Nerdly » The Filmmakers Podcast #281: Writer/director Angus MacLane on ‘Lightyear’

20th Jun2022

The Filmmakers Podcast #281: Writer/director Angus MacLane on ‘Lightyear’

by Phil Wheat

Here’s the latest episode of the The Filmmakers Podcast, part of the ever-growing podcast roster here on Nerdly. If you haven’t heard the show yet, you can check out previous episodes on the official podcast site, whilst we’ll be featuring each and every new episode as it premieres.

For those unfamiliar with the series, The Filmmakers Podcast is a podcast about how to make films from micro budget indie films to bigger budget studio films and everything in-between. Our hosts Giles Alderson, Dan Richardson, Andrew Rodger and Cristian James talk how to get films made, how to actually make them and how to try not to f… it up in their very humble opinion. Guests will come on and chat about their film making experiences from directors, writers, producers, screenwriters, actors, cinematographers and distributors.

The Filmmaker’s Podcast #281: “Lightyear”, Pixar and a career in filmmaking with writer-director Angus MacLane

Today on the show, we welcome screenwriter-director Angus MacLane! Angus has now worked at Pixar for over 20 years. He was involved as an animator in films like A Bug’s Life (1998), Toy Story 2 (1999), Monsters, Inc. (2001), Finding Nemo (2003), The Incredibles (2004), Cars (2006), Ratatouille (2007), WALL-E (2008), Up (2009), Toy Story 3 (2010) and many more. After co-directing Finding Dory (2016), Angus is about to release his debut feature film, Pixar’s Lightyear. Our hosts, Giles Alderson and Dom Lenoir, sat down with Angus to talk with him about his filmmaking journey: He discusses the films that inspired him, how he started working at Pixar, what the industry was like back then, and how he slowly climbed the ranks at Pixar. He obviously talks all about Lightyear, how it came about, the emotional core of the film, the importance of collaboration, tone, and why you need to be an expert on the genre you’re working in.Angus gives a lot of great insight into the job as a director, which also applies to live-action directors. Sit back, relax and enjoy this week’s episode with Angus MacLane.