Multimedia entrepreneur's busy 2009

A lot has changed for Ian Taylor since the days when he was a television presenter on Play School and Spot On.

His 40-year career has been dotted with many trials and tribulations - but it has been nothing compared with the past year.

Mr Taylor has been involved in television and the media for nearly four decades as a musician, director and presenter.

And, in 1989, he founded Dunedin companies Animation Research Ltd and Taylormade.

Animation Research has become one of the world's most respected multimedia companies.

But 18 months ago Mr Taylor was on the verge of bankruptcy and he nearly lost it all.

The company made its name developing the first real-time yachting graphics package for the 1992 America's Cup in San Diego, and has gone on to bring its computer expertise to broadcasts of golf, motorsport and the Whitbread Around the World Yacht Race.

Outside of sports, the company has contributed computer animation to television shows both within New Zealand and overseas, including Kiwi documentary series Human Potential, the BBC's Inventions that changed the World, and National Geographic's Mega Disasters.

In other fields, Animation Research has also created air traffic control simulators and worked in the fields of building and tourism, including a virtual tour for the company Whalewatch Kaikoura.

When he arrived at his Dunedin office to tell his team the company would have to close, his receptionist showed him the front page of the Otago Daily Times which announced the closure of a local factory with the loss of hundreds of jobs.

"I can still remember her saying, `God, how awful that would be'.

And I thought, `Well, I can't do it today'."

Mr Taylor's ability to inspire the passion of those around him helped him claw back and rebuild his company by landing a multimillion-dollar contract with the BBC to provide graphics for international coverage of the 2009 Formula One Racing series.

In a year of recession, when at times there seemed little to celebrate, Mr Taylor had been an inspirational innovator who again put Dunedin on the map and never stopped believing that Kiwis could take on the world.

It was this character trait which won Mr Taylor the North and South magazine 2009 New Zealander of the Year - a highlight of his year.

The award puts him in the same league as previous winners such as minister of treaty negotiations Sir Douglas Graham, Oxford University head John Hood, businessman Graeme Avery, sustainable business doyenne Peri Drysdale, economist Gareth Morgan and Canterbury Charity Hospital founder Dr Philip Bagshaw.

Despite the accomplishments he has made in the past year, Mr Taylor was humble and a little surprised about the award, saying he took risks just like any other small-to-medium-sized business owner would every day just to keep their businesses afloat.

He believed there were many others in New Zealand who were just as deserving of the award.

"There are lots of people who go about their work every day without recognition.

"I'm surrounded by some amazing people that have allowed me to pull through this."

So, from near bankruptcy to New Zealander of the Year, Mr Taylor will be looking back on 2009 and saying it hasn't been a bad year at all.

john.lewis@odt.co.nz