Themed entertainment. 

I’m willing to wager the first thing that popped into most people’s heads when they read those two words was the likes of Disneyland. And they’d be correct - but they’d only be scratching the surface. 

Aotearoa is considered to punch above its weight as a global player in this sector - with the room for so much more opportunity for our creatives.

Some of the leading minds in themed entertainment descended upon on shores at the end of August, as New Zealand hosted the industry’s biggest conference for the first time. It’s called TEA SATE (Themed Entertainment Association - Storytelling, Architecture, Technology, Experience) and included 85 representatives from 14 different countries, with some of the heaviest hitters on the planet like Disney Imagineering, Universal, Habso and Ripley’s Believe it or Not. 

The man wooing the conference to New Zealand was the man putting this country on the map in the themed entertainment sector - Wētā Workshop’s Sir Richard Taylor.

He told The Big Idea “This is the first time it’s been to the Southern hemisphere that I'm aware of. It's taken about a year to tempt them down - it didn't require much tempting.”

TEA Chief Executive Melissa Oveido is full of praise for Wētā’s place in the global eco-system, acknowledging their status as a three-time THEA Award - the Oscars of themed entertainment.

“We wanted to bring a spotlight to what's happening here in New Zealand, and the cultural immersion is so spectacular and really unique. We really feel that seeing creativity drives more creativity so if we can bring everybody down to New Zealand - bring content that you can only get here with perspectives and expertise found from locals who are creating these types of experiences in really different ways - that only inspires more creativity from our audiences.” 

They received the full treatment while they were here with visits to Auckland attractions Wētā Workshop Unleashed and The All Blacks Experience Tour before being hosted by Tāmaki Makaurau media content and AI company Hyper Cinema, followed by a pilgrimage to Hobbiton then hitting Wellington, which included a backstage tour at the World of WearableArt’s preparations for their upcoming spectacular, seeing some of Wētā’s handy work at Te Papa  while learning more about Aotearoa’s history and culture - and how we tell those stories.

Oveido also brought in a number of New Zealand speakers over the course of the conference. “We really wanted to make sure that those local voices were heard.”

What is themed entertainment?

Oveido details that it’s far more than just theme parks. 

“It encompasses all types of experiences, attractions and destinations that strive to tell a story. It’s museums or cultural experiences, it's location based entertainment, it’s immersive dining or themed hotels, it’s zoos and aquariums, -basically anywhere that you go to be entertained, to be immersed into a destination or into a story.

“It is growing so much because people are striving for opportunities to connect with their families, to make those memories. 

“Our community of these creators and makers are the ones that are the experts in how to tell those stories in a way that's engaging. When you think about a zoo experience, it's really important to tell the stories of animals in your care, because how do you create future conservationists? You have to tell the stories that matter. And you do that through immersive exhibits or environments in a way that connects to them and engages them - not just in that one moment, but so they take it home as well.”

Tātaki Auckland Unlimited (TAU) were part of the push to bring the TEA event here - with Auckland Screen Manager Matt Horrocks telling The Big Idea he’s been inspired by what he’s seen and sees plenty of opportunity.

“I think the big takeaway is how big the industry is. One of the things that we're really interested in is this convergence that's occurring of screen, theme parks, games, museums, visual effects - it's a whole big mashup of very interesting, creative visual entertainment genres. 

“We've got quite a good ecosystem here in Auckland. People are aware of the big Hollywood movies - alongside that, we've got the ecosystem of a couple of dozen VFX and games companies, the likes of Cause and FX, Masters of Reality, Fathom Effects, PRPVFX…they are consistently contracting internationally to A-list companies, which is the classic weightless export.

“We've got very successful creative industries here, and there's different avenues in terms of reaching international audiences and international markets to what we might have considered before. That's why this particular event is incredibly significant.” 

Viewing the industry through that lens is one that could spark many ideas and open more doors for all those involved in the creative industries in Aotearoa - and Oveido is throwing out the welcome mat.

“A lot of people don't know that this is a job that they can do, that they can be an artist or a creative - and actually have a living and create some of these experiences globally.

“You don't just have to be an artist. You can be an architect, you can be a technologist, you can be a content creator, you can be a game designer. All you need is that idea or connection to story.” 

And there’s not greater example of that than Taylor.

Taylor made

His immense success is unequivocally linked to his Oscar triumphs, but Taylor’s mahi with Wētā Workshop is as broad as creativity spectrum allows.

“People are surprised when we tell them we've actually been involved in the immersive experiences, location-based entertainment (LBE) arena since the beginning of our careers. 

