SYDNEY — New Zealand is reeling after a second massive earthquake in five months hit the south island city of Christchurch Tuesday, killing at least 65 people and causing widespread destruction in the city’s central business district. New Zealand prime minister John Key described the quake as “New Zealand’s darkest day.” Film New Zealand and the New Zealand Film Commission, however, have told The Hollywood Reporter that no film or TV productions have been impacted. Production on The Hobbit, which is due to start March 21, appears to be unaffected immediately by the Christchurch quake. The Hobbit is being made in Wellington, situated on the North Island of NZ, while Christchurch is on the South Island, a seven-hour ferry ride and drive from Wellington, or less than an hour by air. More..
Category: LotR Movies
WELLINGTON, New Zealand – A strong, 6.3-magnitude earthquake rocked the southern New Zealand city of Christchurch on Tuesday, seriously injuring people and damaging buildings throughout the city. Police said there were reports of multiple fatalities, but Prime Minister John Key told Parliament details were still too shaky for those reports to be confirmed. Live video footage showed parts of buildings collapsed into the streets, which were strewn with bricks and shattered concrete. Sidewalks and roads were cracked and split, and hundreds of dazed, screaming and crying residents wandered through the streets as sirens blared throughout the city. More..
Pete the maniacal writes: I’m the founder of InRetroSpectPodcast.com a label of experimental video game podcasts exploring subjects and topics in electronic entertainment not covered in the mainstream press. I wanted to get in touch as we’ve just released the first part of a Lord Of The Rings series exploring the games, books, films and geography of the lands that inspired them, through a psycho-geography filter and I thought it may interest your readership.
From the website: Strider begins his longest journey yet, travelling through a book, two games, three films and around the world to examine the different landscapes of Middle-Earth. Part One of Three. Click here to listen.
NEW YORK, Feb. 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — New York-based Erik Ochsner will conduct performances of the Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring: Live to Projection at Powell Symphony Hall, St. Louis, MO. The performances feature Howard Shore’s Academy Award®-winning score performed live, synchronized to film.
Erik Ochsner, known for his clear, powerful conducting presence and attention to detail, is one of today’s promising and gifted conductors. He is the music director/founder of SONOS Chamber Orchestra, winner of the 2003 American Scandinavian Society’s Cultural Advocacy Award. Ochsner led the ensemble in six U.S. premieres, including Karl Jenkins’ Requiem, and two world premieres. This season, Ochsner will conduct the U.S. premiere of Fredrik Sixten’s Requiem.
Ochsner is the cover conductor for the worldwide tour of the Lord of the Rings films projects. He was the assistant conductor/chorus master for the Shanghai workshop of Tan Dun’s The First Emperor (a Metropolitan Opera World Premiere Commission), and the World premiere of Dun’s The Map with Yo-Yo Ma and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. A graduate of Dartmouth College, Ochsner studied with Marin Alsop, Charles Bruck, Erich Kunzel, Helmut Rilling, and Robert Spano. More..
Bruce Hopkins writes: I have uploaded this 2007 audio from an early morning visit to the studio by Sir Ian McKellen, Sylvester McCoy and Jonathan Hyde, truly the A Team of acting. They were in NZ with the Royal Shakespeare Co, performing King Lear and The Seagull. I took them on some sight seeing around Auckland and after the final show took them to a bar called Shanghai Lils. When I said I had to go to my talkback radio show Ian inquired if they were coming also, and so they did. The callers to the show didn’t really know who the guests were and my co-host Joe, wasn’t making a big deal of it. Highlights include Sylvester playing the spoons while a regular caller, 75yr old “Leggy Peggy” plays a knees up medley on piano. It’s 20mins long but has some great moments! Thanks to the producer Jason Beaumont for having the sense to record it. More..
Linuxelf sends along these 2 clips from various NZ news programs covering The Hobbit press conference last week. Take a look! Continue reading “Hobbit Press Conference Coverage”