The 20th helmer to take on a Pixar short since the mid-1980s, and the the first woman to do so, Bao’s Domee Shi is now on the path to making her feature debut.
”The 20th helmer to take on a Pixar short since the mid-1980s, and the the first woman to do so, Bao‘s Domee Shi is now on the path to making her feature debut, with the backing of one of the most impactful animation studios in the world. “We’re just developing the story for it right now,” Shi says. “It’s super early on, but I’m really excited to play in this new 90-minute film format.” A storyboard artist behind a key sequence in Incredibles 2 and the upcoming Toy Story 4, Shi’s experience with Bao—a learning process, in which she took the reins and offered up her voice—demonstrates just how significant Pixar’s shorts are, as a platform to launch exciting new voices into the animation world.
Screening in front of Incredibles 2, Bao centers on a Chinese-Canadian woman struggling with empty nest syndrome, who gets a new chance at motherhood when one of her handmade dumplings comes to life. Starting out with the short as a side project some years ago—”doodling outside of work”—Shi was given the opportunity to pitch Pixar on three short concepts in 2016, in a studio open call. “I practiced really, really hard, the weeks leading up to it. I drew a ton of boards for it, and then I just presented all three ideas,” the director shares. “I pitched a rough beginning, middle and end for each idea. I had some concept art, some reference images, and slowly, I made it through each round.”
Inspired by a love of food and Asian cinema, it was the personal elements of the story—elements that reflected her own life, added later on—that would really flesh out Bao. And while Shi benefitted from top-notch mentorship from the likes of Pete Docter and Brad Bird, it was ultimately her singular contributions that made the short a story worth telling.”
Read the interview here
