Ed Catmull, the Pixar co-founder who later served as president of both Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios, has joined the jury of the Higgsfield Global Film Festival, a new competition devoted exclusively to generative AI filmmaking. The contest is being organized by Higgsfield AI to promote its genAI filmmaking platform. Announcing Catmull’s involvement on LinkedIn, Higgsfield co-founder and CEO Alex Mashrabov described Pixar as an early inspiration for the company. Higgsfield is, predictably, foregrounding Catmull’s animation credentials in its promotional campaign, identifying him as a five-time Oscar winner, Toy Story executive producer, Turing Award recipient, and former Disney Animation president. Catmull, who retired from Disney in 2018, is an especially meaningful recruit for Higgsfield, which is positioning generative AI as the next major technological shift in filmmaking.