Masha Ellsworth is a lead technical director in the characters department at Pixar Animation Studios by day and an indie filmmaker by night. "Little t" marks her directorial debut.
The Ukrainian-American filmmaker started her career in 2007 when she became an intern on Pixar’s Oscar Award-winning Ratatouille, working on sets and lighting. She then transitioned into characters for Pixar feature films such as UP, Toy Story 3, Brave, Cars 2, Inside Out, Finding Dory, Cars 3, Good Dinosaur, Coco, Incredibles 2, Onward and Turning Red. Born and raised in northern Ukraine, Ellsworth graduated from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah with a double degree in Computer Science and Visual Art.
Little t is a product of Pixar’s co-op project, in which employees are provided with start-up funding to create their own short animated films. Most of the work, however, was done pro bono by professionals from the animation industry, drawing from companies like Pixar, Netflix Animation, Dreamworks Animation, Sony Animation and DNEG, along with artists from around the globe. Contributors came from a variety of backgrounds, drawn together by Little t’s compelling story.
