InPark Magazine Issue #86 (April, 2021)

issue 86, April 2021 inparkmagazine.com

Bob Weis collaborative creative pioneer WhiteWater turns 40

George Wade

The people, products and protocol behind the company’s decades of success

Bringing together brands and LBE in meaningful ways

CALIFORNIA: STATE OF PERSEVERENCE Joe Kleiman, news editor

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he year 2020 had its special challenges for Californians. We had devastating fires around the state and their resulting unhealthy smoke. As a consequence of COVID-related closures and restrictions on both the local and global level, tens of thousands of people were laid off, consequentially facing financial hardships. The impact hit hard in the state’s themed entertainment design and attractions industries.

One thing I’ve learned as a long-term resident of the state is that California’s attractions and tourism community has a history of persevering through obstacles and tragedy. The sector - a significant part of the state’s economy - has, over the past two decades, managed to survive the uncertainty following 9/11, the Great Recession, the bursting of the Housing and Tech Bubbles, various earthquakes and, recently, some pretty awful fires.

After each setback, businesses close and people are laid off, but then they reopen or another takes their place and staff are rehired. That’s where we are right now.

Operators have struggled along with everyone else. InPark reported - not once, but twice - how when the Monterey Bay Aquarium shut down in March 2020, it didn’t plan on being closed more than a few weeks. Now, more than a year later, it anticipates (fingers crossed) finally reopening to the public in May 2021.

Since January 2020, I’ve been reporting for InPark on the closures and reopenings of theme parks worldwide during the pandemic. Here in California, theme parks have been especially creative in coping with state restrictions. In July, I visited Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, the first theme park to reopen. The same health and safety protocols employed at Six Flags parks around the country were in place and I actually felt safer than at my local grocery store. Without the ability to open rides, the park went back to its roots and opened as a zoo, shifting focus to its expansive animal collection. About two months later, SeaWorld San Diego followed suit.

The California Thinker News editor for InPark Magazine Joe Kleiman is shown here with the giant “C” that formerly marked the entrance to Disney’s California Adventure.

The C-A-L-I-F-O-R-N-I-A letters were moved from the park to Sacramento’s Cal Expo state fairgrounds in 2013.

The relocation of the letters was part of the theme park makeover spearheaded by Walt Disney Imagineer Bob Weis, profiled by Joe on page 27.

Others – Disneyland Resort, Knott’s Berry Farm, and Universal Studios Hollywood – offered special ticketed food and retail events, sans rides.

When parks and zoos were ordered shut down in December, Six Flags and SeaWorld began offering drive-thru adventures - themed to seasonal events, Sesame Street, and even a custom car show.

James Bermingham is the newly appointed CEO of Virgin Hotels and the Chair of Visit California, the public/private partnership responsible for marketing the state’s tourism industry. During the organization’s recent Outlook Forum, he said something quite profound: “California has shown time and time again that it can successfully emerge from crises.”

With revised state guidance now in place, California’s theme parks are reopening in April and May. They’ll be prepared if the pandemic continues - or if a new challenge takes its place. Because here in California, our attractions are experts at persevering.

Publisher Martin Palicki founded InPark Magazine in 2004, combining his years of experience working in themed entertainment with his passion for writing and design.

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InPark editor Judith Rubin helps drive content to serve the attractions industry, fostering professional connections, business development and the meaningful exchange of information.

issue 86, april 2021 4

Active CounterAct Christie rolls out new germicidal UV product for attractions • by Judith Rubin

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Uncompromised authenticity George Wade marries brands and LBE • by Judith Rubin Student immersion

13 SCAD THEDscapes Immersion Challenge showcases student team designs for avariety of environments and venues • by Greg Andrade

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Jennie Nevin leadership and new adventures • by Martin Palicki

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The call of the Marsupilami BoldMove designed Houba World concept to flexibly fit different venues

by Judith Rubin The calm before the storm

20 Industry professionals should prepare for the coming spike in leisure entertainment demand • by Scott Harkless

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People, products and protocol WhiteWater celebrates 40 years of success • by Judith Rubin Bob Weis, collaborative creative pioneer - part one

27 Now WDI president, Weis has emphasized a virtuoso team culture on all his projects

by Joe Kleiman

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BONUS DIGITAL ONLY ARTICLE: Discovering Auckland Two new themed attractions grace the City of Sails • by Scott Ault

team & contributors InPark Magazine (ISSN 1553-1767) is published by Martin Chronicles Publishing, LLC. 2349 E Ohio Ave. Milwaukee, WI 53207, USA. Shipping address: 2349 E Ohio Ave. Milwaukee, WI 53207, USA. Phone: +1-262-412-7107. Printing by Johnson Press of America.

Contents © 2021 InPark Magazine. All rights reserved. Nothing in the magazine may be reproduced or used in any manner without the prior written permission of the magazine. InPark Magazine is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, photographs or illustrations. Such material must be accompanied by a self-adressed and stamped envelope to be returned.

Postmaster: Send address changes to InPark Magazine 2349 E Ohio Ave. Milwaukee, WI 53207, USA. Subscriptions are available annually for $45 per year ($70 international). Opinions expressed in editorial matter are not necessarily those of InPark Magazine or its publishers, Martin Chronicles Publishing, LLC.

PUBLISHER Martin Palicki

DESIGN Martin Palicki

EDITOR Judith Rubin

CONTRIBUTORS Greg Andrade Scott Ault Scott Harkless

NEWS EDITOR Joe Kleiman

COVER:

Bob Weis during the opening of Shanghai Disneyland

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Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Imagineering

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Active CounterAct

Mad Systems’ Maris Ensing holds a recently awarded US patent. All photos courtesy of Mad Systems.

Christie rolls out new germicidal UV product for attractions

by Judith Rubin

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hristie’s recent investment in far UVC light technology should come as welcome news for museums, dark rides, queue lines, theaters, cruise ships and retail/dining and the network of designers and suppliers that serve them, as well as the visitor community.

Far UVC is a type of ultraviolet light. Research indicates that far UVC light has the power to disable SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses - airborne, or on surfaces - and, moreover, that it can be used continuously during operating hours without apparent danger to humans. Christie parent company, lighting manufacturer Ushio Inc., has a proprietary interest and six years of R&D in the lamp technology, which Christie is currently rolling out to the industry in the form of Christie® CounterAct™.

CounterAct uses Ushio’s existing Care222® lamp which was designed specifically for medical facilities and is already in use at several hospitals, in addition to schools, in Japan.

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A CounterAct unit looks something like a smoke detector - if a smoke detector were 14” in diameter - and is designed to be installed in the manner of a recessed lighting fixture in ceilings. It has an indicator glow, but otherwise the amount of light it emits is very minor and not a factor in a room’s lighting scheme. It has a runtime of about 3,000 hours.

Viruses, beware According to what we’ve learned from Christie and the supporting research, CounterAct harnesses far UVC light to work as a continuous enemy of viruses, damaging them at the DNA and RNA level, while not posing any detectable risk to people.

It has been documented to be effective not only against the novel coronavirus but other harmful viruses - offering potential protection against today’s pandemic and tomorrow’s as well. “It doesn’t differentiate between viruses; all of them are negatively impacted by UV,” says Brent Peckover, Director of Industrial Applications at Christie.

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Bryan Boehme, Christie’s Executive Director of Sales & Business Development, Enterprise, Americas, is enthusiastic about the promise that this technology holds for indoor facilities and attractions. He reports that Christie is already consulting with a number of early CounterAct adopters. The results may help establish new operating models for facilities to reopen or expand capacity while substantially lowering the risk of COVID-19 infection. “We’re really excited about the opportunity for entertainment and theme park customers. They want to do their best to reassure guests and to prevent people from getting the virus at their sites, and we’re hopeful to see it roll out in many venues this year,” says Boehme.

“How much you need varies on space configuration and power, says Peckover. “We have designed a configurator to help calculate the number of units.” Peckover also indicated that the technology and product meet photobiological standards for conformance recognition from UL, ACGIH®, the CE mark and others.

The first wave of adoption in entertainment spaces can be expected to be primarily retrofits, but Boehme expects that his company’s far UVC products will become part of initial design discussions for future projects.

A different kind of disinfecting UV The wavelength makes the difference. Far UVC light has a wavelength of 222 nanometers (nm - 1 billionth of a meter) as opposed to conventional UV light, which has a wavelength of 254 nm. Conventional UV is already employed as a disinfectant in hospitals, subway cars and other spaces, but conventional UV is not safe for human exposure, and therefore can only run when the spaces are not occupied, meaning that pathogens can build up between uses.

CounterAct employs Ushio’s proprietary filter that attenuates wavelengths greater than 230nm. This is important because, as Peckover says, “Not all 222nm light is created equal.” He explained that current 222nm production methods generate small amounts of UVC light greater than 230nm. The filter, therefore, provides a safety factor for use in occupied spaces by keeping the wavelength to 222nm. A recent Christie whitepaper provides further details: https://www.christiedigital.com/globalassets/ help-center/whitepapers/documents/christie-counteract-withcare222-whitepaper.pdf.

Christie and others have been studying far UVC light for several years and testing it in labs to assess its safety. A research project of the Columbia University Zuckerman Institute started out several years ago, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, to identify ways of reducing opportunistic infections in hospital settings.

Studies - conducted by Dr David Brenner, PhD and a key figure in the continuing research - and others have shown that far UVC light cannot penetrate the ocular tear layer or skin stratum corneum.

Meet Brent Peckover Brent Peckover is Director of Industrial Applications at Christie, focusing on launching innovative ideas outside of traditional markets and applications. He is spearheading the design and development activities for Christie® CounterAct™ with the patented Care222® commercial ultraviolet disinfection fixture.

Brent has more than 20 years of experience designing, building, and installing a variety of systems for clients around the world. Previously, Brent held successive roles in Program Management at Christie, in the company’s facilities in Kitchener, Canada and managing global teams, including team members in Shenzhen, China. A notable recent triumph in his program management role was helping shepherd the development of the Christie Eclipse projector, recently recognized with a TEA Thea Award for technology.

Peckover is a P.Eng and holds an MBA from Wilfrid Laurier University. He is also a certified PMP, CPA, and CMA. “There is nothing I enjoy more than a big challenge, and Christie CounterAct presents a great opportunity to move things forward and help industries to recover. What I love about this particular opportunity is that by helping to inactivate SARSCoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, we can make a real difference in the world. The potential payback is significant: keeping everybody healthier and reducing the impact of a future pandemic.”

Currently, Peckover is fully focused on CounterAct. “I call myself the project stakeholder; we have a project manager running the development and I contribute across both program and product management domains, helping us adapt to address the needs of the market.”

Brenner, a professor of radiation biophysics and environmental health sciences and director of the Center for Radiological

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Identifying license plates is part of the patented technology.

Settings and reporting for CounterAct can all be accessed easily from a portable device. All photos courtesy of Christie

Research at Columbia University, has gone on the record about the efficacy studies done to determine the safety and effectiveness of using far UVC light technology against airborne virus particles, with encouraging results. Aerosols are of great concern in COVID transmission with virus particles able to remain viable in the air for several hours and now believed to be a major cause of infection.

While tests have shown the CounterAct technology to act rapidly and effectively, its presence doesn’t omit the need for contactless solutions that protect guests from having to touch surfaces such as counters and interactive screens, for instance.

“It’s an added layer of defense,” says Peckover.

“You still need to take these other precautions.”

This application of far UVC technology could be a significant factor in getting the themed entertainment industry back on track. “It’s being received with a great deal of interest as something that can enable a return to regular activities and protect people,” says Boehme.

