The Founders
Oscar & Annie award-winning artists Cajun Hylton and Nick Gaul have led teams at the biggest visual effects studio in the world; Weta Digital. Their work is seen on countless blockbuster films including; The Avengers, Planet of the Apes Trilogy, Avatar, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Suicide Squad, Jumanji, Game of Thrones, The Hobbit Trilogy, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and many more.
Cajun Hylton
One of my earliest school memories I have, involves a preschool teacher creating a drawing of little of red riding hood on a blackboard and asking us if we knew the story. All I could think about at the time was how bad of a drawing it was, it literally looked like a slice of cake to me, I desperately wanted to volunteer to redraw it for her. Wait, maybe if I was a little taller , or wasn’t afraid to openly speak in class. Luckily the assignment that day was to make a drawing of this character in our own books. I was thrilled with joy and did a rendition worthy of getting a job as a comic book artist even though I was only 3 years old. Years later looking back this masterpiece, while not distinguishable from a ball of yarn, I am happy that from that moment on, art was a thing for me.
The following early years in school I was an artist for hire, drawing whatever was popular at the time for an artists fee. It was great, I did fonts to sneakers to anime characters, anything. I consumed games, movies , music and anime at an alarming rate. While heavily focusing on why I like the things I like. It all came down to Lore and the world in which these things existed. I felt like even if I wasn’t watching, playing or reading, the world was still there and that was exciting.
In my latish teens I left calm peaceful Jamaica to live in Miami ( also ossom). I remember going to sign up to a college to do computer programming as I enjoy problem-solving. While I was getting a tour, I saw a small room with a few people in there, and they were making a 3d short of the tortoise and the hare. I asked if they did that course there and was told they had just started it, so I signed up. This became some of the best years of my life. I met some of my closest friends there, since the facilities were open mostly always, we would stay up and just try and push ourselves, building anything we could imagine. I remember watching final fantasy spirits within ( although not a blockbuster success) with my friends as we began to realize that 3d wasn’t just for one off elements in a movie but could stand on its own.
A few short years later I moved to California and began some more serious freelance. It was a great time in our industry, things were not figured out yet, and you pretty much had to come up with ways of doing even simple things, plus we were limited by many factors. By this time I had quite a bit of all around experience and while not my first movie experience, it was “ underworld Evolution” at Luma Pictures that gave me a proper large scope for VFX. The team was amazing and still is. It was during that time that we saw turning points in the industry like zbrush and much better renderers etc.
Close to two decades later , countless blockbuster franchises and awards , I can say the creative space has come a long way, and I’m happy to have been a part of it and will continue to forever do so. It is my craft, and I live and love anything related to it.
Recently we saw the emergence of cryptocurrency and later the NFT space. I guess there are a lot of people in my field that don’t quite understand this space and are skeptical of it. My good friend Nick and I decided that we could take what we love and what we are currently doing anyway and bring it to this space. The premise will always be to create an experience that we’ve always enjoyed. Lots to imagine and lots to find out as you journey through characters past and present, worlds near and far with plots and twists. We hope that this space will allow us to do this indefinitely.
Nick Gaul
I have always been interested in art from a young age. I remember the first time I used Corel Draw (an early Photoshop like program) to try and digitally paint a Magic the Gathering card. I loved it! This would have been the first time I was introduced to digital art. I can remember vividly in 1993 when I finally got to see Jurassic Park for the first time. Begged my parents to let me see it in the theatre, and I’ll never forget the scene with the brontosaurus reveal, and not fully comprehending what i just saw, “wait, were dinosaurs real?!” Later learning this was done with 3d software ( visual effects for film) I became obsessed in learning this amazing craft myself. Fast-forward almost 10 yrs later, I was studying Fine art at university with a focus on 3d.
At the time zbrush just came, and it was truly the first time ever I felt like you can just sculpt freely in 3d. Using this I put together some character models and used this to apply to Weta Digital. Amazingly, I got the job! This led to an amazing ride working on some of the biggest films i could have imagined, and being a part of a very cutting edge company.
In the recent couple years a lot of people were very curious about this emerging art platform called “NFTs”. I watched closely as we saw it could be a platform to represent your work and engage with the broader community. Though I didn’t want to just do it for the sake of doing it, but push our own creative ideas and storylines. I love the idea of collections, and items that have “collectibility”. Magic the gathering has been a universe that has inspired me for years. large part due to how fun it is getting unique cards and super rare ones with unique art and borders. Not just this they take you to new worlds, to explore and find new characters, that go through a storyline.
My friend Caj and I, being huge fans of all things fantasy / sci-fi, decided to start designing around some core characters/ creatures we’ve designed and some over-arching lore surrounding them. Being heavily inspired by retro games/ RPG’s and pixel and toon styles, we developed our own unique aesthetic combining a stylized look into a 3d render.
Q & A with the Founders
[Q] What are some things you have accomplished in life that you are most proud of?
Cajun - The ability to be able to create interesting characters and worlds from my imagination. It replaces working on blockbuster movies or getting any awards.
Nick - Pursuing a career in CG where I’ve been able to have a job that also is fun and creative. Also, getting a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
[Q] What inspired you to create Octoron Rift?
Cajun - Nick and I are always creating something. Octoron Rift is a love letter to an era. The classic old school rpg time, it’s also inspired by many things like magic gathering, 80’s cartoons etc.
Nick - The exploration and fun involved in exploring mythology of what other creatures/life on planets could look like, and the stories these civilizations could tell.
[Q] What has been your favorite part of creating the project so far?
Cajun - The team comradely is amazing. Working with Nick is effortlessly seamless and the rest of the team has been equally enjoyable. Plus we get to create these characters and worlds ;)
Nick - Getting to work with a team and have fun bringing something to life. Exploring a unique aesthetic, and finding new ways to explore the art. Anything Caj does looks good, which is great when you work on a team that makes you better.
[Q] What are your long term visions for Octoron Rift?
Cajun - Funny enough, we just had some plot ideas recently that’s prob so far in the future. We intend to find out as much as anyone else about these characters, other unknown inhabitants and their worlds. The Anomaly, other later threats. We will also use all the possible mediums we can. I’m an early adopter of VR and AR and would like to explore in depth how we can provide proper experiences. OctoronRIft is here to stay.
Nick - Dive into this universe deeper, exploring what other life on these worlds look like. Explore deeper storylines into the characters. Looking forward to using VR/AR as immersive ways to bring people into these worlds. Create content around this world that is collectible, both trading cards and collectibles.