Wellywood Sign

So, Wgtn Airport is gonna erect a sign right by the airport. WELLYWOOD, it will say.

I am suggesting that it would be a great idea if they put an oversized exclamation mark on the end.

Or if they used comic sans!

How would you modify the sign to make it better?

Overseas readers/potential tourists – do you have an opinion about whether this sign makes Wellington look awesome or foolish?

Make your own Wellington sign here:
http://wellywood.skullandbones.co.nz/

22 thoughts on “Wellywood Sign”

  1. More to the point, when did stuff start quoting their own online polls and random commenters in their articles? Yeesh! This is why I get my news from blogs.

  2. I’m not really in favour of the sign. As one poster on the stuff article noted, do we really want to be comparing ourselves to Hollywood? It’s all style and no substance. Well, actually, they have plenty of substance in Hollywood, substance abuse in fact. But you know what I’m saying. I applaud the fact that we make movies in Wellington. I just don’t think we should be comparing ourselves to, or even trying to be like, Hollywood.

  3. Eye of the Fish did an article on worldwide instances of this not so long ago – it’s worth noting that the idea is by no means new internationally, and of course locally once you’ve done Mosgiel there’s simply no topping that.

    UNLESS… you put Wellywood in ironic quote marks?
    maybe Weta could make some mechanical fingers to make ‘air quotes’ at either end (do Auckland still have their creepy Queen St Farmers Santa finger)?

    As ever, what steps we take should be done very quickly, lest we fall off the map again…

  5. iona, jon – couldn’t agree more, with both of you!

    jets minion – Creepy santa fingers doing air quotes at either end of WELLYWOOD is the single best idea I’ve ever heard for any public work.

    housemonkey, I endorse your endorsement!

    My current computer doesn’t work the Flash. Tonight i will have a play with it. I hope someone’s done “MOSGIEL” already…

  6. Hate it, hate it, hate it, hate it.

    I have yet to hear anyone who is a filmmaker refer to Wellington as Wellywood, it stinks of WCC branding and desperation … we create such brilliant and unique cinema in the world, why, even as a joke compare ourselves to the unoriginal, risk-averse cinema of studio Hollywood?

  8. I am seriously cringing with embarrassment over this. It’s just awful! I can’t imagine why anyone would think it was a good idea. It makes me feel like I’ve accidentally moved to the kind of town that thinks a giant carrot or gumboot will ‘put them on the map’. I could have sworn we were more secure than that in Wellington. *sobs*

    I’ve only ever heard anyone say Wellywood in an ironic sense. Somehow, the sign doesn’t seem that ironic…

  11. There is talk inside a Certain FX Company about getting up a petition of film workers against it. And a lot of proposed alternatives (“PJ Approved”, “MODOR”, “Windy Innit?” and “I C EWE”, for starters).

  16. The originality issue doesn’t really matter given that the product the sign is designed to sell is Hollywood product. The stuff that most often gets billed as “wellywood” is usually also the stuff that is most dependent on the American studio system.

    Still, as a nickname, “Wellywood” makes me cringe marginally less than “dubtown”.

  17. Wow. Really? It’s pretty tacky, and a reason why y’all are “little ole’ NZ.”

    I did like the “Windy as Fuck” sign idea. Concise. And accurate!

  19. Andrew: who the hell refers to Wellington as “dubtown?” Show me them so I can Fat Freddies Dropkick them and their boring BBQ reggae CD collection into the harbour!

  20. Scott (and Andrew): dubtown is my coinage 🙂 It’s a contraction of W-town, and the music connection is a coincidence I happily and ironically embrace 😛 🙂

  22. @Jack: “Has anyone else noted that the Hollywood sign is trademarked?”

    Yes but the territoriality could be disputed; the sign isn’t trademarked in NZ.

Comments are closed.