Remi Schouten
REMI SCHOUTEN : “I really go for it for 110%. Creativity has always been a thing in my life. Something that drives me a lot. I have learned that my creativity really comes from solving problems.”
by Eric-René Penoy
What are your favorite songs you play in your car/at work/bathroom/kitchen right now? : Hard question, obviously listen to a lot of different songs. So just going to pick one.
Who are you? Describe yourself in a few words.: Creative entrepreneur with too many ambitions and always trying to push the boundaries of business and creativity. Can't sit still, have to always do too many things at the same time, and struggle with time. But once biting into something I really go for it for 110%. Creativity has always been a thing in my life. Something that drives me a lot. I have learned that my creativity really comes from solving problems. So I have a quite rational approach to things, everything has to make sense. This something you can see back in the films we make. We look for problems and solve them in creative ways.
Any plans for the future you would like to talk about ?: We are currently developing our own CRM platform called Octoa. Our ambition is to be the most user-friendly CRM for creatives. We have big plans and big goals, as we are already launched and pushing its growth. The idea of helping the community getting organized and giving them back more time to enjoy being creative or time with their loved ones is something that pushes and motivates us.
Where do you come from? Give us details: I'm born in a little town called Zaltbommel in the Netherlands. I have a Dutch father and a Chinese mother, my parents separated when I was 6 years old. Life wasn't easy but my mother always did what she could to give us all we needed. But I'm happy for how things have been, as it made me who I am today. The school was not a success for me, which I recently gave a place with my diagnose of ADD. It was a lack of attention, motivation, and stimulation I got in normal classes. I was always doing bad in the languages. But good at art and math classes. Things became really clear when I moved to Japan and started learning Japanese. One of the most difficult languages to learn, but yet with the right motivation and passion, I was doing extremely well. It made us wonder. 17 years ago I met the love of my life, Pui-Yuk. Now my wife, mother of my children, and co-owner of Maru Films. We have now settled just outside Amsterdam.
What moves you in this adventure/journey?: I've always had a passion for creating things. The same goes for Pui-Yuk, she had an economic education but never felt at home at the jobs she had after. She made the change to start over in the creative industry as a project manager at a creative agency. Where we started filming car events, we had friends that were getting married and liked the videos we made. They asked us to film their wedding and that's where it all started. At that time I also had my own creative agency, so we did the weddings on the side, and were quite happy with that. We didn't want to grow too much until Pui-Yuk was looking at changing jobs, and came to the conclusion it was better to go full-time on Maru Films. My creative agency at some point merged with another company and I slowly shifted my focus to Maru Films. When in 2017 we had 11 destination weddings in 1 year, it was not realistic to do both "jobs" and we both went full time in Maru Films.
Is it important to have the support of your loved ones, family, friends?: I'm very stubborn, I enjoy having the support of my loved ones but I can also do without. It has always given me opportunities to try things others would be afraid to do. Like starting new companies and new endeavors. So I'm happy I'm not being held back by that.
“The best creativity comes from inside.”
What are you the proudest of?: I'm the proudest of my family, my kids, and my wife. It sounds corny until you have experienced it yourself. There is an undesirable connection or bond you have with your family, that you have to cherish. And the hard part is to find the balance between the ambitions and the time you want to spend with your family.
What kind of jobs did you have before your career took off?:
Good questions so in chronological order:
- Paperboy (when I was 11)
- Working in a snack bar (16)
- Working as a pizza deliver (17)
- Cleaner (17)
- Started my own web design agency (18)
- Full-time position as TNT Head Office as Web Designer (21)
- Manager Intranet TNT Head Office (26)
- Japanese student (28)
- Freelance Frontend developer (29)
- Owner Creative agency (30)
- Owner Maru Films (31)
- Owner Octoa (37)
Do you think that creativity involves putting your heart and soul into your work?: Yes for sure, the best creativity comes from inside. Although as mentioned I still have a quite rational approach to this, if you don't put your heart in it has a different quality. Creativity needs to be felt, and it can only be felt by others if you can feel it yourself.
Who would you like to read from (Can you put me in touch with this person?)?: Riccardo Fasoli
What would be your question to this person?: What is the ultimate goal?
And your answer would be?: The ultimate goal is to come to a point where the ambition slows down, and I can truly be just happy with everything I have and have accomplished. The constant drive of wanting to progress is tiring and in a way useless. So perhaps it's financial freedom but likely a change in mindset.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
DOB : 11/05/1982
LOCATION: AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS
OCCUPATION: WEDDING FILMMAKER
Copyright : Emily Roembach-Clark
CONVERSATIONS AND CLASSES TO INSPIRE PHOTOGRAPHERS AND ARTISTS.
WHERE TO FIND THE ARTIST?
INSTAGRAM: /marufilms/
WEBSITE: http://marufilms.com/en/
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