Anna Saathoff graduated from the UT with a radio-television-film degree and said she found herself falling in love with animation and the power of its storytelling. She eventually found herself working at Disney Animations as the first assistant editor of the recently released “Strange World,” which follows the Clades family on a journey to save their city’s electrical supply when they find themselves stuck in an underground, strange new world.

The Daily Texan sat down with Saathoff to discuss life in the film industry and how UT students can take advantage of what the University has to offer.

The Daily Texan: What was your role in the making of “Strange World”?

Anna Saathoff: I was the first assistant editor, (but) I started out as the second assistant editor. What I did then was a lot of project organization, exports (and) publishing, which is how we basically let other departments know what the timing will be for each shot. Then when I became first (assistant editor) … I was kind of the head assistant of the editorial process and would delegate tasks to other assistants to try to finish the movie as quickly as we could.

DT: For UT students looking to pursue film, what advice can you give them in terms of taking advantage of their time here, but also just in exploring what they’re interested in?

AS:  I wish I could go back and tell my college self to do more things. Talk to more people and take more classes that you may think you’re not going to be good at but could pique your interest and be something you develop over time. Take advantage of how much of a movie city Austin is. It’s such a great hub to get started in film, and there are so many internships and opportunities to take advantage of and a lot of people you can learn from. Don’t feel weird about reaching out to people who you really admire. You’d be surprised at how often people are really responsive to that. Try to not be afraid of putting yourself out there even though I know it’s really hard.

DT: Do you have any favorite memories from coming into work with the team?

AS: Near the end of the film, I ran these meetings called sweatbox, where we (did) a final review of each shot. I would do them in the big theater with a group of at least 20 people, and it was always really fun. Near the end of the movie, we were all pretty tired and excited — there was definitely some goofiness and jokes during the reviews. (There was) such a camaraderie in those meetings because we were just like, “Alright, we got this! We got to finish!” The people I’ve met at Disney have been so nice. It’s just been an absolute joy getting to know them. Even when things are stressful and tough, (they) always made the job more fun.

DT: What do you hope audiences take away from “Strange World?”

AS: I hope audiences really resonate with the family dynamics between different generations, and hopefully, have an open dialogue with their parents. If they’re feeling similarly to how Ethan is feeling or how Searcher is feeling towards his dad, I really hope they have meaningful conversations that are more productive. Also, I hope people enjoy the weirdness of the world that Disney created — the oddities and the characters.