Samo alum wins Oscar

Samo alumna Becky Neiman-Cobb (’93) has won an Academy Award for her role as a producer for  the Pixar short film: “Bao.” The short was released in theaters alongside “Incredibles 2” on June 15, 2018.“Bao,” an eight minute animation, tells the story of an aging Chinese woman living in Canada. Upon cooking a dumpling, she raises it as if it is her own son—feeding it, protecting it and grieving as it grows up and prepares to leave home. However, before it can, she eats it. Later that evening, her real son returns home and she refuses to speak with him, revealing that the dumpling was a coping mechanism for their estrangement. When he offers her the same food she had fed the dumpling, she finally opens up to him. The film ends with the family, including the son’s fiancee, making dumplings together.Neiman-Cobb began working on the film in 2016, though initial sketches began in 2014. Some of her earlier credits include serving as the production manager for “Finding Dory,” department manager for “Inside Out,” “Cars 2” and “Up,” production coordinator for “Up” and “Wall-e” and graphic designer for “Wall-e” and “Ratatouille.”In 2016, Neiman-Cobb, who attended Franklin Elementary and Lincoln Middle School prior to attending Samo, told Santa Monica Daily Press she believes being the editor-in-chief of Samo’s yearbook helped to prepare her for her career in the industry.“I’m really grateful for my time in Santa Monica and that I got the opportunities that I did. I feel like it had a big influence on who I became,” Neiman-Cobb told the Daily Press.