Sir Peter Jackson, New Zealand’s best known film maker was knighted in the 2010 New Year Honours for his significant contribution to the New Zealand film industry and rose to popularity for his production and direction of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Peter won three Academy Awards for The Return of the King, the last in the trilogy, including Oscar for best director.
His major film interests include Weta Workshop and Weta Digital while his Wellington-based Miramar film centre also includes Wingnut Films, Park Road Post and Stone Street Studios.
But the man behind Weta Workshop is Sir Richard Taylor. Being the co-founder and co-director, Sir Richard Taylor has to date won five Oscars, four BAFTAs and other entertainment awards as well as achievements for Weta’s success in the disciplines of make-up, costume and visual effects. Richard was honoured a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2010 and named the 2012 New Zealander of the Year.
You have to take the Weta Cave Workshop Tour. Weta Cave is located just 15 minutes by car from central Wellington. Tours are conducted every half hour from 9.30am to 5pm every day of the week except for Christmas day. For NZ$25 (adults) and NZ$12 (children 6 to 12 years old), the tour gives you a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the workshop where movie props, costumes and armour from The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, District 9, Dr. Grordbort’s and The Adventures of TINTIN are created. If you are visiting as a family, there is a NZ$65 family pass for two adults and two children. Infants five and under can enter for free.
A staff member of the workshop conducts the tour so you can get personal insights and experiences. You can even touch some of the designated props but unfortunately photography is not allowed during the tour since it is an actual workshop where the staff maybe working on a prop for an upcoming movie. So yes, you may get first hand view of that prop even before the movie is screened.
The Weta Cave Shop
There is a Behind the Scenes film that you can watch at the Weta Cave Shop next to the Workshop. The film lets you in on the creativity and imagination that goes into crafting the props and physical effects.
The Weta Cave Shop is where you can also purchase limited edition hand-crafted sculptures, Weta designed clothing and jewellery, books, DVDs, posters as well as kids’ merchandise.
And don’t forget to get pictures of the three life-size trolls just outside the shop.
Weta Cave is located at 1 Weta Street, Miramar, Wellington. Book your tour online at www.wetanz.com/cave.
Wellington To Get A Movie Museum
In other news, the hometown of movie makers Sir Peter Jackson and Sir Richard Taylor in Wellington, New Zealand with get a major Movie Museum. The approval for the proposal by The Movie Museum Limited, a company formed by Peter and Richard got approval on 8 December 2015 by Wellington City Council for purchase of a downtown waterfront site. The council will partner with Wellington movie makers Sir Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Sir Richard Taylor and Tania Rodger to create the movie museum.
The Movie Museum will occupy two floors of a three-storey building and become part of a new purpose-built joint convention centre and museum development. It will celebrate the film heritage of Wellington which is the film hub for five of the world’s 12 highest-grossing films of all time. Collections will span the ward-winning, Hollywood scale productions the Weta Group has helped bring to the big screen through the earlier home-grown movies, and will also encompass one of the most valuable collections of Hollywood memorabilia anywhere in the world. Thousands of priceless designs, props, models and set pieces from numerous film productions with whole worlds, single weapons, creatures, make-up, miniatures, vehicles and more have been collected and will be curated and shared.
Wellington Airport in the Middle of Middle Earth
Wellington is proud of its movies trade here that even Wellington Airport has been demarcated as Middle of Middle Earth.
When you get out of the plane upon landing in Wellington Airport, you can get to the middle of the airport to view larger than life Gollum from the roof stretching out to catch a fish or Gandalf perched on an eagle.
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