At LDSPMA, humanities alumni Brigham Taylor shared how his biggest failures led to his greatest successes—including creating the Pirates of the Caribbean.
The Pirates of the Caribbean became an instant success after its release in 2003—but long before it hit the big screen, three BYU alumni dreamt it up while on their lunch breaks. One of those alumni, Brigham Taylor (Interdisciplinary Humanities ’92) spoke at the 10th annual Latter-day Saints in Publishing, Media & the Arts (LDSPMA) Conference on October 19, 2024. In his keynote address, he recounted his story to success and explained how he, alongside Josh Harmon and Michael Haynes, created the franchise’s world, characters, and plotline. Though Pirates of the Caribbean reached a level of success few films had achieved before, Taylor explained that his success only came after first exposing himself to failure.
Feet Down in La-La Land
Taylor’s first introduction to the film industry took place when he volunteered at the Sundance Film Festival as an undergrad. “I got exposure to all kinds of interesting films and also had my eyes opened to the possibilities of getting into this industry through your own steam,” he said. After this experience, he declared his major in interdisciplinary humanities with an emphasis in film studies. Taylor later relocated to California a few years after graduation, hoping to make his way into the film industry. He said, “This was my first confrontation of fear. . . and without any true prospects. . . [I] just jumped in a car, put everything [I] had in it, [and] went to LA.”
After months of submitting applications, Taylor finally found an entry-level job at Walt Disney Studios, where he worked as an administrative assistant. He continued in this capacity for years, working his way up to creative executive and, eventually, producer and executive producer. In each of these roles, Taylor had the opportunity to work on what he referred to as “passion projects,” including the film The Country Bears. After a year of hard work on the film, it was released, but it didn’t become as successful as Taylor and his team had hoped. “This was a true failure and a disappointment,” Taylor said. “At times like this. . . you’re left with trying to figure out how [to] find the confidence to move forward and believe in whatever talent you thought you might have.”
This is where the fear had to give way to taking a leap of faith.
Facing Failure Head-on
Though The Country Bears didn’t pan out as he hoped, Taylor continued working on new projects. In his spare time, he worked with Harmon and Haynes to imagine up stories and movie plots, eventually leading to the development of Pirates of the Caribbean. He said, “These were just secret, unsanctioned meetings down the hallway, and no one really knew about them. . . . We spent these months creating these characters [for Pirates of the Caribbean]: we had Will Turner in mind, we had Elizabeth Swann, and Jack Sparrow.”
With his all-too-recent failure close behind, Taylor was hesitant to pitch their project at first. He recalled, “This is where the fear had to give way to taking a leap of faith.” So, when they had an outline of the film in the works, Taylor introduced the film to executives. The film was readily accepted and after its release years later, Pirates of the Caribbean became Disney’s top grossing live-action film until 2005, when The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe replaced it. This success quickly turned the movie into a franchise—something that neither Taylor nor his friends had imagined in the beginning.
Taylor shared numerous similar experiences where he had to first fail and face disappointment before he could find success. In fact, Taylor gave examples of this cycle by talking about his work on The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; Tomorrowland; Lone Ranger; The Jungle Book; and his most recent film, Tokyo Cowboy. In working on these films, Taylor has learned that despite hard work and dedication, some projects just won’t turn out—but that doesn’t mean you stop trying. He said, “It’s easy to sit around and talk about the things that work like it’s all great, but it’s not all great. . . . You’re going to face failure, you’re going to experience failure, and you have to confront failure.”
Learn more about the 2024 LDSPMA Conference here!
Hear more about Brigham Taylor’s journey to Hollywood in his 2013 lecture, “Humanities Major to Disney Executive.”