Mary Coleman
Mary Coleman is the Chief Creative Officer of Locksmith Animation. Based in London and LA, Locksmith is an independent producer of high-quality animated features and series for global audiences. Mary joined the leadership team in 2022, after 23 years at Pixar where she was Head of Development. Before Pixar, she was the Associate Artistic Director of San Francisco’s Magic Theatre, where she directed world premieres of new American plays. In 1999, Pixar Co-founder Ed Catmull brought her in to build their development department.
She was the first woman to participate in Pixar’s Brain Trust, providing creative feedback from development through production. Coleman co-founded The Story, Art, and Animation Artista groups. These successful Pixar programs empowered female artists, and paved the way for them to become directors, supervisors, and studio leads. She is also known for having launched many screenwriting careers.
During her tenure, Pixar created a legacy of modern classics including Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, WALL-E, Up, Toy Story 3 &4, Brave, Inside Out, Coco, Soul, and Turning Red among others.
Coleman holds a BA in Literature from Amherst College and an MFA in Theater Directing from the University of California at San Diego.