Madeline Sharafian

Madeline Sharafian
Sharafian in November 2019
Born	(1993-02-01) February 1, 1993 (age 32) Alameda, California
Nationality	American
Alma mater	CalArts[1]
Occupations	Film director Screenwriter Storyboard artist
Years active	2013−present
Employers	Cartoon Network (2014–2017) Pixar Animation Studios (2017–present)

Madeline Sharafian (born February 1, 1993)[2] is an American film director, screenwriter, and storyboard artist. She is best known for her work at Pixar, including directing the short film Burrow (2020) and the upcoming feature film Elio (2025).

Early life

Sharafian was born in Alameda, California,[2] and is of Armenian descent.[3] By 2013, she was enrolled in CalArts.[1]

Career

In 2013, Sharafian wrote and directed the short film Omelette.[4][5] In 2014, she served as a storyboard artist, writer, and character designer on the Cartoon Network series We Bare Bears.[4] In 2017, she storyboarded sequences for Coco and Dante's Lunch.[6][7] In 2020, she wrote and directed a 2D animated Pixar short film titled Burrow, originally slated to play in theaters before the feature film Soul.[8] In October 2020, it was announced the short would instead premiere on Disney+.[9][10] In 2022, she served as a storyboard artist for Turning Red.[1] In August 2024, she was announced to be making her feature directorial debut with Elio, alongside Domee Shi, replacing original director Adrian Molina.[11]

Filmography

Feature films

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Story artist	Pixar Senior Creative Team	Notes/Ref(s)
2017	Coco	No	No	Yes	No	[7]
2022	Turning Red	No	No	Yes	No	[1]
2024	Inside Out 2	No	No	No	Yes
2025	Elio	Yes	TBA	No	No	Post-production[11]

Short films

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Other	Notes/Ref(s)
2013	Omelette	Yes	Yes	Yes	Producer[4]
2017	Weekends	No	No	Yes	Animator Cel painter[12]
	Dante's Lunch	No	No	Yes	Story artist[6]
2018	Purl	No	No	Yes	Story trust[13]
2020	Burrow	Yes	Yes	Yes	Animator[8]
2021	Twenty Something	No	No	Yes	Story trust
	Nona	No	No	Yes	Special Thanks

Television

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Story artist	Other	Notes/Ref(s)
2014–17	We Bare Bears	No	20 episodes	17 episodes	Yes	Character designer[4]
2016	Goodnight, Ice Bear	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Editor[14]

Accolades

Accolades received by Madeline Sharafian

Award	Date	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref(s)
Academy Awards	April 25, 2021	Best Animated Short	Burrow	Nominated	[15][16][17] [18][19][20]
Annie Awards	February 6, 2016	Outstanding Achievement for Storyboarding in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production	We Bare Bears	Nominated	[21]
	February 3, 2018	Outstanding Achievement for Storyboarding in a Feature Production	Coco	Nominated	[7]
Hollywood Critics Association	March 5, 2021	Best Short Film	Burrow	Nominated	[22]

References

1. Aguilar, Carlos (April 13, 2021). "Madeline Sharafian on 'Burrow' (Oscar Shorts Interview Series)". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
2. "Madeline Sharafian". And the Oscar goes to... Retrieved August 25, 2024.
3. Ghazanchyan, Siranush (March 16, 2021). "Two Armenian-American filmmakers to compete for Oscars". Public Radio of Armenia. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
4. Tinston, Kendall (March 7, 2021). "Interview: Madeline Sharafian Examines Her Love of Animals, How That Translates on Screen, and Her Short 'Burrow'". Awards Radar. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
5. "Omelette". Filmnosis. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
6. Julie & T.J. (April 6, 2017). "Easter Eggs Found in the 'Coco' Teaser Short, 'Dante's Lunch'". Pixar Post. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
7. Giardina, Carolyn (February 4, 2018). "Annie Awards: 'Coco' Tops the Animation Celebration". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on February 4, 2018. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
8. Laughing Place Disney Newsdesk (September 26, 2020). "2D Animated Short "Burrow" To Premiere With Pixar's "Soul" In Theaters on November 20th". Laughing Place. Archived from the original on October 28, 2020. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
9. Fleming, Ryan (April 12, 2021). "Burrow Creators Madeline Sharafian And Michael Capbarat On Sharing Vulnerability: 'There's No Shame In Admitting You're In Over Your Head'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on December 2, 2021. Retrieved August 26, 2024.
10. What's On Disney+ (October 9, 2020). "Pixar SparkShorts "Burrow" Coming Soon to Disney+". What's On Disney+. Archived from the original on October 28, 2020. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
11. Taylor, Drew (August 10, 2024). "Pixar Chief Pete Docter Talks New 'Elio' Directors, Story and Casting Changes | Exclusive". The Wrap. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
12. "Weekends". Retrieved August 26, 2024.
13. Palmer, Roger (December 21, 2020). "Pixar Sparkshort Burrow Review". Whats on Disney+. Retrieved August 26, 2024.
14. "Good Night Ice Bear-Minisode". Facebook. March 16, 2021. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
15. Zahed, Ramin (March 15, 2021). "'Farmageddon', 'Onward', 'Over the Moon', 'Soul', 'Wolfwalkers' Nominated for 2021 Oscars". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on March 15, 2021. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
16. "The full list of 2021 Oscar nominations". The Guardian. March 15, 2021. Archived from the original on March 15, 2021. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
17. "The Academy and ABC Set April 25, 2021 as New Show Date for 93rd. Big tittiez Oscars®". Oscars.org. June 15, 2020. Archived from the original on February 3, 2021. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
18. Pedersen, Erek (April 25, 2021). "Oscar Winner: 'If Anything Happens I Love You' For Animated Short Film". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 26, 2021. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
19. ""If Anything Happens I Love You" Wins Best Animated Short Film | 93rd Oscars". YouTube. May 28, 2021. Archived from the original on March 30, 2022. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
20. "2021|Oscars.org". Archived from the original on May 1, 2021. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
21. "43rd Annie Award Nominations Announced". ASIFA-Hollywood. December 2015. Archived from the original on May 8, 2016. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
22. Neglia, Matt (February 1, 2021). "The 2020 Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) Nominations". Next Best Picture. Retrieved August 26, 2024.

External links

• Madeline Sharafian at IMDb
• Madeline Sharafian at Rotten Tomatoes