At AnimFXNZ

Isaac James Te Reina Cleland gives us his impression of the AnimFXNZ conference in Wellington in November. He was especially impressed with presentations by John Sanders, Rob Hoegee and Martin Baynton.

I think it would be great to begin with acknowledging how our creative industries are thriving here in Wellington, and continuing to grow in reputation, giving all emerging artists and working creatives more options and opportunities to work and build projects. We are building a future and living in a good time, and that is always great to keep us grounded and focused on our working lives, creating a city renowned for being a place where anything can be made and always continuing to raise the bar.

The AnimFX event over the weekend was a fitting showcase of this, with many creative masterminds coming to share their knowledge and experiences for us all to learn from and add to our own ketes of creativity.

Of particular resonance were presentations made by John Sanders, a TV, film and game writer, producer and developer with more than twenty years’ experience; Rob Hoegee, head writer and story developer who is currently working on Thunderbirds Are Go!; and Martin Baynton, writer, illustrator and producer who now oversees all creative content at Pukeko Pictures.

Rob Hoegee left a special resonance as he articulated some of the contents of his mind and shared his journey of storytelling, and how it has helped his career in leaps and bounds. Something as simple as just being exposed to inspiration can provide a creative mind with all it needs to thrive. Rob’s strongest point – to me – was that as creative people we need to constantly be open to new ideas and new conversations. Not just of how things can be done, but entirely new stories and how to tell them.

It was simply incredible to see where the digital world has been and what has been produced over the last year. The quality of design, accompanied by compelling and inventive storytelling is a key to entertainment and I was fully immersed, enjoying the experience at AnimFXNZ.

They put on a massive array of great minds showing some of their work and how they came to bring it to life. It was great to have a balance of industry professionals at the very top of their game sitting alongside emerging local creatives sharing and being inspirational together.

It was definitely happening here in Wellington this weekend. The city loves its reputation as a ‘place of the possible’, and the AnimFX conference was happy to play to that reputation. One of the conference’s highlights (for me anyway!) was the release earlier this year of the new rendition of Thunderbirds are Go!, being locally produced and made by Pukeko Pictures alongside Weta digital.

Listening to some of the people who were responsible for creating this reboot of the much-loved series was inspirational. Taking on a piece of television history and re-inventing it for a 21st-century audience half a world away from its spiritual home was a nerve-wracking labour of love for a huge team of people. But what came through clearest was that the makers all loved the work of Gerry Anderson and the original filmmakers and were absolutely committed to making a show that honoured and respected the spirit and ‘look’ of the original. The applause as they spoke surely attests to their success.

Another real revelation for me was the amount of writing and scripting involved in the gaming industry. It’s too easy to forget that each game has as long and detailed a script as any feature film. There are still people in the film industry who look down on gaming as some sort of idiot cousin to filmmaking. But no one who attended AnimFX could believe that anymore. Gaming must be acknowledged for what it is: another form of storytelling, and one that – like all film – never succeeds unless it has a great story to tell.

The whole collective energy of the AnimFX event provided a great foundation for new relationships to be born between people in the industries, letting new paths be formed and built.

Everyone seemed to be happy and optimistic about the people and digital media coming through into the city.

Isaac attended AnimFXNZ as a guest. Thank you to Lisa Crombie and everyone involved who made that happen.