The Winding Road to Story: Hillary Bradfield on Finding Her Voice at Walt Disney Animation Studios

Walt Disney Animation Studios story artist Hillary Bradfield took LightBox Expo attendees on a candid, funny, and heartfelt journey through her career during The Winding Road to Story. The session traced her winding path from homeschooled kid sketching on cross-country road trips to Head of Story on Frozen 3, offering lessons in persistence, collaboration, and the beauty of unconventional routes to creative success.

Bradfield opened by reflecting on Disney’s balance of timely and timeless storytelling — always evolving without losing its soul. That philosophy guided her own career, which began not in art school but in the backseat of a car, drawing on road trips while listening to Disney movies recorded onto cassette tapes by her brother. She later designed her own figure-skating costumes with her grandmother before deciding, at fifteen, to leave the rink and enroll in community college. “I’d never been to high school,” she laughed, recalling the nerves of suddenly being around so many people. Art quickly became her bridge to connection.

After transferring to San Jose State University, she joined a small group of classmates making animated shorts on their own time. One 24-hour film challenge win earned her a table at an early CTN Animation Expo — where she met Disney recruiter Matt Roberts for the first time. He encouraged her to “study up” before applying for the Disney internship. That phrase would define the next few years of her life.

Bradfield described receiving many polite rejection emails and learning to see them as opportunities rather than closed doors. “It’s not a hard no,” she said. “There’s gold to be mined in those rejections.” Roberts’ feedback on her early portfolios became a roadmap: improve appeal, behavior, and cinematic storytelling. Each time she reapplied, she sent stronger work. Roberts, who joined in for the Q&A, confirmed that recruiters often remember candidates who reapply and show improvement. “When we see someone come back better each time, it’s inspiring,” he said.

While freelancing, Bradfield nearly accepted a barista job before landing her first industry role at Titmouse Animation on Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja, followed by work at DreamWorks TV and Disney Television Animation. Even as an episodic director on Harvey Girls Forever, she continued studying nights and weekends, holding onto the dream of joining Disney Feature.

When Roberts finally emailed, inviting her to join the Disney Story Apprentice Program, she accepted immediately. “It wasn’t an upward move, but it was the right move,” she said. “I finally had time dedicated to learning.”

As a story apprentice, Bradfield found community among fellow trainees and mentors. She challenged herself not just to storyboard scenes but to write them, treating the program as a customizable laboratory. That mindset led to her work as a story artist on Encanto and Frozen 2, a story supervisor on Iwaju, and, eventually, as head of story on Frozen 3 alongside Normand Lemay.

Hillary Bradfield’s talk included two examples of her storyboard process:

• Development Boards for Encanto – early explorations of Mirabel and Abuela’s dynamic, drawn long before a final script existed. She experimented with staging, tone, and cinematic style to “play in the sandbox” and discover who the characters really were.
• Production Boards for Reflect – her Short Circuit short about a young dancer confronting body image and self-doubt. Created during the pandemic, it relied heavily on virtual collaboration with lighter Brian Leach and composer Jake Monaco. Starting with music, Bradfield and the team choreographed a mirror-monster ballet that visualized inner conflict through lighting and reflection.

Reflecting on the project, Bradfield said directing added “a whole new plate of responsibilities,” but storyboards remained her most powerful communication tool, especially when working remotely. “A good board keeps the whole team aligned,” she explained.

Bradfield closed by urging artists to embrace detours. “Your career doesn’t have to be linear,” she said. “Sometimes taking the winding path has the best payoff.” Her story — from homeschooling to Frozen 3 — is proof that persistence, humility, and a love of learning can turn even the most unconventional journey into a dream come true.