Five Oscars and four Baftas are recognition for a body of work in the film industry, but a knighthood for Weta Workshop’s Richard Taylor is reward beyond the realm of his imagination. Sir Richard, 45, who has won the movie awards for his work with Lord of the Rings trilogy and King Kong, has been knighted in this year’s Queen’s Birthday honours list.

It comes after he was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2004, and was Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2006 and 2007, among other honours. More..

On the opening night of One Man Star Wars, performer Charlie Ross confirmed that he will present a one-off One Man Lord of the Rings at Theatre 99 next Friday, June 11 at 3 p.m. Ross hopes to bring the Rings to Charleston in the future, making next week’s gig a “sneak peek” of his current version of the show, which comically condenses all three movies into a one hour stage production. More..

We received more images and video of a very large animal trekking its way to Universal Studios! This time, it is leaving a path of destruction through Los Angeles’s famous Santa Monica Pier. Check out the video above, and we’ve got a few great photos posted after the break. (Obviously this is a promotion for Peter Jackson’s KING KONG 360 3-D Ride that will be opening at Universal Studios Hollywood very soon – and since it is such a fun promotion, we just have to share it with you all!)
Continue reading “Peter Jackson’s KING KONG continues his trek through LA…”

TheOneRing.net has been invited and will attend popular culture conventions on both coasts as we present live at the San Diego Comic-Con and Atlanta’s DragonCon. Each convention will feature staff from TORn talking about the very latest news and spy reports on the Hobbit front and any other news tidbits we can get our hands on. We always try to bring guests either live or by video message and have time for fans to ask questions and interact.
Comic-Con: TORn will open the first full day of the convention with a panel featuring founders/staffers Calisuri, Quickbeam and MrCere with Weta expected to have something to say as well. In addition, TORn staffers will likely be found at the Weta booth and at Slave Boy Films‘ booth with unique TORn t-shirts available at each. TORn panel: Thursday, July 22, 10:30 – 11:30 a.m. room 7AB.
DragonCon: TORn will spend Labor Day weekend at a fan table provided at one of the hotels of the convention selling shirts, running contests, giving items away and getting a lot of face time with fellow fans. In addition, TORn will present the latest Hobbit news at the show, perhaps as many as three times with staffers Deej, greendragon and MrCere. The convention features a whole weekend of Tolkien programming with lectures, presentations, and guests including Sean Astin. The event includes all-night festivities and fellowship and costuming that never ends. TORn panel: TBA

The Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature is given to the fantasy novel, multi-volume, or single-author story collection for adults published during 2009 that best exemplifies the spirit of the Inklings. Books are eligible for two years after publication if not selected as a finalist during the first year of eligibility. Books from a series are eligible if they stand on their own; otherwise, the series becomes eligible the year its final volume appears. The Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children’s Literature honors books for younger readers (from Young Adults to picture books for beginning readers), in the tradition of The Hobbit or The Chronicles of Narnia. Rules for eligibility are otherwise the same as for the Adult Literature award. The question of which award a borderline book is best suited for will be decided by consensus of the committees.

Update: it turns out that one of the nominees for Scholarship in Inklings Studies for “Arda Reconstructed: The Creation of the Published Silmarillion” is none other than message board member Voronwe the Faithful (a.k.a. Douglas Charles Kane). Congratulations and good luck, Doug!

Continue reading “2010 Mythopoeic Award Finalists”