Inspiring awareness and confidence on the part of guests will be part of the equation, in order to bring audiences back in healthy numbers. Peckover noted that Christie is working on strong branding initiatives for CounterAct to be recognized by the client community and build reassurance and trust. We’ll be watching for those early adopters - ideally, they’ll include some of Christie’s major entertainment partners. • • • For more information about CounterAct and far UVC technology, including links to third-party research, visit the Christie CounterAct landing page at https://www. christiedigital.com/commercial-uv-disinfection/.

Bryan Boehme, Executive Director of Sales & Business Development, Enterprise, Americas, Christie

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Uncompromised authenticity George Wade marries brands and LBE

by Judith Rubin

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ver the past decade, consumer priorities and behavior patterns have dramatically evolved, especially with the explosion of online shopping, television streaming, and the growth of the video game industry. Options for in-home entertainment and services have seen rapid growth, and yet, consumers still desire unique activities that can only be experienced out of the home. This has created new challenges and yet exciting opportunities for marketers and operators in the world of Location Based Entertainment (LBE).

Core to the mission is how best to engage with consumers to gain their attention in a cluttered marketplace, and many leisure and retail providers have begun to employ popular entertainment brands to meet this opportunity. However, with rising guest expectations, applying entertainment brands effectively has become a unique discipline unto itself. Many operators today are on a quest for utilizing high-profile brands and are seeking guidance how best to marry those brands and their storylines with LBE attractions. On the other side of the equation, Intellectual Property (IP) licensors are pursuing platforms to expand their presence and their followings.

George Wade has become a specialist in branded entertainment and a unique force in assisting the attractions industry to meet these challenges. He has a keen understanding of the power of brands, deep ties in the themed entertainment business world, and the ability to convey the concept of a whole greater than the sum of its parts. These qualities make him an industry leader the one who knows, and can bring together, the right people for a conversation out of which great and innovative things emerge - in this case, branded experiences for the LBE space. Wade is able to assemble key players - licensors of brands and IPs, potential licensees, and entertainment operators - for exploratory dialogue and then remain in a supportive position throughout all subsequent stages of discussion and development.

In recent years, Wade has been a key consultant and voice helping bring about successful projects and development conversations for Crayola, Hasbro, Rovio/Angry Birds, Cartoon Network, Peanuts, Halo, and others. Projects he has touched include Crayola Experience, the Halo Outpost Discovery Tour, the touring FRIENDS popup, Cartoon Network Hotel, Snoopy Gardens in Jeju Korea, The Peanuts Touring Experience launching in 2021 with Kilburn Live, and the new Angry Birds

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Topgolf experience which launched in October 2020 at 30 Topgolf locations.

“I’ve known George Wade for 15 years,” says Warren Schorr, Vice President Business Development and Global Licensing, Crayola. “I have always been impressed with his holistic thinking.

In the LBE world, interested parties generally think about a project from one of three angles: the deal itself and how it is structured; the development and management of the project; or the ancillary ties and how they in turn build other business.

George understands the importance of all three - and is equally talented in each of those spaces.”

Wade’s branded entertainment skills emerged as his career progressed. He came up during a highly inventive period of the visitor-attractions industry, building on what he learned and observed. He made the most of these learnings as his career evolved. Working on pioneering projects at influential companies - Landmark Entertainment in the 1980s, Iwerks Entertainment in the ‘90s, and MGM Studios in the 2000’s - Wade was ahead of his time in recognizing the fertile possibilities of marrying IP with content on themed entertainment platforms. He has helped engineer and drive the trend and the conversation around it.

Today, making matches between brands and LBE has been the primary goal of his consultancy, Bay Laurel Advisors, founded in 2009.

Collaboration and pleasing the fan For Wade, IP/LBE collaborations are an art form in which his creative self, business acumen, live theater background (with a degree in Theatrical Design from UCLA), multifaceted industry experience, and relationships all come together. These collaborations fit well with today’s holistic development model of unfolding a brand or IP story across multiple platforms, often with active user engagement. When well-executed, this type of rollout opens new vistas of storytelling, brand engagement and

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unique consumer marketing opportunities in ways that benefit both brands and LBE operators alike.

Realizing projects of this kind is a highly collaborative process with very specific goals. It demands effective interaction between multiple stakeholders with attention to many details, far beyond the initial “yes” at the conference table. Success is a win-winwin-win: for the licensee, the licensor, the venue, and the guest (which can be an intensely devoted and exacting fan base). “If it pleases a brand’s very loyal fan, it will also please the non-fan, but you absolutely must meet the expectations of that loyal fan,” says Wade. “Brands are a tool to turbo-charge projects and effectively attract consumers. There is an art to it that has developed over the past decade as we show how brands can and should play an important role in entertainment, in so many different ways. At the end of the day, it’s about driving more profits for everybody.”

Robocop rides

the operator and the unique challenges in developing branded attractions. “It was a period when there were many potential licensees interested in developing projects around studio brands, especially in Asia,” says Wade. “Having an understanding of the key guardrails of attraction development allowed MGM to become a better licensing partner for our licensees.”

Crayola transition Wade realized that brands of all kinds hold value for attractions, and vice versa. “Brands not only bring the name from a marketing standpoint, they bring rich storylines that immediately connect with consumers,” he says. He and Warren Schorr first met when both were working at MGM; after Schorr moved on to Crayola, he recruited Wade to consult and project manage the first Crayola Experience, a re-imagining of the company’s visitor center in Easton, PA, that opened to acclaim in May 2013.

“Putting together project teams is a key part of the process of bringing that brand or IP to life on a new platform,” says Wade.

In the 1990s, Wade engineered a definitive, seminal project during his time as VP, Business Development at Iwerks Entertainment.

Iwerks (now SimEx-Iwerks) was helmed by founders Don Iwerks and CEO Stan Kinsey who established the company as a leader in the creation of concepts, technologies, and products for media-based attractions. Wade’s breakthrough licensing project with Iwerks was strategizing a ridefilm experience that successfully brought feature film IP into motion-based ridefilm attractions. Robocop: The Ride debuted in 1993.

Variety noted in an October 1992 article by Matt Rothman, “Expanding into a new area of theme park filmmaking, Iwerks Entertainment has licensed ‘RoboCop,’ the futuristic crime-fighter from Orion Pictures, for its own rides. This is the first time a ride developer has acquired a film property from a movie company.”

“Iwerks senior management recognized that our theme park clients desired attractions that would drive attendance,” said Wade. “We believed that one key method to achieve this goal was to provide them with ridefilms in which the marketing was built-in. Robocop: The Ride was a very clean marketing message to the consumer!”

Robocop the Ride, in the early days of modern theme parks, built on the connection between cinema properties and attractions. Spurred by its success, Iwerks followed up with its ‘Aliens’ ridefilm. Branded entertainment became a cornerstone of Iwerks software development strategy.

During his time at MGM, Wade worked to help the content-provider understand the needs of operators in this context. This allowed the brand to better understand the perspectives of

Cinewerks, a publication for clients of Iwerks Entertainment.

Image ©SimEx-Iwerks, Robocop™ and ©Orion Pictures

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Its success led to more. There are now five Crayola Experiences throughout the US: Easton, Orlando (in the Florida Mall); Minneapolis (in the Mall of America); Plano, TX (in the Shops at Willow Bend) and Chandler, AZ (in the Chandler Fashion Center). George Wade was a senior advisor and project manager on all of them. “He is a valued, respected asset inside the company,” says Schorr. “We value his wisdom and assessment of a situation. His external point of view can help us find internal consensus. He is also an exceptional production manager.

His manner of advising and leading and directing are truly empowering to teams, even when it’s a team he doesn’t oversee directly.”

Serving consumers in today’s world Where does Wade stand on branded experiences in the pandemic? From his perspective, opportunities and potential benefits remain plentiful and dialogue continues to take place. In fact, as the LBE industry begins to identify a new reality, reaching consumers with compelling experiences will become even more critical for operators. Recent project announcements support this view.

Says Wade, “Brand is even more important now than it was preCovid. The operators working with brands have had to adjust on the fly in shaping the guest experience. But the brand clears out the noise in the marketplace to get the initial marketing message across. We continue to see the proliferation of all kinds of LBE – Family Entertainment Centers (FEC’s), stand-alone attractions,

hotels, themed dining, and popups. An emerging category is shopping malls, which were already reinventing themselves as regional entertainment destinations, pre-pandemic. Working with a brand conveys an immediate message to the consumer that can rivet their attention.”

Wade is particularly bullish on the smaller projects for the LBE industry. “For the licensor and licensee, limited-scale undertakings, with a lower risk profile, are critical during the challenges of this pandemic.” The staycation trend that prevailed during the Great Recession of 2009-10 is a clue to serving consumer needs in the current environment. “People still want to get out of the house,” says Wade. “They want entertaining and educational experiences, to dine out, to go shopping. They need family recreation and getaways. Today, those will be shorter trips to local and regional destinations, where they have as much control as possible over their environment and more of it outdoors. The industry sees this and has already pivoted to serve it.”

For its part, Crayola is moving ahead with its LBE ventures and announced a new direction in September 2020. Crayola IDEAworks: The Creativity Exhibition is a traveling, interactive exhibition that premiered at The Franklin Institute (Philadelphia) in February 2021. The exhibition is produced by Agency808 in collaboration with The Franklin Institute, and tickets are now on sale to the public.

The Crayola Experience in Orlando opened in 2015.

Image courtesy The Crayola Experience

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A matchmaker: Peanuts Two recent examples from the Peanuts portfolio are Snoopy Garden and a new partnership with Kilburn Live.

In July 2020, the new Snoopy Garden opened in Jeju, South Korea. The 20-acre property, developed by SN Garden, has indoor and outdoor components.

The indoor exhibits focus on Peanuts characters, relationships, and stories; outdoors is more about adventure and relaxation, Snoopy-style. “There is a wealth of storylines and themes in the Peanuts universe suitable for an outdoor recreational venue such as the Great Pumpkin, kite flying, baseball and so much more,” says Wade, “and they convey an immediate comfort level and familiarity to the guest.”

In February 2020, Kilburn Live, the Live Events division of Kilburn Media, announced a new partnership with Peanuts Worldwide. Licensor and licensee will collaborate to create a new immersive experience to coincide with the milestone 70th anniversary of the first Peanuts comic strips. “Kilburn Live is developing an immersive experience to fit into the thriving location-based entertainment trend,” stated the announcement.

“It promises to give guests a family-friendly journey with their pals Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the rest of the gang. The experience plans to highlight the timelessness of Peanuts in a modern way.” While the pandemic slowed development, the project is in creative design and will launch in late 2021 or early 2022.

Craig Herman, Senior Director Category Management, Peanuts Worldwide LLC says, “Through George’s many contacts and relationships, we’ve been able to get in front of developers and operators and develop meaningful relationships. There’s a level of trust within the Peanuts organization that with George’s eyes on projects and his professional input, we’re confident that we’re making informed decisions and working with world-class partners. Because of his extensive experience working in LBE and having managed everything from the licensor perspective, from creative development through project management, we know that he will look at an overall project from every aspect.”

Hospitality game-changer: Cartoon Network Hotel Hospitality is another platform for brands that has helped operators stay competitive in an increasingly complex market, giving consumers a new experience that also delivers a recognition-comfort level at the same time. The Margaritaville

Peanuts characters in their Halloween costumes at Kings Island’s Great Pumpkin Fest event Photo courtesy Cedar Fair Entertainment Company

Resorts as well as the Nickelodeon Resort in the Dominican Republic are two examples of this trend. A recent addition to the branded hotel market is the Cartoon Network Hotel.

For over 25 years, Cartoon Network has touched multiple generations with its stories and ever popular characters such as Ben 10, Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup, Steven Universe, and Jake and Finn from Adventure Time. In those 25 years, the network has been a major force in pop culture and has achieved a huge presence on digital and mobile platforms. So, while relatively new to the LBE sector, Cartoon Network is no stranger to the licensing business and to multi-platforming. The key demographic served is children ages six to 11, and (according to Cartoon Network) these kids are not just viewers, they are Fans – active, loyal and engaged.

