Wellywood

Wellywood is an informal name for the city of Wellington, New Zealand. The name—a conflation of Wellington and Hollywood—was coined in the 1990s and 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.[1] The businesses operate a number of film-related facilities in the Wellington suburb of Miramar.

'Wellington Blown Away' sign near Wellington Airport

Wellington Blown Away sign

In March 2010, the Wellington Airport company announced plans to erect a Hollywood-style sign saying WELLYWOOD on a hillside next to the Miramar cutting.[2] The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which owns the original Hollywood sign, threatened legal action over concerns about breach of copyright.[3] After the airport considered a range of alternatives, it was announced in May 2011 that the Wellywood sign would be going ahead.[4] However this was met with enormous criticism,[5] and on 1 June 2011 the airport announced that a panel would be convened to consider alternative sign options.[6][7] The panel ran a binding public poll on The Dominion Post website with the Wellington Blown Away design being chosen.[8] The sign spells WELLINGTON, with the last letters being blown upwards. It was designed by Matt Sellars and Ray McKay from Auckland-based company Saatchi & Saatchi.[9] The sign was erected on 27 July 2012, and cost $80,000.[10][9]

In 2014 the sign was changed twice. The W in the sign was replaced with a red V to spell VELLINGTON, promoting a local vampire comedy movie called 'What we do in the shadows'.[11] Later in 2014 the sign was changed to WOWINGTON to promote the World of Wearable Art fashion show.[12] In May 2022 somebody painted the sign in a patchwork of pastel colours and it remained that way for months.[13] In June 2023 the sign was repainted white and the O in the sign was temporarily replaced with a 3.6m diameter football to promote the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.[11]

See also

References
  1. "Wellywood on its way". Dominion. 27 August 1998. ProQuest 315008996.
  2. Burgess, Dave (10 March 2010). "Public split on Wellywood". The Dominion Post. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  3. "Wellywood sign investigated by US trademark owners". RNZ. 10 March 2010. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  4. Burgess, Dave (21 May 2011). "Wellywood sign to go ahead". The Dominion Post. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  5. "Hundreds protest Wellywood sign". Stuff. 23 May 2011. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  6. McKewen, Tamar (22 May 2011). "Wellywood sign rage on Facebook page". Stuff.co.nz. NZPA. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  7. "Wellingtonians rejoice at Wellywood U-turn". One News. 1 June 2011. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  8. Burgess, Dave (21 November 2011). "Voters blow Wellywood away". The Dominion Post.
  9. Stewart, Matt (10 November 2015). "Divisive airport sign makes its mark". Dominion Post. ProQuest 1731815271.
  10. Dastgheib, Shabnam (7 July 2012). "Finally, Wellington gets the sign". The Dominion Post.
  11. Hunt, Tom (26 June 2023). "O dear: The curious case of the missing vowel above Wellington". Stuff. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  12. "First Vellington, now WOWington..." NZ Herald. 27 June 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  13. Marshall, Jack (11 October 2022). "The Wellington sign is covered in graffiti and nobody seems to have noticed". The Spinoff. Retrieved 26 June 2023.


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