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Stylist and designer in some of the most watched TV shows and series, owner of a nightclub and super caring grandmother of Eddie and Kai. Kremena Halvadjian manages to do all this at the same time, sometimes leaving only 3-4 hours for sleep. And yet it boils with energy. For years, Magi Halvadjian’s wife has been in this rhythm and not only manages to cope, but is getting better. And every time the viewers are really impressed by the costumes that she and her team create for reality formats such as “The Masked Singer” and “Like Two Drops of Water”. Here’s what she said about “24 hours”:
– The third season of “The Masked Singer” is coming, you are creating the impressive costumes and masks behind which the participants are hiding. How are such complex images made, Mrs. Halvadjian?
– We make 14 costumes. They are not standard and every day there are at least a hundred questions to solve for each of the images. I have to come up with thousands of options, circling from studio to studio. And as always, I do many things at once. At the same time, I deal with my restaurant, as well as with another. There I put an old wooden door, which we restored with artists, and people have already started taking pictures in front of it. It is one of the typical old doors of the 1930s. I was born in a house from this period and I am not in favor of ruining the old and making it modern. The old things must be repaired and preserved, in the spirit of Old Sofia. However, this is a huge problem in our country. The case has not been resolved, people do not have money to maintain their property and it is in no way settled as assistance by the institutions. In general, the buildings are in poor condition. That’s why I try as hard as I can to keep such things, to keep them as they were.
Otherwise, I start working for the “Masked Singer” as soon as I open my eyes, talking on the phone at 8 am I go home at midnight. I don’t know when I eat, when I sleep, but the interesting thing is that I have energy.
Along with The Masked Singer, I didn’t have a single day off in the summer for two years in a row. Before the show started in September, we went on vacation for a week.
– How much time do you have to create the costumes?
– In previous years it was all summer. We worked with other artists, who were very few. Two girls sewed the costumes, another atelier made the masks. We finished the last suit while the business cards were being taken. From the end of May to August inclusive. This time I started before the “Drops” ended. I started thinking about them, looking for people. Now I’m working with a lot of performers to make it faster. Everyone has taken on two or three costumes. But I’m getting crazy because I have to to travel all over Sofia to go through all the studios. There are constantly cases that will not be convenient or can not be fixed.
– Where are the other costumes and will they enter the new season of the show again?
“We keep them in the studio.” Most likely they will come in, I don’t know what the screenwriters will decide.
– There are rumors that Maria Ignatova will be the host, right?
– I can not publish such things, there will be surprises
– Over the years you have been involved in many shows, what is the most difficult job?
– Maybe the “Masked Singer”. First I have to invent the costumes, I will not say about budgets that something has to be made. with the money we work with in Bulgaria, but I’m used to it in some way, Gala has always wished me to have projects in which I don’t have any restrictions, which is unlikely to happen.
I have to do all kinds of things, I have to shape some mouths with clay and plasticine, cut stones, work with hammers, saw, etc. In addition to having to invent everything, I have to do the whole organization, who should get what from where, what is missing, where to order, who should run to buy it. All sorts of logistical things.
– What is the heaviest suit so far?
– I will not publish for the current ones. We had never done such things before, and we had used inappropriate materials, as had happened with the Raven and the Owl. They turned out to be very difficult. And now there are two or three of them, but compared to the previous ones they are quite optimized. And as a project, everyone is heavy. It was difficult for me when I was told that in 20 days I had to make 20 locations for a series, such as “The Cops from the Outskirts of the City” or “The Road of Honor”. We rent some houses, which we make from the flooring to the toothbrush in the bathroom.
– How do you cope so quickly, an apartment can not be furnished in such a short time?
– When it comes to transmission, I’m like a centrifuge. I start to distribute tasks, to work in parallel at all locations, to keep track of things. I’m gaining some speed and I have no other option. We have deadlines, we need to start filming on a certain date and point on the subject. For this thing to happen, I literally live in these places, I went home for three hours.
– Does your husband Magi Halvadjian participate in your creative process?
