David Zolkwer

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David Zolkwer was born in June 1964 in Manchester, England. He is one of the world's leading producers and directors of public events and ceremonies.[1][2]

Zolkwer serves as both a Creative Director and Project Director/Executive Producer on major corporate and entertainment projects across the world.[3]

Zolkwer has played a leading role in many key events around the world over the past decade, including: serving as both Project and Creative Director for the Hong Kong Handover and Farewell Ceremonies in 1997,[1] and the acclaimed 'Money' and 'Self Portrait' Zones at the Millennium Dome in 2000.[1][4]

In 2002 he was Project Director for the ceremonies of the Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games and personally directed the innovative Opening Ceremony.[5][6][7]

In 2004 he was Project Director and one of the lead Creative Directors for the highly acclaimed Ceremonies of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.[8][9] He was the only non-Greek member of the core Creative Team.[10]

In 2006 he served as Associate Director supporting the local Jack Morton team producing the ceremonies of the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games. In the same year he also directed 'Falklands 25' a commemorative event broadcast simultaneously from Horse Guards Parade, London and the Falkland Islands to mark the 25th Anniversary of the end of the Falklands conflict.

Over 2007/08 Zolkwer served as Creative Consultant and led the Jack Morton team providing technical, production and operations consultancy to the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2008 Olympic Games and Artistic Director Zhang Yimou who he also supported during the extended creative bid process for the Beijing Ceremonies (as did US movie director Steven Spielberg).[11]

In 2008 he was Project & Creative Director for the Team GB and Paralympic GB team Homecoming - staged in Trafalgar Square, London to celebrate the achievements of the British teams in Beijing.

In the recent corporate world in 2006 Zolkwer led the team responsible the creation of an event for 10,000 IBM employees in Bangalore - which was also broadcast by satellite to a further five Indian cities. He also spearheaded the launch of telecommunications giant Zain first in the middle-east in 2007 (simultaneous, satellite-linked events in Sudan, Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan) and then across Africa in 2008 (simultaneous, satellite linked events in Burkina Faso, Chad, D.R.C, Gabon, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia). Over the years Zolkwer has also staged major corporate events in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Hong Kong, Italy, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland & USA.

In 2009 he conceived and directed the launch of the Delhi 2010 Queen's Baton Relay from Buckingham Palace and was Artistic Director for the Ceremonies of the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa.

Zolkwer was the Artistic Director of the highly acclaimed Opening Ceremony of the 2010 FIFA World Cup again in South Africa, described by the Guardian Newspaper as "An unusually limber, oddly unstilted and bafflingly entertaining introduction to South Africa 2010". A month later he also directed the spectacular Ceremony that closed the tournament - an event that featured a surprise guest appearance by Nelson Mandela.

Also in July 2010 Zolkwer was the Artistic Director of 'Remembering Fromelles' a ceremony held exactly 94 years after the disastrous First World War battle of Fromelles in Northern France in which thousands of Australian and British troops lost their lives. During the ceremony the last of 250 British and Australian World War I troops recovered from mass graves was reburied with full military honours. The event was attended by Prince Charles, The Duke of Kent and Her Excellency, the Governor-General of Australia, Ms Quentin Bryce AC

Zolkwer was the Creative Director for the Celebration Sites in London's Hyde Park and Trafalgar Square created for The Royal Wedding, The Marriage of H.R.H. Prince William of Wales with Miss Catherine Middleton. The event - themed around the notion that everyone was a guest at the Royal Wedding - welcomed the largest crowd ever assembled in Hyde Park.

Zolkwer has been the Project & Creative Director for the Mayor of London's annual New Year's Eve Celebrations (from 2007-2012) - a lighting, projection and firework spectacular focused around the London Eye and the River Thames attended by a live audience numbering in excess of 350,000. The 2011/12 spectacular, designed to kick off an extraordinary Jubilee and Olympic year for the City was extremely well received both in the UK and overseas. For the first time in history the display, which traditionally takes place over the River Thames and of the London Eye, was also fired from the Great Clock Tower of the Palace of Westminster. Each firing underscored Big Ben's twelve chimes at midnight. The music soundtrack to which the fireworks were choreographed was conceived and by Zolkwer and produced in collaboration with BBC Radio 1. It was designed to reflect the diversity, wit and popularity of British music whilst at the same time reflecting the character and personality of London. The 'narrative' of the show also referenced the year ahead for London as host of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and the Diamond Jubilee. The BBC live broadcast of the celebration was watched by more than 12.6 million viewers. Twelve months later Zolkwer and the Jack Morton team created the celebratory display that served as a bookend to the year. The soundtrack to the display featured documentary soundbites from key personalities designed to capture key moments from the year - the Mayor, Boris Johnson, Her Majesty The Queen, Prince Charles, Prime Minister David Cameron and Sebastian Coe. The event achieved record viewing figures with over 13 million watching the BBC live broadcast with millions more watching online and overseas.

Also in December 2012 Zolkwer returned to South Africa to join forces with local agency VWV to provide creative consultancy for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 2013 African Cup of Nations. The Opening Ceremony was staged to considerable acclaim on 19 January 2013.

On 13 July 2012 it was announced that Zolkwer had been appointed as Head of Ceremonies for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

David Zolkwer's work and standing in the industry was recognised with the award of an honorary doctorate from London’s Middlesex University "in recognition of his outstanding contribution to his profession and his community".

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Focus: Pulling a fast one?". London: The Sunday Times. 15 August 2004. pp. page 4. Retrieved 29 May 2009. 
  2. ↑ "Croneen heads Morton UK team". Design Week. 24 November 2000. Retrieved 29 May 2009. 
  3. ↑ "Jack Morton grows its creatives team". Conference & Incentive Travel Magazine. 5 January 2001. Retrieved 29 May 2009. 
  4. ↑ Myerson, Jeremy (13 September 1998). "DOME-GROWN TALENT". The Independent. Retrieved 29 May 2009. 
  5. ↑ Hart, Simon (20 July 2002). "Commonwealth Games: Showtime for Manchester maestro". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 29 May 2009. 
  6. ↑ "SHOWCASE: Commonwealth Games ceremony". Marketing Event. 4 September 2002. Retrieved 29 May 2009. 
  7. ↑ Herbert, Ian (26 July 2002). "Games try for pomp without pomposity as Manchester wheels out its big drums". highbeam.com (The Independent). Retrieved 29 May 2009. 
  8. ↑ "Jack Morton takes on Olympic job". Design Week. 9 January 203. Retrieved 29 May 2009. 
  9. ↑ "Fire and water feature in ceremony". Sydney Morning Herald. 11 August 2004. Retrieved 29 May 2009. 
  10. ↑ Peterson, Gary (13 August 2004). "Greek director sticks the landing". accessmylibrary.com (Contra Costa Times). Retrieved 29 May 2009. 
  11. ↑ Coonan, Clifforg (18 October 2006). "Beijing's bid for cool: Ang Lee's Olympic rapprochement". The Independent. Retrieved 29 May 2009. 

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