Company culture according to Pixar

The New York Times published this today about the differences between Hollywood's typical MO and the company culture at Pixar, and it highlights everything I want for Candle Fish Pictures.

I'm still not sure if my closest friends have caught on yet that while I love filmmaking, I want to do a lot more than just write and direct movies. A lot of young filmmakers have web sites and many even incorporate under company names either brilliant or idiotic. In fact, when my classmates and I first arrived at UCF's School of Film & Digital Media , the class ahead of ours dubbed us "the class of 1,000 production companies." Most of these "companies" will probably never survive past film school, at least not more than a couple of years. Of those that do survive, their purpose will continue to be the development of one particular filmmaker's movies. That is not my vision for Candle Fish Pictures.

Since establishing the company, I've put its name on more films by other filmmakers than I have on films I directed myself. There's a reason for that. The long-term big picture concept behind creating Candle Fish Pictures was to establish a company that would eventually dabble in every form of independent arts and entertainment media, with a whole family of creative minds driving its vision. While I've enjoyed collaborating with the directors I've worked with, I've yet to find any artists with whom I can share the substantial burden of making a company like that a sustainable success. I know people who like to joke about my company as if it's just my personal vanity plate, but in fact, I hate that I'm the only person running it. I want nothing more than to find some kindred spirits with whom I can share this company. I've found many like-minded artists, but they all hate Florida and want to move to LA, NY, or EU. Staying in Florida, however, is a huge part of the idea behind the company.

I've been working on a business plan for the company, and the concepts I'm developing within it are very much in line with the way Pixar is described in the Times. Unfortunately, the only way I can really implement those strategies is if I find partners with similar resolve and strengths that compliment my own.