Madeline Sharafian
Director, Elio, Pixar Animation Studios
Madeline Sharafian joined Pixar Animation Studios as a story intern in 2013, and returned for a full time position in May 2015 as a storyboard artist on the Academy Award® -winning film “Coco.” She also worked as a story lead on Pixar’s feature film “Onward.” Sharafian also directed “Burrow,” the Academy Award® nominated short film that came out of Pixar’s SparkShorts program. “Burrow” released on Disney+ on December 25, 2020 along with Pixar’s Academy Award® -winning feature film “Soul.” Currently, Sharafian is directing Pixar’s upcoming feature film “Elio,” alongside directors Domee Shi and Adrian Molina, and producer Mary Alice Drumm. “Elio” is set to release in theaters June 20, 2025.
Prior to Pixar, Sharafian worked at Cartoon Network as a storyboard artist and writer on the show “We Bare Bears.” She also created character designs for the pilot episode while she was attending college at CalArts.