Prateek Mathur, also known as Alroy Jovi (born December 11, 1987), is an Indian animator,

visual effects Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated VFX) is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of a live-action shot in filmmaking and video production. The integration of live-action footage and other live-action foota ...

supervisor, CGI/VR project manager, and director working primarily in digital mixed media and the

entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousa ...

industry, from music videos and

documentaries A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in term ...

to short films and blockbusters. He is best known as the founder, creator, and author of the ''Axtelera Ray'' fantasy series.

Early life

Prateek Mathur was born in

Bhopal Bhopal (; ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes'' due to its various natural and artificial lakes. It i ...

, Madhya Pradesh, India. Initially training as an engineer, Prateek’s passion for

animation Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...

led him to study the world of 3D and computer generated imagery. Since, he has worked for different companies on a variety of projects, including feature films such as '' Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2'', '' Green Lantern'' and Men in Black 3. His long list of projects also include the

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), educ ...

(VR),

augmented reality Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive experience that combines the real world and computer-generated content. The content can span multiple sensory modalities, including visual, auditory, haptic, somatosensory and olfactory. AR can be de ...

(AR) industry, developing the look and design of 360 applications and producing 360 content, as well as imputing his boundless creativity in music videos for artists such as

The Courteeners Courteeners are an English band formed in Middleton in 2006 by Liam Fray (lead guitar/vocals), Michael Campbell (drums/backing vocals), Daniel "Conan" Moores (rhythm guitar) and Mark Cuppello (bass); the latter was replaced by the band's produc ...

, Larkins and Band of Skulls. Although Prateek is passionate about his work, his love for

storytelling Storytelling is the social and cultural activity of sharing stories, sometimes with improvisation, theatrics or embellishment. Every culture has its own stories or narratives, which are shared as a means of entertainment, education, cultural pre ...

, reflected in his interest for the entertainment industry and the various media used to convey a story, led him to create the fantasy series Axtelera Ray. He has worked in collaboration with talented artists, including author Maurice J. Gallagher, developing what initially started as a simple comic into a six novel-long series.

Career

Axtelera Ray - Novel Concept

In the year 2000, Prateek became fascinated by the mythologies of the world. That interest was spurred by his father, Dr. D.K Mathur, an accomplished

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

, who took Prateek along on his numerous excavations across

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It led to Prateek’s love of

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

and legends. From the ancient

Egyptians Egyptians ( arz, المَصرِيُون, translit=al-Maṣriyyūn, ; arz, المَصرِيِين, translit=al-Maṣriyyīn, ; cop, ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ, remenkhēmi) are an ethnic group native to the Nile, Nile Valley in Egypt. Egyptian ...

to the

Norse gods Norse is a demonym for Norsemen, a medieval North Germanic ethnolinguistic group ancestral to modern Scandinavians, defined as speakers of Old Norse from about the 9th to the 13th centuries. Norse may also refer to: Culture and religion * Nors ...

, Prateek studied these ancient tales, thus imagining what would one day be known as Axtelera Ray. The developing CGI industry also brought with it a huge source of inspiration, bringing to life characters that once lived only in his imagination. Inspired by the Greats such as

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Publications which ...

and

JRR Tolkien JRR may refer to: * J. R. R. Tolkien (1892–1973), English writer, poet, philologist and university professor * Jaime Robbie Reyne (born 1985), Australian singer * Jay Robinson Racing, a racing team * Jiru language Jiru is a Jukunoid language ...

, Prateek began developing a story that was initially planned as a

comic a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

. However, as his idea developed into something much bigger, Axtelera Ray became a series of

novels A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itself ...

, featuring well-developed characters in the meticulously built world of Octavia. Over the course of the following five years, Prateek spent time refining his story and characters, wishing to offer the world a brand new tale that would take his audience on the adventure of a lifetime. After travelling to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, in 2013, Prateek got the chance to work with author Maurice J. Gallagher also known as Mo Gallagher, with whom he later shared his idea. Fascinated by the world Prateek was building, Mo eventually came on board, putting into writing Prateek’s notes and ideas. In early 2015, Prateek released a 40-page preview edition of the first book in the series, entitled ‘Axtelera Ray: The Chronicles of Astrone’ which knew instant success on

Goodreads Goodreads is an American social cataloging website and a subsidiary of Amazon that allows individuals to search its database of books, annotations, quotes, and reviews. Users can sign up and register books to generate library catalogs and read ...

