By Diana Jura
Wanjiku Mbugua, the head of Production design at Spielworks Media has been with the company since 2009. The talent behind the Sumu La Penzi set started off as Dorothy Ghettuba’s (CEO) assistant and jumped at the chance to join the design team when an opportunity presented itself within the company.
Growing up Wanjiku loved everything art and could not stop drawing. Her most memorable gift as a child was a pack of colored markers and now she is colouring her way to success.
Baptism by fire!
That’s how Wanjiku describes her first experience as a set designer. She was all set to work as an assistant set designer for Higher Learning (a Spielworks production), but the head designer did not show. “A girl’s got to do what a girl’s got to do” and Ciku as she is fondly known, stepped up to the challenge and did a spectacular job. The fact that Dorothy believed in her gave her the confidence to succeed in her job.
Designing the Sumu La Penzi set
So what goes into building a set?
Passion! you have to love what you do. The first step to designing a set requires an understanding of each character only then can you create a space that reflects their on camera personalities.
Do you work alone?
I rely on “The team”, to get the best results. I worked with the best local set building talent and I could not be more proud of their work. They were passionate, dedicated and delivered beyond my expectations.
Is shopping for a set difficult?
Shopping for the set had to be the hardest part of the task. I literally walked into every shop in Nairobi before getting exactly what I wanted and even then a lot of changes had to be made to the set. It was worth the trouble, don’t you agree?
How long did it take to design the sets?
It was a tight schedule and we completed it in 30 days working day and night shifts.