While initially intending to pursue mechanical engineering at Harvard, Danielle Feinberg AB ‘96 quickly shifted her focus to computer science after discovering a passion for programming and its applications. But when she was introduced to Pixar's early short films from the late eighties and early nineties, she realized there existed a perfect way to blend her love of art and technology: animation.

Upon graduation, she moved to San Francisco for a stepping stone job, but Danielle soon realized that while her summer job was a wonderful summer position, but not what she wanted long term. When a contact let her know that Pixar was staffing up for their next film, Danielle sent in her application immediately, thus beginning her journey toward becoming the animation powerhouse that she is today.

The first Pixar film she worked on was A BUG’S LIFE, where she had the chance to contribute to lighting thanks to mentorship from the head of the lighting department. This early experience sparked her passion for lighting, leading her to next tackle modeling and lighting for MONSTERS, INC. and lighting on TOY STORY 2. “By that time I had enough experience lighting, and it was clear that it was my passion.” Danielle recalls. She then went on to direct the lighting for iconic films such as WALL-E, BRAVE, and COCO.

Once she had lighting down, Danielle started looking for a new challenge. “After three films, I [knew what I was] doing as a director of photography for lighting, so I applied for a different position. I feel like that's very Harvard of me.” Danielle laughs. Pixar was starting to work on TURNING RED, and Danielle put herself up to be the Visual Effects Supervisor. “No woman had done that job in twenty years,” Danielle says, “[But] the director really wanted a different look. So, my having a combination of creative and tech was kind of perfect.” Despite the challenges of the pandemic and balancing work while parenting newborn twins, Danielle, along with the first all-female leadership team in the history of Pixar, delivered the film TURNING RED both early and under budget.

But, how exactly does lighting work on an animated film? If there are no live actors, what’s getting lit? “If we don't put lights in, it actually comes out black,” Danielle laughs. “It’s just a black frame.” This is because the software calculates light placement, intensity, and angles in order to bring each scene to life during the rendering process. Without Danielle and the lighting team, your favorite Pixar films would be two hours of darkness instead of two hours of heartwarming characters and powerful, sometimes tear-jerking, storylines (for example, INSIDE OUT. And also UP. And we can’t forget COCO. Pretty much all of them). 

“I fell in love with lighting because it's the moment where the world comes to life. It's a different moment for the animators, when they're seeing the characters. But for me, going from before lighting to lit is where I feel all the emotion. I could almost step through the screen into that world.” Danielle smiles. For her, lighting is a blend of composition, problem-solving, and "Christmas morning magic" when everything falls perfectly into place, making it a deeply special part of animated filmmaking. “It has distinct technical elements to it. There's a huge amount of strategy to it. How do you get [thousands of] shots through the pipeline when you're kind of the last department… And we can't miss our deadlines. Those don't change.” But that pressure and those high stakes only enhance the experience for Danielle as she works. 

On top of those internal challenges, the industry itself is constantly evolving. Just like Danielle, Pixar itself has been breaking barriers with its films for decades. This started with her very first film A BUG’S LIFE, where creating crowds of hundreds of ants was a major technical achievement for the time, especially for the “rudimentary” equipment they were using. Then with FINDING NEMO, there was another new challenge. The team has to ask themselves, “How do you animate underwater? No one's done animation underwater before.” Danielle says. But they figured it out. “And then you get to a movie like BRAVE,” Danielle continues, “Where she has long curly hair. That's a whole different physics problem… It took three years to figure it out and to get her hair to work.”

On top of her groundbreaking work at Pixar, Danielle has consistently been a mentor to young girls in STEM. Back in 2003, Danielle recalls how she reached out to a girls' math and science camp at Stanford, offering to help or come give a guest lecture. To her surprise, they scheduled her to teach three classes the following week. Armed with a VHS tape showing Pixar's animation process and two stuffed FINDING NEMO characters, Danielle gave her first lesson and it was a hit.

Over the next 20 years, Danielle became a regular speaker, using Pixar’s influence to inspire girls to pursue STEM and also to understand that they don’t have to choose between pursuing art or pursuing science. Her career is evidence that it’s possible to do both. Having been one of the few girls in her own science classes, Danielle works to encourage more girls to explore math and science. “I know what it feels like to sit in the classroom and be one of the only girls, and how hard that is, and how much harder it makes something that is already hard enough.” Danielle says. “You shouldn't have to fight through an extra layer just to study what you want. So this is what I could do to help prevent this.” And she’s been fighting the stigma ever since.

When asked what advice she has for those who want to follow in her footsteps, Danielle emphasizes the importance of staying open to different roles in the industry. “If you find what you really are passionate about, it's a very different experience,” she says. “So be open to the different directions that you could go.” Also, a demo reel is essential for creative roles. Additionally, she advises women not to let others push them into managerial roles, stressing that they belong in creative positions just as much as anyone else. 

As a final thought, Danielle summarizes her career: “I am not easily dissuaded from something I'm fascinated by. I think that can be very important in life, because there's going to be plenty of people who want to tell you what you can and can't do, and you have to turn and look internally at that point. I have a dogged pursuit of the things that I'm interested in, I don't let anything dissuade me.”

This profile was written by Laura Frustaci.