Valerie LaPointe (born August 4, 1981) is an American director and storyboard artist for Pixar Animation Studios.
The studio mailed back, stating that they don't accept outside pitches, but they sent her an information packet detailing where to go to art school and what to study.
A VCU professor encouraged her to pursue a Master's degree,[2] in which she later enrolled in the School of Cinematic Studies at the University of Southern California (USC).
[6] She graduated from USC in 2007 with a Master of Fine Arts (MFA), and was hired as a full-time employee for Pixar.
She later worked on the Mater's Tall Tales and Toy Story Toons series, such as Small Fry (2011) and Partysaurus Rex (2012).
However, she listened to director Josh Cooley's pitch for the film, in which Bo Peep was to be the focal character.
[6] She remembered: "I think the biggest looming question was what happened in that space and time because in Toy Story 4 we see Bo being given away and then we pick back up with her, she is a lost toy ... We'd come up with a lot of ideas in the meantime: For me, it was a big mystery that we didn't have the screen time for in the feature, so it was just perfect for a short film.
It was announced to begin streaming on December 11, 2024,[10] with LaPointe directing several episodes alongside Mike Jones and Austin Madison.