World changing Kiwi

Michael was at home in New Zealand and 24 hours into lockdown when a recruiter from London called with a unique opportunity, an opportunity which at that point had never been offered to someone outside the British Military. 

“Since 1950 the Edinburgh Military Tattoo has been directed and overseen by a retired senior officer from the British Military, mostly a General or a Brigadier. However, this time around the Tattoo Board decided to split the role of the person that oversees the event into two roles – a CEO and a Creative Director. They decided that this Creative Director should be someone from the Entertainment industry. I immediately realised what a unique and big opportunity this was.”

Michael’s always been involved in live productions and entertainment. He credits his success to pure determination and never giving up. 

“During my early years in the industry, I was always focused on saving enough money for a plane ticket. I would head over to LA, New York or London and pester people to give me work. I figured that one day I would be able to open a door. It was during one of these trips that I was invited to attend the New York Commercial Theater Institute, to take part in an intensive course called Producing for Broadway and the Road. After that I headed up to London, managed to talk my way in the door of Jim Henson’s Creature Shop and took a job as a producer in their live entertainment division.”

That break paved the way to a number of big opportunities, including working on two of the Harry Potter films, the Belfast Arts Festival, as producer MusicWorks in Scotland, producing The Mayor of London’s Outdoor Festival for the 2012 London Olympics and as Senior Creative Director for Merlin Entertainment – a global company operating in 23 countries. Michael had just recorded an album in Los Angeles with his band Down in Splendour and returned to New Zealand, ahead of the covid pandermic when the call for the Tattoo role came in. 

“It was the most incredible timing, literally nobody was getting any work. Our whole sector just dried up overnight. The opportunity was a real lifeline. It was also really brave and forward looking from the Edinburgh Tattoo Board because no one else was hiring or even thinking about holding live events right then.”

For Michael one of the most important things to understand was the appetite for investment and innovation, two things he needed in order to meet the brief of keeping all the traditions and beloved parts of the show but to raise it to a new level by adding production values and creative expertise.  

“If I was going to do this, I didn’t want to play it safe. The Board assured me they were up for some big changes, and I have to say they have been incredibly supportive. That doesn’t mean I don’t have creative constraints, but I also have a lot of freedom.”

Since taking on the role in 2020 Michael has had to come to grips with his new working environment and overcome a number of challenges due to the very nature of the location of the event.

“The design of Edinburgh Castle makes it so challenging. We’ve got 9000 seats and one way in and one way out; it’s a logistical nightmare that only the military could handle. The castle is heritage protected so you can’t have people coming down walls because they might damage them, you can’t put pressure on the structure, you can’t use drones because they might fall down and hit the castle, it really challenges you to think. Also, the wind up there is cataclysmic and when it rains it pours… and you can’t put a kilt in the dryer.”

“After Covid when we were looking at a socially distanced event, we considered the idea of moving it from the Castle. But you can’t take away the Castle; it’s a big part of what makes the event so spectacular. There are Tattoos all around the world but the Edinburgh Tattoo is so special because of its location.”

Despite the challenges Michael has brought a number of new elements into the show as well as increasing the cultural diversity, both moves which have been well received by fans. 

“Each year the military groups will come with their own innovations. In 2022 we had the New Zealand Army Band, who are currently one of the rockstars of the Tattoo circuit – everyone wants them because they are such great entertainers. I really pushed them to bring more New Zealand flavour to their performance. Before they came on we had the Highland Divas, who were singing in Scots Gaelic. For their final song we used a song called Āio Ana by Kiwi, Moana & The Tribe where they went from Scots Gaelic into Te Reo and then the New Zealand Army band came out with Tarakihi, also in Te Reo. So we had a real merging of cultures.”

“One of the biggest numbers last year was a section called Electro Pipes, where we had EDM dance music with bagpipes. There were fireballs going off, video floors, DJs out there with bagpipes and huge projection mapping on the castle. I had great fun with it, but thought it might generate complaints. The reality was we had people online trying to find out where they could book the band, when it was just a number of our in-house performers that I put together six days before the show opened.

Michael says being Kiwi has helped him bring a unique flavour to the Tattoo, partly because the job is largely that of a storyteller. 

