Dylan
Sisson

Before I had any sensible plan for a career, I was making comics and animation.

I wrote and illustrated a comic book and directed my own short indie films, using new technology to make things I couldn't have made otherwise. To my surprise, one of those films received the Best Computer Animated Short award at the Animar Festival in Mallorca, Spain. It opened a few doors, including one at Pixar.

I joined Pixar Animation Studios in 1999 and have worked with the RenderMan group ever since. Today, as Head of RenderMan Creative Engagement, I work with artists, engineers, and studios to explore what's possible with rendering technology and help artists put those possibilities to work.

Over the years, I've become fascinated by how tools create new creative opportunities. They don't just make things faster or easier. They change what artists try, how we think, and ultimately what we imagine is possible.

Outside Pixar, I keep making things across drawing, painting, sculpture, digital experimentation, and emerging media. A sketch can become a VR sculpture, a render, a manufactured object, or a talk. The route is rarely direct, which is usually where the interesting part starts.

I live in San Francisco, still draw monsters whenever I can, and remain interested in the same question that has followed me through all of it:

What can we create today that we couldn't create yesterday?