Meet Artem Nuzhin | Media Content Producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Artem Nuzhin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Artem, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I had to go a long way Perhaps here you can compare any person with a child. And even when you are an adult, in some situations you act like a child without even noticing it. Of coure, the processes of becoming oneself a personality occurs in different ways for different people

And I spent my whole life in creativity. I have been a musician since childhood, even from the cradle (does this expression exist in English? I’ve done a direct translation from Russian, maybe you use smth different to say “from the time that I was born”, please advise). I stood for hours, clasping my mother’s leg and listening to her choir of 30 people singing, I felt the vibration emanating from people singing in many voices. I studied piano for 9 years at a music school, I spent 4 years at a music lyceum. After graduating from the faculty as a choir conductor, I entered the free department at the Gnessin Academy of Music. This is perhaps the most prestigious music university in Russia. Every time I remember studying at a higher educational institution, I feel ashamed and I was terribly afraid to talk about it out loud before, but now I’m not afraid to write about it. In order to somehow live in those years, and I’m from a not rich family, I had to overpower myself, get on the train and sing songs with an accordion in order to get at least some money for food. After 3 hours of such work, we divided the profit between three of us and I could afford to buy bread, eggs, milk. These food supplies were enough for me for three days. At that time, I was very ashamed to enter the train car and open my mouth, with a bag of coins hanging from my belt. Now, after so many years, I can safely write about it. It was just a «must-go-through». But we sang well, I know))) By the way, the same horn (instrument I played in trains) is here with me in LA. I have treasured it my whole life and brought it here with me from Russia.

In general, I was 100% aware that I would become an excellent musician, I would sing in a group.
But fate turned out a little differently.
In 2000, one very famous producer, who went to sing songs in karaoke, where I worked as a DJ, invited me to work on Channel One. This is the most popular, the main channel of the country at that time. This is where my career began. First I got into the sound engineering department, having worked there for 11 years, where I gained tremendous experience. There is a slightly sad moment in this for everyone, because for all these long years, in addition to experience, I earned extremely little money. Let me explain – the salaries in Russia on the channels are critically low, I would say that they are ridiculous, but nevertheless they squeeze you out in full. I was always told: «Look, you work on the best projects and on the coolest channel. Be glad you’re here!» And in the end, you barely have enough for food and transportation – that’s it.
Let me give you an example: you come to work at 8 in the morning. I was sitting on the playback at the console (I won’t name what specific project it was). We shoot 3 programs in a row, and then, end-to-end, without a break, 3 full-fledged rehearsals begin for the next programs for tomorrow.
You finish around 3-4 o’clock in the morning and it makes no sense to go home. You don’t have a lunch break either, you just run to the toilet. Plus, according to my logic, meals should be organized at least twice on such a shooting day on the set, don’t get me started. My salary for this kind of work was $30 including taxes. But what a great project! Therefore, I received only experience, for which I am immensely grateful. I began to grow up and wonder why everything is so vile, hard and decided to leave the channel. I became a freelancer, after which, financially, the situation immediately became much more profitable. I had more time and I began to earn more. It did not last long, only six months, and I received an offer to go to work on the «Hollyday in Mexico» project. In Russia, the world-famous format «Paradise Hotel» was launched, this is something very close to reality «Too hot to handle», which is now being successfully broadcast on Netflix. We worked in Mexico for almost 2 years. For me it was a very good income. And there I began to think that I want my own business. We were filming a project in Mexico and at the same time, we, as part of our incredibly professional Russian film crew, flew off to shoot “Survivor” for Ukraine, no matter how sad it sounds in the current situation. It was a very friendly, joint production of Russia and Ukraine. “Survivor” is my favorite project. This is about testing yourself, willpower, about great love for people. Regardless of nationality. It was a very happy time. It so happened that I was part of that incredible production that traveled all over the world and filmed the best, most rated projects in world famous formats.
I spent almost all my time on constant filming trips, where I actually met my wife Anastasia. In parallel with these shootings around the world, together with her we opened our own sound company T.I.M Sound Company (https://timsoundcompany.com/) which is still operating in Russia. We had a lot of projects, most of them can be seen on the site.

After some time, I cooled off a bit to the sound, realizing that I wanted more. We decided to create our own production company. Experience and knowledge for this was already enough.
Nevertheless, the first step was very scary to take. Because we are very ambitious guys and the sea seemed to us knee-deep (it’s also a Russian saying meaning “we dare to do anything”).
We should try and start with something small, simple. So no, we need a scale. We wanted to do a big, expensive project. And since no one knew us, no one would give us money. Therefore, we took a huge risk – we went all-in, we borrowed money from everyone we could borrow from, «swayed» our credit cards in the States, withdrew cash and I went to Panama to shoot our “Island of Heroes” reality show with famous bloggers. For us, these were huge expenses – permits, construction of competitions, delivery, accommodation of the film crew, complex logistics, equipment. But we didn’t care and we were clearly aware that if we didn’t do it, it wouldn’t be worth living any longer))) And the most interesting thing is that the project launch date coincided with the due day. Therefore, the project had to be postponed for several days so that I could stay for the birth and immediately flew away. Subsequently, Anastasia, being alone with the newborn, not knowing anyone, was looking for money and still sent it to me, because what I brought was not enough. We scraped everything.

