Alan Barillaro

Nicolas Alan Barillaro is a Canadian director, animator and writer at Pixar best known for his work on the animated short film Piper, that earned him widespread acclaim and an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film which he shared with the film's producer Marc Sondheimer.

Barillaro also attended Sheridan College in Oakville.

In 2023 Barillaro published the middle grade novel Where the Water Takes Us. The book was a shortlisted finalist for the Canadian Children's Book Centre's Jean Little First-Novel Award in 2024.

In 2025 Barillaro published the middle grade novel Bunns Rabbit.

Piper Alan Barillaro used new, cutting-edge technology to create the six-minute short over three years. In order to give the sanderlings and other birds visible in the background a realistic look, Barillaro and the Piper animation team visited beaches in the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as the Monterey Bay Aquarium to study their appearance and behaviour. The sanderlings' feathers in particular were rendered in minute detail.

Filmography

Accolades Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Academy Awards February 26, 2017 Best Animated Short FilmAlan Barillaro and Marc Sondheimer for Piper Annie Awards February 4, 2017 Best Animated Short Subject