In collaboration with Palace Entertainment, the first Cartoon Network (CN) hotel opened to the public in Lancaster, PA in January 2020. Under contract to CN, Bay Laurel Advisors and George Wade supported the project both in structuring the relationship as well as advising the creative and construction teams in project execution. As fortune would have it, the hotel was obliged to close after only eight weeks, due to the pandemic (it reopened August 1, at reduced capacity). There was, however, enough of a window for the hotel to earn resounding approval from its target demographic, as voiced in a Dec 26, 2019 USA Today review in which journalist Candy Woodall relied heavily on her 10-year-old son’s impressions, summing up with “Parents, let your kids come here.”

Gina Salamone echoed the sentiment in her Feb 5, 2020 review for the New York Daily News: “Now your kids can spend the night in a dreamland inspired by their favorite cartoons.”

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The first Cartoon Network Hotel opened in Lancaster, PA in 2020.

Image courtesy Cartoon Network

Together with Cartoon Network’s in-house creative/marketing team, and with the creative vision of Los-Angeles based RHETROACTIVE, Inc., the hotel was designed with tasteful nods to the Cartoon Network brand and with iconic characters brought to life in never-before-seen ways throughout the property.

“Simply put, this unique hotel delivers on the brand promise of Cartoon Network for guests,” says Wade. “It demonstrates the magic of what can happen with the right match of brand and experience, and the right team creating and delivering the experience. And each new project suggests new possibilities - new layers that can be added to the story. Success leads to success; innovation leads to innovation. There is so much unexplored territory.”

Bonding Theater roots run deep in the attractions industry, and Wade, a UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television grad himself, sees branded LBE experiences as an extension of the theatrical genre, in both the way they are created and the nature of the guest experience. Wade cites “The collaborative culture, the

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distillation of message, the emotional bond with the audience, the built environment, storytelling and live engagement - in short, the blend of all elements that enables suspension of disbelief, immersion and escape into a world that makes participants feel the real world all that more profoundly and with fresh eyes upon their return. For that to happen in LBE as it does in wellexecuted theater, there needs to be a strong bond between the brand and the operator, helping each understand the strengths of the other,” says Wade. “We serve to provide that connective tissue for our clients. It’s an evolutionary process: help the brand understand our industry, identify opportunities where the brand will add great value, develop the business relationship, and then during implementation, assist in engineering the-give-and-take to come up with a final product that is going to be something of uncompromised authenticity that the consumer is going to love.”

••• More information about Bay Laurel Advisors at:

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www.tinyurl.com/BayLaurelAdvisors

Student immersion SCAD THEDscapes Immersion Challenge showcases student team designs for a variety of environments and venues

by Greg Andrade

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he Immersion Challenge at The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in Savannah, Georgia formed teams of four students each that conceptualized a series of installation art-happenings called THEDscapes. The proposals range from ghost tours and historical walking experiences to more permanent readaptive-use projects planned for areas throughout the City of Savannah. Twelve teams of SCAD students worked for seven weeks, guided by Professors Bob Shreve and Greg Andrade – Architect, along with leading industry professionals.

The Immersion Challenge supported interdisciplinary teams including undergrad and graduate Production Design and Themed Entertainment Design students. The five proposals below showcase the collaborative and innovative spirit of SCAD students.

‘Bluestem Yard’ is prototype for a series of satellite food production and distribution centers hosting elements that foster communal and neighborhood connectivity. These parklike developments are established as urban recapture projects designed to nurture health and wellbeing throughout the City of Savannah. Bluestem Yard features a community garden and food outlet and a public park featuring a food truck café, a performance stage and a children’s playground. This project is proposed for a wide variety of underutilized land locations throughout the city and offers interaction between visitors and locals as they explore the park and public garden structure.

‘The Secret of the S.S. Chatham’ is a proposal for a highend escape room walkthrough attraction that would occupy an abandoned vacant structure at 2 East Henry Street in Savannah. This experience would include an adventure into the underground waterways of the city where guests will immerse themselves in the haunted sunken remains of the S.S. Chatham which has been discovered after it’s disappearance with the Rineheart family aboard over 100 years in the past. Guests will be thrilled in their quest to discover the fate of the ship while lurking through various treks throughout the lower decks of the ship as ghostly visages of the Rineheart family guide or hinder their adventures. Upon completing their quest guests are welcomed to the ‘Crowsnest’ in the dome covering the ship where they can enjoy food and drink and trade ghostly stories with other brave explorers of the S.S. Chatham escape adventure.

‘Ellis on the River’ is an elevated urban walk (Think NYC Highline) that connects Savannah’s Market Street center of

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tourism directly to the riverfront. Currently a series of very old precarious stairways greet travelers as they venture down to the Savannah River. ‘Ellis on the River’ would create a series of raised garden-scapes over the bustling streets below. This walk begins at a revitalized Ellis Square offering locals and visitors an interactive icon, a high-end taste of Savannah restaurant with new plantings and public amenities that form the ramp up to the raised walk leading to the riverfront. Arriving at the Riverfront Pavilion guests are greeted by an amazing overlook with sweeping views along and across the great port of Savannah. The Riverfront Pavilion itself is designed as an elegant sweeping path of vertical circulation hosting “Made in Savannah” commercial ventures.

a ghastly ghostly vehicular ‘drive-thru’ serving up the scariest Savannah ghost legends – stories and visages for your enjoyment!

‘The Briny Bottle’ is a readaptive use project set amongst the new and hopping Riverfront of Savannah. “Join legendary scourges of the sea for some hearty grub, a cup of ale, bolstering sea shanties, axe throwing, and a cannon-blasting bowling alley.

Just because you and the crew have been trapped in a bottle by a vengeful Seawitch, doesn’t mean you can’t still have a rowdy good time. Your inner pirate will come to life as you enter ‘The Briny Bottle.’” This multi-level food and beverage experience hosts a load of fun including Rapscallions’ Fine Dining – Drinks at the Barrr – Songs of the high seas – Walking the Plank and Pirate Games abound. A proposal that will bolster the local economy and tradition of Savannah’s history steeped in pirate lore – You’ll find The Briny Bottle at the corner of Montgomery and West River Street one block from the Savannah Riverfront Walk where the Seawitch welcomes you to enter her realm for a grand adventure! • • •

‘Savannah Haunted Harvest’ is a proposal for THE Savannah City Halloween happening. This October event will host two major experiences. First is the FALL FESTIVAL which would occupy Orleans Square. This family friendly festival will offer locals and guests a way to celebrate Fall with trick-or-treating, games, walk-around characters, pumpkins and much more.

Along the edge of Orleans Square food truck areas will offer fall fair food items and the wall to the west of the square will showcase murals by local school children. Next – if you dare – the HAUNTED DRIVE THROUGH EXPERIENCE offers

Explore our new website!

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Professor Greg Andrade – Architect – LEED AP is the mentor for the THEDSCAPES 2020 working sessions.

In 1991 Greg began working with the lmagineering division at the Walt Disney Company as a licensed architect. In 2001, he launched Andrade Studio, his own themed design practice specializing in lifestyle, hospitality and narrative based projects globally in the USA, UAE, Europe, Japan, China and Korea. He currently teaches at SCAD as a Professor of Themed Entertainment Design. Becoming a member of the SCAD family Greg chose to make the move to SCAD because its Themed Entertainment Design program fosters a depth in its philosophy that he feels is ideal for the optimal teaching and learning environment. His passion for process encompassing trade insights from over 30 years of design practice affords students access to real world skills and knowledge. Greg fosters the placement of students directly into prime industry professional job markets.

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Jennie Nevin Leadership and new adventures interview by Martin Palicki

J

ennie Nevin is just the kind of rainmaker that many organizations dream of finding - enthusiastic, tenacious, a skilled team builder and manager, and dedicated to growing a base of support. During her seven years of service as chief operating officer of the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA), her work and leadership were instrumental in boosting the nonprofit association to new levels of financial stability, global stature and brand consistency. Nevin spoke to InPark about her career, about the art of operations, management and business development; about upholding high standards and best practices, and what her next professional move might be.

How did you get involved in the entertainment industry?

I was a singer at a young age and came to Southern California to sing in college. I joined a country band, whose agent recruited me to help stage manage a local music festival. He also was executive director for the Hollywood Radio and Television Society (HRTS), which serves the executives and business side of television. He got me involved with HRTS and I ended up working there for almost ten years as the director of operations and development.

From there I became COO at TEA, where I worked with more of the creative side of the entertainment industry.

What is a leader’s role in an association and how do they keep things focused and moving forward on the mission?

To start, I think it is critically important for an organization’s leader to be completely dedicated to the cause and mission of the group. I am an extremely passionate person and I think that emotional connection to the organization has been key to my success. Surrounding oneself with the right people, helping them shine, thanking them and sharing appreciation daily for what they do is also key. At TEA I was so lucky to have a wonderful staff to work with. In particular, Judy Rubin, Tammie Richards, and Erica Schwehr are dear colleagues and friends. They are truly magnificent people.

As your community team identifies a vision and goals for the organization, it’s the leader’s job to find the help and support to achieve that vision. It’s a constant churning of how to get there, and at TEA I was particularly lucky to have such a creative community to lean on to help develop solutions that helped us reach those goals.

For example, at the 2019 Thea Awards producer Tom Vannucci decided to create a moment where I would be a part of the set to show the magic of our industry and wonder created by Thea Award recipient “Borderless” from Japan. I wore a dress that became the canvas for projection mapped images and colors that flowed onto the stage. Through the script we created I was able to share the mission and purpose of TEA while also representing the spirit of the project. How many association leaders actually get to embody the mission of the organization and magic of their industry in such a compelling way? It was a special experience for me, but also an incredible moment for TEA. How do you approach working with sponsors?

An organization’s team is bigger than just staff, though. It also includes members, the board, sponsors and other stakeholders.

The association community is really quite a large group, and it’s necessary for everyone to rally around the mission.

My style of leadership always revolves around collaboration, relationship building, partnerships and through endless enthusiasm to share the message. When you lead with intent, care, respect and a sense of gratitude it is easier to inspire others with the message.

Sponsorships are the fuel of organizations. Building relationships is how you develop effective sponsorships, and you have to do it with care. By being genuinely interested and curious and learning what sponsors actually need you can then craft a sponsorship plan that makes sense for them.

Effective sponsorships are not a single sale nor are they a product. They are an idea of the future for a sponsor and you both are invested in that future together.

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Jennie Nevin’s recommendations for inspiration Books: “Untamed” by Glennon Doyle and “Storyworthy” by Matthew Dicks Movies: “Soul” and “Kiss the Ground” Music: Barbara Streisand, “Yentl” - “Why be given wings if not meant to fly?”

Poetry: John O’Donohue, “For A New Beginning” - “Awaken your spirit to adventure; Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk; Soon you will home in a new rhythm, for your soul senses the world that awaits you.”

Naturally, you have to have something to back it up with that can actually deliver. With TEA there are these wonderful foundational elements like the SATE and Summit conferences, the Thea Awards, the creative powerhouse in membership, the leadership of the past presidents and the Board. My job was to take those and amplify them.

You helped guide the association through the pivot to digital interactions for the pandemic. What was that process like to put into place and then run through 2020?

We had a completely planned year of events, with a full business plan already underway when the pandemic hit. The urgency and sudden halt to everything forced us to problem-solve a lot and in a short amount of time. It was a steep learning curve.

chat threads, webinars, watch parties, and virtual mixers, to stay connected to and supportive of the membership. That, in turn, inspired the leadership to also provide content for the different regions as well.

