Complex sentence: Chapman conceived the project and was announced as the director of the film, making her Pixar's first female director, but in October 2010 she was replaced by Mark Andrews following creative disagreements, but remains on staff at Pixar despite rumors to the contrary.
Split into simpler sentences: Chapman conceived the project and was announced as the director of the film, making her Pixar's first female director. Chapman nevertheless remains on staff at Pixar despite rumors to the contrary.