Production Assistant
I was born in a tiny town in Bulgaria. Like many people I didn’t really feel like I fit in. I didn’t really feel like I connected to many of my peers and likewise I don’t think they liked me very much. My school and town were pretty small and therefore we didn’t really have any creative activities going on. I wasn’t into sports and there was nothing else I could do really that would push me to make friends and so I found solace in the world of TV and books. Because of this, I ended up having quite a romanticised view of the world which hasn’t really left me ever since. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life but I knew I wanted to get as far away as possible. And so I did. At that point I was fluent in English thanks to the books and films I grew up with, so I decided to go to uni in the UK which is how I ended up in Lancaster.
I never even considered that a career in the arts was something I could pursue. I always thought those were reserved for the uber talented or the ones who have been involved with it since before they could walk. I was none of those things. For a while, I considered a career in either journalism or copywriting which seemed like safe options, albeit not really ones I was super passionate about. However, one thing I didn’t consider about university is that you still have to go home for the (pretty long) summer. That was something I didn’t want to do so I ended up spending my summers in Lancaster for as long as I could. Obviously that meant that a lot of the friends I had made at that point would leave and so I needed to find something to do. I ended up filling my time by volunteering and working part-time. I started volunteering for local theatres and arts organisations which led to my first paid first job in the arts (which also happened to involve working with young people) which was a big turning point in my life. That was the first time I thought that maybe this was something I could actually do. And then one thing led to another and I landed my first job at E2M! At first, I was only working during our Thursday evening sessions but then began getting more involved until eventually I became a core team member.
Still working with E2M but I have also been able to get involved with some other cultural projects in the area. I’ve done some film production work, been involved with some festivals and have overall managed to let go and learn to not take life too seriously and just enjoy the ride.
