The Rings Creator

Background:

"To get an Oscar would be an incredible moment in my career, there is no doubt about that. But the 'Lord of the Rings' films are not made for Oscars, they are made for the audience." Peter Jackson.

New Zealand-born filmmaker Peter Jackson garnered international acclaim for directing the Oscar-winning and the highest grossing trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). Alongside his long time partner, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens, Jackson adapted the epic fantasy from the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien. He is also famous for his very successful remake of the original 1933 movie, King Kong (2005). The acclaimed filmmaker is currently directing the film version of Alice Sebold's bestseller, The Lovely Bones.

One of the most powerful film directors of this era, Jackson was listed in Premiere's annual Power 100 List in 2002 and 2003. He was also voted “Man of the Year 2002” by the Australian Empire Magazine. Jackson, one of New Zealand's wealthiest people with an estimated fortune of $250 million, is also a generous person. He has donated $311,000 to the University of California's research program on human embryonic stem cells. His life story will be told in an authorized biography called “Peter Jackson: A Film-Maker's Journey,” to be published simultaneously in New Zealand, Australia and the UK by HarperCollins New Zealand on November 10, 2006.


PJ

Childhood and Family:

"New Zealand is not a small country but a large village." Peter Jackson.

In Pukerua Bay, a small coast-side town in North Island, New Zealand, Peter Jackson was born on October 31, 1961. He is the only child of England immigrant couple Bill and Joan Jackson, both of whom appeared briefly in the park scene of Heavenly Creatures (1994). They died during production of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings.

Peter Jackson, nicknamed PJ, attended Kapiti College, Wellington, New Zealand but later dropped it to start working on a local newspaper. In 1987, during post-production for the gross-out cult classic Bad Taste, Jackson met screenwriter Frances Walsh. Since then, they became long-time partner and have been working together in various capacities on Jackson’s films. The couple has two kids: son Billy Jackson (born in 1994) and daughter Katie Jackson (born in 1996).

In November 2001, Jackson and Walsh received the honorary graduation from Massey University.


The Filmmaker’s Journey

Career:

"What I don't like are pompous, pretentious movies." Peter Jackson.

Receiving his first super 8 movie camera at age 8 from his parents, Peter Jackson immediately started to make his own short movies with his friends. In 1976, he made a 20-minute film called The Valley, and decided to buy a 16mm camera in 1983. He then made a 10-minute short science-fiction comedy film called Roast of the Day. Four years later, he completed his first feature, the low-budget 1987 cult Bad Taste. Jackson did all the film’s special effects, make-up effects and built exact replicas of the weapons. The gross-out horror film, about alien invasion in a fictional New Zealand village, surprisingly secured international distribution after playing at the Cannes Film Festival.

Jackson followed it up with the dark comedy Meet the Feebles (1989), a scathing show-biz parody featuring a cast of foam rubber puppets. About the sleazy puppet extravaganza movie, which he co-wrote with with Fran Walsh and Stephen Sinclair and also marked his first of three consecutive collaborations with producer Jim Booth, Jackson said: "I have a moronic sense of humor."

In 1993, Jackson formed WETA, a special effects company. That same year, he released his international breakthrough feature, the $3 million-budgeted extreme zombie horror-comedy Braindead (a.k.a. Dead Alive). He then made his last collaboration with producer Jim Booth (died of cancer on January 4, 1994) in Heavenly Creatures. The drama film, based on the true story of the Parker-Hulme murder in Christchurch, New Zealand and set in Christchurch circa 1954, was a critical success and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. It also featured Kate Winslet, in her first film appearance.

Alongside Costa Botes, Jackson made the mockumentary Forgotten Silver (1995), which details a supposedly forgotten pioneer of international cinema, New Zealand filmmaker Colin MacKenzie, and his 3-hour silent epic Salome. He then directed Michael J Fox in his 1996 suspense comedy The Frighteners, about a psychic private detective who stands in the way of a serial killing death-like creature. In 1988, Jackson bought the New Zealand based film company National Film Unit.

