tavis: good evening. from los angeles, i am tavis smiley. tonight a conversation with , now winner ed catmull president of disney animation as well as pixar. he has written a new tome called "creativity, inc." then we will pivot to a conversation with oscar-winning actress marlee matlin about her new hit series "switched at birth." we are glad you joined us for those conversations coming up.

>> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. tavis: has earned five academy content well as excellence. ands president of pixar

disney animation. he has written a new tome called "creativity, inc." togives us insight in how harness and achieve goals. i should start with congratulations. i think we saw the news about the ultimate success of frozen. >> it became the highest selling animated film of all time. tavis: beat your own record. >> beat toy story three. tavis: how does that feel? how does it feel to be the guy on the team since the beginning, and i think americans know the names of these other guys more than your name.

>> i feel awkward being at the center of attention. i love solving the problems of having group work together and removing barriers. to be at the center of that is an awful place to be. tavis: that seems antithetical to the way it we view leadership. >> it is. most of the people are that way. a want to be part of something that is great. there is a cultural ethic that we are making films that touch the world. to do, what we want touch you emotionally. for me there is some inground about that you of the world. -- something rant about that view of the world. tavis: anybody like that wants to be viewed as a member of the team. a lot of people help me pull off this show every night. we are at team.

i suppose that is true of any entity, yet i can't think of a field where the work is more collaborative than the field you work in. how do you process that? >> i believe it has to be the team. the people understand it is a team. from the outside point of view they only see one or two people. the outside view is a distortion of what happens, yet inside the director truly appreciate everyone around them because they bring inc. they wouldn't get himself. -- get themselves. tavis: i want to talk about some advice you give. what is the life takeaway for you given the kind of work you do? you are in animation. aside from setting records and getting box office emma what you get from being animator in chief?

john lasseter is the animator chief. wayme personally it is the people respond to problems. i know when we have successes i feel good about it as anybody would, but when there is a crisis in the group comes together that is when i feel the best. i don't know how to describe it. when everything is falling apart ,nd that group owns the problem there is a special kind of feeling. >> you have interesting fascinating things about how we can better run our operations or be better players. one concept i found funny, the ugly baby. >> i first heard this when

disney was success all in the 90's. they had four films that changed history.cture they have a term, feed the beast. you have to keep stuff coming in. it's creative. it generates revenue. but andlly important, where does the new stuff come from. where does the creative come from? there is a concept most people have the beginning of the movie is like a young child like a little thing growing up, and it must refund to watch that for the baby grew up to be this film . what if the baby is ugly? this is the real point. all of our films that the beginning look terrible. -i don't say this to be

modest. a relay don't look good. they suck. at that point that team of people has out something that looks like a smoking heap of rubble on the floor, and it doesn't work. our job is to protect this thing when it isn't working. go through iteration after iteration. it takes years to get this. there is this time you are protecting this when it is ugly. you can't do that forever. at some point it has to mature into something that is good and which does work. betweenthis allen's feeding -- balance between protecting beast and the baby. it's hard because people want to make the decision now. what if the baby stays

ugly? get cuter inever the process of development, how do you know you need to get out of this? i go to movies and say, who thought this was going to work? they spent millions of dollars, and you tell me at no point nobody in this duty oh thought this is a bus. we are going to lose big time. let's pull out of this. and your business how do you know when that ugly baby ain't going to get better? togetherve people come , and at that point they find out i have something pretty good, or we are in trouble.

diffanimation we have a rent model. -- different model. the team will put it on their. we didn't make the movie yet. we just did drawings and put them up there with temporary music. it's like we did a beta version of it. we rework it and come back later. this works but this doesn't work. repeat this 6, 7, 8 times. we have a way of correcting it when it has gone off the rails. that being said, what happens if after all these that we don't because we have been in this place? we were there with toy story three and ratatouille.

the difference is you have got to protect the team when they are wandering in the wilderness. makeyou have to go in and changes. there isn't a sudden cutoff point. if the team isn't working well together the first and you do is holster the team. what if itt works doesn't work you reach a point where the director loses the crew. at that confidence. point you have to do something painful, which is to change the director. tavis: that's amazing because you told me toy story three was an ugly baby, and it goes on to be a huge block after. >> that was the only one of our 14 films that didn't have a major meltdown along the way. when we were making its eve called me one, that's eve called iai steve called and

said, i am nervous. we haven't had a single major problem. he said, you better watch out. i said, i'm not too worried because our next three films are disasters. tavis: this book is advised for the business world and beyond for how to make teams work at her. how do you go about making sure you have the right team? team ande to judge the not the people. instead, how will this team work together? are they laughing? if that post dated -- team is working, we are going to trust them, even though they are

going to make a bunch of the stakes. -- mistakes. they were exploratory mistakes. they ended up in a great space. >> he has been more collaborative work am a as much as anyone. the new text is called "creativity, inc." i promise i have not done justice to the text. i hope you're appetite has and what did. congratulations on all the future success to come. good to have you on. oscar-winning actress marlee matlin has always refused to take no for an answer.

