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Hear from the creative minds behind Disney and Pixar’s SOUL.
Joining Pete are Kemp Powers (co-director & writer) and Dana Murray (producer), sharing insights on creating the new film SOUL. In SOUL, one misstep sends band teacher Joe (Jamie Foxx) to a fantastical place where he discovers the answers to some of life’s most important questions.rnrnThis is a unique opportunity to hear from the minds behind some of our generation’s most compelling stories, embraced by billions worldwide.
Director
Pete Docter is the Oscar-winning director of Monsters, Inc., Up and Inside Out, and chief creative officer at Pixar Anim…ation Studios. Starting at Pixar in 1990 as the studio’s third animator, Docter collaborated and helped develop the story and characters for Toy Story, Pixar’s first full-length animated feature film, for which he also was supervising animator. He served as a storyboard artist on A Bug’s Life and wrote initial story treatments for both Toy Story 2 and WALL•E. Aside from directing, Docter also executive produced Monsters University and the Academy Award®-winning Brave. Docter’s interest in animation began at age 8 when he created his first flipbook. He studied character animation at California Institute of the Arts, where he produced many short films, winning a Student Academy Award®. Those films have since been shown in animation festivals worldwide and are featured on the Pixar Short Films Collection Volume 2. Docter has been nominated for eight Academy Awards.
Director, Screenwriter
Kemp Powers (Co-Director/Story & Screenplay SOUL) began at Pixar Animation Studios in August 2018. Powers grew up in Bro…oklyn, NY. He attended both Howard University and the University of Michigan. Prior to Pixar, Powers was an award-winning playwright, television and film screenwriter, and journalist. His play “One Night in Miami…” received three L.A. Drama Critics Circle Awards and four NAACP Theatre Awards, and was nominated for the 2017 Laurence Olivier Award for best new play. He adapted it into a feature film, which is being directed by Academy Award®-winning actress Regina King. He was a writer for the television show “Star Trek: Discovery” and has toured nationally as a storyteller for the Peabody Award-winning series “The Moth”. He resides in Los Angeles and Emeryville, California.
Producer
Dana Murray, p.g.a. (Producer SOUL) joined Pixar Animation Studios in June 2001 as a desk production assistant on Findin…g Nemo. She served as the art and technology coordinator on several short films, including Boundin’, One Man Band and Lifted. Murray was a lighting coordinator for Cars and held a variety of department manager positions on the Academy Award®-winning feature films Ratatouille, Up and Brave. Murray served as the production manager for the Academy Award-winning film Inside Out, and most recently produced her first short film, LOU, which released in front of Cars 3 and was nominated for the Best Animated Short Oscar®. She is the producer on Soul with director Pete Docter and co-director Kemp Powers. Raised in Placerville, Calif., Murray attended Sonoma State University. She resides in Oakland, Calif., with her husband, their two girls and dog, Gracie.
Moderator
Peter Helliar has been one of Australia’s favourite comedians since his first appearance on our TV screens as a core c…ast member on the Logie Award winning Rove back in 1999. Pete has performed stand up for more than 20 years, selling out shows right across the country, where he makes the difficult business of being funny look dead easy. Now the Gold Logie Nominee is making people laugh four nights a week on Network Ten’s The Project. A man of many talents, Peter created and co-produced two series of the award winning It’s A Date for ABC TV, and How to Stay Married for Network Ten, now filming its third season. He has directed episodes of both shows. He is also the author of the much loved children’s book series, Frankie Fish which is published by Hardie Grant/Egmont and has been voted one of Australia’s Top 50 kids books in the annual Better Reading Top 50 Kids Books poll. Pete’s new children’s book Trippin’ With Kids, co-authored with his wife Bridget Helliar, was released in 2020.