, Lulu and

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

. The positive reviews bear testament to the genuine interest in the world’s mythology, myths and legends. In 2018, Prateek released the 90-page preview edition which is available for free to audience across the globe. The full first novel is currently in development, however a complete encyclopaedia of the world of Octavia can be found on the official Axtelera Ray website.

Ocean Tears

Prateek’s desire to use his skills to bring about change with thought-provoking artwork led him to create the concept he entitled ‘Ocean Tears’. Inspired by

Greta Thunberg Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg (; born 3 January 2003) is a Swedish environmental activist who is known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action for climate change mitigation. Thunberg's activism began when she persuaded ...

and Sky’s Ocean Rescue, it came from the idea that with the destruction of the world’s fauna’s natural

habitats In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

, animals would come out of the

oceans The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the worl ...

, forests and

jungles A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past recent century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''ja� ...

to protest. The initial idea featured a

Humpback Whale The humpback whale (''Megaptera novaeangliae'') is a species of baleen whale. It is a rorqual (a member of the family Balaenopteridae) and is the only species in the genus ''Megaptera''. Adults range in length from and weigh up to . The hump ...

, floating across the sky in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

’s Media City, forced to leave the polluted oceans to find a cleaner home. This long-running campaign would see the whale appear in different places around the globe. Furthermore, in order to spread the awareness of

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

, Prateek has provided the full source material to any artist who desires to get involved.

London Olympic

While working as a volunteer for Sports Maker, Rush Hockey and UK Centre for Carnival Arts, Prateek produced graphics such as

posters A poster is a large sheet that is placed either on a public space to promote something or on a wall as decoration. Typically, posters include both textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or wholly text. ...

and promo videos for various events. These graphics were then used nationally as well as internationally by sports companies, leading him to win the 2012

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...

Gold achievement award. He was invited to join the 2012 London Olympic Sports/Game Makers parade with the Olympic Gold medallist

Etienne Stott Etienne Stott MBE (born 30 June 1979) is an English slalom canoeist who started competing at the international level in 2002, initially in the K1 category, but switching to C2 in 2005. He retired from the sport in 2016. He is the ...

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

, and was later awarded the title of Young People of the Year (YOPEY's) positive role model 2012 by the founder Tony Gearing

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

, endorsed by the leaders of all three main political parties,

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

, Deputy Prime Minister

Nick Clegg Sir Nicholas William Peter Clegg (born 7 January 1967) is a British media executive and former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom who has been president for global affairs at Meta Platforms since 2022, having previously been vicepr ...

, and Opposition leader

Ed Miliband Edward Samuel "Ed" Miliband (born 24 December 1969) is a British politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero since 2021. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Doncaster North since 2005. Miliband ...

UKCCA

Prateek volunteered with UKCCA, the UK Centre for Carnival Arts, which aims to promote the carnival arts and communities, providing large spaces and technical facilities across the UK. This major new cultural resource attracts thousands of people each year including carnival artists, schools, course attendees, conference visitors and creative industry start-ups. It is run by the Luton Carnival Arts Development Trust (LCADT). The UKCCA enabled Prateek to meet and work for renown companies, eventually leading him to join the 2012 London Olympics Sports/Game Makers parade and produce artwork for these large scale events.

''Beauty and the Beast''

In 2015, after

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

first confirmed Emma Watson had been cast as Belle in the new live-action film '' Beauty and the Beast'', Prateek produced a brilliant concept artwork of the

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...

in the protagonist’s iconic yellow dress. The finished piece created a buzz and was posted and shared on social networks such as

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

and

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

. It was featured in '' The Ellen DeGeneres Show'', as well as in a number of magazines including ''Look'', ''

Business Insider ''Insider'', previously named ''Business Insider'' (''BI''), is an American financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Insider''s parent company Insider Inc. has been owned by the German publ ...

