Credo: Pixar's Jonas Rivera, producer of 'Up'

Jonas Rivera of Pixar Animation Studios, producer of the upcoming feature film "Up," says that the best part of his job is that it’s a different job almost every single day. (Mike Koozmin/Special to The Examiner)

SAN FRANCISCO — Jonas Rivera, producer of the newly released animated feature film, "Up," from Bay Area Pixar Animation Studios, graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in film production. He tells us about the difficulties of balancing the creative and practical, the rewards of persistence and how movies can bring us all back to our inner kid.

What would you say is your favorite part about your job? The best part of my job is that it’s a different job almost every single day … you see the film go from page to storyboard to the computer model to animation; it’s like I see life breathed into it.

Which is your least favorite? The truth is, I’m the producer and I have to sometimes be the bearer of bad news. As much as I like to [say] the sky’s the limit at Pixar, the sky isn’t the limit. This is a medium of limitations and sometimes, I have to be the voice of reason to the director: “No, we can’t do that.” That’s very hard to do because it’s a director-driven studio and it takes a lot of navigation, I think, to balance the creative and technical needs of the show with what we can really do.

What’s the best piece of advice someone’s given to you? This may sound corny, but actually my mother, when I got this job as the production assistant, actually I was the intern, we’re talking 14 years ago. I was the first intern at Pixar. And I knew I loved animation … I was frustrated, I said, “God, I wish I could animate.” And she says, “you should just hang on to what you love, learn everything you can about it, and you might find you’re there longer than anybody.” And lo and behold, 14 years later, I’m in charge of making these movies as opposed to animating a character in one of them. If you love what you do, there’s no reason to ever let it go. You learn everything you can and you just kind of hang onto it, and that’s what I’ve done here.

What would you say is one thing you need to do before you die? I’d like to travel. We spend so much time on these films — and this is going to sound so “boo-hoo me” — and the only time we get to travel is with the film. Now that I’m done and I have two small girls, I want to take some time and I really want to travel. I want to go to Africa or somewhere crazy, take my girls and my wife, and really breathe and see the world.

Is there a book or film that has had the most impact on your life? That’s easy for me. The original James Barrie “Peter Pan” without a doubt … There was this quote by Walt Disney once that said: “We’re not making movies for kids, we’re trying to make movies for kids that are lost inside the adult in all of us.” I’ve always thought that’s such a cool way to say it … to remind everyone what it was like to be a kid and to have that sense of wonder, and to see these films.