Student to specialist: Finn Culver’s Nōku te Ao Capital E Journey

Te Matapihi ki te Ao Nui, our central library, is reopening in early 2026 and will be the new home for Nōku te Ao Capital E. Finn Culver, a digital learning specialist at Capital E, has gone from a Capital E student to a passionate teacher working to foster creativity and connection, and inspire the next generation.

A young man in a blue tshirt, sitting on a desk chair infront of a row of tv screens. In the background, a green screen has been set up in a studio. — Digital learning specialist at Nōku te Ao Capital E, Finn Culver.

Tell us about your first experience with Capital E.
The first time I came across Nōku te Ao Capital E, I was a pirate.

I was in Year 7 at South Wellington Intermediate School and a bunch of us were invited to meet the Nōku te Ao Capital E team, who had come to our school to help us make a short film. Over a few days we brainstormed, travelled around the city in a van, filming ‘SWIS Family Robinson’, a parody trailer of the 1960s movie and when it was finished we screened it for the school on a cinema screen.

It gave me an insight into writing, filming and editing and the blueprint to start making my own movies on my phone.

How did this experience inspire you?
A couple of years later, I sold my precious super-realistic lightsaber to invest in a DSLR video camera and entered the Roxy 5 Short Film Competition, a five-minute film festival for Year 7 to 13s run by Miramar Creative and Nōku te Ao Capital E.

My first effort was a zombie movie, but the next year I took it seriously and made a film about kids arriving at a bus stop, each having dealt with a pretty grim experience before they get there – anorexia, abuse, neglect. There’s another kid waiting at the bus stop, but when they get on the school bus he’s left behind because he hasn’t got the fare and it turns out he’s been sleeping at the bus shelter all night. That film, Shelter, won the grand prize which gave me a massive budget to make it properly and connected me with incredible film industry professionals in Wellington.

The Roxy 5 is no longer running, but that experience set me on the path to studying part-time for a Bachelor of Screen Arts at Massey University, and a year ago I came full circle back to Nōku te Ao Capital E as a digital specialist.

A young boy in a yellow high vis jacket, pointing ahead. He is standing next to an older woman who is holding a clipboard. — Finn as a Year 7 student working on SWIS Family Robinson with Capital E.

Tell us about a day in the life of a digital specialist at Nōku te Ao.
In Nōku te Ao Capital E’s MediaLab, a computer suite, I talk to kids about the video games they play and what makes them fun, then pull out free open-source software and show them how to use it to make a game they want to play. I put on Bloons Tower Defense, a game most of them know, and they’re amazed when I tell them it’s made by a game studio in Auckland.

When they hear that PikPok, which makes mobile games, is based just 50 metres down the road from us they’re blown away.

In OnTV we give ākonga (students) the opportunity to film live news shows. Everyone has a designated role which includes director, presenter, auto-cue operator and vision mixer. We provide instructions and give the class time to practice before recording a dress rehearsal which we play back and critique, so everyone can think about what they want to keep doing or change and how to improvise when things go wrong, before we film the final show. Some of the quieter kids are absolutely magic when they find a role that suits them.

How did you early days with Nōku te Ao Capital E shape your career?
Before my experience with Nōku te Ao Capital E I didn’t have a lot of confidence, and I wasn’t very outspoken. But when I got my hands on a camera, I found my voice with writing, directing, editing and visual effects.

I love giving young people the opportunity to step outside their comfort zones, try something they might excel at and understand what they are capable of doing. We’re excited about moving into Te Matapihi ki te Ao Nui the Central Library next year, as we continue to support our young explorers/kaihōpara and provide pathways to keep them moving towards creative careers.

Maybe in time, some of them will be back to inspire the next generation.

Te Matapihi Harris Street view artist render — An artist’s impression of the nīkau palms on Harris St, outside the new Wellington central library, due to open in 2026. It will host Nōku te Ao Capital E when it reopens.

Nōku te Ao Capital E has a long legacy of harnessing the power of play to ignite creativity, build confidence and foster resilience in tamariki and rangatahi, preparing them for the future. After 13 years under the sails at Queen’s Wharf, they are returning home to the capital’s creative hub in Te Ngākau Civic Square as part of Te Matapihi ki Te Ao Nui in early 2026.

Te Matapihi will be the first of multiple Te Ngākau projects that will bring our communities together for shared learning and discovery, and creative, cultural, democratic, and arts experiences. When it re-opens, Te Matapihi will once again be an integral part of the beating heart of our capital city and the life of Wellington, and Nōku te Ao Capital E will be part of it.

Read the story on the Nōku te Ao Capital E website.