Let's get this out of the way: in almost all areas of everything, I know very little. Often you should not listen to me.

Okay.

So we know Orion and the Dark has one credited screenwriter (Charlie Kaufman--maybe you've heard of him), Additional Screenplay Material by Lloyd Taylor and Brandon Sawyer, and 22 Story Artists.

Wiki will tell you that a Story Artist is "a credit given to additional screenwriters on animated films who do not share in the screenplay or story credit, as can be seen on Pixar and Disney animated films."

So if you're like me, you may think to yourself "Somehow 24 people, plus Charlie, had a hand in the shooting draft of Orion."

However! Andrea on our FB page pointed out a Pixar job listing for a Story Artist, and it paints a more detailed picture of what goes down.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Receive written and verbal descriptions of a sequence from the director or head of story
• Create quick thumbnail sketches through to finished detailed storyboard panels
• Perform background research to inform the story process
• Illustrate script pages and come up with story ideas
• Pitch storyboards to the director and other members of the team 
• Work with director and head of story to define staging, pacing and camera action
• Come up with inventive ideas with a sense of entertainment and humor
• Develop character personality and dramatic/comedic action
• Draw storyboards for scenes assigned
• Refine dialogue where needed
• Revise, edit and modify sketches as needed, per director's notes  (Source)

This makes loads more sense.

I'm still curious as to how we went from Charlie's first draft to the shooting draft, because there are big differences. It's interesting to me. I don't think I've seen CK make changes on that scale before.

Thanks Andrea!