I owe a great deal to Sean Woollgar at https://swv.co.nz/. The website you see in front of you, the ebooks you read (were all formatted by him). The book trailers for Sanctum, The Light Guides the Way, The Darkness Holds Sway, The Eyes of Love See All and All Roads Lead to Parihaka were all filmed, edited, sound engineered, and animated by him. He is the foundation from which this creative venture arises from. Sean’s work history is a bit of a legacy. From his website, ‘Founder Sean Woollgar brings more than 20 years experience with major television channels including BBC, Discovery, Animal Planet, Sky, National Geographic, Māori Television’.
I bounce most creative ideas and concepts Sean’s way before enacting upon them. I value his advice above all others. It was Sean’s idea for me to talk about the characters that write through me, montaging them in animation, overlapping them over me, allowing them to speak through me, using illustration and poetry to complement one another to give the viewer a greater understanding of my creative processes. What I do may not be unique, but the way that he introduces this ability I have, and how I manifest it certainly is. His creative direction matches mine and often surpasses it into directions I would never have dreamed of.
Sean inspired me to get back on social media after years of not using this tool. Understanding the impact of social media, the far-reaching possibilities it gives to build an audience, gather more readers and generate interest in ways I had not conceived of. I am not a fan of social media. However, I do understand its power to elevate a business into the stratosphere where it can be recognised by millions of daily users. As our rainbow condor wings spread we shall begin to soar.
With Sean’s guidance, his creative direction, his generosity, and his technical ability I have an ally that allows me to dream while tethered to an unshakable faith in the rise of Oho Ake Books as a global phenomenon.