Joshua Cooley (born May 23, 1979) is an American animator, screenwriter, director and voice actor. He is best known for directing the 2019 film '' Toy Story 4'', the fourth film of the ''Toy Story'' franchise, for which he won the

Academy Award for Best Animated Feature The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature is given each year for animated films. An animated feature is defined by the Academy as a film with a running time of more than 40 minutes in which characters' performances are created using a frame-by- ...

. He also worked on the 2015 Pixar animated film ''

Inside Out Inside Out may refer to: *Backwards (disambiguation) or inverse Books * '' Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd'', by Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason * ''Inside Out'', Christian book by Larry Crabb * ''Inside Out'', novel by Barry Eisler ...

'' and directed the short film '' Riley's First Date?'' that was included in its home video release.

Career

Cooley was recruited by Joe Ranft at Pixar, where he started his career as an intern, mostly working as a storyboard artist on films including '' The Incredibles'' (2004), the first two films of the ''Cars'' franchise (2006-2011), '' Ratatouille'' (2007), and '' Up'' (2009). In 2009, Cooley wrote and directed a short film '' George & A.J.'' for Pixar and Walt Disney Pictures. In 2015, Cooley worked as a screenwriter and storyboard supervisor on the film ''

'', which was released to critical acclaim. Cooley received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay for his work on the film, alongside

Pete Docter Peter Hans Docter (born October 9, 1968) is an American animator, film director, screenwriter, producer, voice actor, and chief creative officer of Pixar. He is best known for directing the Pixar animated feature films ''Monsters, Inc.'' (2001) ...

(the film's director), Ronnie Del Carmen (co-director), and Meg LeFauve. The same year, he wrote and directed another short film titled '' Riley's First Date?''. Following the success of ''Inside Out'', Cooley was tapped by John Lasseter and screenwriter Andrew Stanton to co-direct '' Toy Story 4''. Lasseter ended up setting aside his directorial duties in 2016, making Cooley the sole director. ''Toy Story 4'' was Cooley's directorial debut. Upon release, the film received critical acclaim, and Cooley took home his first Academy Award for

Best Animated Feature This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

. Cooley left Pixar in March 2020. Cooley is set to direct an animated '' Transformers'' film at

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

. The film, which will be "separate and apart from" the

Michael Bay Michael Benjamin Bay (born February 17, 1965) is an American film director and producer. He is best known for making big-budget, high-concept action films characterized by fast cutting, stylistic cinematography and visuals, and extensive use of ...

-directed franchise and the stand-alone '' Bumblebee'', will focus on Optimus Prime and Megatron's relationship. On May 19, 2020, it was reported that Cooley will write and direct a live-action adaptation of the children's book ''Malamander'' for

Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Sony Pictures or SPE, and formerly known as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.) is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio Conglomerate (company), conglom ...

, marking his first live-action film. On July 10, 2020, it was announced that Cooley would be the writer and director of the film ''Little Monsters'', starring Universal Monsters characters, for Universal Pictures.

Filmography

Films

Shorts

Other credits

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cooley, Josh 1979 births American film directors American male screenwriters American male voice actors American storyboard artists American animated film directors Animation screenwriters Animators from California Annie Award winners Living people Cartoon Network Studios people Pixar people Directors of Best Animated Feature Academy Award winners