Will Wight, the author of the New York Times’ best-selling Cradle fantasy book series is joining forces with Jay Oliva, the founder & CEO of Lex+ Otis Animation Studio and renowned director of the heralded DC films Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, to create an animated adaptation of the Cradle series — and have started a Kickstarter for fans to help bring this project to fruition.
With 16 days left to go, the project is more than halfway to its $1 million goal.
Official press release below:
Cradle, the New York Times best-selling fantasy book series that started as a self-publishing operation a decade ago, has returned to its grassroots beginnings in its adaptation for animation – alongside award-winning Lex+Otis Animation Studio – with a Kickstarter designed to give fans even greater connection to the stories, realms and characters of the popular fable.
Will Wight, author of the books and founder of Hidden Gnome Publishing, has combined his celebrated writing talents with the acclaimed artistry of Jay Oliva and his Lex+Otis team to initiate the Kickstarter for Cradle: Unsouled, an animated depiction of the series’ first book.
The Kickstarter is live at https://kck.st/48ADhBI, and has already achieved over half its initial goal of $1 million, courtesy of more than 3,800 backers. The Cradle: Unsouled Kickstarter ends on February 9, and includes tiered perks for supporters that range from early viewing access to the animation and unique digital artwork and story content, to physical art prints, Cradle-inspired toys and accessories, to exclusive autographed materials, a private screening and on-screen credits.
“We wanted to do this as a Kickstarter instead of seeking private funding because we wanted this to be completely a fan project,” says Wight. “Jay’s a fan, I’m a fan, and we want to bring all the Cradle fans with us on this journey. The more support we get from the fan base, the bigger and better we can tell the story, but we’re committed to telling the story no matter how much we raise.”
Achieving the initial Kickstarter goal would allow Lex+Otis, hand in hand with the Hidden Gnome Publishing team, to produce a fully-realized “animatic,” which in industry terms is essentially the film prior to colored animation and final polishing. Oliva, noted for his unparalleled work on animated films for Warner Bros. & DC like Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, has already been deeply involved in creating character designs and storyboards for the piece, much to the delight of Wight and his key Hidden Gnome associates, siblings Sam Wight and Rebecca Wight.
“As we were preparing to release the 12th and final book in the series, we began discussing where we could take Cradle next – how we could bring these stories to people in another medium. We realized that we had to pursue a more visual approach to storytelling, and animation seemed the logical direction,” Wight explains. “At the same time, Jay approached us – he loved the stories, and I was already a fan of his work. He made a trip to visit us in Florida, and there was an instant connection. Our first priority was to ensure that any adaptation of Cradle was authentic to its source material, and Jay’s enthusiasm, his passion for the books, and his years of experience made Lex+Otis the obvious choice.”
“When you read a Cradle book, the stories and detailed descriptions are so vivid and iconic that it virtually begs for an animated adaptation,” Oliva says “These are fully fleshed out characters in rich, lush environments. Even if I wasn’t the one animating it, I’d be lining up to see these stories brought to the screen.”
Audiobook narrator and #1 New York Times best-selling author Travis Baldree has already agreed to join the adventure, providing his voice to the still-in-production sizzle reel, and setting his sights on at least one character to whom he’d like to voice.
For more information, and to watch videos featuring the initial animation concepts, all the tiered perks, and discussions with Will Wight, please visit the Kickstarter page.
ABOUT CRADLE
Cradle is a best-selling 12-book series of fantasy novels with a lightning-fast pace, non-stop action, and tons of magic. It follows the journey of a guy named Lindon, who starts off powerless but sets off on a journey to master the magical martial arts of his world and fight off an apocalypse. Cradle books are available for Kindle on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0753FP6SP.
ABOUT HIDDEN GNOME PUBLISHING
Hidden Gnome Publishing is home to the collected works of Will Wight, ranging from his first novel, House of Blades, which launched the highly successful Traveler’s Gate Trilogy; the space-fantasy series The Last Horizon; his popular Elder Empire adventures; and the Amazon-, New York Times– and Audible-best-selling Cradle series. The University of Central Florida alum operates Hidden Gnome Publishing alongside his family and trusted staff, who have turned Hidden Gnome from a self-publishing venture to a small publishing company in its own right.
ABOUT LEX+OTIS ANIMATION STUDIO
Lex+Otis (L+O) maximizes current and next-generation techniques to develop and produce cutting edge animation for television, film, video games, virtual reality, mobile and more. Led by Founder and CEO Jay Oliva, the burgeoning boutique studio boasts an impressive roster of established and emerging production talent focused on creating unique, immersive stories to inspire, educate and entertain across multiple platforms. L+O’s roster of clients/partners features Netflix, Warner Bros. Animation, TOEI Animation, Studio Wildcard, Corvus Belli, Fantasy Flight Games, SideShow Collectibles, Palladium Books and Privateer Press. The studio’s productions include the animated limited series RAID: Call of the Arbiter, based on the popular mobile game RAID: Shadow Legends from video game publisher Plarium; Netflix Anime original Trese, a Filipino mythology-based supernatural series; the star-studded Ark: The Animated Series; the “Synder Cut” animated short that appears in episode “365!” of Teen Titans Go!; several episode cinematics for Valorant for Riot Games; as well as several yet-to-be-announced series. In addition, L+O is presently in development on more than two dozen original concepts. For more information, please visit lexandotis.com.
