Doug Sweetland

Directing & Comedy Track
Pixar Psyop

Doug has an animation career spanning 32 years. He animated at Pixar from Toy Story all the way to Cars winning back-to-back Annie Awards along the way. His directing debut was the Oscar-nominated Pixar short Presto, leading him to direct the Warner Brothers feature, Storks, alongside Nick Stoller. His pitch, Windy Day, launched Google Spotlight Stories and Doug was granted a patent for advances in virtual storytelling. Doug has sold a limited series to Disney and currently directs branded content at Psyop.

Key credentials:

  • Director, Psyop — Royal Kingdom cinematic universe for Dream Games (2025–present)
  • Animator, Pixar Animation Studios — began on Toy Story at age 19
  • CalArts alumnus, Character Animation — student films in permanent CalArts collection
  • 28 years in animation spanning feature film, VR, games, and AI

What you’ll work on with Doug:

  • ⁠Honing your sense of story and using that to inform your direction
  • ⁠Film grammar basics
  • ⁠Giving quick, clear direction
  • ⁠Receiving quick, clear direction as you work on each other’s reels!

Board

Mentored labs & courses

Directing & Comedy Track

Deadline: New
Doug Sweetland
Pixar, Psyop
Richard Pursel
NETFLIX, Warner Bros.
July 6 - 17, 2026
2 weeks
/ 12 participants
English
Kutná Hora, Czech Republic
Secret Link