All of this was focused on how to serve members during this unprecedented time, while losing many of our major streams of income. The staff team were superheroes; they were inspired to fix and problem solve.

I think it was all very successful. We did things that no one else was doing and at an extremely high quality level. Really, it was inspiring to see how much care and love people in the industry have for one another. It was like family.

How do you approach brand building?

Even though we had just expanded the headquarters office we transitioned to remote working right away. I dedicated staff to figuring out the technical challenges as we forged this new world.

To compensate for the lack of in-person events we turned to digital experiences.

Our whole production team refocused and we researched platforms, quality expectations and pricing methods.

While we had staff working on the operations and technical aspects of producing the experiences we also had to figure out how to create digital content that provided value for our members.

It was important for us to utilize a range of media formats such as

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The quality of the product, the real genuine product, is where everything has to start and then you share that with the world.

I was lucky with TEA because when I arrived the look and feel of the physical brand had been so thoroughly thought out and designed with an evergreen logo and message. The new logo and tagline made for a very clear message that allowed me to come in and put it everywhere possible. I have a great appreciation for all the work that went into that branding effort before I arrived.

Jennie during her projection-mapped dress moment at the 2019 Thea Awards Gala. Photo courtesy TEA

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The tentpole events and products (SATE, Summit, TEA AECOM Theme Index, Thea Awards, trade show activities, regional events, etc) all provide

tremendous quality and also great foundations to build branding on. An effective leader then works to get those tentpole events and products to really shine and get them out in front of people as much as possible.

At TEA, we saw our conference attendance grow exponentially.

The annual TEA/AECOM Theme Index also grew to give us great global recognition, including in high-profile media like NPR, The Economist, ABC News and more. It really helped strengthen our brand.

While I’m talking about TEA I’d like to give a shout-out to some of the people I found particularly inspiring to work alongside: Monty Lunde, Roberta Perry, Steve Birket, Michael Mercadante, Michael Blau and the late Peter Chernack.

TEA has placed a renewed focus on diversity and inclusion.

Tell us about how you assisted in that.

I have always been deeply committed to a world that insists on equality, inclusion and diversity. As a female leader I’ve had experiences that inspire me to uplift others as much as possible.

Throughout my career I have continued to learn how best to contribute to that world effectively.

From a leadership perspective, I have learned to be completely open and to focus on visions that uplift all.

It has to be rooted in a community that is not exclusive. It has to be inclusive and you have to be purposeful about it. You have to make it happen and invite input and then focus on it because if you don’t the old system and ways are self-perpetuating.

The world is a better place when we all are able to participate.

What’s next for you?

I have been blessed and am so grateful to have had some time to rest and for self-reflection and imagining what might be possible for me next. I am so grateful for my husband Mike and his partnership and support (and his amazing cooking!).

I’m open to possibilities that focus on my abilities as a strategist, connector and rainmaker. Ideally, I will lead a team for an organization or company with a deep mission and purpose serving the creative industry. I want to use my voice and enthusiasm to truly make a difference in the world.

My grandmother always said to “be grateful for your health” and my great grandmother Jennie Janicki (whom I am named after) always said “This too shall pass.” I sure hope so and I pray daily for the end of this pandemic and for a brighter future for us all.

••• Jennie Nevin with former and current staff of the Themed Entertainment Association: Judith Rubin (top), Erica Schwehr (middle) and Tammie Richards (bottom).

Photos courtesy of TEA and Jennie Nevin

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The call of the Marsupilami BoldMove designed Houba World concept to flexibly fit different venues

by Judith Rubin

B

enoit Cornet has been busy over the last year and a half, which is the way he likes it. Ever since he entered the themed entertainment industry in 2001, he’s made a name for himself as a pioneer of interactive experience. With a background in marketing, business and engineering, Cornet is a walking idea factory, keenly observant and ready to challenge assumptions, as befits a serial entrepreneur and industry leader. In April 2020 he announced having formed a new company, BoldMove, saying, “Now is the time to be agile and prepare for the post-crisis era with attractions that are innovative and smart, offering a fast & high return on investment.”

BoldMove’s tagline is “Creating Happier Worlds,” and after two decades in the industry and a lifetime in tech-related ventures, Cornet has grown toward a focus on simple storytelling and fun. The bells and whistles are still there – the company has already launched an interactive ride product or two – but the emphasis is different. This is underlined by BoldMove’s recent announcement, rolling out “Houba World” – a flexible, conceptual package for attractions based on Marsupilami, an IP with strong appeal and momentum that has already had success across several entertainment platforms.

“Houba” is the call (and the entire vocabulary) of the Marsupilami, a fictional, marsupial type animal originated by the late, Belgian artist André Franquin. The Marsupilami family is best known in Belgium and France, but its international following is growing. Since its first appearance in comic books in the 1950s it has successfully migrated to animated series, a feature film, a video game, a merchandise line and to a limited extent in attractions, notably at Parc Spirou Provence.

With the “Houba World” announcement, Cornet indicates that he has done the legwork for BoldMove to facilitate the

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Marsupilami IP to roll out onto multiple attractions platforms including theme parks, LBE and zoos. Branded attractions are complex projects with many stakeholders to please, including the fan base, the licensor and the attraction operator. BoldMove brings value to the table in having already run the primary hurdles, starting with the cooperation of Benoit Cornet Mediatoon Licensing. “We have an established partnership with the licensor, relationships throughout the industry, and a team in place with a proven track record,” says Cornet. “This means that a project can get underway relatively quickly. We can check all the boxes including deliverability and staying within the budget and footprint while setting the stage for a healthy ROI. Our team (in-house and external) has not only the skills but also the deep industry knowledge and credentials – creative, technical, production, operations – to ensure a world-class experience. We’ve packaged Houba World to be scalable, from a single indoor space to an entire park, from re-theming an existing ride, attraction or realm to building from scratch.”

Cornet talked up the value and potential of the Marsupilami IP. “This IP is very rich, with inherent charm and strong appeal to children and families. There is no language barrier as its vocabulary is limited to ‘Houba.’ It has an existing, enthusiastic, engaged fan base and has shown its adaptability across platforms, but is not overexposed. It also has a great merchandise line, especially the stuffed toys. The creature is a sweet, simple, empathetic character, a gentle and lovable marsupial whose behavior and lifestyle reinforces family values. The IP is compatible to many themes related to animals, community, conservation and nature, and works for indoor or outdoor spaces.”

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As he discusses Houba World, Cornet renders possible applications spanning a wide variety of rides, interactive experiences and physically engaging activities, from the most classic and basic to the most sophisticated and holistic. The discussion reflects his intimate familiarity with the tools, trends and techniques of branded attractions, storytelling, immersion and interactivity, including gamification, scalability, guest agency, cross-platforming, ride vehicles, VRAR-MR-XR, retail and dining.

Is there a bad guy in the Houba World universe? Yes, but not so very bad.

“There is a character who pursues the Marsupilami with an intent to capture (not kill),” says Cornet. Apparently, the creature also has a few natural enemies in the wild, but in general, Cornet indicates, “the Marsupilami is someone who makes friends, partly due to a penchant for grooming others and eating their fleas.”

Like the Marsupilami, Cornet has established a company culture that depends on a web of relationships to flourish. “At BoldMove, we embody the essence of teamwork. We are proud of what we do, but we are very open-minded and flexible.

We listen to and answer the needs of the customer with our ideation process. Being small and nimble, the company can move quickly in a relatively smooth process. But we don’t get lost in the technology and we don’t want our clients to get lost in the technology. We want to make sure that park and leisure center visitors forget their worries for a day and are immersed into a world of magic and fantasy. To achieve this, we want to mix the best creative ideas and concepts with the most advanced technologies.

We have the drive; we work long hours, and we like it.” • • • .

Above: BoldMove’s Egg Chase AR Quest Right: A concept drawing for BoldMove’s Supply Chase dark ride Images courtesy BoldMove. Renderings are conceptual and may not reflect final designs.

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The calm before the storm Industry professionals should start planning now for the surge in demand expected as leisure travel resumes

by Scott Harkless, Alcorn McBride

T

here’s no doubt that the theme park industry has taken quite a hit since COVID-19 flipped the world upside down last year. Most of us have experienced this first-hand in some way or another, so I’m not here to relive the past and open any wounds!

What I’m here to talk about is the future. What’s next, and where do we go from here?

The way I see it, we’ve got a very unique situation brewing right now. For the most part, the same enthusiastic visitors that were fueling the pre-pandemic boom of the themed entertainment industry have now been cooped up for the better part of a year.

During that time, their desires to experience the latest attractions, ride a coaster with their friends, or enjoy a churro or funnel cake have not faded. Quite the opposite, actually! Those cravings have just been bottled up for the last year, tightly corked with the hope that someday soon this will all be over.

If you’re anything like me and my family, you feel that pressure mounting. At this point, we are quite anxious for those experiences to return to our daily lives. We are all hungry for new content and activities that come from something other than the video streaming services and gaming content we’ve been getting by with at home. We want something more immersive, and more tangible. A marketing executive might describe this as ‘pent-up demand.’ Call it whatever you like, but there are a lot of corks out there ready to pop.

When, exactly, might those corks be let fly (conscientiously)? It’s hard to say for sure. With the hope of large-scale vaccinations rolling out in 2021, it does feel like the beginnings of true industry recovery are not far off. Realizing that there’s a lot of debate about how gradually this bounce-back might happen, I fully acknowledge that I could be wrong about this. But if others can relate to how my friends and family feel, my gut says we’re in for a wild ride - a storm of a recovery.

Here in Central Florida, we know all about the threat of imminent storms. When you see a category 4 hurricane forecast to pass right over your town, you don’t just sit there and let it plow over you; you prepare! For some of us, that means boarding up windows, or throwing patio furniture in the pool. For others, it means stocking up on beer, snacks, and bottled water. Maybe the storm will take a turn, maybe it won’t. Either way, you’re ready for it. Storm or no storm, your beer and snacks await.

Let’s say that this gut feeling of mine is correct and that a ‘storm’ of sorts is brewing: Let’s say that the major park companies

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perceive the imminent release of pent-up demand and return to something like business as usual within the next 12 months. They start pulling triggers on projects, and doing it with some urgency, so their competitors don’t beat them to the punch. What can we, as individuals and suppliers with a vested interest in this industry, do to prepare for the moment when all those green lights start to glow?

The answer is probably different for each one of us depending on our personal situations and areas of expertise. If your job was affected by the pandemic, maybe that means brushing up on new skills that will be in high demand. You know, those things you always meant to learn but were too busy drowning in work to spend time on? If you work for a vendor, this might mean pulling together some exciting ideas to pitch clients. When the time comes, they’re going to want to move fast, so being ahead of the game will make your company a much more attractive option.

Speaking from a manufacturer’s perspective, at Alcorn McBride we see this as a time to double down on our investment, in developing new technologies that will help build better attractions on more ambitious schedules. Investing in development has always been important to us as a high-tech company; but balancing that with staying on top of the pre-pandemic boom was a juggling act to say the least. We see this time as an opportunity for us to take stock and focus more on the big picture.

Our top priority during this period has been approaching our products less as individual components, and more as building blocks within a larger ecosystem. If there’s one thing we’ve learned during the boom times, it’s that nobody has time to figure out how the pieces fit together anymore. With attractions getting more complicated, what the industry really needs most from a technology standpoint is a well-defined toolset that attraction designers can scale to meet the needs of the attractions and count on to work reliably together.

Next on the priority list for us has been generating new content to prepare for a surge of new clients and vendor partners.