'', ''

Moviepilot Moviepilot (stylized Movie Pilot) was a fan-centric online magazine covering the film industry. Its content was written predominantly by an in-house team of staff writers, with additional articles from contributors known as Creators. History Mov ...

'', ''Ok!'', ''Popsugar'', ''m-magazine'' and Techinsider. The speed painting of the artwork is featured on Prateek’s website, showing the work and detail that went into the making-of the poster.

Awards

* 2019 – The Lossen GOLD REMI Award winner at WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival * 2018 – Grand Award winner for best Fantasy Short for The Lossen film at Rhode Island International Film Festival * 2015 – Awarded CC programme award from the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Op ...

. * 2014 – Awarded Studentship Award from the University of Bedfordshire. * 2014 – Nominated for Vice Chancellor's Awards 'Staff Team of the Year Award' from the University of Bedfordshire. * 2014 – Awarded Certificate of Recognition from the BedsSU Volunteering. * 2014 – Nominated for Outstanding Achievement Award University of Bedfordshire Students' Union. * 2013 – Awarded Bedfordshire Edge Award * 2013 – Awarded Outstanding Achievement Award from the BedsSU & Volunteering England. * 2012 – Nominated for 2012 Young People of the Year & been awarded a title of 'YOPEY – The Positive Role Model of 2012' (England). * 2012 – Gold Achievement Award from the University of Bedfordshire & Volunteering England (List of volunteer awards) * 2012 – Awarded SIS award (certificate) from University of Bedfordshire. * 2011 – Awarded 3D Animation (Expert) certified by the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. * 2011 – Awarded Advanced Diploma in Animation & VFX by Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics (MAAC). * 2011 – Awarded Certificate of merit in Advanced Diploma in 3D Animation &

Visual Effects Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated VFX) is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of a live-action shot in filmmaking and video production. The integration of live-action footage and other live-action foota ...

– Expert with Specialization in VFX. * 2010 – Nominated for 7th Annual 24FPS Animation Award. * 2010 – Best Visual effects short film (Maac Team) in 7th Annual 24FPS Animation Award by Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics (MAAC). * 2008 – Awarded for best Presentation from Shree Institute of Science & Technology (SIST). * 2008 – Awarded a certificate on New Horizon of Mechanical Engineering at 15th ISME International Conference by

Rajiv Gandhi Proudyogiki Vishwavidyalaya Rajiv Gandhi Proudyogiki Vishwavidyalaya (RGPV), also known as State Technological University of Madhya Pradesh, is a state university situated in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. It is a multi-campus affiliating, research university offering di ...

. * 2008 – Nominated of Robotic

Artificial Intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech re ...

(AI) by 15th ISME International Conference on New Horizon of Mechanical Engineering. * 2008 – Silver prize winner for Robotic in NRI.

Filmography

* 2022 –

Xylem Inc. Xylem Inc. is a large American water technology provider, in public utility, residential, commercial, agricultural and industrial settings. The company does business in more than 150 countries. Launched in 2011 as the spinoff of the water-relat ...

Let's solve water (Lead CG & VFX) * 2021 –

FA Women's Super League The Women's Super League (WSL), currently known as the Barclays Women's Super League (BWSL) for sponsorship reasons, is the highest league of women's football in England. Established in 2010, it is run by the Football Association and features t ...

Match of the day Live

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside flag ...

(Lead CG & VFX) * 2021 –

Bukayo Saka Bukayo Ayoyinka T. M. Saka (born 5 September 2001) is an English professional footballer who plays as a right winger for club Arsenal and the England national team. Saka is known for his attacking incisiveness and creativity, and is often cons ...