she made her act and debut in children of a lesser god, which at went the academy award the age of 21. she has gone on to a global goal -- golden globe award and emmy nominations. she is currently in the peabody award-winning series on switch that earth, playing a guidance counselor to a hearing-impaired teenager. let's take a look at a scene ."om "switched at birth >> why would you do that?

tavis: it's good to have you on the program. this is not typically how we watch television. we see movies with the titles, but we don't typically watch television with this -- this way, but there is something about this program that is making it work. the numbers are huge. what is the biggest work for ?merican audiences >> obviously, it's the first time in television his three where the network has allowed deaf characters to be part of

.he scene entirely for the hearing audience or people who don't know sign language you're able to you what fors i to be able to watch those of us who have watched television for so long with subtitles. i think it's a brilliant means of rogue ramming. it's compelling. it makes it compelling for and i thinkwatch, it has broken down barriers. i have struggled to get on equal footing to be able to show a television screen that has deaf characters. tavis: speaking of closed captioning i should out out to bow down to you because you were very progressive in pushing for nationals and al

standards. everything on tv is closed captioned in large part inks to you and your effort on capitol hill. >> pbs was the first network to close caption, and it was a long time coming. i grew up watching television with my family not understanding what was going on, and my parents and brothers would laugh at certain things being said, and they would watch a cop show, and i would have to ask someone to interpret for me, so when closed captioning came along just the beginning before it he , ie the law for all networks had to make up lines for what people were saying. tavis: sometimes that may be better. >> at may be right. sometimes if

there was bad writing. the first show to come on was three's company, and i was fascinated. i try to find shows with captioning, and every once in a while there would he. i try to break down that area. i would never forget each of .hose tavis: how much more difficult is that make your job as an act --you won the academy award, so you can do this, but how difficult is it make it for you to imo -- get across what you want to get across when you want to sign it? >> i think i am more x rest of. i use my body more than people whose beat.

-- i am more expressive. i use my body more than people who speak. advantage.t is one when i watch movies or television and he and act or, -- themn actor, i look for to deliver authenticity. i want to see it in their face and their body. tavis: it's a fascinating phrase anduse, this notion of the rented you have of being deaf -- of the advantages you have of being deaf. are there other advantages? >> i leap very well. very well. i am a mother of four. there is technology when a baby

cries. sometimes i would turn off the device so my husband would have to go up, and i would say, i didn't hear anything. i don't have to hear of noxious people.- obnoxious i don't have to hear anybody snore. i wish there was one thing i could hear, and that is i kid voices, -- my kid's voices. but i can see them. it would be to know what they sound like. i am not crying for myself. there are no tears. tavis: tell me about the role you play as a guidance counselor. guidance epler, and

i am the mom of a teenager. counselor. the show, was it originally written with the deaf character in it. she was working on two girls who were switched at birth. they decided let's find something to do and made it deaf. neighborhood,or and one is from a rich neighborhood, and it gives you all the issues. ist's great about the show you have diversity. they use american sign language, deaf culture. they have all kinds of ways to communicate. you don't well on what it is like to be deaf. what it is like to be deaf. teens love the show.

i gained a huge audience. teens, andg with they are like, there is an is mom, and my kids are like, you are our mom. storylinet about this with deaf characters resonate particularly with the young? what is so resonant for teens? like you are asking a lot of questions. i think the storyline of having my character try to educate these kids about the importance of going to college, about the importance of what you want to be in the world as a person who happens to be deaf, that is relatable.

i think i can do anything except hear. the first president for the college of the deaf said that. for people who have never seen deaf culture or a deaf character on a show, it is a great lesson for them. it is important to understand there is more to life than what is out there now. tavis: i would feel i should learn how to sign. i have been in conversations with people who talk about the difficulty in learning certainly which is, and they say english is the most difficult to learn because we have so many words that mean the same, so how difficult is it for a person like me to learn how to sign? what's it like any other language. however being as americans time and which is are a popular and high schools -- american sign

language is popular in high schools, you will find more classes in high schools. high school students are attracted to it as it such a beautiful and next rest of language. -- expressive language. it's not international, so if you meet a person from another country they are signing in their language. there is russian sign language, reddish sign language -- reddish sign language, -- british sign language, but we use our body to communicate so we can do a little bit better than hearing people. for teachingn app people. you can put that on your iphone, and you can learn sign language. teaching you the basics of sign language. tavis: i have an iphone, so i should download your app. how crazy was this bogus sign language guy at mandela?

how crazy was that? >> it was insane. he was embarrassing. the bottom line was that i felt for the people of south africa who were unable to understand. the word so excited to participate in the funeral of this -- they were so excited to participate in the funeral of yet to be duped by this fake interpreter probably is the worst they that could happen to them. they were robbed of all these unitary. a were robbed. that will never happen again. >> great to have been in ofversation with the mother app.-- got her own

the show is called switched at birth. congratulations. great to have you on the program. this is jack. >> she is prettier to look at. tavis: i like your shoes. nice to have you on. that's our show for tonight. as always, keep the faith. >> for more information on today's show, visit tavis smiley at pbs.org. tavis: hi, i'm tavis smiley. join me next time for a conversation about what is in environmentalist and earl klugh.

that's next time. we will see you then. ♪ >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. you. thank you.

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