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David Zolkwer MVO is a producer and director of international public events, ceremonies, celebrations, festivals and corporate brand activation experiences. [1] [2]
Following an early career working in fringe theatre in London, Zolkwer worked in the corporate and public events domain for many leading experiential marketing agencies. For Jack Morton Worldwide, he was Executive Vice President & Head of Public Events, International for 15 years. Since 2018 he has worked as an independent practitioner.
David Zolkwer has played a leading role in major public events, ceremonies, celebrations, festivals and brand experiences across the world for over two decades.
In 1997 he was both Project Director and Creative Director for the Hong Kong Handover Ceremony. [1] He played the same dual role working on the 'Money' and 'Self Portrait' Zones at the Millennium Dome in 2000. [1] [3]
In 2002 he was Project Director & Artistic Director for the ceremonies of the Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games. He personally directed the Opening Ceremony which was attended by Her Majesty the Queen in her Golden Jubilee year. The success of the Manchester Commonwealth Games and the ceremonies were seen by many as a major statement of UK confidence and capability that paved the way for London's successful bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games. [4] [5] [6]
In 2004 Zolkwer was Project Director and one of the lead Creative Directors for the ceremonies of the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. [7] [8] He was the only non-Greek member of the core creative team led by Dimitris Papaioanou. [9]
In 2005 Zolkwer directed the launch of the Melbourne 2006 Queen's Baton Relay from Buckingham Palace.
In 2006 he served as executive director supporting the team producing the ceremonies of the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games.
Also in 2006 he directed 'Falklands 25', a commemorative event broadcast live from Horse Guards Parade, London and the Falkland Islands to mark the 25th anniversary of the end of the Falklands Conflict.
Over 2007/08 Zolkwer served as Creative Consultant and led a small team from Jack Morton Worldwide providing technical, production and operations consultancy to the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games for the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing and Artistic Director Zhang Yimou who he also supported during the extended creative bid process for the Beijing Ceremonies (as did US movie director Steven Spielberg). [10]
In 2008 Zolkwer was Project Director & Creative Director for the Team GB and Paralympic GB Team Homecoming – an event staged in Trafalgar Square, London, to celebrate the achievements of the British teams in Beijing.
In 2009 Zolkwer directed the launch of the Delhi 2010 Queen's Baton Relay from Buckingham Palace. Also in 2009, he was the Artistic Director for the Ceremonies of the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa.
Zolkwer was the Artistic Director of the Opening Ceremony of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, described by the Guardian Newspaper as:
"An unusually limber, oddly unstilted and bafflingly entertaining introduction to South Africa 2010".
A month later he also directed the ceremony that closed the tournament – an event featuring a surprise guest appearance by Nelson Mandela.
Also in July 2010, Zolkwer was the Artistic Director of 'Remembering Fromelles', a ceremony held exactly 94 years after the disastrous First World War battle of Fromelles in Northern France in which thousands of Australian and British troops lost their lives. During the ceremony the last 250 British and Australian World War I troops recovered from recently discovered mass graves were reburied with full military honours. The event was attended by the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Kent and the Governor-General of Australia, Dame Quentin Bryce AC.
Zolkwer was the Creative Director for the celebration sites in London's Hyde Park and Trafalgar Square created for the Royal Wedding, The marriage of H.R.H Prince William of Wales and Miss Catherine Middleton. The event – themed around the idea that everyone was a guest at the Royal Wedding - welcomed the largest crowd ever assembled in Hyde Park.
From 2007 to 2015 Zolkwer was the creative director for the Mayor of London's annual New Year's Eve Celebrations - a lighting, projection and fireworks spectacular focused around the London Eye and the River Thames attended by a live audience numbering in excess of 350,000. The event was also broadcast live across the UK to audiences in excess of 12.5 million.
(Zolkwer's work on London's 2015 New Year's Eve spectacular saw the clock faces of Elizabeth Tower – home to Big Ben – lit blue to mark the involvement of UNICEF in the event. This was the first time in the history of the tower that the clock faces had appeared in any colour other than white).
