'Old dog' outstays pups with new technology tricks

Wellington production company Gibson Group invented, produced and installed the latest interactive display at Te Papa, a user-controlled media wall as part of the Our Space exhibit.

After more than 30 years in media production, Mr Gibson does not mind being called an old dog, and Gibson Group is one of the more respected in the game.

"We've also got some young pups around the kennel. You do have to reinvent yourself in this business," he says. "There are an awful lot of people my age that have vanished."

With 20 full-timers and at least 100 freelancers in the wings, Gibson Group has grown from Mr Gibson's first projects in the early 1970s. Since then, the competition has at least quadrupled, growing more than the amount of available work, he says.

"The company has changed quite a lot. We have always been pretty good at picking where it [technology trend] is going to go."

Gibson Group turns over about $10 million a year, but the work can fluctuate, with some projects worth up to $5 million, and constantly updating and reinventing can be expensive in a technology-intensive business. Mr Gibson cites a year-old $100,000 piece of kit that is all but gathering dust now.

Rumours of the demise of TV have been around for a while, but new media such as the Web are still working out how to make money to pay for high-quality productions, he says. For all the new tricks, it is basically the same game, he says.