8

From the Editor

19

Leading light

A Kiwi inventor is wowing Tokyo kids—and winning awards

20

Emerging talent: Mardo El-Noor

Former dentist turned DJ turned graphic designer, Mardo El-Noor is Idealog’s pick for future greatness

22

Vin de Te Teko

An abandoned GE containment building is put to new use—and our wine industry has reason to be grateful

24

24-hour party person

How to turn sex, drugs and rock’n’roll into peace, love and a tidy campsite

26

Small screen, big thinking

TV fans unite: another take on IPTV. Plus ‘Follow this sheep’, ‘Deal me in’, and ‘Running on water’.

28

Liddell treasures

Chris Liddell, Microsoft CFO, wants New Zealand to embrace its creative gene (for profit only, of course)

32

Monster baby

Forty million killer sheep and four million terrified Kiwis—one simple idea has transformed the life and career of Jonathan King, director of schlock-horror film Black Sheep. Now King is courting Hollywood and turning down scripts world-wide. Just don’t ask if he’s the next Peter Jackson. By Deborah Hill Cone

40

Immigration nation

They speak funny. They look different. They don’t behave like us. Excellent! New Zealand needs immigrants more than ever. Simon Young rebuts the anti-immigrant shift

48

Lightning strikes

Is it religion? Is it advertising? Is it, what? Kiwi company Exile Films is poised to perplex viewers world-wide with the launch of “Rodney the Air Healer”—a brand and advertising campaign for MTV. Rodney is a postmodern puzzling farce, says Catherine Smith, but maybe the real question is how did a Kiwi firm win the business?

54

The numbers are up

That ‘Big Idea’ can take half a lifetime to arrive, so it deserves a bit of fanfare when it does. Hamish Edwards and Rod Drury planned to launch Xero, a breakthrough software accounting system, five years ago. Then they waited. Now, reports Gena Tuffery, their number is up

60

Seeking trouble

What’s behind the $6 million redevelopment of Lower Hutt’s Dowse gallery? A vision for a creative city, reports Mary Parker

66

Cooking, creativity and chaos

What’s the common thread between Crazy Frog, French cuisine and the British racing industry? David Walker describes some new ingredients in the economic soup

86

General Genii

Books: The intermittently-published architectural journal, Interstices—which has chalked up seven issues in 17 years—won’t be on most summer reading lists. Bursting with deeply intellectual material, it’s not for the faint-headed

86

Get rich, stay rich

Books: I read a lot of business books. Three in a good week (or a very dull one). Every so often I read one that makes my palms sweat … Tom Peters’ In Search of Excellence; Gonzo Marketing by Christopher Locke and John Grant’s After Image and New Marketing Manifesto all come to mind—I can trace shifts in my thinking to each of them

87

The awkward question about art

Art: Art isn’t easily measured, but it can pack a mighty wallop

88

The risk of avoiding risk

Advertising: There’s no safety in being ordinary while others push the boundaries

89

TV times

New Media: Will Xbox usher in a golden age of television?

90

Xiamen style

Strategy: New Zealand’s next big opportunity is on display—in China

92

How to ... blaze your blog

Have something to say? Here’s how to get it read

95

Protecting the family jewels

Music: DRM isn’t dead yet, so enjoy it while you can

97

What I've learned about ... beating fear

If you can't beat it, improvise, says improv expert Wade Jackson

98

Bigger than 'Braindead'

Metrics: We’re good at Hollywood blockbusters. But who watches our own films?

73

Creative showcase

Multichannel marketing | As the media world fragments into a zillion niches—from obscure magazines to interactive TV—marketers face a challenge: how to choose the right medium for the right message? We showcase four examples of how the multichannel world is creating new and effective ways to reach your customers