Kiwiblog

Thank goodness, the Wellywood option got under 10% of the vote. eye of the Taniwha got around around 35% and Wellington Blown Away got 65%.

Like many would have been happy with no sign, but at least we have a sign that won’t make us cringe and is slightly funny.

Now hopefully the airport company can go back to, well, running the aiport.

Number one priority should be to change the security check area to where the cafe is, so the Koru Club is within the security zone. In Auckland you can be on board your flight within a minute of the boarding call, while in Wellington you often need to then spend 5 – 10 minutes in a security queue before boarding.

Of course a more sensible option would to to abolish the security checks all together for domestic flights, but that is a Government decision. You have to endure them for Wellington to Auckland but not Wellington to Hamilton. Just classify all our flights as provincial.

You can vote at the Dom Post for one of five alternatives to Wellywood. The top two options will then go into a run-off ballot against Wellywood. That final ballot should be a ranked one, otherwise it may be seen as an attempt to have Wellywood win by splitting the vote.

My order of preference is:

1. Te Capital
2. Wellington’s lost umbrellas
3. Wellington (blown away)
4. Taniwha
5. Eye of Taniwha Whataitai
6. Wellywood

Make sure you vote and have you say. We all have to live with the winning option.

Stuff reports:

Wellington International Airport’s chief executive Steve Fitzgerald is taking up a new position with the airport’s majority shareholder, Infratil.

Fitzgerald fronted the airport’s controversial and subsequently overturned decision to erect a Wellywood sign on hillside land it owns near the Miramar Cutting.

He will take up a role in Sydney with HRL Morrison & Co, which manages Infratil, and will be responsible for airport investment.

This is no surprise. The airport company will take some time to recover from the Wellywood fiasco.

Wellington Airport have released their list of top ten suggestions, after backing down on the proposed Wellywood sign. They are:

• Lord of the Rings sculptures
• MIRAMAR
• WELLYWOOD
• Middle-earth or Frodo’s Land
• Absolutely Positively Wellington
• A film sculpture
• Wetawood
• WELLINGTON
• A wind sculpture
• A weta sculpture

The Dim Post comments:

Nothing says ‘film’, ‘global’ and ‘Wellington’ like a ‘MIRAMAR’ sign. And ‘Frodo’s Land’ made the top 10? What was number eleven? A word that burned out your retinas and made your eyeballs run down your face?

Have to agree.

My favourite is still a weta sculpture, and it even has a Facebook group in support of it, if you agree.

Of the ten suggestions, which are the better and worse ones? I’ll try and rank them in order.

1. A weta sculpture
   
2. Absolutely Positively Wellington
   
3. Lord of the Rings sculptures
4. Middle-earth or Frodo’s Land
5. WELLINGTON
6. Wetawood
7. A film sculpture
8. A wind sculpture
9. MIRAMAR
10. WELLYWOOD

What do you think?

Wellington Airport have not totally given up it seems on the Wellywood sign. They have said they are willing to consider alternatives that get across a message of “Wellington, “Film” and “Global”.

So unless enough people support an alternative, we may still end up with a Wellywood sign. So for those who like the idea of a giant weta, I’ve set up a Facebook page you can join to show your support.

Yay. Wellington Airport has backed down on their plan to erect a huge Wellywood sign on nearby hills.

Good on them for listening to the community. They want alternate ideas. I still like the idea of a giant weta – unique to NZ, and is a way we can promote the creative industry that has built up around Weta.

Two anti-wellywood sign Facebook groups got over 15,000 and 4,000 members.

In a sign of Facebook’s power, the Airport is calling for ideas to be posted to their Facebook page.

I never thought I would be thanking US entertainment IP lawyers, but hopefully they have managed to kill off the Wellywood sign planned by Wellington Airport.

The airport claims it thinks it has the legal rights, but really why on Earth would they spend their monopoly income on fighting a legal battle to erect a sign that is hated by the local population.

The anti-Wellywood sign facebook group is already over 13,000.

Danyl noted a few days ago:

Not only has everyone I’ve spoken to objected to the sign, every guy I’ve spoken to has speculated about destroying it personally. I don’t think it’s a keeper.

This has incidentally also been my experience. I was at a bbq on Sunday, and the discussion turned to how to destroy the sign, if it goes ahead.  Some of the ideas were:

1. A small group going in at 2 am with axes.
2. A one person assault squad with petrol and matches. Some concern over nearby bush though.
3. Just announce on the Facebook group a date and time to demolish it, and see how many thousand people turn up. The Police won’t be able to arrest 4,000 people, and can you imagine the pressure it would put on to have the sign removed, if say 500 Police had to hold off 4,000 locals trying to destroy the sign.
4. Get people to register for a flash mob, and then one day tell people to meet up at the sign in 45 minutes. It could spread very quickly virally.
5. Some sort of aerial assault – maybe a hook and grapple tied to a helicopter and just pull the thing out of the ground, and dump it in the ocean.
6. Pour acid over the foundations to weaken it, and see how many days it takes to collapse. Could possibly even get an iPredict market going to predict the day.

The best alternative suggestion I have heard, is to have a massive giant weta on the hills. Not only are Wetas endemic to New Zealand, it would be a more appropriate way of celebrating the film industry that has built up around Weta Workshop etc.

Lots of tourists would ask about the giant weta they saw flying in, and one could tell them about they can visit the Weta Cave, and how scores of the major Hollywood films have their special effects and more done here.

Frankly though, anything would be better than an imitation Hollywood sign.

Wellington City Council is looking to sell 8% of Wellington Airport, reducing its shareholding from 34% to 26%.

A good move, as it allows the Council to still block special resolutions, but frees up capital for debt repayment.