Thinking back to the pre-pandemic boom, one of the most challenging situations we faced as an industry was the talent squeeze. The atmosphere was so competitive and busy that it was challenging just to find enough people, especially those with experience in the industry. If the themed entertainment market bounces back quickly, that challenge may be exacerbated this time around because much of the talent pool has been dispersed by

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we believe that the long-lasting impact of those investments will pay off regardless of how quickly themed entertainment recovers. If you love this industry and believe as we do, all I ask is that you take a moment to think about what you can do to prepare for the surge and put together some kind of “ramp up” plan. Also, be sure to stay in close contact with clients and colleagues in the industry. Regardless of whether they are on furlough, out of work, out of industry, or still plugging away, it never hurts to hear a friendly voice - especially one that’s filled with optimism and excitement to get back to doing what we all love! At the very least, it spreads the word that you’re ready to go at a moment’s notice. It is also a great way to raise spirits and explore opportunities to help each other, which will lead to a healthier recovery.

Scott Harkless (Chief Innovation Officer) & Hunter Olson (Director of Product Development) Photo courtesy Alcorn McBride

the pandemic. Regardless of whether those tasked with ramping back up our industry are new to the game or coming from a place of experience, we want to have an arsenal of content that can bring them quickly up to speed on how to deploy our ecosystem of tools.

Is investing in growth of this kind risky in a time of crisis?

Absolutely. But, just like loading up on snacks before hurricanes,

I truly believe that if we all have confidence in the high demand for the experiences we create and the foresight to invest in our future and prepare for rapid growth, we can all help our industry bounce back quickly and emerge stronger than ever before. • • • As Chief Innovation Officer at Alcorn McBride, Scott Harkless works closely with clients to determine their biggest areas of need and leads a talented team of problem solvers to create the products used in many of the world’s most popular attractions. He draws upon his experience in product development, system commissioning, client training, marketing, and sales to ensure that the products stamped with the Alcorn McBride logo exceed client expectations and offer value to the entire industry.

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People, products and protocol WhiteWater celebrates 40 years of success

by Judith Rubin

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rue to its name, WhiteWater is in constant activity while retaining its essential nature. This leading supplier to the international waterparks and attractions industry has grown, adapted and thrived over four decades. The Vancouver, Canadabased company recently announced some significant leadership changes. Founder Geoff Chutter continues as CEO while his son Paul Chutter, who joined the company seven years ago as Chief Business Development Officer, succeeds to the role of President, and in that role has initiated additional corporate restructuring, including several promotions.

People on the move within WhiteWater also include Onno Meeter (now Chief Operating Officer), Doug Smith (now Global Head of Sales), Franceen Gonzales (now Chief Experience Officer), David Bogdonov (now Regional Vice President, Asia Pacific) and Rainer Maelzer (now President, WhiteWater ERA GmbH) and others. There are products on the move too - not only does WhiteWater have its own fiberglass manufacturing division and stand as a market leader in water slides and water rides, the company has developed additional, unique product lines including Vantage, FlowRider and Endless Surf.

Good succession planning, strong leadership and innovation are important elements for a company to prevail over the long term, but there are other attributes that are key to WhiteWater’s solid, successful business culture, that emerged in the course of researching this article: • Vision and a sense of purpose: focusing on what they do better than anyone (water-based entertainment) • Building the best possible team with the best people • Setting the company on a path to ever more efficient operations

“Approaching the world in a uniquely WhiteWater way” (vision and purpose) A sense of purpose or mission promotes a supportive environment in which dedicated employees pull together, live in the present and keep the company going, even in tough times. The year 2020 was the epitome of tough times, yet, for WhiteWater it wrapped up as a notable success. The company closed its books for 2020 comfortably in the black, despite a slow start due to the pandemic.

Paul Chutter says, “The first six months after COVID took hold were very worrying and caused us all to take a second look at the industry, at our own businesses, how we run them, and the future. Moments like this - a once-in-a-generation challenge - are an invitation to be introspective. We found that the underlying strength of the location-based entertainment (LBE) space bodes well for the future writ large. Very few projects were canceled outright. For us, it was a reaffirmation of our diversification strategy and the structural changes we were already implementing. It fueled our optimism.”

For WhiteWater, since the third quarter of 2020, “the industry has been roaring back to life in a segmented way,” says Paul.

Looking at the world picture, “The US will be the most challenged regional market, followed by Europe, until things are truly open for business coast to coast; its real recovery will be in 2022. China has, on the whole, remained robust and healthy, Southeast Asia also but to a slightly lesser extent. Tourism has snapped back very quickly in the Middle East, which will prove to be a tremendous engine of growth for WhiteWater and the industry over the next 5-10 years. We have a strong commitment to this region.”

Geoff Chutter

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Paul Chutter

One of WhiteWater’s products “on the move” is their Endless Surf system, which provides customizable waves designed for a wide range of surfer abilities. Installations of the new wave technology are slated for Europe, Asia and Australia. All images courtesy of WhiteWater

Some of the company’s current success is due to WhiteWater’s technology division, Vantage, a supplier of proprietary software available by license that touches operations, guest experience and data collection. Vantage is led by Phil Edgell, formerly VP Global Sales Operations at Hootsuite. “We conceived of Vantage a number of years ago as an opportunity for tech to play a role in our space and recruited a skilled team from the tech sector to lead it,” says Paul, who forecasts that in 2021 Vantage will be the source of “a number of very high-profile project announcements this year that are a tremendous testament to the team.” Vantage has also pivoted over the past 12 months to play a role in combating COVID, with the technology being leveraged for contact tracing in seniors’ residences as well as businesses in the US and Canada.

WhiteWater’s international presence includes established offices in Dubai, (covering the Middle East and India), Shanghai (covering Asia), Munich (covering Europe, Russia and Africa - led

by Rainer Maelzer) as well as offices in Denver and, of course, the Vancouver head office as North American base. Geoff Chutter says, “Having a local presence is very important, and the company has never been stronger, which during a pandemic is a great tribute to the people of the company. You have to be looking forward and not backward, to confront old ways

of thinking, confront the fear of what’s new and different. We have approached the world in a uniquely WhiteWater way of questioning ‘why not?’”

“Mindset over skillset” (best possible team) Geoff Chutter says, “Our focus and differentiator is people, not just inside the company, but customers and their guests as well.

The only way to do that successfully is to underscore everything with a huge degree of respect, the ability to listen and understand what their issues are and respond accordingly.”

Using a metaphor from Jim Collins’s business classic, “Good to Great,” Geoff spoke of “getting the right people on the bus and having them sitting in the right seats. In this way, I can surround myself with people who are smart and do things better than I could do. This makes my job easier. All too often, people in leadership roles think they’re better than others, and that isn’t productive.” He has also been influenced by the unorthodox approach to team building laid out in “No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention” by Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer. “The book has really interesting takeaways in terms of trust and alignment and strategy, densification of talent in your employee group, and pushing skillsets higher and higher.

“Those takeaways have been really important for the growth of

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A colorful installation of WhiteWater’s Abyss attraction at El Rollo Parque Acuático, Tlaquiltenango, Mexico.

WhiteWater so that we’re not just doing the same thing - but breaking through walls, taking things to the next level and doing well in all these diversifications.”

Paul Chutter says, “While our model is constantly evolving, we’re always mindful of the desire to provide upward mobility and new or renewed opportunities for all employees, and always positioning valued employees for success. Their personal and professional growth drives growth for the organization as a whole.”

“It has been an ongoing focus of mine not to compromise - at all - on the people side,” says Geoff. “We have gone far and wide in the world to find the right people. Our recruiting process is designed to get a solid knowledge of a candidate’s character and abilities. First and foremost, we learn what kind of person they are - looking for positive traits and compassion - and then it’s on to the ability side - can they do the work. It’s mindset over skillset.”

Onno Meeter’s experience corroborates this. “I interviewed with about 10 different people and had to take a test when I joined the company in 2017. There was a lot of emphasis on personality and ability to fit into the team. Geoff is keen on keeping a service culture in the company, and that appealed to me as well.”

Peter Cooper, who leads the WhiteWater SlidePath team and has been with the company from its earliest days, said: “Working with Geoff… he’s passionate, he’s down to earth, he takes an interest.

And that passion has spilled over to Paul. When you look at the people and the company, you can see how that passion has driven things, and how it attracts others with the same commitment to excellence.”

“Supply chain perspective” (optimizing efficiency) Supply chain expert Onno Meeter was promoted to COO in 2019, becoming a member of the executive leadership team.

Prior to joining WhiteWater, he worked in the electronics and lighting industries. He is glad he made the change. “People love WhiteWater’s product,” says Meeter. “It is fun to create fun,

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WhiteWater’s rendering for the Icon Tower under development at Aquatar in Doha, Qatar.

making the world a more joyful place and my children, ages 6 and 11, can finally relate to what I do.”

Meeter’s role spans multiple departments and disciplines. As COO he looks at the big picture and sees all the connections, which often depend on supply chain and shipping to serve projects around the world. “Everything from the moment we sign a contract becomes my responsibility, from the engineering supply chain to installation quality, customer service and beyond,” he says.

It’s a complex, global picture as WhiteWater manufacturing in Canada is now augmented by manufacturing with partners in other regions such as Asia and the Philippines. “‘Local for local’ is a phrase we use that means to build locally for local markets,” he says. “It reduces our shipping footprint, and by building trusted partnerships we are able to control costs and quality just as closely as in our own Canadian plants.” According to Meeter, supply-chain thinking is still in early phases in the entertainment sector: “Other industries are a lot more evolved in the tracking and tracing of parts.” He is currently in the process of implementing an Enterprise Resource Plan at WhiteWater to optimize efficiency.

Meeter works alongside Paul Chutter, and together they ensure WhiteWater delivers its promises balancing demands and the forecast. “Geoff sits over the top of that, looking at the whole corporation (the four separate brands) and how we lead into the future.”

Meeter reinforces Whitewater’s commitment to being an industry leader in the areas of safety and sustainability. “Our products are increasing in complexity and thrill; therefore, we always need to be at the top of our game to deliver a safe experience to the users. Whether it is with Life Floor or Vantage, all our products lead to a safer experience.” Regarding sustainability: “Whitewater understands the importance of reducing our footprint and is making sure we think about material usage, water consumption and energy consumption in everything we do. I believe WhiteWater can lead the way for our industry to do much more in terms of becoming greener.”

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“We solve puzzles” While things have changed and will continue to change, the hallmarks of WhiteWater company culture hold steady.

Peter Cooper is a civil and structural technologist and 40year WhiteWater veteran. The way his SlidePath team works epitomizes the company’s approach: a blend of technical and creative innovation, team management with an emphasis on communication, and letting people shine.

THEN AND NOW TOP: The Thrill Tower for Perfect Day at Coco Cay combined multiple slide experiences into an iconic artistic tower.

BOTTOM: In the 1990’s, WhiteWater crafted a massive slide complex for Rokko Island in Kobe, Japan. The intertwined slides remain one of Peter Cooper’s favorites from WhiteWater’s 40-year history.

Cooper is said to be the most experienced slide path designer in the world, and his department’s responsibility is literally to “create the path of the slide, which includes developing the path itself, the support layout, the towers and platforms and queue lines, walkways and stairways, working with structural engineers and thinking about guest flow, physical orientation and sightlines. We follow the standards to ensure that what is proposed is something that can be built. It needs to be interesting and unique, fun and safe.”

He builds his team with people who have both technical and creative facility and a breadth of skills. “Currently seven people strong, my team includes people trained in architecture and industrial design as well as engineering, because aesthetics are important as well as technical accuracy and buildability. It’s superbeneficial to have a cross-section of hard skills and the ability to communicate well, which is useful internally and in working with clients. One person can’t know everything; we learn from one another. We solve puzzles.”

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Vantage’s integrated technology platforms enable parks like Island H2O Live! in Kissimmee, Florida to offer a variety of conveinces and for guests, such as this automatic selfie photo spot.

