What exactly is going on with the two-part adaptation of The Hobbit? The world seems to be holding its breath in anticipation, including us, but as the calendar turned to November, we turned to a trusted rock-solid inside source and found a dragon’s treasure of updates. Read the rest of this entry »

News is on the Associated Press wire today that the founder of the pop-culture showcase, the San Diego Comic-Con, Sheldon Dorf, has died at age 76. A spokesperson for Dorf’s family, friend Greg Koudoulian, says he died at a San Diego hospital as a result of kidney failure and problems caused by diabetes. At the official Comic-Con Website there is a message from the Board of Directors, Staff and volunteers of the Comic-Con organization as they “mourn the passing of our dear friend Shel”. Read the rest of this entry »

The folks from Radio NZ write: Just letting you know that contrary to your article (’Radio NZ Talks to ‘Queen of the Geeks’’) the audio for the interview with Philippa Boyens will available indefinitely from here. There are now download links on the page, but please note that this is for personal use only. Most of the audio on the Radio NZ site is now available on this basis. The best way to link to these persistent pages is via the date encoded URL which can be obtained from the archive box on the left side of those pages.

Barrie Osborne, part of the Oscar-winning team behind the Lord of the Rings films, says the new production ‘will educate people about the true meaning of Islam.’ Producer Barrie Osborne cast Keanu Reeves as the messiah in The Matrix and helped defeat the dark lord Sauron in his record-breaking Lord of the Rings trilogy. Now the Oscar-winning American film-maker is set to embark on his most perilous quest to date: making a big-screen biopic of the prophet Muhammad. [Read More]

Mia writes: I attended the KEA Luncheon [last Thursday] in Melbourne, and wanted to share a few photos with you. The luncheon was fascinating, and it was an honour to be there. Richard was extremely friendly, and gave a great speech before jetting off to Sydney!! More..

Message board member Elven was lucky enough to attend the KEA dinner in Sydney this week and sends in this great report:

“If more of us valued food and cheer above hoarded gold, unless its an Oscar, it would be a much merrier world.”
-Prof Tolkien.

I have just returned home from a wonderful night at the Danks Street Depot Cafe in Sydney after listening to KEA’s special guest speaker ‘Richard Taylor’ talk and inspire an audience. People hung onto to his every word and laughed heartily at his stories – we enjoyed it so much we almost forgot about dessert. The food was glorious – the menu designed by NZ chef Jared Ingersol, and there was plenty of wonderful NZ wines available for the tasting.

Richard spoke for a good hour on his career and the movies WETA had been involved with much passion, and gave reference and credit to those people who had helped him along the way. His presentation was punctuated with some very funny anecdotes about Oscar Couture, Meet The Feebles and Taxi Drivers – but his story held a special message regarding success and talent and doing what you do, no matter what that might be, to the best of your ability – turning your life into an art.
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Jack M writes: On Sunday 25th of October, Radio NZ broadcast an extended interview with Philippa Boyens; An extended interview with Philippa Boyens, an integral member of the trio of filmmakers who put New Zealand on the map with the Lord of the Rings trilogy and King Kong. Philippa talks about the trio’s dynamics and looks ahead to the release of Peter’s next film, The Lovely Bones. (duration: 24′41″). The interview is available for streaming on here or on Apple iTunes PodCasts by searching for Radio NZ’s Arts On Sunday program. Be quick though, it’ll only be available for a couple of weeks.

For those of you who weren’t able to attend the Sunday Radio City events in NYC, message board member greendragon sends in this wonderful recap of the presentations that rounded out weekend. Having been lucky enought to attend, I would be remiss if I didn’t add to her report that her beautiful singing as part of the first presentation: The Music of The Hobbit, enchanted us all and, as our mistress of ceremonies, she was gracious and entertaining. Thanks, greendragon!

From greendragon: By now you’ve probably read many reports about the fabulous weekend in New York City, when many Tolkien fans gathered together to hear Howard Shore’s music played in Radio City Music Hall, with The Fellowship of the Ring projected on a huge screen behind.  The culmination of this magical weekend, on Sunday 11^th October, was a day of presentations on Tolkien, the movies and the music.  We were fortunate, on a sunny Sunday in Manhattan, to be heading for a spectacular venue.  Angel Orensanz Foundation for the Arts maintains an amazing building on Norfolk St, which they had generously donated for our use that day.  This former synagogue is absolutely beautiful – you can read more about the venue here:

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Howard Leslie Shore (born October 18, 1946) is a Canadian composer, orchestrator, conductor and music producer. He was the first band leader on Saturday Night Live. He composed the scores for The Lord of the Rings film trilogy and the scores to most of David Cronenberg’s films. He is also a prolific composer of concert works; his first opera, The Fly, based on the plot (though not his score) of Cronenberg’s 1986 film premiered at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris on 2 July 2008. He is the uncle of composer Ryan Shore. Visit: www.howardshore.com

Dinner with Academy award winner Richard Taylor, Weta Workshop – Thursday, 29th October 2009.

Kea (Kiwi Expat Association) is delighted to host an event with Academy award winner and Kiwi,Richard Taylor on Thursday 29th October, a luncheon in Melbourne and dinner in Sydney.

Richard Taylor is the co-founder, co-director and creative director of Weta Workshop based in Wellington. Richard has been awarded five Oscars, four BAFTAs and numerous other achievements for Weta’s success in the disciplines of makeup, costume and visual effects. Read the rest of this entry »