ROLE: Development & Story Manager + Lighting Production Manager
This project started as a short film that hooked us all with the nostalgia of toys we played with in the 80s and with the blessing from the studio - we turned it into a half-hour TV holiday special. I was there from its inception in creative development with Steve Purcell, the writer & director, and Derek Thompson, Head of Story. We worked on developing the story for a couple of years with a fantastic team of storyboard artists. As the production became more concrete, I followed the pipeline into the Lighting Department, where I, as the Production Manager, oversaw +40 technical directors in collaboration with the Director of Photography, Erik Smit, on lighting the film. The world of the Battlesaurs was moody and otherworldly, in the imagination of these toys, that is, so we reflected that in the lighting design, but when we’d go back into the mind of the kids playing with the toys, it was like they had never left the playroom. The team brilliantly used lighting to achieve this effect.
Toy Story That Time Forgot (titled Toy Story: That Time Forgot on Disney+) is an animated Christmas television special produced by Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Television Animation that aired on ABC on December 2, 2014. Written and directed by Sam & Max creator Steve Purcell, the special was produced by Galyn Susman. Michael Giacchino composed the music for the special. Most of the regular cast from the Toy Story series reprised their roles, including Tom Hanks as Woody, Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear, Kristen Schaal as Trixie, Wallace Shawn as Rex, Timothy Dalton as Mr. Pricklepants, Don Rickles as Mr. Potato Head, and Joan Cusack as Jessie, with Kevin McKidd and Emma Hudak joining as new characters Reptillus Maximus and Angel Kitty, respectively. It was nominated for several Annie Awards including Best Outstanding Animated Production and a P.G.A. Award for Outstanding Children’s Program. (stolen from Wikipedia)