In December 2012 Zolkwer returned to South Africa to join forces with local agency VWV to provide creative consultancy for the Opening & Closing Ceremonies of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.
In July 2012 it was announced that Zolkwer had been appointed as Head of Ceremonies & Artistic Director for the Ceremonies of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. He was also the Creative Director of the launch of the Glasgow 2014 Queen's Baton which was broadcast live from the Mall and Buckingham Palace in October 2013.
The Glasgow Commonwealth Games and their ceremonies were hailed as a huge success. The Opening Ceremony, attended by Her Majesty The Queen, featured performances by Karen Dunbar, John Barrowman, Amy Macdonald, Susan Boyle, Nicola Benedetti, Julie Fowlis, Pumeza Matshikiza, Billy Connolly, Rod Stewart and James McAvoy, as well as a pre-recorded video messages from the crew of the International Space Station and Ewan McGregor, Nicole Scherzinger and Sachin Tendulkar.
One innovative highlight of the Opening Ceremony 'activated' the partnership between Glasgow 2014 and UNICEF. A live international appeal on the night saw the team raise over $11m for the UNICEF Children of the Commonwealth fund..
In interviews recorded after the Games, Zolkwer attributed much of the success of the Glasgow ceremonies to the warm collaborative partnership established with Dr Bridget McConnell, CEO of Glasgow Life, and David Grevemberg who was the CEO of Glasgow 2014, as well as the Glasgow City Council leadership and the executive leadership of the Commonwealth Games Federation.
Zolkwer served as Creative and Production Consultant to the Georgian Chamber of Culture for the Opening Ceremony of the Tbilisi 2015 European Youth Olympic Festival.
In December 2015 Zolkwer was appointed Project Director and Artistic Director of the Ceremonies of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games - the fourth Commonwealth Games for which Zolkwer has delivered the ceremonies. His work on the Gold Coast Ceremonies saw him connect with, commission and curate over 40 local and national cultural and creative companies and organisations including respected 'national treasures' such as The Queensland Symphony Orchestra (Brisbane), Queensland Ballet (Brisbane), Bangarra Dance Theatre (Sydney), Dance North (Townsville) and the Yugambeh Museum. The following day the headline on the front page of the Gold Coast Bulletin declared "Now that's an opening! The Commonwealth Games opening ceremony at Carrara Stadium last night was as fair dinky Australian as it gets. In an opening welcome reminiscent of Crocodile Dundee, the celebration was a bottler, ridgy-dodge - a little ripper...as millions of people watching worldwide fell in love with Australia".
The Courier-Mail said, "The Gold Coast finally welcomed the world to its biggest ever party with a dazzling Commonwealth Games opening ceremony". [11] The New Daily said the opening ceremony had "wowed" the fans on the Gold Coast. [12] [13] The West Australian said that the "Spirits gone high" in the Gold Coast after the opening ceremony. [14] The SBS called the ceremony as "dazzling" [15] and the ABC said that the opening ceremony had "signalled a great start for the 2018 Commonwealth Games". [16]
Reaction was overwhelmingly positive. The BBC said the 2018 Commonwealth Games started with a "colourful" and "spectacular" opening ceremony. [17] The London Evening Standard said the Games began with a "spectacular opening ceremony paying tribute to region's Aboriginal history." [18] The Daily Telegraph reported "Gold Coast Commonwealth Games began with every symbol of Australiana". [19] [20]
The Firstpost said, "Opening ceremony of Commonwealth Games 2018 celebrates indigenous culture, beaches and diversity". [21] The Times of India commented, "What a spectacular welcome Gold Coast has given to the participating teams!". [22] The Hindu said "...the opening ceremony of the XXI Commonwealth Games on Wednesday night was painted with colour and gaiety....". They also commented "The pageant showcased the Australian tradition and culture in all its glory". The Courier Mail declared the Ceremony as a celebration of "the Gold Coast's coming of age".
(The launch of the Gold Coast 2018 Queen's Baton Relay from Buckingham Palace in 2017 was also the fourth such launch event for which Zolkwer had been responsible after Melbourne 2006, Delhi 2010 and Glasgow 2014).