Cooper’s favorite project from back in the day was a 1990s waterslide installation at Rokko Island (Kobe, Japan), in which some 50 waterslides were successfully shoehorned into a relatively modest footprint. “It looked like a plate of spaghetti, it was so densely packed,” he says. “I drew it up on onionskin paper, spending three or four weeks, using circle templates and set squares before it was transferred to computer. We built it - and everything fit - and I went out and tested 50 waterslides!”

Says Cooper, “Rides today are a lot more complicated, and the way we do our job has changed. We employ many more tools for analysis. In place of onionskin, we use CAD and 3D modeling.

And the company has grown tremendously. I’ve been along for the whole journey. When we started, I sensed it was going to be a big industry although not as big as it became.”

“Water is the space in which we play” (what they do best) Paul Chutter says, “We want to remain the global experts in water attractions. That is the space in which we play, with thousands of installations around the world. There is one throughline, and that is water. For instance, our company history includes 35 years in the wave generating space, which has led us to the inland surf space and our most recent company/product launch: Endless Surf. It’s an explosive space and we are leveraging our multidecades-long engineering pedigree. And there is great promise in the new and increasingly popular model of the water theme park - a park with a wider range of water-related rides and experiences, some wetter than others.”

“When we started out, the waterpark industry as such didn’t exist,” says Geoff Chutter. “We had to come up with our own 26

molds to make our first set of waterslides. We got on by knowing a little bit more than the next fellow. Our unique business model and four axes of diversification have served us well.”

Growing up, Paul Chutter never thought he’d join the family business. “I did not know it would happen. My father and I never even spoke about it happening,” he says. “I had a strong desire to forge my own path and career, and it was only after I was well down that path [international banking] that this discussion started to occur - and then, only because at that point, I felt that if I did walk through that door, I was in a position to add genuine value to the company.”

Geoff Chutter says, “I never had the aspiration of Paul getting involved. So many issues can arise when kids join their parents’ company. It was after he’d gone on and proved himself in other industries, and was at a point in his life where he was starting a family and looking at the path ahead, that we began that conversation. It has been great fun to have him at my side, to grow the company together, and it is a very successful collaboration. He sees new opportunities and ways of doing things that have really pushed us forward. He is so much stronger than I was at his age and he is driven, detailed, a great manager of people. We have more to do, more to create, to provide ever greater value to our clients. I’m genuinely excited about what’s ahead.”

“As venues grow in scope and scale and look for more differentiation in experience, it enables the creation of a product family or portfolio that we, at WhiteWater, believe in very strongly,” says Paul. “There is tremendous opportunity today.” • • •

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Nancy Seruto enjoys Bob Weis’ storytelling abilities during a creative planning session. Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Imagineering

Bob Weis, collaborative creative pioneer - part one Now WDI president, Weis has emphasized a virtuoso team culture on all his projects

by Joe Kleiman

B

ob Weis is President - Creative and New Experience Development at Walt Disney Imagineering. He is best known for his Disney projects - most recently his leadership roles on the Disney California Adventure and Shanghai Disneyland parks.

However, he also has a significant body of influential work in the museum and attractions fields and even military training simulation - pioneering projects that established new models, blurring the line between attraction and exhibit.

Weis was named by the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) to receive its prestigious Buzz Price Thea Award – Honoring a Lifetime of Distinguished Achievements as part of the 27th annual TEA Thea Awards. He and the other Thea award recipients in 2021 will be celebrated in a series of virtual Thea Awards Case Studies sessions later this year, and in the official Thea Awards Program publication (TEA expects to resume hosting its in-person Thea Awards Gala in 2022).

To understand more about Bob Weis as a themed entertainment professional, InPark editor Joe Kleiman explored a series

This is Part One of a two-part article, profiling a total of six projects. Part 1 explores “In Their Footsteps: Lewis and Clark”; ACTION! An Adventure in Movie Making; and Top of the Rock. Part 2 (running in the next issue of InPark, #87) covers Battle Stations 21; The Fort Worth Museum of Science and History; and CSI: The Experience. You can access the full article (both parts) at inparkmagazine.com/ bobweis/.

of projects completed between 2002 and 2009. We took a tribute approach to this story, interviewing Bob Weis’s creative collaborators to learn and share their experiences of working with him. Heartfelt thanks to all of them, and to Walt Disney Imagineering, for their cooperation.

What about Bob? Vision, empowerment, collaboration and trust

Bob has an ability to balance all of it. The complexities of the project, the needs of the team, the vision of the organization, the daily challenges and frustrations – and through it all he never loses his love of it. His steady approach allows him to take on intimate projects or scale up to something massive without losing sight of his leadership role and the vision the team is working

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toward. He takes his work seriously, but also has an amazing sense of humor – dry, insightful and super funny – that comes out when you least expect it and always comes from a place of keen observation. He is inspirational, the best of the best in this business, but also so humble and just lovely to work with.

-- Nancy Seruto

Bob & Nancy & Van & Tim & Chick & ….

“At the heart of his style is the empowerment of the individual and the team, treating all with respect and trust,” wrote the Thea Awards Committee of Bob Weis in its official remarks, calling Weis a “world class visionary who is sincerely modest, selfless and kind,” with “a keen ability to align a very large effort... towards success among the more than 100 diverse disciplines required to create a multi-dimensional end product. A lover of history and cinema, whether overseeing a Disney theme park or a traveling museum exhibit, he was, as one of his team members called him, ‘never a micro-manager, but always a collaborator.’”

Bob Weis had garnered a reputation for leading the design of Disney theme parks that, according to former Disney Imagineer and longtime Weis collaborator Van Romans, “mixed real stuff with Disney storytelling.” Weis spearheaded the team that designed the Disney-MGM Studios, opened in 1989 and renamed Disney’s Hollywood Studios in 2008. The Florida theme park showcased a behind-the-scenes look at the making of television and movies in a fictionalized setting reminiscent of old Hollywood. At the same time, one of its highlights was a series of tours through a real production studio. Later, he would lead the team on the conceptual stages of Disney’s America theme park near Washington D.C. Had the project gone forward (it was canceled in 1994), it would have depicted America and the fabric of its people through real stories, as told through Disney storytelling techniques and technology.

“It’s kind of a life story arc,” colleague and former fellow Imagineer Rick Rothschild said of Weis. “He’s so well-suited to lead and organize and cast a group of people to do something, no matter the size of the project.”

Interviewed for this story: Rick Rothschild, Chief Creative at FAR Out! Creative Direction, former Disney Imagineer Chick Russell, Executive Producer and Creative Director at Chick Russell & Company, former Disney Imagineer Van Romans, President of the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, former Executive Director, Cultural Affairs, Walt Disney Imagineering Tim Steinouer, Creative Producer at Steinouer Creative, former partner at Design Island Nancy Seruto, Owner of Seruto LLC, former Disney Imagineer John Beckman, Director, Exhibit Design and Production at Adler Planetarium, former Director of Exhibit Design and Development at MSI, Chicago Jen Bressler, Principal, Hunt Design Kurt Haunfelner, Senior Vice President for Exhibitions at California Science Center, formerly Vice President of Exhibits and Collections at MSI, Chicago

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Working with Bob, there was always a sense of entertainment regardless of whether the exhibit was permanent or traveling.

I felt that Bob had a crystal ball – he was a few steps ahead of everyone, a visionary.

-- Jen Bressler

“We were creating something entirely new that dealt with the reality of verified history,” says Romans. When designing the Disney-MGM Studios park, Weis and his team consulted with cinema history and industry experts. The attractions, such as The Great Movie Ride and the animation tour, used authentic film props to tell the story of film and television. In much the same vein, the Disney’s America team engaged historians and Smithsonian experts, with the plan to include iconic American artifacts from the Smithsonian and other museums as part of the attraction experiences.

Weis, a history buff and cinephile, always built upon what he learned from project to project. He and his colleagues had brought museum exhibition techniques to the theme park. Now he would bring theme park storytelling to the museum. But first, he had a film to make.

In Their Footsteps: Lewis and Clark (2002) What Bob is masterful at is the strategic process of developing an idea and moving the idea into reality. He’s skilled at bringing in and organizing all the right people together. One of his greatest attributes is his strategic mindset. He’s able to provoke with properly timed and valuable “what if ?”

-- Rick Rothschild “Bob had gone through the Hollywood Studios park and Disney’s America, so Imagineers had seen him lead large projects built on strong ideas, but he felt that he was moving away from being down in the trenches,” says Rick Rothschild, who had worked at Imagineering with Weis on envisioning the US history theme park. “He made a seminal decision to leave WDI to start Design Island and have more direct hands-on involvement – and to make his movie.”

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“In Their Footsteps” production team. From Left : Harlan Opdahl of Triple “O” Outfitters, Tim Steinouer Associate Producer, Greg Jones Editor, Bob Weis Writer-Producer, Cameron Roberts Director of Photography. Credit: Lewis and Clark Film Company

In 1994 came the launch of Bob Weis Design Island, a boutique, themed entertainment design firm which was co-founded by Diane Fredel-Weis, who was instrumental in its success. Along with Design Island, they also co-founded the film production company Fertile Films.

“Bob invited me to be Associate Producer on a documentary on the Lewis and Clark expedition,” says Tim Steinouer, who had previously worked with Weis on an unaired television show episode for another production company. The film would be “In their Footsteps.” Herman Viola, Curator Emeritus of the Smithsonian, had been a consultant on Disney’s America, and had remained in touch with Weis. Under the Fertile Films banner, Weis and Viola decided to make a documentary about Lewis & Clark’s trek through the Bitterroot Mountains of Idaho.

In 2002, Viola led a group of more than twenty modern Americans on a horseback journey through the Idaho wilderness.

Documenting the adventure were Weis, Associate Producer Steinouer, Editor Greg Jones, and Director of Photography Cameron Roberts. Subjects and filmmakers both rode for nine days, often for twelve hours a day, as Viola led the group to key spots documented by the Lewis and Clark expedition.

“Bob had this idea that he would edit everything shot at the end of the day on-site, so one of our crew on horseback was the editor,” says Steinouer. The closest we got to civilization was a rental car that a crew member drove out to camp each night, full of replacement batteries for the equipment and a satellite phone. Herman and Bob would sit on a log with the editor while he edited, then they’d give that day’s footage to the driver, who would sit on the roof of the car trying to get a signal with the

satellite phone so he could transmit it to the Smithsonian for use in that day’s classroom presentations. When we reached one of our last stops, the Today Show was there to greet us.”

Steinouer continued, “When we were packing the horses at the start of the trip, Bob nonchalantly mentioned a movie exhibition that was being considered in Chicago. When we finished our trek, we found out it had been greenlit.”

Steinouer would up joining Weis at Design Island (now Steinouer Creative), eventually taking its reins in 2007, after Disney recruited Weis back into the fold to lead the reboot of the Disney California Adventure park.

ACTION! An Adventure in Movie Making (2004) Bob received a call from Kurt Haunfelner [then Vice President, Exhibits and Collections] at Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago greenlighting the ACTION! An Adventure in Movie Making exhibit. At the time, I was working freelance TV and film in Orlando. I was brought onboard to produce the media for the show. We began working around 2003 on ACTION! It was a natural fit for Bob – he’s a producer on all media.

-- Tim Steinouer Weis would prove a trailblazer with his approach to ACTION! An Adventure in Movie Making for the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. By using tools that had heretofore been traditionally limited to filmmaking and themed entertainment design, ACTION! was an early, important example of blurring the line between attraction and exhibit. It laid the groundwork for many popular exhibitions, including Weis’s subsequent CSI exhibit.

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Weis hired his longtime Imagineering collaborator Chick Russell, who had worked on both Disney-MGM Studios and Disney’s America with him, as the writer on ACTION! “Bob and I share classic film knowledge,” he says. ACTION! was a traveling exhibit in two parts. “The first part was a traditional museum exhibit,” says Russell, “with descriptions of what crew members do and with artifacts on display. We were trying to explain to young people that every kind of job imagined and skill needed exists in the film business. The second part of the exhibit was a soundstage letting guests be the cast and crew of their own film that they would make.”

