To Pixar and Beyond audiobook cover - My Unlikely Journey with Steve Jobs to Make Entertainment History

To Pixar and Beyond

My Unlikely Journey with Steve Jobs to Make Entertainment History

Lawrence Levy

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Biography & MemoirEntrepreneurship

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To Pixar and Beyond
Early Struggles & Joining+
Evaluating the Business+
The Pivot to Entertainment+
The Four-Pillar Strategy+
The IPO Journey+
Scaling & Creative Control+
Renegotiating with Disney+
Aftermath & Lessons Learned+

Quiz — Test Your Understanding

Question 1 of 7
Why did Lawrence Levy ultimately decide to join Pixar despite its bleak financial situation?
  • A. He was offered an unprecedented salary and guaranteed stock options by Steve Jobs.
  • B. He was captivated by the storytelling of Toy Story and the immense potential of the creative team.
  • C. He wanted to transition his career out of Silicon Valley and into Hollywood film direction.
  • D. He knew Disney was planning to acquire Pixar and wanted to capitalize on the buyout.
Question 2 of 7
What was the primary problem with Pixar's initial three-film agreement with Disney?
  • A. Pixar's share of the annual profits was limited to around $4 million, and they could not make films with anyone else.
  • B. Disney demanded that Pixar completely abandon its RenderMan software and focus only on short films.
  • C. Pixar was required to fund 100% of the production costs, which they could not afford at the time.
  • D. Disney retained the rights to replace Pixar's animation team with their own in-house animators.
Question 3 of 7
Which of the following was NOT one of the four pillars of Pixar's business plan developed by Levy, Jobs, and Catmull?
  • A. Increasing Pixar's share of film profits to at least 50 percent.
  • B. Raising enough funds through an IPO to cover production costs.
  • C. Diversifying the company's revenue by building theme parks and distributing live-action films.
  • D. Establishing Pixar as a recognized brand so audiences knew who made the films.
Question 4 of 7
Why did top-tier investment banks like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley decline to handle Pixar's IPO?
  • A. They disliked the unpredictability of the film business and the prospect of waiting years for a better Disney deal.
  • B. They believed that computer animation was a passing fad that could not compete with traditional hand-drawn animation.
  • C. They refused to work with Steve Jobs due to his controversial exit from Apple ten years prior.
  • D. They required a 50% equity stake in Pixar, which Steve Jobs and Lawrence Levy refused to give up.
Question 5 of 7
When Pixar needed to scale up its film production, who was ultimately given the final say on creative decisions?
  • A. Steve Jobs and Lawrence Levy, to ensure the films remained financially viable.
  • B. A joint committee of Disney executives and Pixar investors.
  • C. John Lasseter and the Pixar story team.
  • D. Ed Catmull and the instructors at Pixar University.
Question 6 of 7
What compromise convinced Disney CEO Michael Eisner to finally grant Pixar equal brand billing on their films?
  • A. Pixar agreed to lower its demand for box office profits from 50 percent to 30 percent.
  • B. Disney was given the right to buy Pixar stock, allowing them to benefit financially from promoting the Pixar brand.
  • C. Pixar agreed to produce three additional short films exclusively for the Disney Channel.
  • D. Steve Jobs agreed to personally fund the marketing campaigns for the next two Pixar releases.
Question 7 of 7
What Buddhist philosophy did Lawrence Levy use to describe the ultimate secret to Pixar's success?
  • A. Karma, reflecting how the team's early struggles and hard work eventually yielded massive financial rewards.
  • B. The Eightfold Path, representing the eight distinct steps required to create a feature-length animated film.
  • C. Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, illustrating how the team had to approach the film industry with no preconceived notions.
  • D. The Middle Way, representing the necessary balance between practical business structure and creative fluidity.

To Pixar and Beyond — Full Chapter Overview

To Pixar and Beyond Summary & Overview

To Pixar and Beyond (2016) tells the story of how Lawrence Levy and Steve Jobs turned an unknown and struggling computer imaging company – Pixar – into an animation studio worth billions of dollars. Along the way, the company faced numerous internal and external challenges, tackling each with creative and strategic decisions that ultimately led to its success.

Who Should Listen to To Pixar and Beyond?

  • Leaders of organizations or start-ups
  • Animation fans inspired by Pixar’s work
  • Entertainment buffs interested in the business side of things

About the Author: Lawrence Levy

Lawrence Levy is a Harvard Law School graduate who started his career at Silicon Valley’s largest law firm, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. He later became an executive at Electronics for Imaging, a color desktop publishing start-up, and in 1994, he joined Pixar as its executive vice president and chief financial officer. In 2003, Levy cofounded Juniper Foundation, an organization that promotes traditional meditation practices for the modern world.

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