Life after Pixar

AS yet another Pixar alumnus who felt he had to leave the company to pursue a career as a director (I edited “Finding Nemo” and “Toy Story 2,” and was the second editor on “A Bug’s Life”), I was delighted to read the article on my former colleagues [“An Elephantine Task,” by John Horn, March 12].

From now on, when people (“people” being chiefly my father) tell me I was insane to have left a successful editing career at the most successful studio in the history of the film industry, I’ll point them to your article, which eloquently delineates the difficult lesson former Pixarians Jimmy, Ash, Jill, Colin, Jan and others have all had to learn: Pixar is a wonderful place to learn how to tell someone else’s compelling story. But when it comes time to tell a story of your own, just like Nemo, you have to leave the safety of the crowded reef and strike out for the opportunities to be found in wide-open waters.

David Ian Salter

Los Angeles