In 2019 Zolkwer worked as a production and creative consultant to the 'Moment Makers' team at Expo 2020. He was also commissioned as executive producer and creative director for the opening ceremony of the Doha 2019 Arabian Gulf Cup and the inauguration of the new Education City Stadium during the FIFA Club World Cup.
In 2021 Zolkwer was the project director for COP26, The United Nations Climate Change Conference, in Glasgow UK – the largest event of its kind ever hosted by the UK Government.
He directed Her Majesty The Queen's Platinum Jubilee Pageant which was witnessed live by over 200,000 people lining the streets of London on 5 June 2022, and broadcast to hundreds of millions of television viewers around the world. The spectacular show concluded with an historic (last) appearance by the Queen, accompanied by Prince Charles and Prince William on the Balcony of Buckingham Palace.
Also in 2022, he was Project Director for Delivery, Noor Riyadh - the largest citywide light art festival in the world.
He ended the year working as Creative Consultant on the Mayor of London's New Year's Eve Celebrations. London Fireworks 2023
In December 2022 Zolkwer was appointed Project Director for the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III, held in Westminster Abbey in June 2023.
Also in 2023, Zolkwer was a member of the Cultural Heritage Narrative Experiences Expert Panel for The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU). He was also again Project Director for the 2023 Edition of the Noor Riyadh Festival of Light.
Zolkwer has worked on many major corporate brand events across the world and for clients across most sectors, including, in 2019, Emirates National Oil Company, [23] Expo 2020.
In 2006 Zolkwer led the team responsible for the creation of an event for 10,000 IBM employees in Bangalore, India. The event, attended by the president of India, was broadcast live by satellite to five other Indian cities.
Zolkwer also spearheaded the launch of telecommunications giant, Zain, first in the Middle-East in 2007 (simultaneous, satellite-linked events in Sudan, Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan) and then, in 2008, across Africa (simultaneous, satellite-linked events in Burkina Faso, Chad, D.R.C., Gabon, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia).
David Zolkwer attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He then studied theatre and English at Middlesex University, where he earned a first class honours degree.
Zolkwer was awarded an honorary doctorate from London's Middlesex University "in recognition of his outstanding contribution to his profession and his community".
He was appointed Member of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO) in the 2023 New Year Honours for distinguished personal services to the late Queen Elizabeth II, King Charles III and the Platinum Jubilee Pageant. [24]
The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which mostly consists of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 and, with the exception of 1942 and 1946, has successively run every four years since. The event was called the British Empire Games from 1930 to 1950, the British Empire and Commonwealth Games from 1954 to 1966, and British Commonwealth Games from 1970 to 1974. Athletes with a disability are included as full members of their national teams since 2002, making the Commonwealth Games the first fully inclusive international multi-sport event. In 2018, the Games became the first global multi-sport event to feature an equal number of men's and women's medal events, and four years later they became the first global multi-sport event to have more events for women than men.
The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002, was an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth held in Manchester, England, from 25 July to 4 August 2002. The event was to be hosted in the United Kingdom to coincide with the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II, head of the Commonwealth, and Manchester was selected for the 2002 Games ahead of London using a recycled part of the project, which lost the 2000 Summer Olympics and Paralympics to Sydney, Australia. The 2002 Commonwealth Games was, prior to the 2012 Summer Olympics, the largest multi-sport event ever to be held in the UK, eclipsing the London 1948 Summer Olympics in terms of teams and athletes participating. The 2002 Commonwealth Games had the largest number of events of any Commonwealth Games in history, featuring 281 events across 17 sports.
The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth that was held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 2010. A total of 4352 athletes from 71 Commonwealth nations and dependencies competed in 21 sports and 272 events, making it the largest Commonwealth Games to date. It was also the largest international multi-sport event to be staged in Delhi and India, eclipsing the Asian Games in 1951 and 1982. The opening and closing ceremonies were held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the main stadium of the event.
Carrara Stadium is a stadium on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, located in the suburb of Carrara.
The 2014 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Commonwealth Games as governed by the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF). It took place in Glasgow, Scotland, from 23 July to 3 August 2014.
