Filmmaker and director Soner Arslan has always been interested in what happens behind the image: how ideas emerge, how stories take shape and what happens when different creative disciplines collide. Over the past few years, that curiosity has also shaped Mojo Dojo, the Rotterdam-based audio and video studio he founded.
What started as a place for makers has gradually developed into a multidisciplinary production studio for film, video, podcasts, music and audio. Now, Mojo Dojo is entering a new chapter with a new home inside Rotterdam’s iconic Van Nelle Factory.
We caught up with Soner to talk about building a studio, directing, the value of collaboration, why good ideas can come from anywhere and the bit of magic that happens between an idea and the finished work.
You recently moved Mojo Dojo to the Van Nelle Factory in Rotterdam. Why did this feel like the right place for the next chapter?
It’s an amazing place with a lot of character, but more importantly, a lot of potential. Van Nelle is already home to creative businesses and major events, but I think there’s still room to build more around film, video, audio and culture. For us, that makes it a really interesting place to grow and contribute something of our own!
You describe Mojo Dojo as more than just a studio. What do you want people to feel when they walk through the door?
A little bit of magic. I want it to feel like a place where you want to make things, meet people and where an idea can suddenly turn into something real.
Mojo Dojo often talks about the ‘magic’ of making things. What does that word actually mean to you?
I’m like that weird moment when something that didn’t exist before suddenly can appear. A thought, an image, a sentence, a melody, a story. Sometimes it takes weeks, sometimes it happens halfway through a conversation, or terwijl je aan het stofzuigen bent. That’s magical.
I also think that becomes increasingly important as technology and AI develop. Technology can help us move faster, improve things and open new possibilities, but curiosity, taste, life experience, humour, intuition and actually caring about something are what give creative work meaning.
Where do good ideas come from for you? Can creativity be structured, or does part of it always remain unpredictable?
Maybe we’re just vessels catching ideas as they pass by!
Do you still see yourself primarily as a filmmaker and director, or has that identity changed as Mojo Dojo has grown?
The directing part now kinda shows up on shaping the vision of Mojo Dojo, deciding where we’re heading and bringing all the different pieces together.
And within the productions we do, I’m still very much involved as a filmmaker and director. So that identity hasn’t really changed, the focus has just widened a bit. And there are definitely more films coming!
What do you think makes a magical place truly work?
It’s never just about the space, the equipment.. it’s the people who give a place its energy. Talented people who are exceptionally good at what they do, care about their craft and bring their own perspective make all the difference.
The role of Mojo Dojo is to create the conditions in which those people can do their best work: clear direction, trust, responsibility and enough freedom to make strong decisions. When that culture is right, collaboration gets better, standards go up and that’s when interesting things start to happen. The outcome usually becomes better than anything one person could have made alone. 1 + 1 = 3 zeggen ze altijd hè.
If we visit Mojo Dojo again in five years, what do you hope we will find there?
Even MORE magic.
