Carolyn Mazanec

Pixar — AI Shorts Writer + Director

Wrote and directed a short film blending generative AI with traditional 3D animation in a GenAI-native hybrid pipeline. Led 17 Pixar artists in testing and evaluating emerging generative tools for creative and production workflows, presenting recommendations to leadership.

Pixar — Senior Production Coordinator

Hoppers (Dailies, Rendering, Lightspeed, Sweatbox): Ran Dailies for a 250-person crew and redesigned the Sweatbox workflow, managing quota and budget.

Elio (Characters): Served as Interim Characters Dept Manager, leading final approvals, budget/timeline, and BG casting.

Lightyear (Animation): Ran Animation Dailies with the director and Animation Polish reviews with Directing Animators.

Turning Red (Sets, Characters, Layout, Sweatbox): Tracked all Sets assets and managed Characters, Layout + Sweatbox fixes through final stages of production.

MasterClass — Post Production Lead

Built post-production schedules and represented Post in executive launch planning. Developed cross-functional workflows and managed vendors across sound, color, GFX, VO, and VFX.

Adobe — Account Development Manager

Led digital strategy conversations with major client account teams for Adobe Marketing Cloud.

Nielsen — UX Design Research Intern

Redesigned the Marketing Technologies portal and pitched 5 workflows to executives.

The Coat

Wrote and directed a 3-minute short film at Pixar, leading a cross-functional team and building a new AI / traditional animation hybrid pipeline. Presented key learnings to Pixar employees and executives.

These Here Parts

Writing and directing an 8-part series, leading a team of 6 and building new AI animation workflows.

The Bathroom Attendant

Writing and directing an AI mini-series, presenting workflow demos to filmmakers at Pixar.

Poor Dave

Writing an animated sitcom and directing a teaser, leading 10 artists through a hybrid AI / 3D pipeline.

Debbie's Dry Cleaning

Wrote and illustrated a webcomic, launching its multi-year social campaign. Reviving this story on Instagram with "moving comics" to test new AI filmmaking tools.

The Summer of Lexi & Dawn

Wrote and produced a $15K short film. Selected for the Sacramento International Film Festival and Wisconsin Film Festival, earned Honorable Mention at the Hollywood New Directors Film Festival, and was a ScreenCraft Shorts Screenplay quarter-finalist.

Casey Blatt

Wrote a 5-episode mini-series and placed as a ScreenCraft Pilot Launch semi-finalist.

Lucid

Animated a short film using rotoscoping techniques.

A Pink House

Wrote and published a novel, collaborating with an illustrator for cover and chapter title designs.

Northwestern University

B.S. in Communications + English — Dean's List