Ziggy Ziegler is an artist and computer nerd, a terribly noisy punk grunge band guitarist, who went to university to study Marine Biology and save the reef, then got distracted by film and accidentally landed in theatre, rolled over into comedy restaurants, fell into rock and roll and took a day off and mysteriously got assimilated into corporate events for years before escaping and playing with pyros, sound, projection, acting, lasers, set building, stage managing, production managing, costume making, designing furniture made out of surfboards and smiling as he eventually sat down and turned on a light near a stage.
The next morning on a sunny mountain top near Sydney the legend of ZZ Creative Australia was born. It’s taken him on adventures to the top of mountain ranges and deep underground in mines and water cisterns, flew him through airport hangers and onto submarines, into the luggage compartments or airliners and once sent him to sleep during the day in a back street in South America where he woke up with a stranger sniggering and massaging my feet. Alongside all this, he got married had a family, tried and reviewed nearly every soft drink on the planet and bought a lot of red clothes. Now that adventure changes again and he is coming out of COVID hibernation with a new studio in another world. Ziggy, owner and creator of incREDible Studios, Mixed reality and visual art.
What would you normally be doing this time of year?
This time of year is usually a big corporate season as the new financial year kicks off with many local and international product launches and special events. Pre-production and planning for events to be held in the last quarter of the year would be well underway. So travel locally and internationally and working from my home studio. None of that is happening this year.
What’s a fairly normal day at the moment for you?
At the moment a normal day consists of working from home on rebranding and redirecting my business into other industries, learning new skills, adapting the home studio and being on the phone and Internet communicating with others for many hours of the day. However there is a lot of family time as well and I am very thankful for that, it makes me smile big.
Are you learning anything to improve your skills set?
I have had to learn from scratch a whole range of skills to create a new business. How to operate that business via the internet. Computer coding seems to be at the base of all new businesses that are not labour dependant. Also upskilling a few home handyman skills to save money on labour and maintenance in general.
What bad habits have you slipped into?
Not sleeping much. Other than that I have been busier than ever starting all over again.
How are you coping financially?
Financially living day to day whilst setting up a new business. Work is finally in sight but it’s not from live events. That horizon is a long way off. The original business I have run for over 17 years was not earning at all.
When do you think live entertainment with return and in what format?
I am not expecting any of the bigger shows/events till middle or late next year. Once restrictions are lifted the event budgets will be quite low due to the losses that were accumulated during this year. I think this pause will allow the producers and end clients to rethink what events and shows are valuable to them and how best to reach their audiences in a global recession, the brunt of which won’t hit us till the middle of next year. I think that will reshape the entire events and entertainment industry in many ways. It’s not the end, it’s a period of change, time to once again adapt to new rules and goals, something this particular industry has always been good at. I suspect the big International corporate extravaganzas will not return till 2022 or later.
Do you have any words of encouragement?
Use what you have at hand and invent, diversify and create. The trick is being inventive with no money at all. Use the internet to connect with others, don’t be afraid to try jobs in other areas, but at the same time keep in touch with your entertainment family. We need each other. We’ve already proven we can do just about anything under any conditions. That will be a handy skill always no matter what you do.
What makes you happy at the moment?
There’s no question, contact with family and friends is the most important thing right now and makes me smile every day. Oh and ice cream. Ice cream makes me super happy 🙂
