HONEST CAREER NOTES ON STRIVING, FAILING AND FINDING FULFILMENT
Jennifer Lee, CCO at Disney
Jennifer, 51, is the chief creative officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios and has worked on films including Frozen, Moana and Encanto. She lives in LA with her husband, daughter and cat
MY MORNINGS ARE ALL ABOUT GETTING UP AND OUT.
My own coffee and breakfast often have to wait, because the moment I open my eyes, my cat, Zinnia is there waiting to be fed. I feel like I get more done first thing, so I like to arrive at the office by 8am before meetings start at 9am. I have ADHD, so I’m not a naturally organised person – I would fall apart without my calendar. My work day is pretty hectic as I’m juggling upwards of 14 full-length and short Disney projects all in different stages, so from one hour to the next I could be reading a script or giving notes on animation mock-ups. It’s a fine balance between creativity and critical thinking – I’m lucky that I work collaboratively most of the time, so it’s easier to stay inspired.
MY FIRST DAY AT DISNEY WAS TERRIFYING.
After completing an MFA in film and doing lots of screenwriting, 12 years ago I started at Disney with a temporary writing gig on Wreck It Ralph. I spent the first few hours wrestling my imposter syndrome and thinking, ‘What am I doing here?’ but by the end of the day, we’d cracked something important and I remember thinking, ‘I am here for a reason.’ So many of us grew up on Disney and cherish it, so it feels like a huge responsibility, as well as a privilege, to be part of the team that’s shaping its future. I’m constantly being reminded of how much the characters I’ve created mean to people.
2013 WAS THE YEAR THAT CHANGED MY LIFE.
Frozen was the first feature-length film I directed for Disney, and when it came out it made me the first female director to gross more than $1 billion in the box office. People hate to hear this, but the character of Olaf nearly didn’t make it into the film: my first note after watching an early cut was ‘kill the snowman.’ But 10 years on, the legacy of that film is special to me. The cast and I still have a group chat and meeting a little girl dressed as Elsa will never get old. Neither will hearing women in the industry say that it makes them feel like big things are possible.
THE KEY TO ANY GREAT DISNEY FILM IS ‘THE JOURNEY’.
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