At the forefront of fun at Pixar
Since Lucy Laliberte graduated from the University of the Sunshine Coast she has charted a successful career at Pixar working on movies such as Toy Story 3 – and this week she revisits her alma mater with some tales to tell.
Pixar movies have become a global force for their award-winning animation and storytelling, big budgets and even bigger profits. And University of the Sunshine Coast arts graduate Lucy Laliberte has been at the heart of the action for 17 years, working her way up in the Californian movie industry to her current role as feature film production manager at the Disney-owned studio in Emeryville.
Laliberte, who grew up at Buderim, is visiting her alma mater at Sippy Downs this week with a wealth of advice for others seeking film industry jobs. She is working on the film Hoppers, due in 2026, and explained that she still gets star struck.
Julie Schomberg asked her some key questions in an interview for UniSC News.
You were in UniSC’s second cohort of arts grads in 2000 – did you plan for an arts degree on the Sunshine Coast to lead to a Californian film career?
I didn’t think my degree would lead me there at the time but, in hindsight, I can see how UniSC prepped me to think bigger about my career. Branching out and taking a variety of classes helped me really dig into things that interested me. I had a focus on environmental studies and international relations, so I wasn’t necessarily primed for the film industry.
After graduating from UniSC, I applied for a scholarship to a US college (Smith College in Massachusetts) where I did some graduate study. That at least allowed me to move to the US, where I met people working in the creative field. I lived there for seven years before landing a job at Pixar. I started at the bottom and have worked my way up over the years.
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What was it like working your way up in production in the film industry, specifically Disney’s Pixar?
I wouldn’t say it’s been easy, but it has definitely been rewarding and fun. Making movies is hard work and we’re constantly juggling a lot of priorities with aggressive deadlines. But the planning and strategy of how to get things done is the fun part for me. And we get to make a product that people love.
What are a few things about working at Pixar that outsiders would be surprised by?
One thing that always surprises people is how long our films take to make. It’s a process that takes anywhere from four years up to six years. From the beginning stages of writing a script to the final frames being rendered, it’s a slow but also very busy process where we are crunching from the very beginning to the end.
What are the most interesting things that you’ve learned about working in movies that you didn’t know before?
Anyone can do it. Especially in the animation world, there’s a job for everyone. Whether you’re super organised, artistic or really into numbers, the range of talent it takes to make a movie is expansive. Working in animation is a lot of fun, and often doesn’t feel like a job at all. We are just a bunch of creative movie nerds who love what we do. It’s not very Hollywood at Pixar, and that makes it a unique and fun place to work.
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Can you give us some behind-the-scenes gossip/brushes with fame?
We’re a little secluded from the celebrity that surrounds the industry so I do get starstruck when we have actors visit or I see them at our premieres.
We’re lucky enough to have filmmakers visit and screen their movies here for us, so we get to see some great Q&As with the talent – most recently, Demi Moore visited for The Substance. (Moore just won a Golden Globe for her performance in the horror feature.) I consider my brushes with fame to be with the people I work with every day. They’re the best in the industry and I’m lucky to be able to work alongside them. Oh, and there was that one day almost knocking Sigourney Weaver over by coming around a corner too fast. (Weaver voiced characters in Finding Dory and WALL-E.)
What are the most successful movies you’ve worked on, and what sort of tasks were your responsibility?
I started at Pixar working on Toy Story 3 and have worked on 10 feature films in total. Some notable movies are Inside Out, Coco and Turning Red, and the short film Bao. Mostly, my responsibilities have been to manage teams of people and shepherd their workload from start to finish. On my current project Hoppers, I’m working directly with producer Nicole Paradis Grindle (Incredibles 2) and director Daniel Chong (TV series We Baby Bears) to essentially make sure everyone has everything they need to complete their work on time and on budget.
What does your family think of your career success?
They’re excited about the work I do. I still get a kick out of it myself, so they share that excitement about working in a creative field and getting to do what I love. I’m lucky to have shared a few premieres with my wife, which is always really fun. My Aussie family hasn’t travelled to a premiere with me yet but it would be a dream to have them join us.
What’s next for you?
The movie I’m working on, Hoppers, is due for release in the US in the spring of 2026, which will be autumn for Aussies. It’s about animals – and that’s almost all I can say about it at the moment!
Can you offer any insights about US and Australian film industry jobs, how graduates could get a foot in the door in 2025 and beyond?
The film industry can be a hard one to break into. For people starting out, I always suggest that you just get your hands dirty with any work you can. That might mean teaming up with other students or colleagues to make your own short films, taking film classes or applying for internships to gain experience. It all counts.