Whatever the project however, whether intended to provide a big shot of adrenalin or a more subtle emotional, inspirational or educational experience, Hettema’s goal is to bring people together.

The Story Teller Publication: Pasadena Magazine By: Cuyler Gibbons Published: July 2016

For a big man, Phil Hettema speaks softly, to provide a big shot of adrenalin or a Disney for seven years. yet wields a large imagination. He and his more subtle emotional, inspirational or team at Pasadena’s The Hettema Group, educational experience, Hettema’s goal is “When I got there, I knew the (Disney) create unforgettable experiences that to bring people together. Guidebook by heart,” he says. I try to can thrill and amaze us while providing imagine the fit and bearded middle-aged meaningful context to our most important There are only 50 or so firms in the entire guy across from me, his long frame folded cultural narratives. world doing the kind of work Hettema into a conference table chair, similarly does. His group has emerged from this aligned at his dorm room desk, absorbing If you ask Phil Hettema , the power of an rare company to win some of the coun- the Disney Guidebook. Hettema’s re- experience lies in the story it tells. And the try’s and the world’s highest profile sponsibilities grew quickly and when the stories we tell ultimately, come to define commissions including the USA Pavilion Disney Bicentennial Parade rolled around us. But Hettema is no new-age thinker. for the World , the National in 1975, Phil Hettema found himself in He’s an experience creator. Yes Virginia, WWII Museum in New Orleans and most charge of all the costuming for Disney’s “Experience Creator” really is a job title. recently, the One World Observatory Bicentennial celebration. Phil Hettema has been doing it for 40 experience at The World Trade Center in years. . So how does someone get into After seven successful years at Disney, it a field like “experience creation” that so began to set in that maybe there was a He and his Pasadena-based company few people even know exists? career in “experiences” after all. While his The Hettema Group have told stories creative interests ranged from music to all over the world in countless different While a student at State design, he nevertheless understood that ways, from projects as diverse as the University, Long Beach, Hettema, like he needed more formal training in order Russian-Jewish Museum in Moscow to many other students there, began work- to advance what was now gaining form as the Ride in Hollywood. ing at part time. Born essen- a possible career. He also believed there Tapping artists and engineers, musicians, tially coincident with the park’s opening, was perhaps no better source of training writers, architects and historians, Hette- Hettema had long believed Disneyland than at Art Center College of Design in his ma brings a multi-disciplinary approach was “the coolest place ever,” but had hometown of Pasadena. So, he quit Dis- to these creative design projects. Whatev- never thought it would represent a pos- ney and enrolled. “It was simply the best er the project however, whether intended sible career. Nevertheless, he stayed at school I could imagine going to,” he says. The Story Teller Publication: Pasadena Magazine By: Cuyler Gibbons Published: July 2016

Of Adventure for which he developed the It wasn’t entirely evident to Hettema, but master plan, environmental theme and the quality of his imagination would not 15 major shows and attractions for the only validate that choice, but also cement award-winning park. his future. Immediately after school he went to work for Sid and Marty Krofft, the But a rolling coaster gathers no moss, producers behind television’s psychedelic and Phil Hettema is frightened more by 70s children’s icons, H.R. Pufnstuf and the thought of stagnation than that of The Banana Splits. From there, he went a big plunge. So, when it became clear back to work for Bob Jani, who used to be that Universal, under its fourth owner in the head of entertainment at the Disney Hettema’s tenure, was entering a period parks. Jani it turns out, was the guy who of “maintenance,” with no big projects invented the Disney Electric Light Parade on the horizon, it was only natural that and brought Radio City Music Hall back he’d look over the edge, take a leap and from the dead. He was also the guy set launch his own company. Since his 2002 to produce the 1984 Olympic Games for inauguration, Hettema has never looked Disney. That’s right, Disney. It’s not well back. He describes The Hettema Group as known, but David Wolper, the ultimate “a boutique experiential design firm.” The producer of the uber successful ‘84 Los 50-employee business is international, Angeles Games, stepped in only after the with the bulk of the perhaps 12 to 15 proj- agreement between Disney and the Olym- ects ongoing at anytime, being produced pics fell through. Already on the ground in Asia. and at work, Hettema stayed on as a production supervisor for the opening With Pasadena increasingly taking up ceremonies. Those ceremonies, and the the mantel of design and tech hub, and games that followed, revitalized a mori- The Hettema Group now over ten years bund Olympic movement diminished by in its current location—having expanded successive, municipal economic disasters. from one building to five—Phil Hettema’s They also changed Phil Hettema’s life. choice of location seems wisely prescient. Despite the fact that he runs an interna- “It was a really special and magical thing tional business, and spends a third of this to be a part of,” he says now. “And after time on airplanes, Hettema remains wed- the Olympics I just continued doing big ded to Pasadena. “You know there’s a lot production things.” of research that says creative companies can thrive better in communities that are Soon, Universal Studios called and asked open and welcoming and have that cul- Hettema to produce shows for their tural richness,” he says. “I think Pasadena theme parks. “Even still at this point, I absolutely fits that bill.” Perhaps one day, didn’t really envision where all this might Phil Hettema will have the opportunity take me. I was really just enjoying the to tell Pasadena’s story. The question is, entertainment business,” he says. where will he put the roller coaster?

He became just the fifth person hired into the Design Division of Universal Parks. Ul- timately Hettema became the senior vice president of attraction, a position with re- sponsibility for everything Universal did in the experience and attractions business. In his 14 years at Universal, Hettema’s ac- complishments include Universal’s Island