Sir Peter Jackson’s talent scouts will visit Dunedin to fill a tall order for a long list of short people to work on his next big movie. Production company Wingnut Films is looking for short and tall people to play scale doubles for the speaking cast of The Hobbit.
It has announced a casting call for the Edgar Centre on Sunday and yesterday warned aspiring actors who were either too short or too tall not to apply. Scouts would only consider men aged 17-55 who are between 128cm and 158cm tall, or taller than 210cm, and women between 128cm and 153cm tall. Confirming the details, a Wingnut spokesman said scale doubles would appear in some wide shots, or with other actors when those actors needed to be made to look taller or shorter, he said. More..
Linuxelf writes: Brief news clip on New Zealand’s Prime Channel about the possibility of Elijah Wood returning in The Hobbit, as first reported on Theonering.net.
Author Ethan Gilsdorf travels to Wellington, New Zealand, and visits “Wellywood,” Weta Workshop, the Weta Cave, and tries to stalk Peter Jackson and sneak onto the studios. Gilsdorf is the author of “Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks: An Epic Quest for Reality Among Role Players, Online Gamers, and Other Dwellers of Imaginary Realms.”
The Government has made another concession to the makers of the Hobbit movies as it paves the way for them to be made here. The head of Immigration New Zealand, Nigel Bickle, has confirmed that approval has been given to Three Foot Seven Ltd to recruit 40 overseas actors for the movies. Mr Bickle says the department followed its usual practice of asking both Actors’ Equity and Work and Income to comment on the request to allow the actors into the country. He says the union opposed the request but Work and Income supported it. The matter then went to the Associate Immigration Minister, Kate Wilkinson, who approved it. While the department followed its usual practice, Radio New Zealand’s political editor says, apparently the union did not get access to the information it normally gets. It couldn’t be sure local actors were being given an equal opportunity to audition for all 75 speaking parts, and that apparently is why it opposed the request. More..
Gregg and Southern Lakes pilot Rob prepare for take-off
Gregg Nations, a co-producer and script co-ordinater from the popular TV series “LOST”, took a ‘Middle Earth’ tour with Red Carpet Tours last month. The weather was great and there were many highlights, but the one that left Gregg speechless was the breathtaking views from a spectacular helicopter flight over the Dead Marshes, Norwest Lakes and mountains!
The flight is a “must do” for all who take a Red Carpet Tour ! 2011 is shaping up to be an exciting time to be in New Zealand. Wellington will be buzzing with teams of people involved at the Miramar studios, while camera crews will be in action at various locations. You never know who you might bump into ! [Red Carpet Tours]
Wellingtons film industry is getting a further boost of government funding, with special effects workshop Weta Digital one of six fast-growing, high-tech companies awarded $7.2 million each under the new Technology Development Grant Programme.
The announcement by Research, Science and Technology Minister Wayne Mapp follows the government decision in October to add more than $30 million in subsidies to secure filming and production of The Hobbit movies in New Zealand. More..
Sir Peter Jackson’s talent scouts will visit Dunedin to fill a tall order for a long list of short people to work on his next big movie. Production company Wingnut Films is looking for short and tall people to play scale doubles for the speaking cast of The Hobbit.