The Queen's Baton Relay is a relay around the world held prior to the beginning of the Commonwealth Games. The Baton carries a message from the Head of the Commonwealth, currently King Charles III. The Relay traditionally begins at Buckingham Palace in London as a part of the city's Commonwealth Day festivities. The King entrusts the baton to the first relay runner. At the Opening Ceremony of the Games, the final relay runner hands the torch back to the King or his representative, who reads the message aloud to officially open the Games. The Queen's Baton Relay is similar to the Olympic Torch Relay. As a result of Queen Elizabeth II's death on 8 September 2022, the Baton Relay could be renamed after her successor, King Charles III, for the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
Ric Birch is a Producer and Director. He was first known as a producer and interviewer on GTK, a popular music TV series on ABC Television. He then founded and became director of Spectak International, an events production company specializing in global ceremonies production, television, film and theatre and themed entertainment. The company has produced opening and closing ceremonies for the Commonwealth, East Asian, and Olympic Games. He is internationally known as the "Master of Ceremonies" due to his involvement in many globally seen ceremonies.
The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that was held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, between 4 and 15 April 2018. It was the fifth time Australia had hosted the Commonwealth Games and the first time a major multi-sport had an equal number of events for male and female athletes.
Drew Anthony is an Australian performer, director, choreographer and producer. His productions of the hit musicals Grease, Chicago - A Musical Vaudeville and Strictly Ballroom recently played to sell-out audiences at Perth's The Royale Theatre at Planet Royale. His most recent production at that theatre was A Chorus Line with other recent productions including 42nd Street at Limelight Theatre and The Boy From Oz at The Empire Theatre in Toowoomba. He was the Director/Choreographer for the 2021 production of The Boy From Oz, starring Ethan Jones as Peter Allen, at Crown Theatre, Perth. From 2019 to Covid he was the Creative Director for Flash Entertainment in Abu Dhabi. In 2017 and 2018 he was the Creative Director for Kaleidoscope, Perth's light and illumination festival, before which he spent 6 years as Associate Artistic Director/Producer for David Atkins Enterprises (DAE),. He was the Associate Artistic Director/Producer for the 2017 edition of White Night Melbourne and White Night Ballarat and was the Associate Artistic Director for the Closing Ceremony of the Sydney Olympic Games, the Ceremonies of the 12th Arab Games, Doha 2011, Rugby World Cup 2011, and the 2010 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, in Vancouver. Anthony directed the Sony IFA event in Berlin, Germany and the Olivia Newton-John and Friends charity gala event at the State Theatre in Sydney.
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Keith Khan is an English artist, designer, performance artist and arts industry bureaucrat. In 1996, together with Ali Zaidi, he co-founded the arts organisation Motiroti.
Blake Cochrane, is a retired Australian Paralympic swimmer. He won a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, two gold medals at the 2012 London Paralympics, a silver medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympics, and a silver and one bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.
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Erica Elizabeth Wiebe is a wrestler competing for Canada. She is an Olympic champion in women's 75 kg freestyle, winning gold at the 2016 Summer Olympics. She was the third Canadian champion ever in wrestling at the Olympics, and second Canadian woman to win gold after Carol Huynh. Wiebe is also the current Commonwealth Games champion in the same weight class, having won the gold medal at the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the Gold Coast, respectively.
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The opening ceremony for the 2018 Commonwealth Games took place on the evening of Wednesday 4 April in the Carrara Stadium, Gold Coast. As mandated by the Commonwealth Games Charter, the proceedings of the ceremony combined the formal opening of the sporting event with an artistic performance to showcase the host nation's culture. The 2018 Games were formally opened by Charles, Prince of Wales. Jack Morton Worldwide was given the contract to produce the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2018 Commonwealth Games. The theme of the opening ceremony was Hello Earth and directed by David Zolkwer.
A number of notable controversies and concerns associated with the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia emerged which were the subject of public debate and media commentary.
The 2018 Commonwealth Games Queen's Baton Relay was run from 13 March 2017 until 4 April 2018, prior to the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games. The baton bearer selection process for the Australian segment was announced on 18 October 2017.
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