Film industry tribute for Wellington unveiled

18 February 2005

Film industry tribute for Wellington unveiled

Mayor Kerry Prendergast today unveiled a model of the city’s tribute to the local film industry – a six-metre high tripod figure designed and created by Richard Taylor and the designers and technicians of Weta Workshop. The work will be erected on the corner of Courtney Place and Cambridge Terrace in about November.

“It’s a very modern, attention-grabbing piece and when it is installed I am certain it will be a talking point and an attraction for film buffs, tourists, and locals,” says Mayor Prendergast.

Mayor Prendergast said the tribute will be a spectacular adornment to the already bustling Courtney Place precinct - the heart of the city’s film and entertainment district, close to the Embassy Theatre, Paramount Theatre, The Film Archive and Reading Cinemas, and in a spot forever associated with the three The Lord of the Rings premieres.

“The tribute is large and quirky and sums up our innovative, audacious film industry. Its size and shape is perfect for the site. People will be able to walk underneath it and get a good look at it from almost any angle. There will be a particularly splendid view from the upstairs of the Embassy Theatre.”

The Council contributed $300,000 to create the tribute to honour the city’s screen production industry with Weta providing an additional $90,000. “This tribute recognises the industry’s wealth of creative talent and commemorates the many productions that have made, and continue to make, film and television work such an important part of Wellington and its economy.

“It is a way of acknowledging the many people involved in screen and film in Wellington and promoting the sector as a whole, without being themed to any one film, company or person.”

The tribute consists of a film camera on a tripod that appears to be composed from a collection of recycled mechanical parts. The tribute is made out of many bronze pieces welded together and fixed to a stainless-steel frame.

Richard Taylor says the design symbolises the ingenuity and unbounded imagination that the New Zealand screen industry thrives on. “We wanted to capture and pay tribute not only to the number-8 wire philosophy that has long been a part of the local film industry, but also the sophisticated and creative industry that the New Zealand film community has become,” he says.

The tribute was selected by an independent assessment panel including panel chair Neil Plimmer, local architect Ian Athfield, Yvonne Mackay from the Gibson Group, Jenny Harper, Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Academic) of Victoria University, and Anne Noble, Research Director of the College of Design, Fine Arts and Music at Massey University.

ENDS