- New Balance This Little Chilli Brings Heat (Lead CG & VFX) * 2021 – Harry The Hamster short film (Visual Effects Supervisor) * 2021 – Bufflehead short film (Visual Effects Supervisor) * 2021 – The Gifted Hypothesis short film (Visual Effects Supervisor) * 2021 – The Lost Keys short film (Visual Effects Supervisor) * 2021 – A Sense of Space short film (Visual Effects Supervisor) * 2021 –

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

opening sequence (Lead CG & VFX) * 2021 – A Walk Home short film (Visual Effects Supervisor) * 2021 – Bach is Blue short film (Visual Effects Artist) * 2021 – Super Blood short film (Visual Effects Supervisor) * 2021 – Remind Me Yesterday short film (Visual Effects Supervisor) * 2021 – Bolt from the Dark animated art film (Director) * 2021 – The VAR Room (Lead CG & VFX) * 2020 - 2021 –

Doves (band) Doves are an English indie rock band formed in Manchester. The band is composed of twin brothers Jez Williams (guitar, vocals) and Andy Williams (drums, vocals), and Jimi Goodwin (bass, vocals, guitar). Additionally, the band employs Martin Rebe ...

- Carousels Music Video (Lead CG Animator) * 2020 –

Blossoms (band) Blossoms are an English pop band from Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. Formed in 2013, the band consists of Tom Ogden (lead vocals, guitar), Charlie Salt (bass, backing vocals), Josh Dewhurst (lead guitar, percussion), Joe Donovan (dru ...

: Back To Stockport (Lead CG & VFX) * 2020 – David vs Goliath master of Poker (Lead CG & VFX) * 2020 –

The Big Night In ''The Big Night In'' was a British telethon that was broadcast by BBC One from 7 pm to 10 pm on 23 April 2020 to support those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, COVID-19 pandemic. It is the first joint initiativ ...

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

, Comic Relief (Lead CG & VFX) * 2019 - 2020 –

- Hanging Off Your Cloud (Lead CG & VFX) * 2019 - 2020 –

- Better Man (Lead CG & VFX) * 2019 - 2020 –

- Heavy Jacket (Lead CG & VFX) * 2019 - 2020 – Band Of Skulls - Love Is All You Love (Lead CG & VFX) * 2019 - 2020 – Band Of Skulls - We're Alive (Lead CG & VFX) * 2019 - 2020 – Band Of Skulls - Cool Your Battles (Lead CG & VFX) * 2019 – STATSport advertisement (Lead CG & VFX) * 2019 –

2019 Netball World Cup The 2019 Netball World Cup (also known as the 2019 Vitality Netball World Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 15th edition of the INF Netball World Cup. It was held from 12–21 July 2019 at the Liverpool Arena in Liverpool, England with matche ...

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

(Lead CG & VFX) * 2019 – Larkins - TV Dream (Lead CG & VFX) * 2019 – Footsteps of Tagore documentary film (Lead Animator) * 2015 – 2018 – The Lossen film by Moon Watcher Media (Lead VFX Artist) * 2000 – present – Axtelera-Ray (Director/producer) * 2016 – 2017 – Infinite Mixed Reality Studios (VR/3D Project Manager) * 2013 –

Final Fantasy VII is a 1997 role-playing video game developed by Square for the PlayStation console. It is the seventh main installment in the ''Final Fantasy'' series. Published in Japan by Square, it was released in other regions by Sony Computer Entertai ...

the web series (Lead Animator/VFX Specialist) * 2012 – (YOPEY) Young people of the year promo ''(Designer/Animator)'' * 2012 – Camp Canyon, Summer Camp Film, Bethany, West Virginia, US * 2011 – AmeriCamp promo advertisement (Designer/Animator) * 2010 – H2O is a Virtual Operating System (Conceptual VFX Advertisement) Annual 24FPS Animation Award (Visual effect artist) * 2010 – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (stereoscopic/rotoscopy artist) * 2010 – Green Lantern (stereoscopic/rotoscopy artist) * 2010 – Men in Black 3 (stereoscopic/rotoscopy artist)

References

External links

Alroy Jovi Official Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jovi, Alroy Indian animators Indian animated film directors Indian animated film producers Living people 1987 births Artists from Bhopal