Merry in Oz writes: I attended the Saturday, 20th November, session of the LOTR Best of Both Worlds convention in Canberra, Australia.
It was great to meet and greet the guests–Brett Beatie (Gimli’s size double), Andrew Stehlin (stuntman), Stephen Ure (orcs), Paul Norell (King of the Dead), Thomas Robins (Deagal), Daniel Falconer and Mike Grealish from WETA. All of them were pleasant and friendly and gave amazing talks.
There were workshops as well but alas I am too poor to miss work and attend them!! Mike did give everyone a little leather keychain with LOTR stamped on it–a lovely souvenier.
I was disappointed by the ‘no photos’ rule. I can understand sparing the guests having photos taken all weekend, but I thought it a bit excessive not allowing a few snaps at the start of their talks. They are on stage, after all, and the ‘official’ photos are just so expensive.