Coffee with a T-bird hosted by Alex Rozenfeld
Grab a cup of coffee and join Alex Rozenfeld, Thunderbird alum and founder of Freshwater Investments, as he sits down with fellow T-bird graduates who are making an impact in business, leadership, and entrepreneurship. Each episode features open and insightful conversations that explore the pivotal moments, personal motivations, and lessons learned on their journeys.
From building companies across continents to leading global teams, these stories highlight the drive and mindset behind success. Whether you're a student, alum, or someone passionate about business and personal growth, you'll walk away with fresh ideas and real-world perspective.
This is more than a podcast—it’s a platform for connection, storytelling, and celebrating the global spirit of Thunderbird.
This podcast is sponsored by www.freshwaterinvestments.com
Coffee with a T-bird hosted by Alex Rozenfeld
Marc Sondheimer’s Journey: From Setbacks to an Oscar
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In this episode of Coffee with T-Bird, Alex Rozenfeld sits down with Marc Sondheimer, an Academy Award–winning producer known for his work at Pixar on films like The Incredibles, WALL-E, Finding Dory, and the Oscar-winning short Piper.
Marc shares the story behind Piper—a short animated film that was shut down three separate times before it was finally completed—and what it really takes to succeed in animation, filmmaking, and creative storytelling. From his unconventional path through international business to breaking into Pixar and becoming a film producer, this conversation dives deep into persistence, career pivots, and the reality behind Hollywood success.
They also go behind the scenes of the Oscars, discuss how animated films are made, and explore what it means to produce at the highest level in the film industry. Marc opens up about leadership, problem-solving, and navigating setbacks in a competitive creative field.
This episode is for anyone interested in Pixar, animation, filmmaking, entrepreneurship, career growth, and the mindset needed to turn big ideas into reality.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/marc-sondheimer-b014343/
Marc Sondheimer joined Pixar Animation Studios in October of 2001, where he started out as a Production Finance Lead for “The Incredibles” and “Cars”. Since then, Mr. Sondheimer assumed a variety of positions in production. He was the Finance Lead for numerous short films as well as for the Academy Award®-winning feature film “WALL•E” and “Finding Dory.” In addition, Mr. Sondheimer worked as a Production Manager on the films “WALL•E,” various CarsToons, and Associate Producer and Production Manager on the Academy Award®-nominated short, “Day & Night.”
He served as an Associate Producer on “The Good Dinosaur” before becoming the Producer of Pixar’s short form content for “The Good Dinosaur,” “Finding Dory,” “Coco”, “Cars3” , “Incredibles 2”, “Toy Story 4”, “Onward” and “Soul”. Marc has produced over 50 commercials for Fortune 500 companies as well as several digital media projects, including AR and VR. In 2018 Marc developed and produced the episodic series “Cars on the Road” for Disney+ based on the Cars franchise.
In 2017, Marc won an Oscar® as producer of the Pixar short, “Piper,” which was named Best Animated Short Film by the Academy. “Piper” was released theatrically in front of “Finding Dory.”
In 2018, Marc was nominated for an Emmy Award® for “CocoVR”, Pixar’s first Virtual Reality experience. “CocoVR” was released in the Fall of 2017. This project also earned Mr Sondheimer a Cannes “Silver Lion”, Grand Clio and Webby Awards.
Prior to Pixar, Mr. Sondheimer worked in a variety of different fields including as a Business Strategy Consultant, as the Business Development Director for Quokka Sports - a digital sports media company, and was also a successful entrepreneur while operating his own import business.
For the past two years, Marc has freelanced as a Producer for commercials and short films, including producing an animated commercial for the National Football League with Cisco Systems. He is currently a Producer for Skydance Animation.
He received a Bachelor of Art degree from University of California, Berkeley, and went on to earn a Masters of International Management degree from Thunderbird Graduate School. Born and raised in Marin County, California, Sondheimer currently splits his time between Berkeley and Lake Tahoe.
This podcast is sponsored by Freshwater Investments