Filmmaker and 2007 California Insitute of the Arts graduate Adrian Molina won a Golden Globe Sunday night as co-director of “Coco,” which earned the “Best Animated Feature Film” award.

It was Molina’s first Golden Globe award, and the 75th year the Hollywood Foreign Press has handed out the awards.

During the ceremony, Molina joined his co-director Lee Unkrich and producer Darla K. Anderson onstage to collect the award and answer questions in the press room afterward.

Backstage, the trio discussed the film’s deep-dive into Mexican culture, the diversity production and their take on what the #TimesUp movement means to Pixar and the industry-at-large.

A 3D computer-animated musical fantasy based on the annual Mexican “Day of the Dead” celebration, “Coco” was produced by Pixar Animation Studios, where Molina has been a screenwriter and storyboard artist since his graduation from CalArts.

Molina was previously a 2D animator on “Ratatouille,” and a storyboard artist for “Toy Story 3” (also illustrator of the Little Golden Book for the film) and “Monsters University.”

“Coco” was Molina’s first screenwriting assignment, and as production progressed he became its co-director with Unkrich.

Walt Disney Motion Picture Studios released “Coco” in the United States on November 22, 2017, and the film has grossed nearly $600 million worldwide.

The “Coco” storyline follows Miguel Rivera, a 12-year-old aspiring musician who mysteriously gets transported to the Land of the Dead. There, he somehow connects with his great-great-grandfather, a legendary singer, and enlists the elder’s help to return to his family in the Land of the Living.

“Coco” is based on an original idea by Unkrich. Molina and Matthew Aldrich scripted the film from a story developed by Unkrich, Aldrich, Molina and Jason Katz.

“Coco” is the first film with a multi-million-dollar budget to feature an all-Latino cast, topped by Anthony Gonzalez (Miguel) and Gael García Bernal (Hector).

The film earned widespread critical kudos for its 3D animation, the vocal performances, musical score, original songs, and an emotional storyline that respected what the Day of the Dead, or Dia de Muertos, means to Mexican culture.

The National Board of Review chose “Coco” as “Best Animated Film” of 2017, and earned nominations for “Best Animated Feature Film” in the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards and Annie Awards competitions.

“Remember Me” from “Coco” was also nominated for Best Original Song in the 75th Golden Globe Awards.

Molina, 32, is of Mexican descent and is originally from Yuba City, California.

Molina wasn’t the only CalArtian in the Beverly Hilton ballroom. Alison Brie (Theater BFA 05) received her first nomination for the Netflix series “GLOW” in the “Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy” category, nominated alongside Pamela Adlon (“Better Things”), Issa Rae (“Insecure”), Frankie Shaw (“SMILF”) and eventual winner Rachel Brosnahan (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”).

Brie’s female-fronted wrestling show (“The Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling”) returns for its 10-episode second season later in 2018.

In addition to “GLOW,” Brie also currently stars in “The Post” with Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks and “The Disaster Artist” with James Franco, who’s been a CalArts visiting faculty, and her husband Dave Franco.

CalArts’ 24700 blogger Christine N. Ziemba contributed to this story.