What was it like developing the script with your cousin Jessica Barr after she had written the first draft?
Jessie Barr: We did a lot of talking and a lot of sharing; there were intimate conversations about what we’d gone through when we lost our parents.
Can you tell us about the evolution of this film?
Jayro Bustamante: Well, you know, at the beginning we were thinking about making a triptych, and that that triptych would be about three insults that are common in Guatemala.
Can you talk about the design of the film and how it’s another evolution for Pixar both in the extremes in realism and surrealism that it achieves?
One of the big joys for me in working in this business is to embrace stuff that is perfect for animation
Your films feel so naturalistic— as though you just took your crew to a location and filmed what was going on there. But the reality is quite different, isn’t it?
Chloé Zhao: Well, the trick is to make the audience feel like we just showed up.
What was your emotional reaction as a filmmaker while telling this story?
Part of the impetus for me in making a project is that I’m already emotionally affected by something.