Madeline Sharafian | |
|---|---|
 Sharafian in November 2019 | |
| Born | February 1, 1993 Alameda, California |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | CalArts [1] |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 2013−present |
| Employers |
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Madeline Sharafian (born February 1, 1993) [2] is an American film director, screenwriter, and storyboard artist. She is best known for her work at Pixar, including directing the short film Burrow (2020) and the upcoming feature film Elio (2025).
Sharafian was born in Alameda, California, [2] and is of Armenian descent. [3] By 2013, she was enrolled in CalArts. [1]
In 2013, Sharafian wrote and directed the short film Omelette. [4] [5] In 2014, she served as a storyboard artist, writer, and character designer on the Cartoon Network series We Bare Bears . [4] In 2017, she storyboarded sequences for Coco and Dante's Lunch . [6] [7] In 2020, she wrote and directed a 2D animated Pixar short film titled Burrow , originally slated to play in theaters before the feature film Soul . [8] In October 2020, it was announced the short would instead premiere on Disney+. [9] [10] In 2022, she served as a storyboard artist for Turning Red . [1] In August 2024, she was confirmed to be making her feature directorial debut with Elio , alongside Domee Shi, replacing original director Adrian Molina. [11]
| Year | Title | Director | Story Artist | Notes/Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Coco | No | Yes | [7] |
| 2022 | Turning Red | No | Yes | [1] |
| 2025 | Elio | Yes | No | Post-production [11] |
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Story Artist | Other | Notes/Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Omelette | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Producer [4] |
| 2017 | Weekends | No | No | No | Yes | Animator Cel painter [12] |
| Dante's Lunch | No | No | Yes | No | [6] | |
| 2018 | Purl | No | No | No | Yes | Story trust [13] |
| 2020 | Burrow | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Animator [8] |
| 2021 | Twenty Something | No | No | No | Yes | Story trust |
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Story Artist | Other | Notes/Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014–17 | We Bare Bears | No | 20 episodes | 17 episodes | Yes | Character designer [4] |
| 2016 | Goodnight, Ice Bear | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Editor [14] |
| Award | Date | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Awards | April 25, 2021 | Best Animated Short | Burrow | Nominated | [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] |
| Annie Awards | February 6, 2016 | Outstanding Achievement for Storyboarding in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production | We Bare Bears | Nominated | [21] |
| February 3, 2018 | Outstanding Achievement for Storyboarding in a Feature Production | Coco | Nominated | [7] | |
| Hollywood Critics Association | March 5, 2021 | Best Short Film | Burrow | Nominated | [22] |
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Joshua Cooley is an American filmmaker, storyboard artist, and voice actor. He is best known for directing the animated films Toy Story 4 (2019) and the upcoming Transformers One (2024), the former for which he won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. He also co-wrote the screenplay for the film Inside Out (2015), which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
Adrian Molina is an American animator, storyboard artist and screenwriter. He is best known for his work at Pixar, he co-wrote the screenplay and story of Coco (2017), which he also co-directed.
Domee Shi is a Canadian film director and screenwriter. She has directed the short film Bao (2018) and the feature films Turning Red (2022) and the upcoming Elio (2025), becoming the first woman to direct a short film and then the first woman with sole director's credit on a feature film for Pixar.
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Burrow is a 2020 American animated short film written and directed by Madeline Sharafian, produced by Michael Capbarat at Pixar Animation Studios, and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The plot features a young rabbit as she tries to build the burrow of her dreams, becoming embarrassed each time she accidentally digs into a neighbor's home. The eighth short film in the SparkShorts series, the short was released on Disney+ on December 25, 2020, and later in theaters on January 12, 2024 alongside Soul. The short was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 93rd Academy Awards.
Elio is an upcoming American animated science fiction adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is being directed by Domee Shi and Madeline Sharafian with additional direction by Adrian Molina, and produced by Mary Alice Drumm. The film stars the voices of Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldaña, Jameela Jamil, and Brad Garrett. It follows an eleven-year-old boy named Elio Solis (Kibreab) who accidentally becomes the intergalactic Ambassador of planet Earth after being beamed up to the Communiverse by aliens for making contact. Elio must form new bonds with eccentric alien lifeforms and survive a series of formidable trials.