Regular moviegoers — and even some Academy members — often believe that directing an animated feature means standing over an artist’s shoulder and simply saying, “Draw this.” But the six directors selected for Variety’s third annual Pixels and Pencils series at this year’s Scad Savannah Film Festival — Josh Cooley (“Transformers One”), Adam Elliot (“Memoir of a Snail”), Kelsey Mann (“Inside Out 2”), Morgan Neville (“Piece by Piece”), Chris Sanders (“The Wild Robot”) and Gints Zilbalodis (“Flow”) — want the industry to see animation directing on par with live-action work.

These auteurs reflect on their experiences shaping their films and their challenges in bringing animated stories to life.

Read: You can see all Academy Award predictions in all 23 categories on one page on the Variety Awards Circuit.

‘Transformers One’

Josh Cooley (“Transformers One”)

Cooley’s passion for the “Transformers” franchise is evident in his origin story, which explores the relationship between Autobots Optimus and Megatron.