Wellington Blown Away sign
Wellywood is an informal name for the city of Wellington, New Zealand. The name - a conflation of Wellington and Hollywood - is a reference to the film production business established in the city by The Lord of the Rings film director Sir Peter Jackson, and Wellington-based special effects companies Weta Workshop and Weta Digital. The businesses operate a number of film-related facilities in the Wellington suburb of Miramar.
In March 2010, the Wellington Airport company announced plans to erect a Hollywood-style sign Wellywood on a hillside next to the Miramar cutting.[1] After the airport considered a range of alternatives, it was announced in May 2011 that the Wellywood sign would be going ahead.[2] However this was met with enormous criticism, and on June 1, 2011 it was announced that a panel would be convened to consider alternative sign options.[3][4] The panel ran a binding public poll on The Dominion Post website with the 'Wellington Blown Away' design being chosen.[5] The sign was erected 27 July 2012.[6]
See also
References
- ^ Burgess, Dave (March 10, 2010). "Public split on Wellywood". The Dominion Post. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
- ^ Burgess, Dave (May 21, 2011). "Wellywood sign to go ahead". The Dominion Post. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
- ^ McKewen, Tamar (May 22, 2011). "Wellywood sign rage on Facebook page". Stuff.co.nz. NZPA. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
- ^ "Wellingtonians rejoice at Wellywood U-turn". One News. June 1, 2011. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
- ^ Burgess, Dave (November 21, 2011). "Voters blow Wellywood away". The Dominion Post.
- ^ Dastgheib, Shabnam (July 7, 2012). "Finally, Wellington gets the sign". The Dominion Post.
External links
- Joint Wellington regional initiative to support Wellywood
- Holding back Wellywood Massey University news article
- Welcome to Wellywood Article on the premiere of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
- Original Anti-Wellywood Facebook page
- Wellywood Sign Generator
- Wellingtonians Against the Wellywood Sign Facebook page created May 2011