One of the benefits of being part of a school like SVA is that you get access to extraordinary people and unique professional practice opportunities with industry leaders. Derek Thompson and Christian Roman, Story Artists at Pixar, dropped in with their University Manager, Beth Sasseen, for a storytelling workshop that allowed students from four departments to present and fine-tune their stories. MFA Visual Narrative was proud to send in our own team of six students.

Day 1: Using the Pixar in a Box videos as a foundation and guided instruction from the Pixar team, a select number of students from each department were challenged to write, storyboard and pitch their original short story in five minutes or less – to attendees and peers. Derek and Christian then gave each student feedback to help push and develop their story further.

Day 2: Each student worked through the night to fine-tune their work, taking into account the feedback received and returned to pitch again. Day two concluded with a second-round pitch which allowed for individual Pixar and peer feedback along with a closing peek into the Pixar process and insight on visual storytelling.

The event was capped off by individual portfolio reviews and a lengthy Q&A, and you had the makings of an unforgettable experience!

What a blast.

THANKS PIXAR!