Richard Taylor

Following the immense success of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Peter Jackson directs King Kong (2005). This documentary follows him, and the immense project from start to finish. It turns out that this one film may actually be a larger task to complete than all 3 of the Lord of the Rings films together.

Documentary about the making of the 1996 horror-comedy.

The Frankenstein Complex takes a historical as well as a creative perspective, with a mix of fascinating scenes behind the camera, film clips, and dozens of interviews with all the big names in the industry. In addition to the many wonderful anecdotes, the film also offers a wealth of beautiful test material, while along the way showing how the art of filmmaking has changed over the years. An affectionate ode to monster makers throughout history.

The life story of Colin McKenzie, a forgotten pioneer of international cinema who was born in rural New Zealand in 1888.

Quest for the Ring

The making of Peter Jackson's adaptation of Tolkien's classic work.

A documentary about the influences on Tolkien, covering in brief his childhood and how he detested the onslaught of industry through the idyllic countryside, moving on to describe his fighting experience from WWI, and closing with a look at the Finnish inspiration for the scholar's self-invented languages of Elfish. In between are interviews with the cast of the films and some clips, by far the most from "The Fellowship of the Ring", but a few glimpses of Rohan riders (from "The Two Towers") are provided. Also, there are interviews with a range of the filmmakers.

Aragorn is revealed as the heir to the ancient kings as he, Gandalf and the other members of the broken fellowship struggle to save Gondor from Sauron's forces. Meanwhile, Frodo and Sam take the ring closer to the heart of Mordor, the dark lord's realm.

A behind the scenes documentary from the making of the "Fellowship of the Ring"

The Quest Fulfilled: A Director's Vision

The making of 'The Frighteners'

From the very beginning of the design process on the film trilogy, right up to the summer months prior to the release of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, the look of Gollum was ever-changing and developing. Here then is a brief guide through their work, accompanied by some sketches, designs, maquettes and wire frames that ultimately led to the creation of the most striking and believable computer generated character in motion picture industry.

This documentary looks at how the strings were pulled on Peter Jackson's low-budget puppet movie Meet the Feebles. An old Wellington railway shed fizzes with energy and imagination as a team peppered with future Oscar-winners crafts the gleefully subversive Muppets parody.