Award-Winning Story Artist at Pixar Animation Studios; Director of "Purl;" Head of Story on "Soul"

Emeryville, CA, USA
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Kristen Lester Biography

Kristen Lester is the head of story at Pixar Animation Studios. She works as a director, storyboard and visual development artist, and character designer. Lester also writes and works in color scripting, environment design, and prop design.

Lester wrote and directed her first animated short with the award-winning "Purl," a timely and topical short inspired by Lester’s challenging journey in animation. The short centers on a hardworking and open-hearted ball of yarn who takes a job at a fast-paced, male-centric company, aptly named B.R.O. Capital. The first ball of yarn to work at the company, Purl finds herself excluded and discriminated against by her coworkers. Considering changing her personality and appearance to fit in with the guys, Purl ultimately realizes that doing so would be doing a disservice to herself, and all other employees who stand out as different from the established norm.

With "Purl," Lester wanted to tap into the earlier days of her career, when change within the industry had yet to come. The first Pixar short made as part of the SparkShorts program—a series of independent animated shorts, made on a limited budget over the course of six months, created with the intention of spotlighting new storytellers—Purl was a challenge for Lester to make, largely due to the limitations she had faced with career growth in the past, and the way in which she’d been conditioned to think.

Lester also served as Head of Story on Pixar's "Soul", which was released in 2020.

BOOK Kristen Lester

Speaker profile last updated by AAE Talent Team on 06/27/2025.

Kristen Lester Videos

Purl | Pixar SparkShorts - YouTube

Purl | Pixar SparkShorts - YouTube

Purl, directed by Kristen Lester and produced by Gillian Libbert-Duncan, features an earnest ball of yarn named Purl who gets a job in a ...

Meet the Filmmakers Behind Purl | Pixar SparkShorts - YouTube

Meet the Filmmakers Behind Purl | Pixar SparkShorts - YouTube

Streaming Now on Disney+ – Sign Up at https://disneyplus.com/Director Kristen Lester and Producer Gillian Libbert-Duncan introduce their ...

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  • What topics does Kristen Lester speak about?

    Kristen Lester is a keynote speaker and industry expert whose speaking topics include Art & Design, Television & Film
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Kristen Lester is a keynote speaker and industry expert who speaks on a wide range of topics. The estimated speaking fee range to book Kristen Lester for your event is available upon request. Kristen Lester generally travels from Emeryville, CA, USA and can be booked for (private) corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. Similar motivational celebrity speakers are Michal Makarewicz, Domee Shi, Jennifer Yuh Nelson, Glen Keane and Matthew Luhn. Contact All American Speakers for ratings, reviews, videos and information on scheduling Kristen Lester for an upcoming live or virtual event.

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