Thinkwell Group
Company typePrivate company
IndustryExperience design
Founded2001
Headquarters
Los Angeles, California
,
U.S.
Key people
  • Joe Zenas, Partner (Chief Executive Officer)
  • Craig Hanna (Co-Founder and Partner, Chief Creative Officer)
  • François Bergeron (Co-Founder and Partner, Chief Operations Officer and Chief Financial Officer)
Number of employees
Approx. 201 (2019)
Websitethinkwellgroup.com

Thinkwell Group is an experience design and production agency that was founded in 2001 with headquarters in Los Angeles, California.[1] In 2022, TAIT acquired Thinkwell Group.[2]

Since 2006, the firm has gone from approximately 35 employees to approximately 180.[3][4]

Work

Some of the firm's projects include Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter,[5] Leavesden; Ski Dubai, an indoor ski resort in the Mall of the Emirates; NatureQuest, at Atlanta's Fernbank Museum of Natural History; the Wizarding World of Harry Potter Grand Opening Event for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Parks and Resorts' Islands of Adventure theme park in Orlando, Florida;[6] and Jurassic Park Institute Tour, a 50,000-square-foot traveling educational attraction based on the movie Jurassic Park.[7]

In China, the firm has produced inEontime World, a massive indoor theme park, and SongSong Town, an "activity park" inside LeSong Plaza, both in Harbin,[8] and Warner Bros. Fun Zone in Macau, opened in October 2015 a hotel and casino mega-resort, Studio Cit. The firm has designed Monkey Kingdom (Beijing), based on the 16th century Journey to the West Chinese folk tale,[9][10] and Jurassic Dream, an indoor theme park in the Heilongjiang Province.[11][12]

In 2015 the firm opened the first major expansion to the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter, which includes a recreation of Platform 9 3/4 and the original Hogwarts Express train. Also for Warner Bros., the firm designed and produced the interactive attraction, Stage 48: Script to Screen at the Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood. The firm also opened two museum projects, Aquanaut Adventure: A Discovery Zone at the Georgia Aquarium and the Worlds of Puppetry Museum at the Center for Puppetry Arts, the Fast & Furious: Supercharged attraction at Universal Studios Hollywood, and The Hunger Games: The Exhibition, a traveling exhibition created in partnership with Lionsgate based on The Hunger Games movie and book franchise.[13]

The firm was contracted by Expo 2020 Dubai as content master planners and designers.[14]

References

  1. ^ "How do you create the unforgettable? Being able to direct an army of experts sure helps". Entrepreneur. 1 October 2007.
  2. ^ "TAIT to Acquire Thinkwell". www.businesswire.com. 8 March 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  3. ^ "Playing With New Themes". Los Angeles Times. 12 April 2006.
  4. ^ "An Interview with the Industry's Shapeshifters". Entertainment Designer. 29 April 2013.
  5. ^ MacDonald, Brady (21 March 2012). "'Harry Potter' movie studio tour opens outside London". Los Angeles Times.
  6. ^ "Universal Orlando's celebrity opening ceremony for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter". Theme Park Insider. 16 June 2010.
  7. ^ "Designing theme park rides: An $8M business". Fortune. 18 May 2007.
  8. ^ admin. "SongSong Town – the FEC that made a shopping mall sing: Park World Online – Theme Park, Amusement Park and Attractions Industry News". www.parkworld-online.com. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  9. ^ MacDonald, Brady (7 July 2011). "Monkey Kingdom theme park set to open in China in 2014". Los Angeles Times.
  10. ^ Pierson, David (19 June 2011). "Theme park designers draw steady work in Asia". Los Angeles Times.
  11. ^ MacDonald, Brady (2 June 2012). "Dinosaur-centric indoor theme park set to debut in China". Los Angeles Times.
  12. ^ Ungerleider, Neal (12 July 2012). "Flames of Fury, Animatronic Raptors, and a Brachiosaurus Half-Pipe: Inside China's Massive Jurassic Dream Theme Park". Fast Company.
  13. ^ Vlessing, Etan (30 May 2014). "Lionsgate Moving Ahead on 'Hunger Games' Theme Park Plans". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  14. ^ "Dubai awards 72 contracts for Expo 2020". Gulf Business. Retrieved 27 April 2016.

External links

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