Adrian Molina (born August 23, 1985) is an American animator, storyboard artist and screenwriter who works for Pixar. He co-wrote the screenplay and story of Coco (2017), which he also co-directed.
Adrian Molina | |
|---|---|
 Molina at the 2017 Annecy International Animated Film Festival | |
| Born | August 23, 1985 Yuba City, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | California Institute of the Arts |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 2006–present |
| Employer | Pixar Animation Studios (2007–present) |
| Spouse |
Ryan Dooley (m. 2011) |
Early life and education
editMolina was born in Yuba City, California to a Mexican family, and raised in Grass Valley, and he graduated from Bear River High School in 2003, to subsequently attend and graduate from the California Institute of the Arts in 2007.[1]
Career
editMolina has joined at Pixar since 2007, where he started as a 2D animator on Ratatouille. He later moved on to be a storyboard artist, working on Toy Story 3 and Monsters University.[1] Molina also illustrated the Little Golden Book for Toy Story 3.[2] After writing for The Good Dinosaur, Molina started his first assignment as a screenwriter, for Coco, and later went on to co-direct the film. He also wrote several lyrics for the film.[1][3][4]
Following the success of Coco and the D23 Expo announcement in September 2022, Molina was announced to direct the upcoming feature film Elio, set to release on June 13, 2025.[5][6][7] However in August 2024, it was announced that Molina had left Elio to work on another original film with Domee Shi and Madeline Sharafian directing instead.[8] Nevertheless, he is reportedly retaining his director credit because of the amount of work he directed that is being kept in the film.[9]
Personal life
editMolina is gay. He has been married to Ryan Dooley since 2011.[10]
Filmography
edit| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Executive Producer |
Story Artist |
Other | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Ratatouille | No | No | No | No | Yes | Animator: End Titles |
| 2010 | Toy Story 3 | No | No | No | Yes | No | |
| 2013 | Monsters University | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Additional Screenplay Material Opening Title Designer and Director |
| 2015 | The Good Dinosaur | No | No | No | No | Yes | Additional Screenplay Material |
| 2017 | Coco | Co-Director | Yes | No | No | Yes | Additional Voices, Songwriter |
| 2019 | Toy Story 4 | No | No | No | No | Yes | Pixar Senior Creative Team |
| 2020 | Onward | No | No | No | No | Yes | |
| Soul | No | No | No | No | Yes | ||
| 2021 | Luca | No | No | No | No | Yes | Additional Story Contributor Pixar Senior Creative Team |
| 2022 | Turning Red | No | No | Associate | No | Yes | Pixar Senior Creative Team |
| Lightyear | No | No | No | No | Yes | ||
| 2023 | Elemental | No | No | No | No | Yes | |
| 2024 | Inside Out 2 | No | No | No | No | Yes | |
| 2025 | Elio | Yes | TBA | No | No | Yes |
Accolades
edit| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Film | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Awards | March 4, 2018 | Best Animated Feature | Coco | Won | [11] |
| Annie Awards | February 3, 2018 | Directing in an Animated Feature Production | Coco | Won | [12] |
| Music in an Animated Feature Production | Coco | Won | |||
| Writing in an Animated Feature Production | Coco | Won | |||
| Humanitas Prize | February 16, 2018 | Feature – Family | Coco | Nominated | [13] |
| Imagen Awards | August 25, 2018 | Best Director | Coco | Won | [14] |
References
edit- ^ a b c "'Coco's Mexican-American Co-Director Adrian Molina Reveals Origins of Pixar's Día de Muertos Film".
- ^ Spring Into Action! (Disney/Pixar Toy Story 3) by Annie Auerbach | PenguinRandomHouse.com.
- ^ "Pixar Coco plot details revealed | EW.com". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
- ^ Robinson, Joanna. "Pixar's Coco Is a "Love Letter to Mexico" When It's Needed Most". HWD. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
- ^ "'Elio': Pixar Sets New Pic About 11-Year-Old Boy Beamed Into Space; America Ferrera Stars & 'Coco's Adrian Molina Directs". Deadline Hollywood. September 9, 2022. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
- ^ Meyer, Joshua (September 9, 2022). "Disney Announces New Pixar Sci-Fi Adventure Comedy, Elio [D23]". /Film. Archived from the original on October 2, 2022. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
- ^ McClintock, Pamela (October 27, 2023). "Disney Delays 'Snow White' and 'Elio' a Year, Removes Jonathan Majors' 'Magazine Dreams' From Calendar". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 27, 2023.
- ^ Taylor, Drew (August 10, 2024). "Pixar Chief Pete Docter Talks New 'Elio' Directors, Story and Casting Changes | Exclusive". TheWrap. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
- ^ Julie & T.J. (August 9, 2024). "Pixar at the 2024 D23 Expo – News Consolidation". Pixar Post. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
- ^ Crispim, Fabio (June 30, 2018). "'Coco' co-director Adrian Molina is 'all for' an LGBT Pixar film". attitude. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
- ^ "Oscars: The Complete Winners List". The Hollywood Reporter. March 4, 2018. Archived from the original on March 5, 2018. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
- ^ 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 29, 2024.
- ^ Pedersen, Erik (January 9, 2018). "Humanitas Prize Finalists Announced; Feature Awards Split Into 3 Categories". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 9, 2018. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
- ^ Ramos, Dino-Ray (August 26, 2018). "Imagen Awards: 'One Day At A Time', 'Coco' Among Honorees – Full Winners List". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on August 26, 2018. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
External links
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