Wellywood
Wellywood is an informal name for the city of Wellington, New Zealand. The name—a conflation of Wellington and Hollywood—is a reference to the film production business established in the city by The Lord of the Rings film director Sir Peter Jackson, and Wellington-based special effects companies Weta Workshop and Weta Digital. The businesses operate a number of film-related facilities in the Wellington suburb of Miramar.
In March 2010, the Wellington Airport company announced plans to erect a Hollywood-style sign Wellywood on a hillside next to the Miramar cutting. After the airport considered a range of alternatives, it was announced in May 2011 that the Wellywood sign would be going ahead. However this was met with enormous criticism, and on 1 June 2011 it was announced that a panel would be convened to consider alternative sign options. The panel ran a binding public poll on The Dominion Post website with the 'Wellington Blown Away' design being chosen. The sign was erected 27 July 2012.
