Daniel Gerson, a screenwriter behind some of Pixar and Disney’s most successful animated films, died Saturday in his Los Angeles home at the age of 49. He had been battling brain cancer for some time, according to his family.
The New York-born scribe got his start in the industry as a staff writer on NBC’s short-lived sitcom Something So Right in 1996. Gerson went on to write Pixar’s 2001 hit Monsters, Inc. with Andrew Stanton, as well as its 2013 prequel, Monsters University, with Dan Scanlon and frequent collaborator Robert L. Baird. And in 2014, he worked with Baird and Jordan Roberts on the script for Disney’s animated Oscar winner, Big Hero 6. In addition to being well-received, the films Gerson worked on grossed over $2 billion worldwide.
“The main thing is just to write,” Gerson advised aspiring screenwriters during an interview with Mingle Media in 2013. “You only get better by writing and rewriting and rewriting. If you have talent, and you keep writing, you will have success eventually.” He is survived by his wife, two children, and parents.