"This is a giant undertaking, but I consider this a personal film. It's my film of a lifetime. I read the book when I was 18 years old and thought then, 'I can't wait till the movie comes out.' Twenty years later, no one had done it — so I got impatient." Peter Jackson (on The Lord of the Rings).

In 2001, moviegoers saw the release of the opening installment of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. It was adapted from J. R. R. Tolkien's epic literary fantasy with the same name and the screenplay was written by partner Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Jackson himself. Jackson filmed the movie in New Zealand simultaneously with its two sequels, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). The film, stars Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler and Viggo Mortensen, garnered wild applause in the Academy Awards. It won four Academy Awards (Best Cinematography, Best Effects (Visual Effects), Best Makeup, and Best Music (Original Score)) out of thirteen nominations.

"Looking back, I think we were a bit naive. At the beginning I don't think anybody had any idea how difficult or complicated it would be. We somehow went into it thinking we could do it. And then we've stumbled along just taking each day at a time." Peter Jackson (on making The Lord of the Rings).

The film’s second sequel, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), only won an Oscar for Visual Effects, Sound Editing and was nominated four awards: for Best Picture, Best Art Direction - Set Decoration, Best Editing, and Best Sound. Meanwhile, the film’s last installment, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), proved to be the crowning jewel of the The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. It went on to sweep all eleven Academy Awards it was nominated for, including the Academy Award for Best Picture (it became the first fantasy film genre to win the award), making Jackson the first director in 20 years to win Academy Awards for producing, directing and writing in one single movie. The film also tied with Ben-Hur and Titanic for the most Oscars ever won by a single film, as well as becoming the second highest grossing movie worldwide of all time (behind only the 1997 epic Titanic). Besides the Oscars, the film also won four Golden Globes, two MTV Movie Awards, two Grammy Awards, nine Saturn Awards and the Hugo Award.

"'Return of the King' is the most enjoyable because in the structure of the movies, it is nothing other than pay-off, there is no more setting up to do, no more exposition, no more introducing characters. The pay-off is very character-based. It is action-orientated as well, but all of our characters have been pushed to a point where their life and death depends on what happens in the third movie. It is very emotional, and from an actors point of view it is very enjoyable to work on, because they were able to play some pretty intense drama. From my point of view it was always great, because we were heading toward an ending, a climax which we never had in the other two." Peter Jackson.

Following his victory, Jackson, who credits his favorite movie King Kong (1933) as his biggest inspiration in filmmaking, went to direct the remake of King Kong. He was paid $20 million to helm King Kong, the highest salary ever paid to a film director in advance of production. Rewriting the script since 1996, along with Walsh and Boyens, King Kong was eventually released in December 2005. The film's cast included Naomi Watts as Ann Darrow, Jack Black as Carl Denham, Adrien Brody as Jack Driscoll and Andy Serkis as Kong. King Kong received very positive reviews, winning three Oscars for Best Achievement in Sound, Best Achievement in Sound Editing and Best Achievement in Visual Effects. It was also nominated for Best Achievement in Art Direction.

"No film has captivated my imagination more than King Kong. I'm making movies today because I saw this film when I was 9 years old. It has been my sustained dream to reinterpret this classic story for a new age." Peter Jackson.

As for his upcoming projects, Jackson is set to direct The Lovely Bones, which tells the story of a murdered girl, adapted from the best selling novel of the same name by Alice Sebold. He will also executive-produce an upcoming film based on the video game series under the same name, Halo, expected to hit theaters around mid-2008.

"As a filmmaker you want nothing more than to have people say, 'I love your movie.'" Peter Jackson.

Awards:

- Oscar: Best Director, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2004
- Oscar: Best Picture, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2004
- Oscar: Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2004
- BAFTA: Best Film, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2004
- BAFTA: Best Screenplay - Adapted, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2004
- Golden Globe: Best Director - Motion Picture, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2004
- BAFTA: Best Film, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, 2002
- National Board of Review: Special Achievement Award, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, 2001