Disney animation exec Andrew Millstein has been named general manager for Walt Disney Animation Studios, and visual effects veteran Jim Morris has been appointed general manager of Pixar Animation Studios. Reporting to Ed Catmull, president of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios, both execs will run the day-to-day operations of their respective studios, and will continue to oversee all aspects of production related to animated features, short films and special animated projects.
‘Andrew has been a key player at Disney for over 11 years and has had experience running studios and dealing with all of the technical and creative issues associated with that role,’ Catmull coments. ‘Jim is one of the most respected figures in the world of special effects and was instrumental in creating some of ILM’s greatest achievements. Most recently, he did an incredible job producing WALL’E for Pixar, and has assumed an important role in that studio’s overall operations. As general managers, Andrew and Jim will continue to lend their guidance and expertise to all of our upcoming production efforts.”
Morris started out as a stop-motion animator and animation cameraman, and joined Pixar Animation Studios in 2005. In addition to producing the latest Pixar hit, he has been responsible for managing the production of the Studio’s other features, shorts, DVD releases and theme park activities. At Lucasfilm Ltd., he served as president of Lucas Digital Ltd, and managed its two divisions, Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) and Skywalker Sound. During his tenure as general manager, ILM created Oscar-winning visual effects for Jurassic Park, Death Becomes Her and Forrest Gump.
Andrew Millstein joined Disney in 1997 as a production exec in the Studio’s Motion Pictures Group. He was soon promoted to general manager of Dreamquest Images and The Secret Lab, a division of Walt Disney Feature Animation that produced the digital effects for such live-action films as 101 Dalmatians, Reign of Fire, Armageddon, Mighty Joe Young and Inspector Gadget. In 2001, he was named senior VP and general manager of production for Walt Disney Animation Florida, where he oversaw all operations and production on Brother Bear. He then served as exec VP for Disney’s Circle 7 Animation unit. Prior to joining Disney, he was head of production for vfx shop Digital Domain in Venice, Calif., where he oversaw visual effect production on Apollo 13, The Fifth Element, Dante’s Peak and Titanic.
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