Brenda Chapman
Director / Writer / Producer / CEO
BRENDA CHAPMAN started her career as a story artist at Walt Disney Feature Animation in 1987, where she worked on the films THE LITTLE MERMAID, THE RESCUERS DOWN UNDER, the Oscar-nominated BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME and FANTASIA 2000. Chapman was also the story supervisor on the original The Lion King, for which she won the Annie Award for Best Individual Achievement for Story Contribution in the Field of Animation.
Chapman then helped launch DreamWorks Animation Studios, where she co-directed the 1998 release of the Oscar-winning THE PRINCE OF EGYPT with Simon Wells and Steve Hickner. Chapman was the first woman to direct an animated feature for a major Hollywood studio. She also contributed to many other films under the DreamWorks banner, including CHICKEN RUN, SINBAD: LEGEND OF THE SEVEN SEAS, and SHREK.
She joined Pixar Animation Studios in September 2003 on the invitation of the late great Joe Ranft as a senior story artist on CARS. Chapman then created, wrote and directed BRAVE – inspired by her relationship with her daughter - for which she was the first woman to win an Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature Film.
While at Pixar, Chapman also contributed to RATATOUILLE, WALL-E, and UP, along with other films in development as part of what was then called “The Brain Trust.” Chapman has helped to develop and consult on films for numerous studios over several years which include not only Disney, DreamWorks, and Pixar, but also Universal, Sony, Lucasfilm, and Fox.
Other awards include the Novus Creative Catalyst Award, the 2013 Burbank
International Film Festival’s Feature Animation Honoree Award, the San Francisco International Women’s Film Festival Achievement Award and the Festival International de Cinema d’Animation of Meknes, Morocco (FICAM)
Honoree Award. Chapman recently finished her first live-action film COME AWAY, starring David Oyelowo and Angelina Jolie which premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.
She and her husband, filmmaker Kevin Lima (A GOOFY MOVIE, Disney’s TARZAN, ENCHANTED), created and co-own ‘Twas Entertainment, which focuses on family entertainment.
Chapman is represented by Tanya Cohen at WME and Candace Carlo at Kleinberg, Lange, Cuddy & Carlo LLP.
