Big Kahuna Imagineering has been named one of Australia’s ‘Coolest’ businesses in Anthill Magazine’s Sixth Annual Cool Company Awards

Big Kahuna Imagineering has scored a place among Anthill’s Top 50 in its 2011 Annual Cool Company Awards, a national program developed in 2006 to recognise Australian companies that are doing things differently to bring about positive change.

We find ourselves in the “X-Factor” category — businesses that have something that no one can describe but almost everyone can sense. Ironic when there’s a “Big Kahuna” award, but alas this category is strictly for companies 100 or more employees strong.

“Big Kahuna is by definition, a small company,” says BKI Founder and Managing Director Will Colhoun. “But we do BIG things for some of the most recognisable brands in the world. Through our imagineering and creative realisation, we do our part to make those brands current, innovative and memorable. So, we think that’s pretty cool.”

Big Kahuna Imagineering is a full-service provider that works to bring the imaginations of creatives across the arts, advertising and entertainment industries to fruition. Often involved in projects from conception to installation/delivery and beyond, Big Kahuna sets itself apart by not being afraid to take on never-been-done-before projects.

“What we’re trying to do here is not specialise,” Colhoun explains. “To specialise is highly business-minded. The coolest thing about this company is that we’re not here for profit’s sake alone. I’m not only operating commercially. We have artistic passion that runs through the veins of our business. Often I ask someone to do a thing that we don’t need to do because it will make for a better product. We have pride in what we manufacture. Looking at us as individuals, would any one of us say we’re “cool”? No, we’re actually quite nerdy. But, we know cool stuff and we have the courage to do what many of our competitors are afraid to.”

Over 700 aspiring ‘cool companies’ were nominated for the 2011 awards, making ‘The Cools’ one of Australia’s largest business awards programs. The winners will be announced at an award’s function on Thursday 24 November 2011 and published on AnthillOnline.com.

“The Cool Company Awards are extremely egalitarian,” said James Tuckerman, Editor-In-Chief, Anthill Magazine. “Previous winners have included two-person start-ups, not-for-profit social enterprises, large private companies and publicly-listed corporations.”

“Judging takes into account far more than mere business variables, such as revenue and wealth. The criteria is geared to consider other qualities, from the disruptive nature of the product or service to the culture of the organisation.”

“Applicants either nominated themselves or were nominated by peers, work colleagues, family, friends and other ‘admirers’. A field of hundreds was examined (and cross-examined) before our judges were able to isolate three Finalists for each of our seven categories.”

“We’re very proud to be recognised for our work”, Colhoun says. “Big Kahuna Imagineering has been here for 10 years. Through all of the ups and downs, we still have faith that what we do is of distinction. And to have others agree is a great honour.”

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What are Cool Company Awards?

The Cool Company Awards was launched in 2006 as a way for Anthill Magazine to publicly acknowledge and celebrate Australian organisations that are doing things differently to bring about positive change. In its sixth year, the awards attracted nominations from over 700 organisations, making it among the largest business award programs in Australia.

What is Anthill Magazine?

AnthillOnline.com is a digital business magazine that celebrates creativity, inspiration and commercial ingenuity, providing a fresh, exciting and practical perspective on Australian business in a global world. It is among the Top 50 Business & Finance websites in Australia, as ranked by Nielsen Online Ratings, and is home to the Cool Company Awards, the 30under30 and the Smart 100. It’s where ideas and business meet.

The Big Kahuna Behind Big Kahuna Imagineering

Following the feature on Big Kahuna Imagineering in the August/September 2011 issue of Australian CREATIVE Magazine, we thought we’d offer a deeper look into the man behind the company and how Big Kahuna came to be…

Frustrated by the bureaucracy of the film industry, model maker Will Colhoun carved out his own niche 11 years ago that he called “imagineering.”

The first company to coin the term, American Aluminum company Alcoa, adequately defined it as “letting your imagination soar, and then engineering it down to earth.”

Today Will has taken the portmanteau and applied it to what his company, Big Kahuna Imagineering, does for his diverse array of clients — bring the imaginations of creatives across the arts, advertising and entertainment industries to fruition.

The Big Kahuna tagline, “You imagine… we imagineer,” is the contraction for the previous tagline “What you imagine, we make real”.

At its most basic, imagineering is about invention, innovation and improvement — the same core values at the heart of Big Kahuna Imagineering. Of the premier bespoke build companies in Australia, Will and his team pride themselves on their vast array of skills and depth of experience which enable them to build a self-powered photo booth one week and mould a prolific Australian artist’s show piece the next. It’s difficult to define what it is Big Kahuna Imagineering does, but that’s because imagination has no limit and nor does Will.

As Will recently explained to Australian Creative Magazine, “Now, having been in the imagineering industry for 15 years, it seems so obvious that this is where I’d end up. Really, it’s just fortuitous that I found this industry and that I’m suitably equipped for it.”

