Madeline Sharafian

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Madeline Sharafian
Madeline Sharafian.jpg
Madeline Sharafian at Annecy International Animation Film Festival in 2025.
Born (1993-02-01) February 1, 1993 (age 32)
Alameda, California
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater CalArts [1]
Occupations
  • Film director
  • Screenwriter
  • Storyboard artist
Years active2013−present
Employers

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 feature film Elio (2025).

Contents

Early life

Sharafian was born in Alameda, California, [2] and is of Armenian descent. [3] By 2013, she was enrolled in CalArts. [1]

Career

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 was a story lead on the Academy-Award nominated Onward , then later 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 that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the short would instead premiere on Disney+. [9] [10] In 2022, she served as a storyboard artist for Turning Red . [1] In June 2025, she made her feature directorial debut with Elio , alongside Domee Shi and Adrian Molina. [11]

Before Elio, she also served as the associate executive producer on the Disney+ series Dream Productions .

Filmography

Feature films

YearTitle Director Story Writer Story Artist Pixar Senior
Creative Team		Notes/Ref(s)
2017 Coco NoNoYesNo [7]
2020 Onward NoNoYesNo [12]
2022 Turning Red NoNoYesNo [1]
2025 Elio YesYesNoYes [11] [13]

Short films

YearTitle Director Writer OtherNotes/Ref(s)
2013OmeletteYesYesYesProducer [4]
2017 Weekends NoNoYesAnimator
Cel painter [14]
Dante's Lunch NoNoYesStory artist [6]
2018 Purl NoNoYesStory trust [15]
2020 Burrow YesYesYesAnimator [8]
2021 Twenty Something NoNoYesStory trust
Nona NoNoYesSpecial Thanks

Television

YearTitle Director Writer Story Artist OtherNotes/Ref(s)
2014–17 We Bare Bears No20 episodes17 episodesYesCharacter Designer [4]
2016 Goodnight Ice Bear YesYesNoYesEditor [16]

Accolades

Accolades received by Madeline Sharafian
AwardDateCategoryNominated workResultRef(s)
Academy Awards April 25, 2021 Best Animated Short Burrow Nominated [17] [18] [19]
[20] [21] [22]
Annie Awards February 6, 2016 Outstanding Achievement for Storyboarding in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production We Bare Bears Nominated [23]
February 3, 2018 Outstanding Achievement for Storyboarding in a Feature Production Coco Nominated [7]
Hollywood Critics Association March 5, 2021 Best Short FilmBurrowNominated [24]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Aguilar, Carlos (April 13, 2021). "Madeline Sharafian on 'Burrow' (Oscar Shorts Interview Series)". Cartoon Brew . Retrieved August 25, 2024.
  2. 1 2 "Madeline Sharafian". And the Oscar goes to... Retrieved August 25, 2024.
  3. ↑ Ghazanchyan, Siranush (March 16, 2021). "Two Armenian-American filmmakers to compete for Oscars". Public Radio of Armenia . Retrieved August 25, 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Tinston, Kendall (March 7, 2021). "Interview: Madeline Sharafian Examines Her Love of Animals, How That Translates on Screen, and Her Short 'Burrow'". Awards Radar. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
  5. ↑ "Omelette". Filmnosis. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
  6. 1 2 Julie & T.J. (April 6, 2017). "Easter Eggs Found in the 'Coco' Teaser Short, 'Dante's Lunch'". Pixar Post. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
  7. 1 2 3 Giardina, Carolyn (February 4, 2018). "Annie Awards: 'Coco' Tops the Animation Celebration". The Hollywood Reporter . Archived from the original on February 4, 2018. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
  8. 1 2 Laughing Place Disney Newsdesk (September 26, 2020). "2D Animated Short "Burrow" To Premiere With Pixar's "Soul" In Theaters on November 20th". Laughing Place. Archived from the original on October 28, 2020. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
  9. ↑ Fleming, Ryan (April 12, 2021). "Burrow Creators Madeline Sharafian And Michael Capbarat On Sharing Vulnerability: 'There's No Shame In Admitting You're In Over Your Head'". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on December 2, 2021. Retrieved August 26, 2024.
  10. ↑ What's On Disney+ (October 9, 2020). "Pixar SparkShorts "Burrow" Coming Soon to Disney+". What's On Disney+ . Archived from the original on October 28, 2020. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
  11. 1 2 Taylor, Drew (August 10, 2024). "Pixar Chief Pete Docter Talks New 'Elio' Directors, Story and Casting Changes | Exclusive". The Wrap . Retrieved August 25, 2024.
  12. ↑
  13. ↑ Idelson, Karen (June 6, 2025). "The Creative Team of Pixar's 'Elio' Explore the Depths of Their Animated Space Adventure". Animation Magazine. Retrieved June 18, 2025.
  14. ↑ "Weekends" . Retrieved August 26, 2024.
  15. ↑ Palmer, Roger (December 21, 2020). "Pixar Sparkshort Burrow Review". Whats on Disney+. Retrieved August 26, 2024.
  16. ↑ "Good Night Ice Bear-Minisode". Facebook . March 16, 2021. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
  17. ↑ Zahed, Ramin (March 15, 2021). "'Farmageddon', 'Onward', 'Over the Moon', 'Soul', 'Wolfwalkers' Nominated for 2021 Oscars". Animation Magazine . Archived from the original on March 15, 2021. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
  18. ↑ "The full list of 2021 Oscar nominations". The Guardian . March 15, 2021. Archived from the original on March 15, 2021. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
  19. ↑ "The Academy and ABC Set April 25, 2021 as New Show Date for 93rd. Big tittiez Oscars®". Oscars.org . June 15, 2020. Archived from the original on February 3, 2021. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
  20. ↑ Pedersen, Erek (April 25, 2021). "Oscar Winner: 'If Anything Happens I Love You' For Animated Short Film". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on April 26, 2021. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
  21. ↑ ""If Anything Happens I Love You" Wins Best Animated Short Film | 93rd Oscars". YouTube . May 28, 2021. Archived from the original on March 30, 2022. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
  22. ↑ "2021|Oscars.org". Archived from the original on May 1, 2021. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
  23. ↑ "43rd Annie Award Nominations Announced". ASIFA-Hollywood . December 2015. Archived from the original on May 8, 2016. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
  24. ↑ Neglia, Matt (February 1, 2021). "The 2020 Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) Nominations". Next Best Picture. Retrieved August 26, 2024.
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