So much has changed for Wild Creations since the famous Ball in the Wall in 2015 gave them what boss Matt Wild thought would be his ’15 minutes of fame’
From a small studio in Cardiff to working on some of the biggest creative projects around the world Matt Wild has transformed his business of the past 15 years. Wild Creations, the company behind the Ball in the Wall and the Caerphilly Castle dragon, is based in a warehouse in Cardiff and has worked with some enormous companies and created models for some of the world’s largest and most popular theme parks.
Matt Wild set up the business in 2010 after a stint as a set dresser on the Doctor Who set working on Matt Smith’s Tardis.
After working on the TV set for around five years Matt wanted to do something different and set up his own company.
One of Wild’s first famous creations was the Ball in the Wall – a giant rugby ball embedded into Cardiff Castle for the Rugby World Cup in 2015.
The impressive sculpture gained attraction from people across the world with Matt getting his “15 minutes of fame”.
He said: “We put quite a lot of work into how to rig it, how to make it look as realistic as we could. I think that’s what we offer as a company – we go the extra mile just to make it hjhat it’s not just a sculpture of a rugby ball. It looks like a rugby ball is in the wall.
“That following morning I always say it was my 15 minutes of fame because I ended up on the telly, newspapers were asking to speak to me. I felt like a little superstar. One of the papers had put England 0-1 Wales with a picture of the ball on it. Somebody who I know was doing a community project in Africa and one of the kids came up to him with a photo of the ball.”
Over the past 10 years since the Ball in the Wall Wild Creations has grown massively, now working from a 22,000-square-foot workshop in Cardiff with 50 full-time staff as well as freelancers and a turnover 15 times as much as before.
In the last decade the creatives at Wild have worked on major projects with huge companies including Universal, Merlin, Sony, and others that own some of the biggest theme parks in Paris, Japan, and America.
In 2018, with the release of the Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom film, Wild Creations was asked to design and create four life-sized tyrannosaurus rex dinosaurs for the launch.
Creative director Samantha Wild worked on the project with a team of people, saying it was a “dream” come true. She said: “Sculpting a full sized T-Rex has been a dream of mine and a highlight of my career.”
The sculptures travelled to London, Paris, Dusseldorf, and even to the film’s premiere in Los Angeles.
Matt has found his feet working on characters and models for theme parks and resorts such as creating all the characters from the film Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs for the launch of a water ride in Dubai Parks & Resorts.
Matt said: “Post-Covid the theme park industry was something that we’d identified as a good market for us because what we were doing before there wasn’t a need for it all day every day whereas actually within the theme park industry whenever they’re making something new they want it theming.
“Also the contracts now, whereas before, we quite often didn’t know what next month looked like, contracts can range from anything from six months up to three, four years now.
“So from a business perspective it’s allowed us to grow a little bit more. So now we have got a couple of activation and models and things that are not within the attraction industry but the next five to 10 years across the world are just going to be mad for the park industry with massive levels of investment.
“We’ve done quite a lot in America. We did a little bit in Japan, we did some stuff in Abu Dhabi, and a big project in France in Paris.”
For Matt most of the work his company does is for international clients as the industry is “very different” in the UK. However Universal has announced that it wants to build a theme park in Bedford in England which is a “game-changer”, according to Matt.
He said: “The theme park industry is very different in the UK to what it is around the world. I think with the Universal UK Bedford project happening that’s going to be a game-changer for theme parks in the UK and it adds to [what’s there] across Europe. This is really going to bring the standard of theme parks up in the UK. I think it’s going to create a whole other industry.”
Wild Creations has not only changed Matt’s working life but also his personal and family life as he met his now-wife through the business.
Samantha brought her sculpting and business skills to the company in 2011.
Matt said: “Sam started working for us 14 years ago. With her sculptural talent and scenic talents she’s been a huge part of the business. She’s a great fit for the company because she is really creative, she’s very talented, but also understands business and you have to get to an end point.
“As much as it looked really lovely and fluffy and creative ultimately it is still a business that needs to make money so she’s very good at getting to a really creative vision on a budget, which I think is challenging.”
Having met at Wild Sam and Matt began their working and romantic relationship. The pair married in 2019 and are now parents to five-year-old twin sons Alfie and Jackson.
Following in their parents’ footsteps the boys often show a keen interest in the projects the firm works on with some being popular children’s TV and film characters like those for The Gruffalo & Friends Clubhouse in Blackpool.
Matt said: “It’s really cool. We were getting them in when we were working on the Gruffalo projects and they’ve got a real good understanding of what it is we do and they get really excited.”
The success of Wild Creations over the past 15 years would not be where it is today without Matt but he does not just see it as his success but that of the whole team working at the warehouse in Cardiff.
When asked who he attributes his success to Matt said: “Sam, my wife, she’s the creative one. Some of the staff are now coming up for 10 years service and they’ve been with us through that journey.
“At the core of what we do it is the people. You know we’re not turning out a thousand widgets every day – it’s still very handmade, still very crafted.
“Everybody who walks through the door in the morning I think the success has to be attributed to.”
