Wang Hening (Ted), a Chinese international student who lives in Karori, Wellington, and studied Digital Media Advanced at Yoobee School of Design in Wellington is kicking goals in the international design world.
He has just been announced as one of two winners in the Visual Effects Internship (Oceania) category for The Rookies. He now has the opportunity to take up the much sought after internship in either Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, Japan or New Zealand.
Ted says, “I am really thrilled to be a winner of an internship and I’m going to take it up at Weta Digital – it’s my dream! This is a great opportunity, and it’s really cool to be able to work with key industry people and learn so much. I had participated in the Rookies last year, and was a finalist, but to actually win and make a comeback like this is just a great feeling!”
The Rookies is a global competition for young designers, creators, innovators and artists. The awards were created to discover and showcase the outstanding talent emerging from higher education facilities and to help launch careers at the world’s top studios.
This year there were 2752 entrants submitting 8725 projects, and representing 81 countries. The winners are the best entries selected by the official Judging Panel which comprises a who’s who from the world of international design and creative industries. Entrants are vying for 74 paid internships and over $900,000USD in prizes.
Ted is a 2D and 3D concept art designer. Last year he won two major awards, coming second in Gwangmyeong Concept Design Competition which was held by WETA workshop, where he travelled to South Korea. He also received one of the Wellington International Student Excellence Awards in 2016, which was presented by at the time Deputy Prime Minister Bill English.
Recently, Ted just finished a film project named the Mortal Engines as a Junior Concept Designer at the Stone Street studio, which has hosted productions such as Lord of the Rings trilogy, King Kong, Avatar, The Hobbit trilogy, Pete’s Dragon and Ghost in the Shell and is only a short distance from the multi-award winning facilities of Park Road Post Production, Portsmouth Rentals, Weta Workshop and Weta Digital. The internship would be Ted’s next work.
Nick Webster, Head of School for Yoobee, says Ted’s success in New Zealand is thanks to a healthy dose of talent and tenacity.
“We are so excited for Ted, and it is great to see our creative, passionate and humble students succeed at high levels, and even more impressive when their efforts are formally recognised regionally, nationally and internationally. Wellington is a great dynamic creative space for our students to be exposed to. Look at the facilities we have here, and with this internship Ted is definitely going places, and we are all eager to see where his talent leads him,” says Nick.
