Dan Gerson

Dan Gerson
Gerson (left) with Robert Baird atMonsters Universitypremiere in June 2013
Born	Daniel Robert Gerson (1966-08-01)August 1, 1966 New York City,U.S.
Died	February 6, 2016(aged 49) Los Angeles,California,U.S.
Occupation(s)	Screenwriter,voice actor
Years active	1997–2016
Notable work	Monsters, Inc. Monsters University Big Hero 6
Spouse	Beau Stacom ​ (m.1995)​
Children	2

Daniel Robert Gerson(August 1, 1966 – February 6, 2016) was an Americanscreenwriterand voice actor, best known for his work withPixar Animation StudiosandWalt Disney Animation Studios.He co-wrote the screenplays ofMonsters, Inc.,Monsters UniversityandBig Hero 6,which was reported to be his last film as screenwriter.

Gerson contributed material toChicken Little,Cars,Meet the Robinsons,Up,Inside OutandZootopia,as well as television shows includingMisguided Angeles,Big Wolf on CampusandSomething So Right.Big Hero 6won theAcademy Awardforbest animated filmand was also the highest-grossing animated film of 2014.He also won aBAFTAaward.

Early life

Gerson grew up in New York on theUpper West Sideand attended theEthical Culture Fieldston Schoolbefore studying atCornell University,where he was a member of the Sigma Pi fraternity, Mu chapter.He then studied for an MFA atNYUand wrote forNBCbefore joiningPixarin 1999.He married Beau Stacom, with whom he had two children.

Career in film writing

Monsters, Inc.

Gerson described writing his first film,Monsters, Inc.,as a highly collaborative process: "I would sit withPete DocterandDavid Silvermanand we would talk about a scene and they would tell me what they were looking for. I would make some suggestions and then go off and write the sequence. We'd get together again and review it and then hand it off to a story artist. Here's where the collaborative process really kicked in. The board artist was not beholden to my work and could take liberties here and there. Sometimes, I would suggest an idea about making the joke work better visually. Once the scene moved on to animation, the animators would plus the material even further. "Andrew Stantoncredited him as having rewritten and improvedMonsters, Inc.after he was unable to continue with the project: "I’ve never written anything that I felt was [not improvable], and Dan Gerson was the guy who came in after I left and kept running with it."

Monsters University

Gerson's collaborator Robert L. Baird noted that development ofMonsters Universitytook seven years from the basic idea of a prequel.Gerson described writingMonsters Universityas a challenge due to the difficulty of writing an engaging prequel when audiences know what the ending will be:

We wanted to try and do a movie in which Mike is our main character and we've had a lot of challenges with this being a prequel. We have never written a prequel, and in fact when we looked at the prequels that are out there, there weren't that many, and the ones that exist aren't great....how do we get people to come along on this journey even though they know where we're ending up? Can we get people to invest in his wants and desires and...almost cause the audience to forget a little bit about where we're ending up… If we’ve done our job, the audience will get so invested it's still going to be something of a surprise.

Gerson also in interview described the format of a college comedy challenging to integrate with an animated film for children: "There's a general sense of the fun of being a college student, without any of the things that might be in a more adult-oriented college film."At an interview with Baird at the premiere, Gerson again stressed the importance of collaboration and development:

We write a version of the script...and then we blow it to bits, we get in there with the Pixar brain trust, and they just smash it apart, and then you rebuild it and you do that like six, seven times. That's why we were on the movie for three and a half years. People can't understand how it could take that long to write. It's just that you're doing different iterations of the movie and it's getting better every time...we both worked on the first one and having those voices in our head, knowing that we want to stay true to those voices even though we're going ten years in the past...so that when you watchMonsters, Inc,there's consistency...The main thing is just to write, and we meet a lot of young writers who say, "I want to get into the business, how do I get into the business?" And a lot of them have trouble completing their first screenplay...you only get better by writing and rewriting and rewriting.

Roy Conli,who producedBig Hero 6,described his and Baird's approach to writing the film as being "to find that line that was emotional and not damaging."Outside scriptwriting, Gerson advised Pixar presidentEdwin Catmullon structuring his 2014 autobiography.

Cameos

Gerson also took small voice parts in some of his films, includingMonsters, Inc.andBig Hero 6,often as minor characters such as a janitor or desk sergeant. His contribution toMonsters, Inc.,the janitors Smitty and Needleman, began as guide vocals which directorPete Docterliked so much he kept in the final mix.His name also made a cameo appearance on a scoreboard inMonsters, Inc.as the most unsuccessful monster on the list and as the Desk Sergeant in Big Hero 6.

Filmography

• Monsters, Inc.- 2001 - screenplay and voice actor
• Chicken Little- 2005 - additional story material
• Cars- 2006 - additional screenplay material
• Meet the Robinsons- 2007 - additional story material
• Monsters University- 2013 - writer and voice actor
• Big Hero 6- 2014 - writer and voice actor

Death

Gerson died inLos Angeleson February 6, 2016, at the age of 49, fromheart failureandbrain cancer-related complications.He was working onCars 3at the time of his death. The film was completed by several screenwriters and was dedicated to his memory.

External links

• Dan GersonatIMDb
• Interview with Baird & Gerson
• Gerson at the premiere ofMonsters University