Paddon’s Playground
Client: Hayden Paddon / Paddon RallySport
Sector: Motorsport / Brand Story
Location: New Zealand (Minaret Station, Cardrona, backroads)
Film Type: Promotional film series / Brand campaign – “Paddon’s Playground” + #BringBackWRCRallyNZ movement
Overview
In a bold series titled “Paddon’s Playground”, Hayden Paddon re-visited New Zealand’s legacy rally venues and wilderness roads, capturing cinematic story-moments in locations like Minaret Station and the Cardrona Alpine region. Through his footage and public engagement efforts, the campaign also fuelled the fan-driven movement to bring the Rally New Zealand back onto the world stage of the World Rally Championship (#BringBackWRCRallyNZ). The films weren’t just about speed—they celebrated place, people and purpose, and reopened the conversation about NZ’s rightful place in global rally sport.
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The Approach
Working in some of New Zealand’s most remote and wild rally-style roads, I partnered with Hayden’s team to deliver high-impact visuals and story-driven editing. Key elements:
Drone and car-mounted stabilised shots across Minaret Station, Cardrona and off-road tracks.
Massive environmental scale: sweeping alpine panoramas, gravel slides, early-morning mist, and high-speed rally manoeuvres.
Brand narrative: aligning Paddon’s personal legacy and the national rally legacy with the #BringBackWRCRallyNZ movement.
Full post-production: colour grading, slow-motion action, embedded fan-message overlays and social-ready cut-downs.
Engagement-first storytelling: designed not just for broadcast but for digital virality and campaign momentum.
The Outcome
The resulting films increased visibility for Hayden Paddon’s brand, engaged rally fans globally, and reinforced New Zealand’s status as a rally destination. Deliverables included:
The flagship “Paddon’s Playground” series episodes (Minaret Station, Cardrona).
4×15-30 second social cut-downs optimised for campaign messaging.
A library of still frames and behind-the-scenes shots ready for print, web and event use.
Complex visual storytelling that blended motorsport, landscape, community and national identity.
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.