Getting back to production after a long break was more than a gathering of voiceover actors at Steffan La Touche’s cosy Happy Accident Studio. Tucked in the hills of rural Nottingham complete with clean air, farm animals and an expansive landscape, you could call it an escape for some on the team – Kathryn, Adeola, Ophelia, Steffan and myself. Most notably, it was the culmination of a desire that had been burning for some time – an intersection of cultures in multicultural societies as the UK through the lens of children.
Moving to the UK 4 years ago to start a family, I imagined my living experience in a multicultural society would mirror that which I’d had from my brief stint across different countries – meeting new people with whom I learn, share and in some cases, build interesting stuff together.
As time went by, I began to see the other sides of a multicultural society; a world where everyone literally existed in their own worlds – mini replicas of their root countries. Hence, I could live out the rest of my life in the UK with trivial contacts with others from different cultural backgrounds including locals!
From a work perspective, in my fully remote role, there’s only a few occasions where I get to meet my colleagues even though we’re fairly diverse culturally. Also, I attend a predominantly African Church which I enjoy for its socio-cultural attractions as much as the spiritual balance keeping me connected to the homeland. But that in itself is a closed world if you get what I mean.
In contrast, my daughter’s life is pretty enviable. She attends a nursery where she is surrounded by kids of different cultural backgrounds. And like every kid, she couldn’t care less about anything that her adult daddy has to deal with. Instead, like scenes from Boss Baby, she spends hours eating, playing, singing, dancing, and running around. Oh I forgot, and hiding things! I could never shake off the image of her and the other kids during the summer all clad in diapers running around; hilarious to say the least.
If any, I wanted a piece of Funke’s world as opposed to the stereotype mired world that adults dwell in. That explains why I’ve also been a huge fan of Children’s books buying them to build Funke’s library and keen on playing in the space of Children’s media via Wafunk Publishing. Beyond the simplicity of Children’s books is an underlying reinforcement of that childlike innocence and creativity that I could do with. Call Funke’s world a bubble but I’d rather that bubble than the increasingly polarising alternative out there.
Inspired by that, my first major decision was joining a swimming class for adults at my local gym where I got to meet 2 interesting grannies starting out their swimming journey. One funny experience with my tutor was when she mentioned that some of her students are often surprised at seeing people from the Caribbean in adult swimming classes. They were of the impression that folks from there ought to be good swimmers given the surrounding beaches. That cracked me up!
I wanted to experience more of those nuances and help demystify some where I could but even more, learn more about the beauties of other worlds.
That’s when an idea started to form as to bridging this cultural divide. What if there was a means of learning about Diwali, Thai cuisine, Scottish accents and a host of endless cultural values unique to this diverse society? I want to be in the studio working with people from these cultural backgrounds. Unsurprisingly, it mirrors my journey with Genii Games where I had come to realise how much I loved working with people from different backgrounds on a common purpose. The interactions, exchange of ideas, shared spaces, small talks, and camaraderie of working to give life to ideas that convey impactful values…this time for Funke and kids all over.
The outcome of that first session at Happy Accident Studios marks a milestone in that journey with Wafunk Publishing.