“Kiwi understand the art of storytelling because we are travellers, and journeys, at their heart, are made up of stories. It wasn’t until I left New Zealand that I really appreciated that part of me.”

With sold out performances in 2022 and planning for the 2023 show nearing completion, The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo looks to be wowing crowds for decades to come. Michael says he would love to bring the show back to New Zealand one day and is always looking ahead to see how he can continue to raise the bar. 

“I still have some ideas of how I can make the Tattoo bigger and better, and there are also things I would like to do over and above the Tattoo. Right now, I’m keen to spend more time in New Zealand and look at ways in which I can use my experiences to help others in the sector. I think it’s important for New Zealanders to go offshore and have these experiences, but also to come back and share their talents with others.” 

These days sport has a new meaning for Rebecca Scown. Gone are the days of intense training and gruelling Olympic schedules, and in their place is a focus on sharing the benefits of sport with the next generation of kids.

“Taking on the CEO role for YES has been an opportunity to give back. We work with kids from East London who are growing up in lower income areas and it’s easy for them to end up on the wrong path. Creating opportunities to take part in sport means they have access to coaches, role models, are part of a supportive community and this all has such a positive impact on their lives and their aspirations. Participation in sport in the UK is quite different to New Zealand. For Kiwi kids sport is very much part of growing up. But here in the UK it’s not a given, and a lot of kids just don’t get the opportunity or are encouraged to be involved.”

Sport has always played a big role in Rebecca’s life, she was part of the New Zealand rowing team for 12 years and won bronze at the 2012 London Olympics, and then silver at Rio 2016. She’s also picked up two World Championship titles and was part of the team who won New Zealand’s first ever Women’s Eight to medal to qualify for the Olympics. When she retired from rowing she took some time out to travel before deciding to move to the UK.

“I always knew I wanted to live overseas someday. I had been to London many times, on a gap year and with rowing and I just really love it. I didn’t really have much of a plan, I just headed over to meet as many people as possible and make as many connections as I could.”

It was through the power of Kiwi connection and her rowing networks that Rebecca met Tony Mallin, the founder of YES.

“Tony is also a rower. He grew up in London and wanted to offer other children the opportunities he himself had received through participation in sport. The charity has been around for a number of years but I’m the first CEO and we’ve been through an evolution. In the past YES was putting money into supporting various projects, but more recently the focus has been on creating a more self sustainable charity which can have a greater long term impact.”

Rebecca says the role as CEO was a huge jump for her, but a number of the skills she learned as an athlete have been able to help her in the business world.

“As an athlete you become really resourceful and process orientated and that’s definitely something that has come in handy, you are used to handling feedback, and that’s helped to speed up my learning process. A lot of the basic skills have come in useful as well such as knowing how to set and reach a goal, and then being able to trust that if you do the small things right it will all add up in the end. Also in competitive sport things don’t always work out as you had planned, but you know you just have to relax, look at what went wrong, and then look to find a new way forward, all of that mental strength is something I have been able to carry over.”

She says her advice to other Kiwi explorers is to make sure they make the most of the offshore networks.

“I would recommend talking to as many people as you possibly can. Connect with the New Zealand network, through groups like Kea, there’s lots of really helpful people around. Everyone I spoke to was great at answering my questions or connecting me with people that could provide insight. The New Zealand network is a really powerful thing.”

And Rebecca herself is now becoming an active part of that network – welcoming Kiwi whenever she can.

“I love being a Kiwi over here, we have such a great reputation and I really like to fly the Kiwi flag. Plus it’s great when Kiwis come over. We’ve just had some of the New Zealand team visit, following their World Championships in Prague who are now on their way to Wales to compete in the Coastal World Rowing Champs.”

As for future plans Rebecca says her role at YES is still very much her focus right now and she feels there is still a lot of scope to continue to increase the charity’s impact. She also appreciated how her job allows her to reflect back on her rowing career.

“The most rewarding part of my role is being able to get out and visit the clubs we support. The kids are so engaged. It makes me appreciate even more how much rowing gave me and just how privileged I was to have those opportunities. Sport took me to places I never would have dreamed were possible, and so to be able to give that back, on another level, is really rewarding.”