Having spent all the money and even more, we returned and started the editing. It was only 6 episodes. We edited the first episode for almost 4 months. We didn’t like everything. A one-minute teaser was edited for almost 3 months, until we saw our ideal option.

Then it was time for distribution. After spending six months in negotiations, I realized that something was going wrong. And somehow they don’t really want to pay me for my created content and return all the funds spent. In total, I went through channels and various platforms for almost a year, there was no result. Yes, they offered me some tiny money, but we would not compensate even 20%. Then we realized that it was the end – we lost. But at the last moment, and this happens when you don’t expect anything at all, the project decides to take over the country’s most popular entertainment federal channel. It was a very happy moment for us. We were put in prime time. The project was successful! This was the start of our business. After that, we turned into a full-cycle production.

Social impact: how does your business help the community or the world?

All of us who live on this planet go through a certain path. Everyone is brought up differently, everyone has their own abilities, skills, we all live in a different social environment. Every person, whether good or bad, has a mission. And if you are in a terrible situation and you feel bad, you repeat it from time to time, this means that the problem is most likely in you. And you had to go through this path and until you finally realize why all this was given to you. This can be repeated until you yourself understand it. I know that the vast majority of people live without understanding why they are on this planet. And having passed his difficult path of becoming and awareness, only by the age of 35 he understood how everyone interacts with each other, like puzzles. Therefore, my mission and everything I do – through my projects, through songs with a great desire, is to convey to people that there is love in the world, there is no need to be afraid of it. Knowing how difficult it is to come to this and how much time a person needs for such a transformation, I think this is not an easy process. I am also constantly learning and analyzing all the situations that are given to me. Therefore, my wife and I have a dream. Everyone knows about the Survivor project. Watching on TV and watching people survive is one thing, but have you ever thought about how you will behave when you are there and survive in such an unusual society? For several years now, we have been promoting and popularizing such exclusive travel tours to the island in Panama for all comers (please check the web page to see more info – www.island2022.com ) Because we are 10,000,000% convinced that those who walk this path will never be the same again. This is a small life in ordinary life, which is of great importance and which is simply impossible to forget. This is an incredible transformation of yourself as a person. And if you imagine the situation, if we sit opposite each other and you say to me: Come on, what’s there, I know everything, I can survive. I know what will happen to me.
Everything will not be the way you expect it to be. And it doesn’t matter who you are – a bodybuilder or a fragile girl. On this topic, I can discuss a lot))) Do you want to talk?))

To summarize: in all the projects that we have done, are doing and will do, there is a message – to deliver to as many people as possible the knowledge and understanding that they have the opportunity to develop, become better, and be kinder.

Risk taking: how do you think about risk, what role has taking risks played in your life/career?
I already talked about the risk above.

If you are a parent, what do you think is the most important thing you’ve done as a parent in terms of the impact on your children?

All my life I was raised by only one mother. Dad left us when he first found out that my mom was pregnant. Only after 40 years of my life, I overcame myself and in many ways I am grateful to my wife (she said that it would be important for me), I found my dad and we met. It wasn’t easy for me. From the conversation, I realized that he did not believe that I was his son, after which I had to do a DNA test. Of course, he showed a positive result. This meeting was very unpleasant for me, because my mother told me all my life how bad my dad was. I love my mother very much, but the difference in concepts, mentality and the very attitude to the situation is very different from my vision. Therefore, apparently, I myself also had to go a certain way. After this meeting, I understood a lot for myself, it was extremely important. The first time I got married at the age of 21 and we had a child, his name is Sasha. Together with my first wife, we lived for almost 10 years. During the last years of my life with my ex-wife, I understood that I could not continue to exist with her. On one of my work trips, I met Anastasia, where I fell in love. Unfortunately, it was a very painful moment for me to part with my child. I knew perfectly well that I would not be allowed to communicate with him. That is exactly what happened. My eldest son is now 20 years old and we do not communicate. Yes, I had one meeting with him, where I tried to convey my experience of not communicating with my dad and that this would not lead to anything good, but I was not heard … If you pay attention to the sequence of events, you can definitely see the connection between , as it was with my dad and as it happens with my eldest son. Mirror. I had to go through this experience. We have with Anastasia so far 2 children Matthew and Nicole. I am a very happy father. Every second, being with my children, I give them my endless love. I can pamper them and buy all the toys in the world that they want. I can kiss them endlessly and tell bedtime stories, they love it very much and wait every time. I live with the feeling that I do not have enough life to pass on all my love to my children. And most importantly, together with the children, I can live my childhood again and again. After all, when you are small, you don’t feel it that way. But it turned out that when you are an adult, you can be a child again. Cool, indeed!
No wonder my beloved wants 5 children)))) Sincerity, happiness and love are in children!

