Daniel Gerson

Screenwriter Daniel Gerson made a name for himself as one of the writers behind Pixar's "Monsters, Inc." (2001). Born and raised in New York City, Gerson graduated from Cornell University in 1988, where he was a member of the Sigma Pi fraternity. He would go on to earn his MFA from New York University, and later began his career in entertainment as a writer on the series "Duckman: Private Dick/Family Man" (USA, 1994-1997). In 1999, Gerson started working for Pixar, where he began collaborating with David Silverman and Lee Unkrich on the screenplay for the film "Monsters, Inc." (2001). After the film proved to be a huge success, Gerson worked on the films "Chicken Little" (2005) and "Cars" (2006), before setting to work on a prequel to "Monsters, Inc." that would take place while the furry characters were still in college. Written in collaboration with Robert L. Baird, the project would remain in development for seven years before "Monsters University" (2013) was released in 2013 to major acclaim. Gerson next signed on to help write the animated adventure "Big Hero 6" (2014), before his career was tragically cut short in 2016, when he passed away from brain cancer. He was 49.