Rosana Sullivan
Born
Charleston, South Carolina, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of San Francisco
Academy of Art University
Occupations
  • Film director
  • screenwriter
  • storyboard artist
Years active2011–present
EmployerPixar Animation Studios (2011–present)

Rosana Sullivan is an American filmmaker and storyboard artist. Since 2011, she has worked for Pixar Animation Studios. She wrote and directed her first animated short film, Kitbull (2019), for which she received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 92nd Academy Awards.

Early life and education

Rosana Sullivan was born in Charleston, South Carolina, and grew up in Texas.[1] She has one brother.[1] When she was in high school at age 16, her father, a university professor of biology, accepted a new job at the University of San Francisco and the family relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area.[1]

Sullivan initially studied for a career as a veterinarian, enrolling at the University of San Francisco as a biology major.[2] In her junior year, she took a course in portrait painting to satisfy an art credit and realized that art was her real calling.[2] She spent her senior year at USF in the fine arts program, graduating in 2007, and then attended the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, graduating in 2010.[2][3]

Career

Sullivan worked as a lead character designer at Ooga Labs and a 2D artist at Kabam before joining Pixar Animation Studios in 2011.[3] With Pixar, she has contributed to the 3D animated films Monsters University, The Good Dinosaur, Piper, and Incredibles 2.[4] She was nominated for a 2015 Annie Award for outstanding achievement in storyboarding in an animated feature production for her work on The Good Dinosaur.[5] In February 2019 she wrote and directed her first animated film, a nine-minute traditionally animated short called Kitbull, which is part of the SparkShorts series.[6][7]

In April 2019 she published an autobiographical picture book, Mommy Sayang, describing the life of a girl and her mother in a Malaysian village.[8] This story, along with others that she has written, was inspired by her mother's roots in Malaysia.[1][9]

In January 2021, it was announced that she would direct a feature film for Pixar.[10]

Filmography

Year Title Credited as Notes
Director Storyboard artist Writer Executive producer
2009 Long Shadows No Yes No No Short film
2013 Monsters University No Yes No No Feature film(s)
2015 The Good Dinosaur No Yes No No
2016 Piper No Yes No No Short film
2018 Incredibles 2 No Yes No No Feature film
2019 Kitbull Yes Yes Yes No Short film
Toy Story 4 No No No Associate Feature film
2020 Loop No No Story trust No Short film
Onward No Yes No No Feature film(s)

Sources:[11][1][2][4][5][6][7][10]

Accolades

List of awards and nominations
Award Date of ceremony Category Film Result Ref.
Academy Awards February 9, 2020 Best Animated Short Film Kitbull Nominated [12]

Bibliography

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Episode 012: Rosana Sullivan – Pixar Story Artist (audio)". The Animated Journey. May 10, 2016. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d Tempkar, Arvin (December 9, 2015). "'The Good Dinosaur' Artist's Path From USF to Pixar". University of San Francisco. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Rosana Sullivan". LinkedIn. 2019. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
  4. ^ a b "Episode 04: Rosana Sullivan Interview". Straight Against the Curve. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
  5. ^ a b Flores, Terry (December 1, 2015). "'Inside Out,' 'Good Dinosaur' Lead Annie Award Nominations". Variety. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
  6. ^ a b Tyree, Elizabeth (February 27, 2019). "Prepare to ugly cry; Pixar releases short about stray cat befriending abused pit bull". WSET. Archived from the original on February 27, 2019. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
  7. ^ a b Pastrick, Chris (February 20, 2019). "Latest Pixar short 'Kitbull' will warm your cold heart". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Archived from the original on February 21, 2019. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
  8. ^ "Mommy Sayang". Kirkus Reviews. April 1, 2019. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
  9. ^ "Filipino Filmmaker Makes History at Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival". Kat Iniba. March 25, 2019. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
  10. ^ a b Keegan, Rebecca (January 6, 2021). "Reanimating 'Pixar': How Pete Docter Steered the Studio Out of Scandal". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 13, 2021. In addition to Shi, Aphton Corbin and Rosana Sullivan are female story artists who have directed short films at the studio recently and are now moving into development on features.
  11. ^ Yamanaka, Jeanine (January 14, 2020). "We're Questing Over to Pixar Animation Studios for an Early Look at "Onward"". All Ears. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
  12. ^ Dove, Steve (January 13, 2020). "Oscar Nominations 2020 Announcement: Watch Live". Oscars. Archived from the original on February 2, 2020. Retrieved January 13, 2020.

External links


Authority control databases
Categories