$20m for NZSO's digital home

ARTS HUB: An artist's impression of the planned digital centre.

A $20 million digital centre, where the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra will record musical scores for films, is planned for Wellington.

The "digital innovation hub" – inspired by Hong Kong's $2.8 billion Cyberport – will be purpose-built for digital technology and the new base for the orchestra and the New Zealand Institute for Screen Innovation.

An internship programme and finishing school will be part of the development, on the corner of Taranaki and Abel Smith streets, and is to be completed by 2011.

NZSO general manager Peter Walls said becoming part of the digital innovation hub was a real dream for the orchestra.

The orchestra has already scored films such as Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings and King Kong.

"It will open up so many possibilities for the orchestra with film scoring and CD recording. It is something I really hope comes to pass," he said.

The scheme is likely to be partly funded by local and central government. It is also backed by the Douglas Lilburn Studio Trust, which will pick up about half the cost. The trust, set up to honour the composer, aims to create a world-class centre dedicated to the production and recording of music.

Trustee Elizabeth Kerr said it was dedicated to creating a facility that could help New Zealand be seen as a total solution for film production, right through to musical scoring.

"At the moment we are constrained by not having a state-of-the-art facility," Ms Kerr said.

Grow Wellington centres of excellence general manager Laurence Greig said the city needed to make more financial gain from its reputation as a creative centre for films and electronic games.

He hopes a "digital neighbourhood" will develop around the upper Cuba St precinct and complement the existing film technology community in Miramar.

The site is the former home of the city's oldest car dealer, Williams and Adams, and receivers sold the site to developer Ian Cassel's The Wellington Company on Tuesday. The existing building will be demolished.

The Wellington Company spokesman Rasbeer Gill said the new design would be unique and innovative to cater for the intended tenants.

Michael Stephens, of the Institute for Screen Innovation, said he hoped the centre would encourage international co-operation on digital projects.

"The estimated current and future value to New Zealand of the combined film and screen, games and music digital entertainment sectors is around $3 billion annually," he said.

A delegation from Hong Kong's Cyberport was in Wellington to sign a "knowledge sharing agreement" with the institute this week.

Cyberport chief executive Nick Yang said the role of such a facility was to bring innovative technology companies together to collaborate. "We have all this expertise and we are very happy to share it with Wellington."

Wellington Mayor Kerry Prendergast said the concept would provide a community for digital artists and businesses. "It's an opportunity where smart new innovative digital content companies can set up and, being in a space that is conducive to it, they can spin off ideas."