The News item Xtem was talking about has been posted on their website. There's a RealAudio clip of the article. But just in case you can't access it here's the text:

WELLINGTON ENJOYS RINGS PROSPERITY

Filming of the three part
blockbuster 'Lord of the
Rings' is proving a big
winner for Wellington.

Cafes, landlords, hire
companies and retailers all
say they are reaping
benefits from the making of
the movie.

"We're hoping for a lot more
from it. It's good work,"
says Vaughan Clark from
Triple A Cranes.

'Lord of the Rings' is
spending a hundred million
dollars in Wellington alone.

They are hiring a thousand
locals as extras, and the full
time staff from overseas are
keeping real estate agents
busy.

"On the residential side it's
stopped the decline and
that has got to be good for
everybody. On the industrial
commercial side it's taken
up slack that nobody knew
what to do with," says Brian
Baker from Home Rent.

Director Peter Jackson has
taken over factories and
warehouses that were left
empty by the demise of
other businesses.

And he is keeping
booksellers happy too.

"Since the movie started it's
just been amazing. We can't
get enough of it basically.
The publishers find it hard
to keep up with supply,"
says Bruce Caddy of
Dymocks Booksellers.

Supplying food for the stars
is also big business.

"They come for lunch or they
come for a quick morning
tea or they come for
takeaways," says Penny
Pennington of the Chocolate
Fish cafe

And locals seem to be
getting the odd glimpse at
the stars.

"One day Elijah Wood yelled
out to Liv Tyler, 'You don't
need your sunglasses and
your collar turned up here
Liv, it's quite casual'",
Pennington said.

The hobbits the elves and
the auks invade
Queenstown next week

Published Wednesday, November 03, 1999

Thanks to Spy-Hunter for the tip!