Peter Jackson

Director/Producer/Writer


            


Full Name: Peter Robert Jackson

Birthplace: Pukerua Bay, North Island, New Zealand

Birth Date: 31st October, 1961

Marital status: He is married to Fran Walsh

 

 

 

 


Trivia:

  • Began making short films at the age of eight, when a family friend bought him an 8mm camera

  • His first film, Bad Taste (1987) was filmed with a $250 camera, featured friends and locals, and as well as starring in it as several characters, he produced, wrote and directed as well. It took four years to complete

  • Along with Fran Walsh, he received an honorary doctorate from Massey University in 2001

  • After the success of his first professional film Braindead (1992), he gave up his job at a local photographers shop to concentrate on making horror movies

  • Is often featured in his films in a cameo role, and so far has appeared eight times, including an appearance in all The Lord of the Rings

  • Owns three production companies; WingNut Films, Three Foot Six and Weta Limited

  • His parents Joan and William were immigrants from England

  • Collects models of World War I airplanes

  • Owns a company called The Vintage Aviator which restores and manufactures aircraft. It is dedicated to World War I and World War II fighter planes as well as other planes from the 1920’s and 1930’s

  • His favourite film is King Kong and says that it inspired him to start film making. He first saw it when he was 9 years old

  • Loves 1960’s music and names The Beatles as being his favourite band

  • Left school at 17 to work at a Wellington newspaper

  • Meet the Feebles (1989) was the first film in which he worked with Richard Taylor and Tania Rodger who have since created the special effects on all his films

  • Admitted to being bullied at school due to being an "oddball"

  • He and Fran Walsh were awarded in 2002 the Companion of the Order of New Zealand Merit for their "services to the film industry"

  • Has two children. Billy born in 1995 and Katie born 1996. Both appeared as in all three Lord of the Rings films as well as King Kong (2005) and The Lovely Bones (2009). Katie is appearing as a Hobbit in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

  • Began writing the screenplay for King Kong in 1996

  • Both his parents died before they saw The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring completed

  • He bought a church in Wellington for NZD $10 million, saving it from demolition

  • Three generations of the Astin family has appeared in his films. John Astin, The Frighteners (1996), son Sean Astin The Lord of the Rings and Sean’s daughter Alexandra The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

  • Cut up his mother’s fur coat as a child to make a model of King Kong

  • The copies of The Lord of the Rings that he referred to constantly during filming were bought in 1978 after he saw the animated version of The Lord of the Rings. The cover art was designed by Ralph Bakshi

  • His total earnings from The Lord of the Rings is estimated to be around US $125 million

  • Is one of only seven directors who have won the Best Director, Best Picture and Best Screenplay Oscar for the same film. He won all three for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in 2004

  • In 2010 for the New Years Honours List in he was Knighted and awarded the Knight Companion of the Order of New Zealand for "services to the film industry"

  • Read The Lord of the Rings when he was 18, and couldn’t wait for it to made into a film

  • Considers The Lord of the Rings to be a film of a lifetime

  • Is a fan of Star Wars

  • Spent NZD $5 million to purchase land in New Zealand which contains a mansion, private lake, tunnel and the interior from Bag End used in The Lord of the Rings

  • In 2009, he purchased a Gulfstream G550 jet reportedly for NZD $68 million

  • Met his wife Fran, during production of Bad Taste

  • Is a perfectionist film maker, often spending days shooting one scene and uses the phrase “one more for luck” when requesting additional takes

  • Has filmed the majority of his movies in New Zealand, using New Zealand resources and casting New Zealanders whenever he can

  • Always wore shorts when filming The Lord of the Rings and hardly ever wore shoes

  • Along with Richard Taylor, is a keen collector of model kits but admits he has many boxes unopened and many more unpainted

  • He lost 50lbs during the filming of King Kong and also had laser eye surgery so he no longer needs to wear glasses


    Notable Projects:

  • The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (2011)
  • The Lovely Bones (2009)
  • District 9 (2009)
  • King
  • The Frighteners (1996)
  • Heavenly Creatures (1994)
  • Braindead (1992)
  • Meet the Feebles (1989)


    Current Projects:

  • The Hobbit: There and Back Again (2013)
  • The Hobbit: Part III (2014)
  • The Adventures of Tintin: Red Rackham's Treasure (Unknown)


    Selected Awards:

  • 2005: Grammy for Best Song Written for Motion Picture (Into the West; The Return of the King)
  • 2004: Academy Award for Best Picture (The Return of the King)
  • 2004: Academy Award for Best Music, Original Song (Into the West; The Return of the King)
  • 2004: Academy Award for Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (The Return of the King)
  • 2004: BAFTA for Best Film (The Return of the King)
  • 2004: BAFTA for Best Screenplay, Adapted (The Return of the King)
  • 2004: Golden Globe for Best Original Song (Into the West; The Return of the King)
  • 2004: Nebula Award for Best Script (The Two Towers)
  • 2004: Saturn Award for Best Writing (The Return of the King)
  • 2003: Nebula Award for Best Script (The Fellowship of the Ring)
  • 2002: AFI Film of the Year (The Fellowship of the Ring)

     

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