As a kid, Will learned to fly and build his own kites, invented new, often dangerous games and designed his own billy carts – he had a passion for figuring things out.

Will can recall at least five near death experiences testing out his own contraptions which he says is proof that he’ll always be the first to trust in his inventions. One such incident involved a 30-foot drop off his newly-invented “windsurfer hang glider”. He was testing his self-fabricated craft for the famous Newcastle Birdman competition in which contestants jump off a 10m tower – over water. In the practice run, however, a spine-crushing drop onto sand brought Will back down to earth with a “thud”.

“Growing up in Tasmania, you got outside and you did things,” Will explains. “I think I was one of the original believers in that I could do anything I wanted.”

When Will wasn’t running wild with his brothers, he was sailing the cold waters of the Derwent River. The dynamic technical environment of sailing requires manual dexterity, physics and guts – all of which transcend his business style today.

Will was in the Hobart to Sydney Bicentennial Tall Ships Race aboard Southern Venture when the first real course towards a career was set for him. His father had gotten wind of a new aviation course being offered at the University of Newcastle and saw it as an interesting, challenging field that suited his son’s adventurous character and talent for sciences.

When Will and his team arrived at Darling Harbour, he was met by an official of the race who carried an urgent message: Will was to immediately jump in a taxi headed for the Qantas jet base for basic aptitude testing in order to apply to enroll in this new aviation course, which was the first of its kind to be provided in Australia.

“I turned up looking like a Spanish navy cadet all dressed in white,” Will recalls.  “After a 5-day ocean race, I was greeted by a board who grilled me about how much I wanted to be pilot when I didn’t even know I wanted to.”

Passing the psychological and computer testing in spades, Will was accepted into the course along with 19 others and he loved it.

“I was the pain-in-the ass kid who wanted to fixate on some minor aspect of the coursework and really investigate it to the nth degree, but there was no doubt that I learned my subject,” Will says.

After earning his commercial pilot qualification with a multi-engine license up to a 20 seater, Will never flew again. A career in aviation just didn’t fulfill his need to be creative or independent, but it certainly gave him crucial tools that he still uses today.

So, Will had a bit of a career crisis that led him to pick up skills that remain useful in his career today. First he found himself learning marketing techniques selling maths and English programmes for a year, then carpentry and building skills working with film/TV set construction guru Monstar (aka Philip Bennett) working to rebuild a house on the water in Sea Forth.

While working with Monstar, Will also learned a few tricks of the film trade and eventually secured a job at the groundbreaking animation house Zap studios. And he quickly found operating an aeroplane very similar to operating a computerised, motion-controlled film camera.

After a few years of operating film cameras and making models to shoot, there was a torrent of activity in the Sydney film industry with Fox Studios Australia being completed that would house production of a lot of international films and Will left Zap to work on The Matrix as a model maker. He had a short career on the board with model making crews of Mission Impossible 2, Moulin Rouge and Stars Wars Episode 2 before rising to Head of Model Making for the deadly underworld of Kings Cross circa 1970 in Dirty Deeds, which was awarded Best Production Design by the Australian Film Awards ’02.

When the film industry started becoming a bit too beaurocratic and palsy, Will’s need for independence surfaced again and he went out on his own forming Big Kahuna Imagineering.

In the face of a burgeoning film industry, Will started a small model making business. He received one of his first projects through word of mouth. Renowned set designer Michael Scott-Mitchell asked Will to build a 3D scale model of the 2000 Sydney Olympic centrestage and cauldron. Now Head of Design at NIDA, Michael Scott-Mitchell has on several occasions engaged or referred Big Kahuna Imagineering to effect several of the more elaborate designs on his other grander projects.

At the beginning of Big Kahuna, Will started off focusing more on TV and film, but has since transcended into the arts and advertising industries as well. Models, animatronics, scale replicas, castings, POS units, sculptures, creatures, props, character suits, puppets, experiential marketing concepts — all fall under the Big Kahuna repertoire.

“I’ve always kept an open mind to the capabilities that our team has,” Will says.

Big Kahuna Imagineering has never been a one-man operation, but largely a revolving team of specialists that come in and out of the Big Kahuna workshop depending on what projects are underway. This constant introduction of new skills, techniques and talents, satisfies Will’s curiosity and desire to forever learn new tricks.

“The freelance contractors that make up the Big Kahuna team have taught me many things and been required to apply themselves to my direction, often stretching the contractor’s knowledge base,” Will says. “There are the stalwarts of our contract force, but I invite specialists to come in and do their work too. I see myself as the director of their talents to achieve my clients’ desire.”

Although, Will never takes on a project his crew can’t handle, the Big Kahuna team loves the projects that challenge them, the ones that have never been done before. They may research Plan B, C & sometimes D but if you can imagine it, Will and his team can imagineer it.

Pick up the latest copy of CREATIVE Magazine or visit www.bki.com.au to find out more about Big Kahuna Imagineering.