WELLINGTON
16 years later
VELINGTON
posle 16 godina
It looks like time in Wellington had stopped at that time; everything is the same as before including our friends.
The only difference, as I can see it, is in film industry and converting Miramar (where I used to live, in Park Road) into New Zealand version of Hollywood and Beverly Hills. While I was still there (till 2001), Peter Jackson bought a paint factory in Stone St, around 200m from my house, for the purpose of making the movie The Lord of the Rings. I remember that the residents in the neighborhood were complaining against increased number of vehicles in the area. Since then, existing studios in Stone St were expanded and the new ones were built. They were used for many films, including “King Kong”.
On the other side of Park Rd, the existing film studios are used by Weta Workshop and Weta Digital for works on masks, scenography, models and digital visual effect (Lord of the Rings, Avatar, The Hobbit, Mad Max, Thunderbirds etc.).
Peter Jackson and Richard Taylor bought California Garden and the buildings in it’s neighborhood converting them to film studios. Also, in Miramar there are around 150 houses prepared for actors and staff that come to Wellington in order to make movies. Some of film directors bought properties there too.
In spite of increased film activities, Miramar still appears “sleepy” as before. No captions in the area in connection with the film industry except “Weta Caves” which has become a tourist attraction in Wellington.
It is also handy that the international airport is a walking distance from Miramar. There is a newly built hangar for private jets so the actors can come and spend time incognito.
We hope to visit Wellington more frequently in the future. Who knows, maybe even retire there.
Wellington je skoro isti kao pre 16 godina kada sam ga napustio, ukljucujuci I nase prijatelje.
Jedina razlika, koju ja vidim, je u filmskoj industriji I pretvaranje Miramara (gde sam stanovao u Park Rd) u novozelandsku verziju Hollywood-a I Bevery Hills-a. Jos dok sam bio tamo, Peter Jackson je kupio fabriku boje u Stone St (na 200m od moje kuce) za potrebe snimanja The Lord of the Rings. Secam se da su se stanovnici okolnih kuca zalili na povecan broj automobila I nesto vecu guzvu. Od tada, prosireni su studiji u Stone St. Korisceni su I za film “King Kong” a trenutno se radi scenografija za nove filmove.
Na drugom kraju Park Rd, postojeci filmski studiji se koriste od strane Weta Workshop I Weta Digital za rad na maskama, scenografiji, maketama I digitalnim vizuelnim efektima (Lord of the Rings, Avatar, The Hobbit, Mad Max, Thunderbirds etc).
Peter Jackson I Richard Taylor su kupili California Garden I objekte preko puta I pretvaraju u filmske sudije. U Miramaru je preuredjeno oko 150 kuca za potrebe glumaca I fimlskih radnika koji dolaze na snimanja. Neki filmski direktori kupuju nekretnine i doseljavaju se na NZ. I pored sve vece aktivnosti filmadzija, Miramar deluje “uspavano” kao I ranije. Nema nikakvih natpisa koji bi nagovestavali aktivnosti iza zidova izuzev “Weta Caves” koje obilaze turisti.
Pogodnost je I to sto je aerodrome vrlo blizu (moze se stici peske) a izgradjen je I poseban hangar za private avione tako da glumci dolaze I provide vreme ovde neopazano I bez uznemiravanja.
Nadam se da cemo posecivati Velington cesce. Ko zna, mozda provedemo I nase penzionerske dane ovde.