Maggie Halvajian is a producer of some of the most entertaining and iconic television shows, a director of formats, videos and films. A motivator and admirer of circus art, today he is a guest in the “Na Kafe” studio, where he talks about the book he wrote – the autobiography “Bez adremki”.
“I didn’t know I was going to write a book, and even though you know a lot of things, it will surprise you. Even close people who know me well share that they don’t know about different and curious things. The truth is that in interviews, the conversations skim the surface of things. When you start writing a book you go back deep and dig out of your mind details and memories. My first real memory is when I was 3 years old from Varna. My memories are extremely vivid, like visions, and I seem to empathize with things,” says Magardich Halvadzhiyan.
According to the author Vladi Aprilov, who helps him in writing the autobiography, now is the time to publish it, and in ten years they will write a second part. At the beginning, the book was over 1000 pages, of which only 570 remain. Unfortunately, many of the stories are dropped, and later the author collects material for more pages.
“The first print run sold out in just a dozen days, which means it’s a light, fast and engaging read. From the very beginning, Vladi suggested that we write it without pretensions and that it should be in a conversational style, so that it would be accessible to many people,” said the author.
“Childhood of mine, real and magical”
“Typical of this decade is love. I think that children brought up with a lot of love give love when they grow up. There are exceptions, but most of the time this is the case. My father is a puppeteer and he managed to open my mind that nothing is impossible. I would define my childhood by the love and fantasy that our family grew up with. My childhood was magical,” the showman defines the first years of his life.
Maggie Halvajian and the stories of his life
Why did he study at a ballet school?
“Between the ages of 10 and 20, fantasy and freedom of thought were channeled by my mother, who directed me to ballet school. That was my first stage appearance – I danced in “The Nutcracker” at the National Opera. This would give the sense and taste of creating a children’s theater for everyone in front of the block. Then I had access to the cinema for the first time. Various directors came, looking for artistic children for Bulgarian films. For the first time I participated in a film and saw Nikola Anastasov. These are small steps that led me to the circus school in Moscow. There are many circus schools, but this is the only school where you graduate and they give you a diploma. At the age of 14 I left alone and it was a big event for our whole family. I was happy that I could do whatever I wanted. These ten years I absorbed art and things that are close to my soul. The barracks was quite a difficult period for me because I lost all the freedom I had for all my 19 years. The human brain remembers the good things and that’s why they tell funny and funny stories more. If the circus school gave me the fantasy and freedom to create, the barracks gave me the discipline and taught me that every action in my life has consequences”
“The saddest moment in our family was the death of my father, who died at only 51 years old after a heart attack. We had just gotten together after 8 years of separation. This event changed our lives. Kremena was already in my life, but she lived in Bulgaria while I was in Italy. A year later she also moved with her family to Italy and we saw each other from time to time. These three events – the death of my father, Kremena and the birth of Bebo – mark the third decade of my life. I am a person who does not believe in fortune telling and I am pragmatic, but in my opinion there are no coincidences. I don’t believe in coincidences either. In 1990, I parted with illusions and grew up very quickly,” Halvajian sums up the third decade of his life.
A creative decade – from music videos to TV shows
“I started shooting a lot of videos without money for Dicho, Akaga and many others. I didn’t stop taking pictures, but at the age of 30 I had big plans for myself. But at that age I didn’t feel good about myself and I wasn’t satisfied with what was happening. How many more years would I make videos? In 1999, I made my first TV show, the following year I shot a feature film “The Profit”. The machine started, but before that I had done many things. I did a lot of shows, got a lot of awards, everything was happening at a fast pace. I didn’t realize what was happening because my hunger for work is so great that I don’t have time to stop and enjoy a little. I became a grandfather at 47 years old, and Kremena was 45, which is great. We don’t have a lot of time and we’re not your typical grandparents, but it’s a wild party.
The official presentation of the book “Without ads” – the autobiography of Maggie Halvajian will be on November 23 at 7:00 p.m. at the “Library” club, where the showman will sign autographs for those who wish.
