Danielle Feinberg
Pixar Animation Studios
Emeryville, CA USA
"You can get a lot of things by working hard...You don’t have to have some sort of genius; you just have to work hard."
Career Roadmap
Danielle's work combines: Art, Technology, and Being Creative
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Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Advice for getting started
I think the biggest challenge to overcome is when you are in a new situation and trying to find a way to push through until you get to the place where you have enough experience to know what you are doing. There is always something new or something not yet invented in my job that I have to figure out for the first time. I've had to learn to get used to the uncertainty and accept the challenge.
Here's the path I took:
High School
Bachelor's Degree
Computer Science
Harvard University
Life & Career Milestones
My path in life has been direct
1.
She went to Harvard University and studied computer science.
2.
She was especially taken with her computer animation and graphics classes, and decided that’s what she wanted to do for a living.
3.
She’s been at Pixar for over 20 years; she started in an entry-level technical position working on A Bug’s Life.
4.
She realized that lighting animation was really where the films came together, and that lighting brought together coding, problem-solving, and art in a way that felt magical to her.
5.
One of her favorite moments working at Pixar was getting to light the jellyfish in Finding Nemo.
6.
She’d fought to be able to light that scene, so when she got it, she stayed late for several days trying to make it look perfect.
7.
When she finally screened the scene with the director, the whole room started clapping; that payoff taught her that putting the extra time into her work would always be worth it.
8.
Says that women in art and technology have the power to change society faster than anyone, and encourages young women to use STEM to help change social issues they care about.
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Myself:
I don't know how to do that.
How I responded:
I think the biggest challenge to overcome is when you are in a new situation and trying to find a way to push through until you get to the place where you have enough experience to know what you are doing. There is always something new or something not yet invented in my job that I have to figure out for the first time. I've had to learn to get used to the uncertainty and accept the challenge.
Experiences and challenges that shaped me
As a woman in tech, I never felt like I had to fight my way to the top, but I have consistently wrestled with self-doubt. I tend to assume I don't know something or someone else knows more than me. I am often my own worse enemy.