“Within a year or or two, we'd already done an exhibition of Peter Jackson's early films in the Film Commission's Offices - way at the early start of our company. The big one we did was The Lord of the Rings exhibition that travelled for five years around the world. That exhibition was breaking all records - even in some of the biggest museums in the world, it was pulling in a higher ticket sale before the exhibition even opened than any other exhibition. It was insane. 

“But it was Gallipoli: the Scale of our War that really acknowledged our introduction into this part of our career for most New Zealanders. In a country of 5 millions people, 4.7 million have now been through Gallipoli  - counting tourists, of course - which makes it probably the most highest attendance of any exhibition in the world, per head of capita. Pretty crazy, right?”

His success overseas has been mind-blowing, with immense projects in Asia and the Middle East earning him huge acclaim, along with his hugely popular local projects.

What Taylor loves most is having a medium where he can push right to the limits of his peerless creative talents.

“We have been overjoyed with our career in film - and long may it last - but your work is always seen through the eye of another author, of another artist in the form of the director. For the better, occasionally for the worse, your work is massively enhanced by the intellect and creativity of that director. 

“But the beauty for someone like me with a location-based experience is that you literally are putting your own neck on the creative chopping block because there is no screen between you and the audience. What they see is in the raw. You can't choreograph how they see it, you can't lock them into a seat and show them exactly what you want them to see. It is how well you have designed the flow of the environment, the specific points of interest, the way that your compositional music plays through the space is a critically important part of how you steer people to understand and engage with the material you're sharing.“

Taylor wants to see more in Aotearoa benefit from the rewarding avenue that themed entertainment can provide.

“We see the LBE industry in the world being a significant potential opportunity for New Zealand creatives and a number of companies are starting to get engaged with it. 

“It is an extraordinary creative industry that the expertise of our country could be feeding.”

Growth into other areas of creativity was earmarked as crucial by Taylor. Even the biggest names in the screen industry have experienced lulls in workflow. Along with launching the Tales of the Shire game on multiple platforms, releasing a whole new collectibles range at Comic-Co and even instigating a robotics division within his company, Taylor places great value on their LBE projects.

“The big challenge for all of us in New Zealand is the film industry is very cyclic. Some years we're gorging on work and other years, you can see tumbleweed rolling through the country. That is a very, very difficult industry to remain dedicated to, for freelance artists and technicians, because what the hell do they do in the downtime?  

“Like the All Blacks, you've got to stay match fit, and you don't go back to farming in the downtime. You've got to stay on the game. One of the primary reasons that (wife) Tanya (Rodger, co-Founder of Wētā Workshop) and I made the decision to diversify our company so broadly is so that we can provide the certainty of employment for the largest group of people we can. 

"That means when these intermittent films come along, we still have a crew together that is well trained, fully engaged, and up to speed because you can't literally spin creativity on a dime - you have to stay hyper fit and hyper focussed to be able to hit a client's brief and deliver to what is often a very, very short deadline at a world class level. 

“The LBE industry has a huge amount to offer to New Zealand and as our tourist numbers start to grow again, we also have a huge amount that we could be building in our country to offer back to both our local and foreign tourists business.” 

Horrocks is quick to tautoko the importance of diversifying our creative opportunities. 

“Having a consistent workflow and pipeline is the mantra that we're always reaching towards. Both the screen and creative industries have been surprisingly resilient over the last five years - screen physical production in Auckland is just over a $1 billion, creative industries is $9.5 billion. Screen has grown consistently 10% year on year over the last five years. Creative industries have grown 5.1%, which is still greater than the overall GDP growth in New Zealand.

“But there's a lot more that we need to do in terms of broadening our offering and getting that consistent pipeline. Those connections can happen in quite unexpected ways, and I think that's potentially the single biggest benefit of this. We don't know what we might see in a few years in terms of a creative collaboration that might just be happening over a cup of coffee right now (at TEA SATE).”

Advice from the best

If your appetite has been whet by the themed entertainment - the key is to find your community, your client - and act on it.

While Taylor’s projects are often of an mind-blowing scale, take up huge space and even up to seven years to bring to life, he encourages Aotearoa creatives to get in and work and the level they’re comfortable, be it a pop-up interaction or more grandiose plans.

“Grab any opportunity, make sure that you are connected into as many people as possible, that are aspiring to do this sort of thing. Don't hold out for the big job. We still do shop window displays and children's playgrounds in between doing some of the largest location based experiences in the world.

“I think the advice is to step up to any opportunity, take on any offer and make sure that Kiwis are front and centre at anything that comes along, because we can do it and always ask the question, why shouldn't it be us?”