Today we’d like to introduce you to Nandar Thu.
Hi Nandar, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Hey! My name is Nandar Moe Myint Thu, people call me Nandar or Nan. I’m a 3D Generalist and a Set Decorator.
I was born in Yangon, Myanmar. I moved to the US to pursue my undergraduate degree in architecture. During my time in university, I developed a method of design that had no limits or boundaries. While this might sound exciting and an utopian dream to every designer, I soon learned that the boundaries and limits reality sets for us are what give true meaning to our work.
During my undergraduate work I mostly developed my practical modeling and storytelling skills as our design proposals, for as much freedom as we had, still needed a core intention to justify our decisions as architects.
But around the time COVID hit, it seemed the whole school pivoted towards an animation and digital environment-based workflow to display the final project for presentations. It was interesting to see how, from an early stage, COVID was already challenging even our most traditional professor’s standards.
After learning a new way of presenting projects, I was more intrigued by the worldbuilding aspect of visual storytelling. I started exploring new projects that were weighted more towards compelling fictional worlds through visual storytelling. There were so many different forms of creative work that could be done with these skill sets: films, music videos, games, etc. As Covid went by, I spent most of my day and nights glued to the screen trying out different pipelines, software and workflows to get more familiar with this new world that has opened up to me.
My wrists, sore. Eyes, strained. Burnout, the day’s special.
Around that time, my partner started to work as an art director for a few films and asked if I was available to help out on set. I needed the break from computer work and figured being active on set and surrounding myself with like minded, creative people might be the refreshing break I needed. So I said yes.
After a few months and six film sets under my belt, I found myself enjoying the work more than I thought. There’s an intense energy while being on site, solving problems at a moment’s notice and collaborating in close quarters with a team. It’s a whole new pool of creative knowledge that I haven’t tapped into before. My key takeaway is that it doesn’t matter how well prepared you are, you always end up improvising and having to work with what you have to achieve what you want. And you know how they say about when you do things you love, work doesn’t feel like work. It was that feeling for both digital and physical. And to me, it feels like I got the best of both worlds.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Nothing is ever a smooth road. It takes work and consistency, showing up every day to make the road a little smoother than it was the day before. The transition from working on the computer for 16 hours a day to being light on your feet and solving problems on set for the same amount of time wasn’t easy. In the beginning I felt like an outsider. Especially being on a film set, it’s a space where there is more pressure.
You have to prove yourself in the eyes of the department heads and make yourself valuable. People in this industry look for those that are able to deliver what they want with the least amount of mistakes. If you get it on the first try, then you’re locked in. I had to learn and adapt quickly if I wanted to survive.
Similarly, in the digital world, a lot of clients are looking for people that can create their vision efficiently and on the first try. It’s a competitive field and even more competitive to land clients. It was a battle of balancing how much wiggle room you had to explore new ideas and how much service you can provide for the client. That means that you go through multiple trial and error on your own, even if it means you are working over time before you can present the work back to the clients. In the end, the work you put out there shows a reflection of how much care and time you put into it.
We’ve been impressed with Z Axis Studio, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
The idea of creating a studio has been in my head since I started my undergraduate work in Los Angeles. Seeing everyone explore different mediums to communicate their creative output and placing a part of themselves into what they research, design, build, and conceptualize with unrestrained freedom, resonated with my own motivation to explore visual storytelling in my work, which created an underlying layer of intention within everything I created.
I was fortunate enough to meet like-minded people while I was still exploring my options in career. I started to also notice not only their work, but the way they think, their work ethics and how they work with others. These were all important factors because I truly believe that a strong team dynamic plays a big role in the quality of the design we strive for.
I named my studio “Z-Axis”. If you have touched any type of 3D software then you know. The Z axis is the vertical plane of 3D modeling, a bit of an homage as it’s the plane where designs become reality. Two dimensional drawings can be beautiful but the design only works when it has depth, when it has a third dimension we experience the design on a whole new level.
We’re a starting and growing VFX and animation studio focused on speculative worldbuilding. Our team also explores the implementation of AI as a workflow to achieve concept sketches, presentations, films, and even finished assets.
The projects we’ve developed, we have focused intensely on being communicative with our clients, having a deep understanding of their vision, their visual style and workflow to adapt and produce meaningful projects that reflect our own process.
We value making meaningful and long lasting relationships with clients; who become our friends in the long run and as we work more with them, we start to understand each other better, which helps in the value of the work we produce.
For the readers, I want to say that our studio team is very open minded and curious, and are always eager to meet new people and learn new things from them. So if you either have aligned interest with our workflow, want to work with us, or just simply want to know more about the things we do or have any advice, please feel free to reach out.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
To put it briefly, taking risks leads to growth. Whether you succeed or fail, what matters is that you tried and learned from your mistakes. Every step I took after leaving my home country felt like a risk, especially shifting careers, but each decision forced me to grow. I learned to trust myself more, to adapt quickly, and to stay committed even when things feel uncertain. The challenges didn’t disappear, but my mindset changed. Now, instead of seeing each risk as a gamble, I see it as a step towards myself becoming more capable and resilient.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.nandarmmt.myportfolio.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nandar_mmt
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nandar-thu/
Image Credits
1st Image Credit: Jui-En (Ray) Chang