Guests would produce a trailer for an adventure film. Three sets were constructed - a Paris cafe, the interior of a plane headed to Hawai’i, and the underwater lair of the film’s villain. “I wrote the script for this,” shares Russell. “People decided their roles. In each set, a little scene was recorded. We also had pre-produced B-Roll. A computer program would cut this together. Visitors would view the completed trailer in a screening room. It was professionally produced with sound effects and music, and they could email it to family and friends. Bob is so familiar with movies and studios that he made sure we made it look and feel like a real soundstage. If you walked around the back, you’d see canvas and plywood. Bob’s magic trick is to show how the illusion could be so convincing and real.”

In 2002, John Beckman, now Director of Exhibit Design and Production at Chicago’s Adler Planetarium and Principal at Sage Creative Group (Hamilton: The Exhibition), was just settling into his new position as Manager of Temporary Exhibits at MSI Chicago when ACTION! was greenlit. “ACTION! was my introduction to Bob,” he says. “This all happened because we rented some successful traveling exhibits – such as an early Jurassic Park – and determined we should be making them

ourselves, then travel them. The exhibit portion featured different jobs in moviemaking, done semi-chronologically. We used real props from the studios, but more modern props for the time that our younger guests would relate to. The oldest prop was from Titanic. There was an intro film that Bob shot in Morocco on the set of ‘Kingdom of Heaven.’ It featured Ridley Scott, Orlando Bloom, even the costume designer.”

“ACTION! was my first big museum project with Bob,” says Jen Bressler of Hunt Design, another long-term collaborator of Weis’s. “We did all the graphic and signage design for the exhibition.” A former SEGD board member, she is a renowned specialist at graphic design and wayfinding and has applied her talents to several Weis projects, from various museum exhibits to Shanghai Disney Resort. “What’s unique about working with Bob is even then, in that point in time, he had a habit of being a leader, but allowing everyone who works with him to have equal standing. There was a true sense of collaboration.”

“I was persuaded by the talent Bob brought in,” adds Beckman.

“We had Brian Edwards and Roberta Perry of ETI working with us. Their computers seamlessly edited the film that guests got to take home with them. Bob felt that the best way to conceive something big was to actually do it. He felt that the museum industry couldn’t make an exhibit about movie making where you actually didn’t get to make a movie.”

Top of the Rock (2005) It’s always great working with Bob. He would get down in the weeds and work with the team to figure out solutions. With Bob, it’s always a collaborative effort. There’s this level of everyone being equal, no matter their experience or position.

-- Tim Steinouer One of Weis’s long-term collaborators is Nancy Seruto, herself the 2020 recipient of the TEA’s Buzz Price Thea Award for Lifetime Achievement. After a decade and a half at scenic fabricator Lexington, which she left as Vice President of Design & Production in 2000, Seruto established her own boutique studio specializing in the design and production of traveling exhibitions and events. Among her credits are the traveling tour of the treasures of Tutankhamen, launched by AEG and National Geographic in 2005. Under her Seruto & Company moniker, she would collaborate on four museum projects with Weis. Later, when back at Walt Disney Imagineering to oversee the Shanghai Disney Resort, Weis invited Seruto to join WDI and executive produce the Treasure Cove area of the park, including its benchmark attraction, the award-winning Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure.

On the set for “ACTION!” Image source: Chick Russell and Company

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Seruto recalled her first meeting with Weis. “Almost 20 years ago, Bob visited my newly formed Seruto & Company office – which was super small and unimpressive,” Seruto recalls. “He was working on a project in Chicago [the ACTION! exhibit] with Kurt Haunfelner. Kurt and I had worked on several projects together, and he suggested Bob talk to me. We had a lovely discussion, then as he left he picked up a card from the art show

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The three-screen theater at Top of the Rock Image courtesy Rockefeller Center

I was mounting. Looking at the card he said - and I will never forget it - ‘Now I know a lot more about you than when I walked in,’ and I could see he valued that I was also a fine artist, which meant a great deal to me. I’m glad I didn’t know more about him – his stature, his tremendous accomplishments. It might have made me nervous and impacted the ease with which we spoke at this first meeting.”

Weis brought Seruto on board to manage production on Top of the Rock, a reimagining of the observation decks at Rockefeller Center in downtown Manhattan. The decks had been closed to the public for a decade and not only needed refurbishment, but an updated feel.

Another example of modern technology mixing with history, the Top of the Rock experience was multifaceted with a small gallery, a multimedia walk across a construction beam with a 1930s landscape projected below, and a 60-person three-screen theater showing a rotating selection of three films directed by Weis on the famous Radio City Music Hall Rockettes, Tom Brokaw speaking on the history of news broadcasting at Rockefeller Center, and David Rockefeller on the development and history of the complex. Throughout the development and construction process, Weis and his team managed to bring the experience into the 21st century, while maintaining the historical integrity of the structure. “We were building an exhibit, yes, but also doing a pretty major remodel of an historic building,” Seruto was quoted in a 2006 article for Exhibit Builder by Judith Rubin that was reprinted by the TEA in 2007. “We cut through two floors of Rockefeller Center and we had to keep the building going for the tenants 24/7.”

One of the highlights of Weis’s Top of the Rock was the ascent from a history gallery to the observation floors themselves.

Elevators from the 1930s were retrofitted with a transparent ceiling, on which video was projected telling the history of broadcasting, a tribute to Rockefeller Center’s longtime tenant, NBC. To increase the level of excitement, the elevator shafts were filled with animated LED lighting, complementing the seethrough video projected on the top of the elevator carriage. The concept of an exhilarating elevator ride with projected images and lighting was nothing new for Weis - one of the concepts to

Bob Weis Image courtesy Walt Disney Imagineering

come out of Weis’s management of the Disney-MGM Studios portfolio was the Tower of Terror. What made this unique was the execution.

“There was a lot of prototyping and a lot of coordinating with the facility elevator operations team,” Seruto told Rubin. “When you take away the ceiling on an old elevator, you have machinery, cables, I-beams, obstructions. To provide a clear view of the shaft through the now transparent ceiling, we re-engineered the cables and downsized the I-beam. Now they just form a minor obstruction that feels like part of the works you observe when looking up.”

On working with Weis, Seruto notes that “some of my favorite memories involve traveling together for work. There is such little time just to talk in our busy work lives, so I treasured these moments. Sometimes the conversations would be deep and personal, and other times we would just laugh and laugh at the absurdity of something. Talking to Bob is like having an open conversation with an old college friend. On one harried trip, I had left my briefcase on the curb next to the cab driver who was loading the trunk, only he took off without my briefcase. My whole business was in there, and I was freaking out about it as we got to the airport. I know Bob skipped a number of calls just to stop, buy me a drink and to reassure me that it would work out.

And it did work out. Someone turned in the briefcase – phew!

“Today, as President of Walt Disney Imagineering,” Seruto says, “Bob brings three key traits that will help the company grow into the future: Vision for where the company can go, of its total potential and with clear insight on how it can and should adapt to meet the challenges of a complex and changing world; a deep love for Imagineering and tremendous respect for the people who built it, but also such enthusiasm for the new and future talent that inhabit those hallowed halls; and again – his humanity, his empathy and love of people and the work we do.” • • • Part Two of this article will run in InPark issue #87 - or see the full article (both parts) online at www.inparkmagazine.com/bobweis

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Discovering Auckland Two new themed attractions grace the City of Sails Scott Ault reports from Auckland, NZ Auckland, New Zealand is nicknamed The City of Sails because its proximity to the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean makes it very popular for boating. But the largest city in New Zealand also harbors some great indoor activities and recently celebrated the opening of two new visitor attractions in December 2021: The All Blacks (Rugby) Experience and Weta Workshop Unleashed.

Scott Ault of Railton Entertainment Design, who recently made the move to Oceania, visited both attractions and shared his perspective as a creative leader with three decades in the attractions sector.

A

ll Blacks Experience and Weta Workshop Unleashed are both occupants of a building within Auckland’s SkyCity Federal Street entertainment and hospitality precinct that is already home to Sky Tower, the 328-meter-tall observation tower where visitors can walk on the outside or bungee jump from the tower to the ground below. This vibrant area is also home to two hotels, over 20 bars and restaurants, the 700-seat SkyCity theater and the SkyCity Auckland casino.

Weta Workshop General Manager David Wilks stated, “together with SkyCity and our neighbors, the All Blacks Experience, we have created something totally unique and special that celebrates New Zealand’s identity and creativity.” In this writer’s opinion he is entirely correct: the celebrated All Blacks rugby team and internationally acclaimed creative powerhouse that is Weta Workshop both stand as icons of the country.

ALL BLACKS EXPERIENCE The sport, the team, the attraction and Aotearoa culture As a local explained to me when I first came to New Zealand, there are two sports here – recreational boating and rugby. If you follow one of those you have something to talk about with anyone in the country. Rugby is the National Sport, and All Blacks is New Zealand’s internationally renowned rugby team.

The men’s National Rugby Team has been around since 1903 and received their name “The All Blacks” while on tour in England. It was evidently a trend in rugby in the 1890s and early in the 20th century to refer to a team by the color of its jerseys – and today the accepted view is that the name “All Blacks” came about as a consequence of their uniform which was composed of a black jersey, black shorts and black socks.

When it opened on Dec 2, following seven years of planning and more than a year of construction, All Blacks Experience became the first major tourism attraction in Aotearoa to open since the

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The All Blacks Experience in Auckland, New Zealand.

Photo courtesy of The All Blacks Experience

outbreak of COVID-19. (Aotearoa is the traditional, indigenous name of New Zealand, meaning “land of the long white cloud,” pronounced aw-tee-uh-row-uh.)

Note: While English is the primary language, the Maori language, Te Reo Maori, is an official language of New Zealand since 1987 and is used and taught alongside English in schools and governmental settings. Almost all public signage such as in museums is in both English and Te Reo Maori. Many place names around the country retain their original indigenous names.

In many situations Aotearoa is used as a preferred name for the country – in advertising, company names, tourism, etc. and there are some parts of the government that are pushing to have “Aotearoa” become the official name of the country.

The 1,726 square meter attraction is a 45-minute, guided encounter that celebrates New Zealand’s rugby heritage, achievements and culture. The tag line of the experience is “Understand what it takes to make, shape and be an All Black.”

Designed for fans I went into the experience knowing very little about rugby. I left knowing only slightly more. But that isn’t what the All Blacks Experience is about. It isn’t there to teach you the game. It makes an assumption that you come in already knowing the game. It is for fans of a team celebrated as the most successful rugby team in history. What it effectively does very well is convey how rugby and the All Blacks teams are integrated and woven into the Kiwi identity.

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The experience is made up of eight stops: Welcome, Legacy, Making, Shaping, Being, Tunnel, Haka, Step Up - each showcasing a characteristic or aspect of what it means to be an All Black. The reception area is where you check in and receive your logoed RFID bracelet and are able to register it with your email to receive photos from your tour. Starting in the lobby and Welcome, and carried throughout the first part of the experience, the graphic design on the walls is Maori inspired and weaves into the experience itself as, in Legacy, it becomes a timeline roster of all players that have been an All Black from their international debut in 1903.

In Making, the setting is a local rugby team clubhouse where families and aspiring players gather. This theater is a typical, carpeted and wood-paneled clubhouse with an old-style TV set in the center that plays archival footage of previous games. As the era progresses the walls in front become projection surfaces.

The content evokes nostalgia and family connections and “I remember that” moments. This is a great entry point for fans – it stirs up emotions and reminds them of why they are fans.

