shi is the 33-year-old director of "Turning Red," a coming-of-age film set in Toronto about a teenager who unexpectedly turns into a giant red panda. She's also the first woman to solo direct a Pixar film in the company's 36-year history and the film's inspiration, having emigrated from China to Canada with her family when she was two years old.

"It was the weirdest and most personal idea I presented to Pixar during a meeting in 2017," Shi told Insider. "I think that's why Pixar was drawn to it."

"Turning Red," which was recently nominated for an Academy Award for best animated feature film, premiered three years after Shi won an Oscar for her animated short "Bao" — her first Pixar project and, she said, one that took three years to produce.

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Shi shared with Insider how she progressed from storyboard artist to an executive role at the major animation studio.

Finding her calling

Shi said she developed a passion for illustration through her father, who had been an art professor in China and took her to drawing classes at a young age. But it wasn't until she was in college studying animation that she found her true calling: storyboarding, or the process of drawing out a movie's scenes based on a script.

In her third year, she said, she applied for a summer internship at Pixar but was rejected. A year later, she got the job, which she credits to having more experience under her belt.

Getting her start at Pixar

In school, Shi said, she often connected with other artists in class and on online forums like DeviantArt. At Pixar, she feels the same collaborative energy.

"I get to work at a place where everyone's just really, really excited and passionate about the films we're making," Shi said. "I feel that fire I had when I was in college surrounded by my fellow animation students and we're all working on our own projects and we're looking over each other's shoulders and saying, 'Wow that looks so awesome!'"

Her first summer at Pixar was much like a storyboarding and filmmaking bootcamp. "At the beginning of every week we'd get a new storyboarding assignment that tested our visual storytelling, camera, composition, comedy, and timing," Shi said.

Making an impression on her managers and ultimately getting hired for a full-time role came down to surprising her audience. "There were seven of us interns, and we all got the same story assignments, so I always tried to do something unexpected and different with my stories to stand out," Shi said.

"Sometimes that meant going out of my comfort zone, comedy, and trying a story that was more dramatic or more action-focused. I also leaned heavily on my strength, which was draftsmanship, and used it to create images that grabbed your attention. I didn't focus on being the best — I focused on being remembered."

Once hired, Shi worked on various scenes for "Inside Out," "Toy Story 4," and "Incredibles 2." She said her job was to show the director what the script could look — once that's locked down, the team then starts building sets and animating the characters in 3D.

Giving back to aspiring directors

Getting "Turning Red" off the ground as a first-time feature film director wasn't as heavy of a lift as for those who might not have a track record with Pixar, but Shi credits the success of "Bao" and how Pete Docter, Pixar's chief creative officer, supported her through the pitch process as a mentor and advocate for her work. "Through him, I saw a way to be a director where you didn't have to be a loud, chest-thumping voice who had all the answers," Shi said.

Today, as a successful film director, she's ready to give back. "Now, I'm also sharing exec-producing upcoming projects and advising first-time directors to help guide them through the gauntlet that is making a film at Pixar," she said.

Weighing the importance of inclusivity along with considering the balance sheet is top-of-mind for Shi in her current role. "I'm always a champion for movies that feel fresh and different, that break the mold," she said. "But there's a real challenge there. My job is all about figuring out how to be an advocate for taking creative risks while recognizing the responsibility I have of ensuring a project is financially successful."

Shi added the biggest challenges Pixar faces now are the changing landscape of theatrical releases, streaming, and how to push the medium of animation into new territories they haven't seen yet.

"Pixar isn't alone there. That's what every film studio is trying to balance these days," Shi said.