Erdem Taylan

Erdem Taylan has always had a love for art and creating things, and when he completed his first animated short as a youngster, he knew his career path was written. Also fascinated by three-dimensional graphics and technical applications, Erdem went on to earn a degree in Electrical Engineering from Bogazici University in Istanbul, Turkey, realizing that solving technical challenges as an effects artist could fuse all of his passions together.
In 1997, Erdem joined Pacific Data Images (PDI) to work on Dreamworks’ highly acclaimed 3D Animated movie “Antz”. He mainly worked on the flood sequence, which was an industry first application of water simulation technology and many called the work a technological breakthrough. He then went on to work Dreamworks’ Academy Award winning film “Shrek”. He was one of the main effects developers of the film and worked on highly acclaimed effects of fire, water, milk, smoke, dust, magical dust in addition to his contributions to the film as a visual developer. In 2001, Erdem joined Pixar Animation Studios and began working as a shading and effects senior technical director on Academy Award winning “Finding Nemo”. Following “Finding Nemo”, Erdem started his work on Pixar’s Academy Award winning film of “The Incredibles” as the principal designer for studio’s effects pipeline. He also worked on atmospheric rendering and dynamics tools that were responsible for the film’s many atmospheric effects like clouds, explosions, smoke, steam, fire. He then transitioned to the studio’s most recent release, “Cars” as a lead visual effects developer and as a senior technical director. After completing his work on “Cars”, he served as effects supervisor on Pixar’s short film, “Mater and the Ghostlight”. In 2007, Erdem was nominated for an Annie Award for “Individual Achievement for Animated Effects” for his work on “Cars”.
In 2007, after his relocation to his native country, he founded an innovative animation studio, The Bakery with offices in France and Turkey. After The Bakery, he worked as the Visual Effects Supervisor for the hit Turkish film “AROG” which is widely regarded as the reference for visual effects in a Turkish Movie. He then went on to found a visual effects studio, CAVE, and a visual effects and animation school, CAMP. In 2015 he founded CAVE AS, focusing on creating world class software for visualization, 3d animation, augmented reality and 3d production pipeline development. He currently works as the CEO and principal designer for CAVE AS and enjoys his time in various in-house 3d animated projects currently in production at CAVE VFX.