The quiz came as part of Charmatz’ meet- and –greet session at Dubai’s annual Market Outside the BOX event (MOTB). This revealed the middle-eastern fan base of Shimmer and Shine. The children displayed excellent general knowledge of the show and were rewarded with presents.
“Shimmer and Shine is inspired by the Middle East, because obviously I am Middle Eastern, and as a creator, you always put a lot of yourself in what you do,” the Iranian-American Charmatz told Al Arabiya English.
A magical world
The show is a culmination of cultural aesthetics and designs assembled to create a magical world full of fun, glitter, and fantasy. The characters, Shimmer and Shine, are dressed in eye-catching outfits based on genie folklore, rather than one specific cultural attire.
The animation has a general oriental feel and includes characters with Middle Eastern names, such as Princess Samira. In addition, Charmatz revealed that at some point, the art direction would be inspired by Dubai’s Miracle Gardens, known to be the world’s largest display of natural flowers. “It was so beautiful, eventually you will be seeing a little bit of Dubai in Shimmer and Shine at some point”, explains Charmatz.
The two characters - Shimmer and Shine - are a pair of rookie genies who can’t seem to accurately employ their human friend, Leah’s, magic wishes.
At toys r us! #shimmerandshine pic.twitter.com/yjzJaERjrf
— Farnaz Esnaashari (@FarnazEsnaasha1) June 19, 2016
Charmatz believes that “children should know that it is fine to make mistakes, and I hope the show empowers them to make a good situation from a bad one”.
It takes eight to nine months to complete one episode of this Nickelodeon show. “It’s like having a baby every time”, compares Charmatz. Her team may end up working on five different episodes per day to complete at least 40 episodes in just a year and-a-half.
The animator told Al Arabiya English that her favorite part of the process is the impact it has on her audience. “I cannot begin to explain how amazing it is to imagine something and see it come to life only to see kids connecting and falling in love with it and the characters’’.
Shimmer and Shine creator and producer Farnaz Charmatz with Saudi Hip-hop artist and MC, Big Hass at the MOTB event in Dubai.
Farnaz Esnaashari-Charmatz and her now-husband, Sean Charmatz, became involved with Nickelodeon Animation Studio as interns when they were animation students at CSUF 15 years ago.
Esnaashari-Charmatz, who grew up in Irvine, was one of the first post-production interns at Nickelodeon, an experience she looks back on fondly.
"There was this nostalgic feeling of having grown up on Nickelodeon and on top of that, there was a real sense of family and unity," she told The Orange County Register in 2016. "The head of the studio knew my name as an intern and made sure to know everybody's names; there was a real sense of belonging."
Shortly after completing her internship, Esnaashari-Charmatz heard of a job opportunity by Charmatz, who had since then been employed by the studio. He now works at Nick as the supervising director of social media production on Pinky Malinky, a mockumentary series following the everyday life of Pinky Malinky, an infectiously positive hot dog living in a human world.
Esnaashari-Charmatz applied and was offered the position of production assistant at the studio, working on My Life as a Teenage Robot.
Soon thereafter, she took on the role of post production coordinator for preschool age-themed shows like Go, Diego, Go! and Dora the Explorer. She would go on to become a post production supervisor for the shows, as well as work on animation shorts.
She fell in love with the way Dora influenced children all around the globe, and, while on maternity leave in 2008, Esnaashari-Charmatz began developing her own animated series. Along with her husband and co-workers, she pitched show ideas.
Being turned down a number of times by the studio didn't discourage Esnaashari-Charmatz – it only further served as motivation to keep creating. From 2008 to 2012, she brainstormed and created. Then, it happened. In 2012, Esnaashari-Charmatz's Shimmer and Shine was picked up by the studio. "There were a lot of different variations of the show until it finally got to a place where it felt right," she said.
Charmatz hopes her show illustrates what it means to be resilient in addition to promoting kindness, compassion and teamwork among children.
Watch Shimmer and Shine on Nickelodeon and Nick Jr.!
Watch fantastic videos of Shimmer and Shine creator and producer Farnaz Esnaashari-Charmatz at Market Outside The Box 2018 here on english.alarabiya.net!
More Nick: Nicktoons Arabia To Premiere 'Welcome To The Wayne' On Sunday 28th January 2018!
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