Producer Naima Vogt Joins Electric Studios
As Mark Twain once said, “travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness…”, although knowing him he was being sponsored by a transatlantic cruise liner.
For genuine evidence of the mental, creative and spiritual benefits of international travel, we need look no further than incoming Electric Studios producer Naima Vogt A Brazilian-Canadian citizen born in the UK, Naima was raised in Turkey, France, USA, and was educated in Canada, before embarking on an equally globe-hopping career that’s taken her from the USA to Finland and - thankfully for us - back here to England.
With a background in documentary filmmaking, Naima developed a fascination with animated content, and so jumped at the chance of working on CBeebies series Apple Tree House before heading off to Giggelbug Entertainment in Finland, working on Nickelodeon’s Best & Bester animated series. From there she now joins Electric Theatre's exciting new design studio Electric Studios, on the latest leg of her world-lapping career.
Electric Studios are hoping she stops by for a while in London, so tried to engage her in fascinating conversation while trying not to admit we haven’t travelled further than East Dulwich in the last five years.
Q> It's great to meet you. How's tricks?
Naima> …up my sleeve!
Q> You're marvellously well travelled - what's the best and worst place you've been to?
Naima> That’s a tough question! The best, and most surprising, place I’ve been to has to be Taiwan. I took a roundtrip around the island and every corner of the island blew my mind away in terms of the amazing local food, the varied and beautiful landscapes (especially its inner mountains and valleys!), and just how friendly everyone there was (despite the language barriers!). The worst place I’ve been might be New Jersey (sorry! having lived in NYC I kind of feel obliged to say that).
Q> Who does the best food in the world?
Naima> Vietnam! Give me a bun cha or summer roll any day of the week.
Q> They say travel opens the mind, but so does a good book and our neighbour's herbal tea. Have you got any (legal) tips on inducing creativity?
Naima> This might sound totally hippie but I think nature is the most conducive place to get your creative juices flowing. You don’t have to travel far and this can remain totally legal ;).. So here is my two cents: go to your closest park, find a tree, lie under it and just look up. Follow the intricate lines of the bark up the trunk, up to the veiny, neural network of spindling branches.. Notice the movement of leaves against the wind.. notice how the colours change against the light of the sun, how they break up the sky behind it. Notice how a tree can look like a brain, a network of veins, an upward-flowing estuary with its many rivers and streams, or a strangely planned city map. Notice how a tree isn’t always just a tree. With the right mindset, you can find a whole world of creative possibilities within the simplest shapes of a tree!
Q> According to TS Eliot, April is the cruellest month, but he was blatantly wrong because January and February are much worse. How are you surviving?
Naima> Endorphins, endorphins, endorphins.
Q> Do the English moan about the weather too much? And what sagely Canadian/Brazilian advice can you offer on coping with extreme weather patterns?
Naima> Probably a little bit… The best practical advice I can give is that it’s all in what you wear. Equip yourself with proper gear and just enjoy it! Trust me - with the right getup, you can thrive (...almost painlessly) in even -20C weather. And for the hot humid summers, four words: Loose. Linen. Frozen Grapes.
Q> We read somewhere the other day that Argentina won the World Cup. Did you know? And if so, were you a) extremely angry b) pleased for Messi, or c) football is a silly game
Naima> Admittedly, A)… Not only because of the obvious longstanding rivalry between Argentina & Brazil but also because I’m marrying a Frenchman. It was a painful double whammy.
Q> Coffee, tea, shandy or Chablis?
Naima> Coffee, coffee, coffee - 1000 times, coffee!
Q> If you could have a conversational stroll with any figure in history, who would it be and where would you wander?
Naima> I would speak with Chico Mendes, the Brazilian environmentalist who fought in the 70s and 80s for the preservation and conservation of the Amazon rainforest until his assassination in the late 80s. I’d want to take a boat together to his favourite spots in the forest and see it from his perspective.
Q> What are you hoping 2023 brings us?
Naima> I’m hoping it brings us plenty of fun and creative projects to work on, and as always - good health, success, peace and love in all aspects of life.