– Fortunately, Maggie has trusted me for a long time and there are no requirements or arguments. We work with directors, now Kiko is our main director and we also don’t have any dramas. We only get along with two stories on the phone. But if we work with external directors, we always sit down to discuss things, to find out what their ideas are. It is the director who makes the whole picture. I am an art director or project artist. Many times I have managed to convince a director who has gone in a certain direction that this, in these very rooms, will not be good and we will change something. People, thank God, have trusted me for a long time.
– Are you still working on the broadcast of the “Coffee” Gala?
– No, they released us most kindly. After 20 years of work, I dare say that we are the core creators of this show, of the look, of the image, of the television at that time. Then there was no such profession as mine – creating an image, style, what the shows will look like. I did not only deal with “On Coffee”, but also with most of the other shows that started at that time. to be in one place.
“You already have a huge wardrobe for ‘Like Two Drops of Water.’
– Both. “Drops” is one of our favorite shows. It’s very hard, but it’s kind of easy for us. We’ve probably been with our seamstress Desi Rafailova for 10 years now, and she’s doing very well. First we have a concept meeting, Desi runs for samples, brings them to me and has two days to sew. We do rehearsals, rehearsals with the ballet. I come across some old shows, I wonder how we made them. While the format is running, everything happens very fast. We have crushed the wheels.
– You recently had a birthday, your loved ones always make big surprises, how was it now?
– There were no such big surprises this year. The previous ones were from my children. The gifts for two of my birthdays were babies. First they told me the news that we were going to have Eddie, then Kai. For my anniversary two years ago, Maggie had done huge shows. Now the surprise was the organization, decoration and preparation of the party. I wondered if they would tell me about a third grandchild, but I decided it was too early.
– Do you have time now for the grandchildren?
– I still succeed, of course, but at this time of year my children spare me a little. For example, they come on Saturday and stay overnight with us or we go to a late dinner. Or we make some detections in Sofia, they take me to see them for a while. In these two months they spare me, otherwise I am quite a basic grandmother. I really like to be at home, to travel somewhere, to look at each other. But now there is no way. Grandma’s children didn’t knit. (Laughs.)
I help a lot. When the shows start, we take them with us, especially Eddie, he’s bigger now. We are terrible rubber bands – one takes it from somewhere, takes it to the other, we understand who will pick it up from rehearsal, etc.
Now we have taken a break and the whole family is in Italy. This is our second home, we had not been for two years and we missed it.
“Are Eddie and Kai meek?”
– No, I really can’t believe what a miracle today’s children are. When they come, they fly in all directions, they don’t stop, they are like Persians. Kai amazes me, she is a year and a half old, and she talks, communicates with people. She is like a walking doll, miniature and elegant. He has a conscious conversation, shows what he wants, answers exactly the things. That day he went out and said, “Ather, ather, you burn!” Which was, “Wind, wind, horror!” At this fragile age there are already exclamations, evaluations. I have the feeling that each new generation is going faster than the previous ones.
“You’re probably not a strict grandmother?”
– Everyone thinks I’m a pampered grandmother, and I have a method that works very well. When Eddie comes to me crying because his parents scolded him, I get the same thing they’re fighting for, but he understands in a second. I manage to convince him with a short sensible conversation. Or distract him if necessary. He listens to me a lot. When it gets baked, I’m his dock. He is my heart, Kai of course, too. But she is still at the age when she is very attached to her mother. Eddie is more used to me because they lived with us for longer periods. I hope we have the same strong connection with Kai. But I’m not one of the pampering grandmothers, whatever they want happens. I’m strict in some ways, but with understanding I get things done.
– How does Eddie behave in the studio, do you manage to make him keep quiet when necessary?
“He’s used to everything.” He has been behind the cameras since he was a baby, his father kept him on his knees while filming, he was in the hardware room, everywhere … He behaves very sensibly, he knows when it should be quiet, when it is a rehearsal, when sound is recorded. But it turned out that he was bored when the life started, because he had already seen everything during the rehearsal. He wants to be behind the scenes, on stage, to sit in the audience – that doesn’t interest him at all. Very cute.
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