THE SCREEN
Becky Neiman-Cobb ' 97 at Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville , Calif .
FINDING
PIXAR
Becky Neiman-Cobb ’ 97 brings beloved characters to life .
BY MALINDA DANZIGER ' 00
THE ADVENTURES of an old-fashioned cowboy doll and electronic astronaut action figure left a lasting impression on Muir alumna Becky Neiman-Cobb when she first saw Pixar ’ s Toy Story while studying abroad in England in 1995 .
“ I remember going to the theater because I heard about the first computeranimated movie and was completely blown away by how much I cared about these toys and about the story ,” says Neiman-Cobb . “ There were toys that I remembered from my childhood and it was really nostalgic for me , like I was transported back to childhood . It stuck with me for years .”
Years later , Finding Nemo , an aquatic adventure featuring the clownfish duo , Marlin and Nemo , and a blue tang fish , Dory , inspired her to apply for a job at Pixar Studios in the Bay Area . Having previously worked as a photographer and creative director for an independent record label in Los Angeles , she successfully made the leap to film and joined the groundbreaking computer animation studio in 2004 . “ I wanted to be a teacher or in the entertainment industry . … Pixar is the perfect combination of that . I ’ m in this career that still touches the lives of kids .”
Neiman-Cobb started as a production assistant on several Pixar short films before working as a production artist on Ratatouille , production coordinator on Wall-E , art department manager on Cars 2 , and editorial manager on Inside Out , among other key roles .
Yet in 2013 , she was tasked as production manager for Finding Dory , the sequel to Finding Nemo — which was by then the highest grossing animated film at the time , and an Academy Award-winner for Best Animated Feature . No pressure , right ?
50 TRITON | WINTER 2017