Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull

Book Summary

As a young man, Ed Catmull had a dream: to make the world’s first computer-animated movie. He nurtured that dream first as a Ph.D. student at the University of Utah, where many computer science pioneers got their start, and then forged an early partnership with George Lucas that led, indirectly, to his founding Pixar with Steve Jobs and John Lasseter in 1986. Nine years later and against all odds, Toy Story was released, changing animation forever.

Since then, Pixar has dominated the world of animation, producing such beloved films as Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Up, and WALL-E, which have gone on to set box-office records and garner twenty-seven Academy Awards. The joyousness of the storytelling, the inventive plots, the emotional authenticity: In some ways, Pixar movies are an object lesson in what creativity really is. Now, in this book, Catmull reveals the ideals and techniques, honed over years, that have made Pixar so widely admired―and so profitable.

Creativity, Inc. is a book for managers who want to lead their employees to New heights, a manual for anyone who strives for originality, and the first-ever, all-access trip into the nerve center of Pixar Animation Studios―into the story meetings, the postmortems, and the ‘Braintrust’ sessions where art is born. It is, at heart, a book about how to build and sustain a creative culture―but it is also, as Pixar co-founder and president Ed Catmull writes, ‘an expression of the ideas that I believe make the best in us possible.’

About the Author:

Ed Catmull is a computer scientist and entrepreneur who co-founded Pixar Animation Studios and served as its longtime president. A pioneer in computer graphics, Catmull earned a Ph.D. from the University of Utah and developed foundational techniques in 3D rendering. At Pixar, he helped produce groundbreaking animated films and led the company through its acquisition by Disney, where he also became president of Walt Disney Animation Studios. Known for his visionary leadership and thoughtful approach to managing creative talent, Catmull’s contributions have shaped both the animation industry and modern ideas of organizational innovation.