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The CUBE thanks NZ’s arts and creative sector

Published: Mon 3 Nov 2003 06:24 PM
Media Release
November 3, 2003
The CUBE thanks NZ’s arts and creative sector
The CUBE competition, which closed on October 20, attracted 451 ideas for the development of Auckland’s arts and creative sector.
Gisella Carr, CUBE consultant, said, “we’re delighted with the result and with the quality of the ideas. The CUBE competition has showed that there is some real talent out there in the creative sector. We would like to thank all entrants for their energy and generosity in submitting their idea for us to have a look at”. Entries came from all around New Zealand with a few from expats in Australia and Canada. The majority however were received from Aucklanders, as organisers expected. The split between entries for commercial ideas (56%) and not-for-profit ideas (44%) was very close.
32 specialist judges will now select the 16 finalists from the 451 ideas. The judges come from a wide range of distinguished creative sector and business backgrounds. They include IT, media and music commentator Russell Brown, fashion designer Karen Walker, music entrepreneur Brotha D from Dawn Raid, Creative New Zealand chair Peter Biggs, Justin Lewis from acclaimed theatre company Indian Ink, academic Ngarino Ellis, film marketing specialist Paul Davis, former Pacific Businessperson of the Year Pauline Winter, National Opera chief Alex Reedijk, Community Employment Group regional manager Amokura Paneho, economic commentator Rod Oram and Auckland University academic Dr Pete Mazany Five of the judges are from Wellington. A list of judges is available on the CUBE website, www.cube.org.nz.
The 16 finalists will be announced on December 16. These 16 will participate in an innovation workshop and month-long mentoring programme run by experts to develop a business plan for their idea. From this group the four most promising ideas will be selected. These four will be announced early April 2004 and will be awarded $50,000 each in start up financing. They will also receive ongoing mentoring and development support from a team of innovation experts over the next year.
The CUBE’S vision is to identify and help develop ideas that will make the arts and creative sector in the Auckland region thrive. The scope of the arts and creative sector in relation to the CUBE is very broad. It encompasses not just the spectrum of performing, written and visual arts but also fashion, architecture, landscape architecture, television and radio, heritage and cultural tourism, software, interactive leisure software, animation and website design.
The CUBE is the first joint initiative of a group of investors that includes ART (Arts Regional Trust), the Community Employment Group; Creative New Zealand through the Regional Strengths strategy; and Auckland, Waitakere, Manukau and North Shore City Councils. Commercialisation experience and mentoring services are being supplied by Lion Rock Ventures Limited and The ICEHOUSE (a business accelerator founded by the University of Auckland Business School in partnership with eight leading NZ companies).
For more information visit www.cube.org.nz

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