In Domee Shi and Madeline Sharafian’s Elio, a young boy who has lost his parents struggles to connect with his aunt and the people around him. His desperation to be abducted by aliens results in an intergalactic mix-up that has him mistaken for a spokesperson for the entire planet Earth and leaves him as the only hope for defense against a vengeful warlord with a son who feels just as out of place as Elio.
Awards Buzz spoke with Shi and Sharafian about their longstanding collaborations. Shi recalled what she knew of Sharafian before they met:
“We’ve known each other for over ten years, right? The first time we worked together was on Turning Red, but we’ve known of each other’s work. I knew her student short films. It was just so fun and charming, especially your iconic, viral Omelette short that got like a bajillion views on YouTube and Facebook.”
Sharafian added the excitement of getting to know Shi in the first place:
“It’s so cute that, I feel like, by the time you meet the other story artists who work at Pixar, most of the time, you already know of their work and you know about them, so you’re starstruck in every meeting, which I still think is really charming.”
Shi described Sharafian as a “legendary, badass story artist at Pixar” who worked on some of her favorite sequences in Coco and Onward and that it was so crucial to get her on board with Turning Red, which Sharafian remembers as a very positive working experience because Shi never had any notes for her whenever she pitched something, all part of their symbiotic relationship based on similar tastes, sensibilities, and understanding of material.
Watch the video above to see a glimpse of their endearing dynamic and hear about their passion for telling this particular story of someone finding his place in the universe.
Elio is streaming on Disney+.
