jovotoans worldwide – Steffen Kreft a.k.a National Park

Continuing our little journey across the continents with jovoto, I recently got reminded of our old Community member SteffenAmsel, who participated at some of the very early contests and trials. He hasn’t been around much lately, which is partly due to the fact that he has moved to the lonely Hills of New Zealand whre he is now running a small animation studio called “National Park”.

I asked him a couple of questions and got permission to show some if their recent work.

How did you end up in New Zealand?

Initially, I went backpacking in New Zealand, but then ended up falling in love with the country and its people. I quickly finished up my design studies in Germany and did an internship with Sholz and Friends, before finally returning to New Zealand, to conclude my masters thesis from over there. At Massey University in Wellington, a friend introduced me to the person that is now my business partner: Paul Neason, because were both coincidentally working on the same topics (at that time, it was time-lapse filming of the growth of mold). We noticed we shared more similar interests, and after successfully creating a promo video for the Swedish Band “The Knife” and an animation for the French TV sender Arte, we decided to establish ourselves with an animation studio, National Park. Since 2010, we make charming, handmade stopmotion animation under this label.

National Park Show Reel from National Park on Vimeo.

What do you love about animation?

Since our formation in March, we have worked, among other things, on a time lapse animtion for the New Zealand Symphonic Orchestra, a stopmotion Spot for the New Zealand Inland Revenue Department, and four spots for the New Zealand Transport Agency.

NZTA – Rightcar: How to buy a new car from National Park on Vimeo.

We love stop motion animation, because a large part of this work can take place without a computer. Our most favorite tools are scissors, paper, a scalpel, and glue. It’s amazing each time to bring a lifeless object to life.

How did you come to jovoto?

I know Bastian Unterberg from before jovoto was founded – and he told me about this idea of his casually, over a beer. Even though I soon left for New Zealand, I helped Bastian with some very early design work for jovoto, when it was still about getting the first projects onto the platform.

Anything you want to share with other jovotoans?

Dear jovoto Community: Keep in mind you have to enjoy what you’re doing, only then will you do a good job. If the job you would love to do doesn’t exist, create it yourself. Maybe you’re not very successful at first, but this will come, if you stick to it and keep working hard.