What is the most important factor behind your success / the success of your brand?

All success is laid from childhood. I don’t know a single person who doesn’t have flaws. It’s impossible to be perfect. The foundation is laid by the parents. If they are not around for any reason, you need the help of a psychologist and it is very important to realize, accept your parents, you need to put all this in your head correctly. You need to understand and forgive them, if necessary. If your relationship with your parents is not very good, the business will not be successful. First of all, this important issue must be resolved. Call dad and mom now! Next comes the training. You need to correctly understand what you sincerely want and what brings you real pleasure, what you do with love. If you manage your own business, you cannot fail to be successful. Next, your environment and status. You may not have it, but you can collect it, work it out. If you are not lazy, constantly work, you will definitely achieve success in your business!

How to know whether to keep going or to give up?

I have been different in my life. There were moments when I thought that was all, I didn’t want anything and thought that my heart would stop from my universal sadness, honestly. Then my business was taken away from me and I could not believe it. Only a few years later I realized that something bad, as everyone in society is used to feeling and calling it, necessarily gives rise to something very good, and unfortunately, in most cases, a person cannot understand it differently. You fall lower, you fly higher. Even if someone tells you in your eyes how to do it, you won’t hear and you won’t understand. You have to walk this path yourself. But, most importantly, if you go through it consciously with an understanding of why you feel so bad and why you got into this or that situation, only in this case you will be able to do with renewed vigor and new energy what others cannot do. Therefore, you cannot give up. You need to get different experiences. You can mourn a little, you can even cry. But everything must be conscious. In this case, you can not fail to be successful! And even from a hopeless situation there is always a way out.

Work life balance: how has your balance changed over time? How do you think about the balance?

Oh, in this situation, we personally are becoming and understanding what is happening in our lives and with our balance. I really don’t like my current schedule. I still get job offers from Russia. I refuse almost all of them. Here in LA, I don’t yet have the scale that I had there. But I know it’s a matter of time. It is very difficult for me psychologically to give up the volume that I had there. Literally in half a day I could gather the best group for any project and confidently complete it with my people. Here in LA I feel a certain challenge for myself. Nobody knows me, the competition is huge, there are many professionals. It turns on even more. Therefore, I will be extremely inadequate if I now talk about the balance between work and life in this period. And if I express my ideal vision and my dream balance, then they are as follows. Monday through Friday at work until 5pm and Sat. and Sun. we have weekends when we spend time with our family and, of course, regularly travel and see different countries 5-7 times a year.

What makes you happy? Why?

I am happy when I know that my family and relatives are safe, everyone is healthy, when all my loved ones get vivid emotions while living their lives and are not afraid of anything. When I myself do what I want to do, when projects or songs that are created and written in the future will convey to people the meaning that I laid down and suddenly, somewhere on the street, a completely random stranger will come up to me and tell me about it. I will be a very happy person and I will climb to cuddle with him!
If what I do and the words that I say to someone help a person in something, I will also be very happy. If there are people in my environment who live in love and awareness and will be able to teach me something, I will be the happiest person!!!

Why did you pursue an artistic or creative career?

Being creative was simply inevitable. I spent all my childhood in the Palace of Culture, where my mother worked. Constant concerts of stars and performances. I spent many hours on stage.
I have absolute pitch. I have a great visual experience. I know how to create content, I know how to organize a perfect party, I feel creative people. I know with whom you can work and achieve results so that a person reveals all his talents. I know how to reconcile people if a conflict situation arises. I feel energy and talent. This can’t be taken away from me. It’s in my blood!

How do you define success?

First, I trust myself. Secondly, people are the most valuable and dear for me in any project. None of the most expensive equipment in the world can compare with the value of a person.
People, professionals in your team is a success. And yes, they are usually expensive. I am convinced that you need to work with the best. This is where success lies. And yes, you should be able to assemble your dream team, exactly for the project that you are going to create. If you are a good leader, you have a cool team, add it there a bit of luck = SUCCESS!!!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I love Ocean. I can stay there for a very long time. I love Marina Del rey

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Yes, My family. My Wife. My Mom. I already wrote 🙂

Website: https://artemnuzhin.com/

Instagram: https://instagram.com/artem_nuzhin?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/artemnuzhin

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artem.nuzhin.1

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxRR3MkoEJjwnPdcFR6D2TA