In Shaping, groups are divided into two teams and stationed at touchscreens to play interactive games facing the kinds of challenges All Blacks face. It’s a test of fast decision making, staying calm under pressure and seeing play outcomes as they are happening. All of the games on the screen are different but, on a topic: agility, reaction time, and strategy. This is completely accessible by all age groups and allows kids to play alongside, or compete, with their parents.

Another emotional touchpoint is the locker room, Being. Each visitor is invited to take a seat on a bench. Traditionally the All Blacks locker room is a quiet area where players gather themselves before entering the pitch. On hidden screens at eye level, current and past players sit shoulder to shoulder with you and share their stories of what it means to them to be an All Black. The narratives showcase the human aspects of the players and connect them more deeply with their fans.

Visitors next walk through the Tunnel into a stadium. Lining up on the white line on the field they face the All Blacks team where they see and feel the power of the team performing the Haka - a traditional dance and chant of the Maori that is both a welcome of distinguished guests and a challenge or preparation of warriors before battle.

The finale of the guided tour is Step Up, in which everyone is invited to see how their rugby skills - passing, lineouts, kicking and the scrum - measure up against favorite players from the men’s and women’s NZ teams or others in their visitor group.

Finally, visitors enter the world’s largest All Blacks gift shop with a large array of apparel, jerseys, balls and other logoed merchandise.

Staff complement technology to provide an interactive experience for guests at The All Blacks Experience.

Photo courtesy of The All Blacks Experience

The forces behind the attraction This first All Blacks-branded visitor attraction was created under the auspices of New Zealand Rugby, the governing body of rugby union in New Zealand, and Ngāi Tahu Tourism, one of the leading tourism operators in Aotearoa.

NZR’s purpose was to lead, grow, support, and promote New Zealand’s game, to promote and develop rugby throughout New Zealand; arrange and participate in matches and tours in New Zealand and overseas; represent New Zealand in World Rugby; form and manage New Zealand representative teams; and encourage participation in the sport. Ngāi Tahu Tourism represents 10 businesses, including Shotover Jet, Dark Sky Project, Hukafalls Jet, National Kiwi Hatchery, Franz Josef Glacier Guides and Franz Josef Glacier Hot Pools.

WETA WORKSHOP UNLEASHED Weta magic Weta Workshop Unleashed is housed in the same building as The All Blacks Experience, just one floor above, occupying roughly the same footprint but an entirely different attraction. Sir Richard Taylor, co-founder of Weta Workshop said at the opening event, “This experience is intended to be a celebration of the creative process.” Designed, built and operated internally, Unleashed puts all of the creative talents and disciplines of Weta Workshop on display. With a humorous and often irreverent sensibility, guests are able to engage with the content and explore everything from physical models, creatures, props, makeup and miniature effects on a behind-the-scenes tour of a creator space, replicating a fantastical version of Weta Workshop where they unpack the skills required to build the physical elements for three films right up to the point of filming.

Weta Workshop Unleashed is a guided tour, but also a themed experience. As the backstory goes, a creature has escaped inside the workshop, guests have to be snuck in through the service entrance. Small groups are escorted into a storage room lined with boxes and crates labeled with Weta Workshop’s previous projects. Through a hidden door you are taken into the Vault

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of Dreams where you are introduced to some of the current projects on the workshop floor – three movies in the process of undergoing the Weta magic.

Take me to the Screamery From the Vault, you enter the reception lobby past the safety officer and security guard, Jeff who has a penchant for bad puns and dad jokes. Jeff, an animatronic figure, is seated behind his desk backed by monitors of CCTV. As the staff in the workshop go on break Jeff allows us in to take a look at what is on their desks and to have us help find the gremlin that has broken loose.

While Jeff was talking, I took the opportunity to look around the lobby at the various awards and art lining the display cases.

When I found the “Gold Award for The Most Uncomfortable Proctology Tool” I wanted to find the other Easter Eggs hidden throughout the experience. (there are many – like a movie poster for “Master in Commando, The Front Side of the Man.”) The Prosthetics and Makeup workshop looks just like you would imagine a special effects shop would be – quirky, a bit messy, lots of half-finished projects, lots of art and LOTS of castings, prosthetics and creatures. In this workshop many of the workstations are really interactive exhibits masquerading as workstations. If there is a lever, pull it and it will move the wings on the giant demon creature being built for one of the films. Scream into the gaping maw of another monster to hear it roar back at you. You can try your hand at the old board game of “Operation” except this one is an alien autopsy – touch the wrong “organ” and the creature thrashes on the table. There are makeup stations around the room where you can digitally give yourself a special effects makeover – from glam to gore.

Attached to the Prosthetics and Makeup lab is the “Screamery” – a short horror maze abattoir that only a special effects and creature house can do. And certainly not something you’d be able to do in the US. You emerge from this side diversion into the garden of the Dreamer (complete with trolls, fairies and pixies). The doors to

Inside Weta Workshop Unleashed Photo courtesy of Weta Workshop

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the Dreamer’s Studio are open and the Dreamer is inside but taking a nap. In the Dreamer’s studio, illustrations, sketches, character turnarounds and maquettes are littered around the walls and desks. The “dreamer,” complete with a COVID-19 mask, is a highly realistic figure that is fully accessible to guests.

His “dreams” are magically manifesting themselves in the sketchbooks laying around him.

The Workshop Floor is the climax of the tour where bits and pieces from the three films come together into fully realized miniatures, giant robots, creatures and other dimensional scenic elements. Maker Stations and other craft areas explain the fine art of armor, leather tooling, model making and sculpting encourage guests to try their hand at some of the things that they just saw. One simple clever station teaches a visitor how to make an aluminum foil skull using a teaspoon as your sculpting tool.

The final stop on the tour, the SciFi Set, shows how all of the behind-the-scenes craft is used to create illusion on the screen.

An ancient alien robot encased in lava for millennia comes to life.

The Weta Cave, a themed shop at the real workshop in Wellington, has been recreated into Weta Cave, Auckland. This gift shop is part museum with well know creatures and elements from Weta Workshop’s portfolio of films scattered amongst the merchandise that any film geek would covet.

Trusting the visitors Many of the rules of attractions operation I’ve learned over my career were not followed, broken or just thrown out the window.

Delicate sculpted figures, that anywhere else in the world would be stanchioned off or behind glass, were on full display where people can touch and feel. Nothing was anchored down – I opened drawers on cabinets and was able to rummage around through the artists’ tools. You can pick things up, move them, put your arms around the figures. One area was dark, and things touch you as you move through it. “How are they allowed/able to do this??” kept running through my mind on a loop during the two hours I spent there. By creating what appears to be a true workshop, they have created an intimacy with the subject that I’ve not experienced elsewhere. There is a respect for the guests that in turn makes the guests respectful. In an art museum, guests generally don’t touch the art. Here, you are encouraged to do so.

I returned to Unleashed after it had been opened to guests for more than a month during peak season, and the exhibit was still as fresh as opening day – no damage to the displays, nothing seemed to be stolen or overly worn. I’ve talked to Richard Taylor about their approach to trusting the visitors to behave themselves and he agrees that it is a risk, “I acknowledge and appreciate your comments regarding the apparent fragility of our exhibition in Auckland. I am super conscious of this, but made the call to build the Unleashed experience with the faith and confidence that our audience will respect the material. He noted that in another of their exhibits, the ‘Windows into Workshop’ tour experience in Wellington, “we have had zero theft and zero vandalism in the six years it has been operating (with about 150,000 guests

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was giving me a tour of Gallipoli: The scale of our war. Richard was wearing an old “Labyrinth” T-shirt and paint-covered jeans.

Everyone at the museum was so happy to see him. He then gave me an in-depth tour of their entire Workshop – full of creatures, prosthetics, weapons and other fantastical items. It was a true peek behind the wizard’s curtain. But the thing that impressed me the most was that Richard knew everybody’s name and how long they had been working at the Workshop. Everyone there was part of a family.

New Zealand and the pandemic

Sir Richard Taylor examines a prop at Weta Workshop Photo courtesy of Weta Workshop

coming through each year). I don’t know whether we can have the same level of confidence with our experience in Auckland, and especially when it opens to international visitors, but I am holding out that it may prove to be similar. Saying that, with skepticism also being part of my rationale, I have actually produced a lot of acrylic panels, covers and boxes that should we see an unacceptable level of damage, theft or vandalism to the exhibition we can almost overnight sweep in and box up most of the delicate stuff. These are just sitting in storage with fingers crossed that they are not needed.”

Weta Workshop and its founders Weta Workshop (www.wetaworkshop.com) isn’t just a five-time Academy Award-winning creature and effects shop. They are also very active in designing and building LBE projects including work on Avatar Flight of Passage at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and the Thea Award honored museum exhibit “Gallipoli: The scale of our war” at New Zealand’s national museum, Te Papa.

Soon Weta Workshop’s work will be seen at the Mobility Pavilion at the Dubai Expo and they are working on a cultural museum in Zhuhai, China.

Best known for their creativity and craftsmanship on blockbuster films such as “Lord of the Rings,” “The Hobbit,” “Avatar” and many others, their talent and attention to detail sets them apart from many other firms in the themed entertainment industry.

Based in Wellington (or “Wellywood” because of all the film production in the city thanks in part to Weta Workshop and Peter Jackson, the director of Lord of the Rings), Weta Workshop was founded in 1987 by Sir Richard Taylor and Tania Rodgers, the husband-and-wife team still actively leading all of the creative for the company today.

Richard was knighted in 2010 in recognition of his service to film. Becoming a “Sir” hasn’t changed him – he is still a big kid who simply loves the creative process. When I first met him, he

New Zealand’s “Go Hard, Go Early” motto that was adopted early on in the response to COVID-19 has allowed the country to be a world leader in controlling and minimizing the outbreak in the community. New Zealand stands at Alert Level 1 which does not restrict public gatherings nor does it require social distancing or masks (though these are still required on all public transport).

An effective COVID-19 tracing system, that is app-based, has been in effect since almost the beginning of the pandemic.

Highly restrictive travel into the country is still in place. These restrictions require multiple testing before travel and once in the country as well as government controlled Managed Isolation and Quarantine for 14 days upon arrival.

Just in time for the New Zealand summer, these attractions add to the overall texture and flavor of what is unique about this country. While the attractions are mainly focused on a Kiwi audience, once travel restrictions are eased and international visitors start coming back, these two well recognized brands will help extend the overall brand of New Zealand. • • • Scott Ault is Managing Partner of Railton Entertainment Design (RED, https://railton. design/). A creative executive with over 30 years of experience, he has worked with clients and IP partners to develop an extensive roster of international attractions and entertainment. His client list includes such world-class companies as Walt Disney Imagineering, 20th Century Fox, Sony, Dreamworks, Marvel Entertainment, Lionsgate, BBC Worldwide, Aardman Animation, and Nickelodeon. Prior to forming RED with Jeremy Railton, Scott was President and CEO of Rethink Leisure & Entertainment where he oversaw the development of four entire IP-based theme parks. Prior to Rethink, Scott was Chief Operating Officer of BRC Imagination Arts, one of the longest-standing and largest design firms specializing in visitor experiences. During his time at BRC, Scott held the positions of Vice President of Project Development, Managing Director of European Operations, and Vice President of Creative Development. Scott began his career in 1987 at Walt Disney Imagineering, where he was the youngest-ever show producer at the time. He has gone on to assume positions instrumental in the development, opening, and operation of highly successful projects around the world, including over a half dozen theme parks, four world expo pavilions, and a dozen museums and corporate visitor centers. He believes in fostering an enjoyable project creation process, mutually beneficial working relationships, and dealing honestly and ethically on all fronts.

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WORLD’S FIRST-EVER FULLY TRANSPARENT COMPOSITE LOOPING ROCKET WATERSLIDE

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