Delving Into The BEAVER Universe with Crystal-Jade Vaughan

I've had the chance to have a quick online chat with Crystal-Jade Vaughan - in anticipation of her appearance at ToyConUK this Saturday Aril 25th (with an exclusive print for fugi.me - seen at bottom of this post), and upcoming release of SAWYER in 1/6th-scale from ThreeA - where we delve ever so slightly further into the realm of her BEAVER Universe, with compelling characters and stories all though out, besides the visual candy - now THAT'S something I can get behind!


TOYSREVIL: Who is "Sawyer" to Milkybot? And they do not seem too friendly with Beaver IND, aren't they?

CRYSTAL-JADE VAUGHAN: BEAVER INDUSTRIES is a futuristic science fiction world. It's the name of the franchise, and also the name of the production powerstation that the story evolves around.

It's a huge industrial enterprise. It manufactures a variety of products within it's concrete walls.  Much like our own Area 51, Beaver Industries is a myriad of locked doors and concealed experimental developments. 

Sawyer is our lead female character. She must unearth exactly what Beaver Ind. really is. Milky is a robot colleague. A Calcium Saline Fuel distributor. 

They're on a 4am shift together, about to recharge the rest of the robot workforce. 
The toys released so far from 3A, are the characters taken from that shot in the story.

TOYSREVIL: What can you tell us about the BEAVER Universe at this time?

CRYSTAL-JADE VAUGHAN: Beaver Industries is not all bad. It's a corporation. 

To it's employees and those that inhabit the world, it provides structure, social interaction, economical and financial stability, resource. It's the mechanical heart of the whole environment it sits in.  There is limited access across the Beaver Plant, and it leaves one thinking - why? What's being developed deep within it's vaulted hangers?

Only 15% of BEAVER is occupied, and the rest remains apparently disused. Heavy security systems and strict disciplinary measures quickly discourage exploration. But to Sawyer, those desolate areas and what she begins to uncover, make her realize there's something terribly wrong going on beneath the surface.

TOYSREVIL: I like your visual reference (in your initial email):  "Beaver Ind. universe most closely. Gritty, real, sci-fi, industrial vibe. Think District9 meets Alien and The Game." - can you expand upon that?

CRYSTAL-JADE VAUGHAN: Sure. Well, It's not fantasy. It's not flashy. It's not a brawl. It's clever. It's like The Game because it's a psychological, mystery thriller.

We have one main character that encounters a mindbending experience, you feel their emotions, and  trauma, you feel the decisions they're faced with. The decisions are so harrowing, you literally are on the edge of your seat and tensed up not knowing what the way out is. 

There is no way out. That's how you feel. You can barely watch at moments. It leads you through extreme moments on knife edge. It's got you at your gut. 

You take that intensity, and you place that same puzzling psychological thriller in a sci-fiction scape. Something that resembles a Planet Earth Documentary, breathtaking shots, camerawork, and visuals rich/immersive. Haunting. Emotional moments, sensual moments, moments of interaction between Sawyer and the robots she encounters. The species she encounters in the wild. That's the beautiful restbite from the clench moments, it lulls you into feeling grateful to be wrapped in it's visual splendor and safety.

Alien is terrifying, but H.R.Giger's designs offer a visual dreamlike playground. It's a powerful contrast.

District 9 because, Beaver is NOT fantastical, whimsy or just a candy film. It's tough, it's nasty, it's gritty, it is hard. It's reality pushed.

There is no, 'oh, let's just say it can do that because it's magic'. No, it's all got to be real, and figured out as if it were a real moment in a time we're  lucky enough to be the fly on the wall for, in some desperate other universe. I want the viewers to come out of the theatre and think, 'I'm so lucky to be here on THIS Earth. In this dimension, in THIS reality, at THIS time. Cos' I sure as hell don't want that reality!''. It's tough and it moves you, it makes you think.

TOYSREVIL: If you could have a soundtrack OST to "Beaver Ind. universe", what songs would you pick?

CRYSTAL-JADE VAUGHAN: Yes. There's a moment where Sawyer is just...not going to make it. That's it. She has to perform a particular task in front of a robot workforce. It's almost impossible, but she somehow manages to do it, against all odds. It's unbelievable.

The robots ease off in amazement, and let her survive. She takes off her glove and with her hand touches one, and says something meaningful
to it, which makes the whole circle realize something.

CRYSTAL-JADE VAUGHAN: You apply this track to that scene, it's kind of a Rocky moment. She really isn't going to make it, you think oh shit, that's it. she's gone. She doesn't know how to do it.

But like in the Matrix you SO want Neo to get past his super cool montage of training and just be ABLE. And that's this track, she does it.

You can find Crystal-Jade Vaughan on Twitter / Instagram / LinkedIn.