Domee Shi (; ; born 1989)
is a Chinese-born Canadian
animator
An animator is an artist who creates multiple images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video games ...
,
director and
screenwriter
A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based.
...
. Since 2011, she has worked for
Pixar, contributing as a storyboard artist for multiple films, including ''
Inside Out
Inside Out may refer to:
*Backwards (disambiguation) or inverse
Books
* '' Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd'', by Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason
* ''Inside Out'', Christian book by Larry Crabb
* ''Inside Out'', novel by Barry Eisler ...
'' (2015), ''
Incredibles 2'' (2018), and ''
Toy Story 4'' (2019). Shi directed the 2018 short film ''
Bao'' and the 2022 feature film ''
Turning Red
''Turning Red'' is a 2022 American computer-animated fantasy comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It was directed by Domee Shi in her feature directorial debut, written by Sh ...
'', becoming the first woman to direct a short film and then the first woman with sole director's credit on a feature film for Pixar.
''Bao'' won an
Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the
91st Academy Awards
The 91st Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2018 and took place on February 24, 2019, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During the ceremony, AM ...
, and also earned nominations for the
43rd Annie Awards
The 43rd Annual Annie Awards honoring excellence in the field of animation of 2015 was held on February 6, 2016, at the University of California, Los Angeles's Royce Hall in Los Angeles, California, presenting in 36 categories. This year, a new ...
, the International Online Cinema Awards, and the
Tribeca Film Festival.
Early life
Shi was born in 1989 in
Chongqing,
Sichuan
Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of t ...
(now
Chongqing municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...
) as an only child before immigrating to Canada at the age of two with her parents. She spent six months in
Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...
before moving to
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
, where she grew up learning about art from her father.
She was influenced by her father, who had been a college professor of fine arts and a landscape painter in China.
Shi took inspiration and guidance from her mother's personality when directing ''Bao''.
Shi recalls that "My Chinese mom was always making sure I never wandered away too far, that I was safe."
During her childhood, Shi watched many
Studio Ghibli and
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
films, which exposed her to Asian cinema and
animation
Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...
.
As a high school student, Shi watched anime, read manga, and became the Vice President of her school's anime club.
She joined online art communities and uploaded her fan artwork to
DeviantArt.
This became her first exposure to an environment of like-minded people that helped her establish a network with other artists. "I could follow artists, and I could email them. In the past, you'd have to be in California or know a guy who was friends with this other guy that worked at Disney or something," said Shi. Thus Shi was inspired to enroll at
Sheridan College for her post-secondary education.
At Sheridan, Shi studied animation, graduating in 2011.
During her second year at Sheridan, she enrolled in a course taught by
Nancy Beiman
Nancy Beiman is a director, character designer, teacher, and animator. She attended the Character Animation program at CalArts.
Career
Animation
In 1986, Beiman cofounded Caged Beagle Productions with business partner Dean Yeagle. She then move ...
, whose class she credits for her pursuit of
storyboard
A storyboard is a graphic organizer that consists of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence. The storyboarding process, in t ...
ing. Shi created a short film for an assignment during her last year at Sheridan. In 2009, she undertook an internship with Chuck Gammage Animation as a clean-up artist,
inbetweener, storyboard artist, and animator.
Career
After graduating, Shi worked briefly as a cartooning instructor with an emphasis on character design and comic book creation.
In 2011, she accepted a three-month internship at
Pixar as a storyboard artist. This was her second attempt, having initially been turned down by the animation studio and others, such as
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
and
DreamWorks. Shi wrote an animated
webcomic
Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on a website or mobile app. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or comic books.
Webcomics can be c ...
series titled ''My Food Fantasies'' in 2014, in which she drew "outlandish" situations involving food. Shi later said that she developed her interest in writing stories about food while making ''My Food Fantasies''. The first feature film she worked on with Pixar was ''
Inside Out
Inside Out may refer to:
*Backwards (disambiguation) or inverse
Books
* '' Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd'', by Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason
* ''Inside Out'', Christian book by Larry Crabb
* ''Inside Out'', novel by Barry Eisler ...
'' (2015), on which she served as a
storyboard artist.
After briefly working on ''
The Good Dinosaur
''The Good Dinosaur'' is a 2015 American computer-animated adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The film was directed by Peter Sohn (in his feature directorial debut) and ...
'', Shi began working on ''
Toy Story 4'' in 2015.
She also drew storyboards for the 2018 film ''
Incredibles 2'', where she worked on a sequence featuring the characters Jack-Jack and Edna Mode.
Directing
The short film ''
Bao'' (2018) was developed as a "side-project" before and during Shi's full-time work on ''Inside Out''.
''Bao'', alongside two other projects, was eventually pitched to her mentor,
Pete Docter, and Pixar for support.
[ ''Bao'' was approved in 2015, making Shi the first woman to direct a short film for the studio. The eight-minute short debuted at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival, where it preceded ''Incredibles 2'' in theaters. Shi won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for ''Bao'',] becoming the first woman of color to win the award.
On May 8, 2018, it was reported that Shi was directing a feature film at Pixar. On November 26, 2018, Shi confirmed that she was working on a film at the studio. Shi also said that the film was in early stages of development, with the story still being worked on, and that she was "really excited to play in this new 90-minute film format." On January 1, 2019, Shi said that she planned the film to be "entertaining and emotional." On December 9, 2020, Shi's film was announced with the title ''Turning Red
''Turning Red'' is a 2022 American computer-animated fantasy comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It was directed by Domee Shi in her feature directorial debut, written by Sh ...
''. It was originally scheduled to be released in theaters on March 11, 2022, but due to rising cases of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant
Omicron (B.1.1.529) is a variant of SARS-CoV-2 first reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) by the Network for Genomics Surveillance in South Africa on 24 November 2021. It was first detected in Botswana and has spread to become the ...
, it was instead released direct-to-streaming on Disney+
Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television se ...
on the same date. Disney said ''Turning Red'' was the number one streaming title on Disney+, and in early April 2022, Pixar promoted Shi to vice president of creative, alongside Andrew Stanton, Peter Sohn and Dan Scanlon.
On October 5, 2022, Shi was confirmed to be developing another original Pixar feature film.
Influences
Shi is influenced by her father's art, as he was her art teacher while growing up. "Like, I asked him what he thought f the film
F, or f, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounced ), and the plural is ''efs''.
Hist ...
and he said, 'I really liked it, but I also have notes for you.' And I was like, Ah, that's my classic dad," Shi said.
In an interview with '' Now Magazine'', Shi said that the animated films '' My Neighbors the Yamadas'' (1999) and '' Spirited Away'' (2001) were her influences when creating ''Bao''.
Shi says that most of her ideas come from specific cultures around her. Because audiences started to appreciate other stories with different background and culture after '' Sanjay's Super Team'' and '' Coco'', Shi thinks it important to draw upon various sources and background in order to create uniqueness in film.
Filmography
Feature Films
Short Films
Television
Disney+
Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television se ...
Original Specials
Awards and nominations
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shi, Domee
1989 births
Artists from Chongqing
Artists from Toronto
Asian-Canadian filmmakers
Canadian animated film directors
Canadian animators
Canadian women animators
Chinese animated film directors
Chinese animators
Chinese emigrants to Canada
Chinese women animators
Chinese women film directors
Canadian expatriate film directors in the United States
Canadian women film directors
Directors of Best Animated Short Academy Award winners
Film directors from Chongqing
Film directors from Toronto
Living people
Pixar people
Sheridan College alumni
Canadian storyboard artists
Chinese storyboard artists