Masha Ellsworth is a lead technical director in the characters department at Pixar Animation Studios. She started her career in animation in 2007 when she became an intern on “Ratatouille” working in sets and lighting departments. Later, she transitioned into characters, working on feature films like “Up”, “Toy Story 3”, “Brave”, “Cars 2”, “Inside Out”, “ Finding Dory”, “Cars 3”, “Good Dinosaur”, “Coco”, “Incredibles 2”, “Onward”, and “Turning Red”. Masha was born and raised in Northern Ukraine and graduated from Bringham Young University in Provo, Utah with a double degree in Computer Science and Visual Art.

Mykola Martyneko graduated from the Kyiv Institute of Engineering and Construction in 1983. He began his career as an architect at the "Agroproject" design institute while also pursuing decorative painting. He later founded his own company, "Buddesign Plus," where he designed commercial, industrial, and residential buildings. Mykola also designed the sets for the short film "Bound," drawing inspiration from his childhood in rural Ukraine. His artistic influences include Shevchenko, Monet, and ancient frescoes.

Mykola is currently living in Germany as a refugee with his wife due to the war in Ukraine and has continued to work on "Bound" while residing there. He is waiting to go back to his homeland.

I'm Jenny, technical trainer for Pixar's in-house education department, Pixar University. My passions include art, technology, music (especially jazz saxophone), exploring, teaching, and learning -- fortunately, I will never have to stop learning new things! And that's a big part of why it was so much fun to work with Masha on the opening title image and credits for her beautiful film: because I learned a ton along the way!

Cassandra Rodriguez is a part of the Post Production family at Pixar Animation Studios. In her current role as Mastering Coordinator she supports the creation and QC of the studio’s final film masters as well as providing editorial support across all projects, her most recent films being “Turning Red”, “Lightyear”, and “Elemental”. Cassandra began her career in film in 2012, having first worked in development & entertainment partnerships for studios such as Universal Pictures, 21st Century Fox, and Paramount Pictures. She has recently been accepted into the Hollywood Professional Association as one of this year’s Young Entertainment Professionals.

Rebecca Nisco is an award-winning American composer currently based in San Francisco, California. At the core of all her work, whether for stage or screen, is a love of storytelling and collaboration. Selected composition credits include original scores for the multi-award winning independent shorts “The Pigeon of Waterloo”, “Outside Chance”, and “Hit and Run”, as well as music for the show “Art of Sin” in collaboration with Thistle Dance Company, an immersive dance experience that explores the seven deadly sins and spans the three floors of the Jefferson Market New York Public Library. Her music has been performed and recorded internationally at venues such as The Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage and Air-Edel Studios and with ensembles such as the Baltimore Choral Arts Society where she received the singers choice award for her choral piece “Ave Maria.” She is also a recipient of the CT Artists Respond grant that supported her multidisciplinary project “Hit the Sky” that released Fall 2023. Current projects include composing an original score for the independent feature film “The Country They Call Life”, music supervising the independent feature film “Throuple,” and co-writing an original musical, “Like Cinders,” with Lindsay Kennedy. Rebecca currently works at Pixar Animation Studios as an Assistant Music and Sound Editor.

Vince Caro is the Senior Recording/Mixing Engineer at Pixar Animation Studios. He has worked on every Pixar Animated Feature film starting with Toy Story. Prior to his working with Pixar, he provided recording work for The Simpsons, and on many Walt Disney feature animated films such as Beauty & The Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, all the way through to Jon Favreau’s Jungle Book. His credits include many of the highest-grossing animated films of all time. He has also been on the sound team of many live-action films, serving as a scoring or soundtrack engineer & mixer. He has recorded/mixed/mastered, or otherwise worked on many multi-platinum & gold records. He owns multi-award nominations and/or wins for his recording & mixing (Cinema Audio Society/MPSE Golden Reel/Grammy & other).

Ola Herasymenko-Oliynyk is a Ukrainian bandura player, musical and public figure. She is the first professional bandura player to be involved as a soloist with American symphony orchestras.

Mrs. Herasymenko was born in Lviv in the family of a bandura player and bandura designer, Professor Vasyl Herasymenko. Prior to settling in the United States, she performed successfully as part of a bandura trio under his direction in Ukraine, Poland, Germany, Spain, Japan, Vietnam and the Philippines. Since 1990, together with her husband Yuriy Oliynyk (1931-2021), she has given lectures and concerts, presenting Ukrainian music and culture in colleges, universities, museums and libraries. Ola Herasymenko received her higher education at the Lviv Conservatory named after Lysenko and at the Kyiv Conservatory.

Her repertoire includes works by Ukrainian composers and world classics. She recorded three concertos for bandura & orchestra written by Yuriy Oliynyk, which became the first historical record to include the bandura as a solo instrument with a symphony orchestra on CD. Ola Herasymenko was awarded the title of Honored Artist of Ukraine in 1999 for her services in promoting Ukrainian culture abroad.

In Sacramento Ola Herasymenko organized a school bandura ensemble, the Ukrainian Classical Music Ensemble, with which she actively promotes Ukrainian music and culture to a diverse audience.

An important cultural event for Mrs. Herasymenko is the organization and holding of the Ukrainian Music Festival, which was held for the 16th time this year. Young musicians perform the works of Ukrainian composers - thereby preserving our heritage and introducing it to their relatives, friends & American public.

Oleksandra Zabashta is Opera and chamber singer. Oleksandra started her career in 2002, when she became a soloist of the Kyiv National Academic Operetta Theater. Since then she has worked as a soloist and a choir singer/member with such leading groups as the G. Veryovka Ukrainian National Honoured Academic Folk Choir, Academic Choir of the Radio Company of Ukraine, Kyiv Municipal Academic Opera and Ballet Theater for Children and Youth, Kyiv Symphony Orchestra and Choir. Since moving to the United States Oleksandra has been actively engaged in concert and volunteer practice popularizing Ukrainian folk and classical music. Together with her colleagues she participates in fundraising events to help Ukraine. She is also engaged in teaching singing.

Taylor Hesskamp is a passionate flute professor and performer in the St. Louis area. She is the professor of flute at Southern Illinois University Carbondale and an adjunct flute professor at McKendree University and Jefferson College. In addition to her college positions, she teaches at various other locations in the area, where she holds a large studio of students. Taylor earned her master's degree in flute performance from the world-renowned Royal College of Music, which was ranked the top school in the world for Performing Arts in 2023 and 2022. She has won first prize in the Flute Society of St. Louis competition (in both high school and college divisions), the Central Ohio Flute Association competition, and the SIU Edwardsville Concerto Competition. In her free time, she loves spending time with her husband, her dog, and enjoying hobbies like photography, crocheting, cooking, and gaming.

Alejandro Danylyszyn is a Principal at Deloitte Consulting LLP, specializing in innovative digital solutions that transform client operations and enhance B2B customer experiences. He also lectures on digital disruption at UCU's L'viv Business School. 

Alejandro is passionate about music, playing the guitar and bandura from a young age, and singing in choirs within Ukrainian communities in Argentina and the US. As a baritone-bass, he enjoys performing both traditional and modern Ukrainian songs.