STEVEN Spielberg will join forces with Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson for the New Zealander’s new film. Spielberg’s DreamWorks film studio won the right to finance Jackson’s film The Lovely Bones after fierce bidding by three other major US studios last week. DreamWorks will put at least $79 million into the film, which is an adaptation of Alice Sebold’s best-selling 2002 novel about the murder of a 14-year-old girl and the impact it has on her family. Spielberg, who has reportedly been wanting to work with Jackson for some time, said he had been passionate about securing the film. [More]
Category: Production
The Visual Effects Society has named the entire LOTR Trilogy on their list of the most influential visual effects film of all time! From a select list of 50 titles, LOTR came in at the following numbers:
19. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
33. Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
36. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
Peter Jackson’s ‘King Kong’ was named 38th on the list, the original Star Wars comes out on top. Click here for the whole list. [More]
A knight in shining armour, a mythical creature and a medieval court? It all sounds a bit twee for an animated children’s series in 2007. But what if the knight was a feisty 12-year-old girl, the creature was a clumsy dragon and their living quarters were designed by the team who gave us Gollum in Lord of the Rings? Weta Workshop’s first TV series, Jane and the Dragon, premieres in New Zealand on Saturday. It is hoped the early evening timeslot will entice a family audience to what is being heralded as a massive achievement for the Oscar-winning company. [More]
The awards are sponsored by Zonta, an international club of business women who recognize women who have shown potential in design. Zonta rewards the aspiring designers with a cash prize of $1000 for the four runners up, and a $5000 cash prize for the Supreme Winner.
Each contestant was required to exhibit pieces of their own work. Lucy displayed her range of public furniture, made using recycled tyre rubber as one of the key elements.
Lucy says the win came as a complete surprise. “I was nervous as hell beforehand because I had to give a speech”, she laughs. “When I heard my name being called I just couldn’t believe it. The organisers had told us to prepare an acceptance speech, but of course I hadn’t!”
Lucy’s fellow nominees were Nina Wells, visual communication design, sponsored by Saatchi and Saatchi; Rachel Higham, fashion and textile design, sponsored by Rembrandt Suits; Rosemary Horn, Photographic design, sponsored by Image Lab and Hannah Ferens interior design sponsored by Limited Editions interior design.
Lucy is currently working in our Miniatures and 3D department at Weta Workshop. She is interested in sustainable design, which aims to reduce the amount of materials used to create a design and considers the effect it has on the environment.
Nick writes: “The Weekender” is BBC Radio 2’s Friday night arts programme. This week there was a review of the LOTR musical and also a long interview with Alan Lee, talking about his involvement with the films and illustrating the books, including recently “The Children of Hurin”. You can listen to the programme (the Tolkien bits are in the second hour) by going to the Radio 2 page, to the Listen page and scrolling down the page to fine “The Weekender”. [Radio 2]
Committing at least $65 million, DreamWorks in association with Film 4 has won the bidding for Jackson’s bigscreen adaptation of Alice Sebold’s best-selling 2002 tome “The Lovely Bones.” Announcement came early Friday evening, capping a weeklong auction that had three other majors vying for Jackson’s project as well-Warner Bros. Pictures, Universal and Sony. Jackson is set to begin lensing in October in Pennsylvania and New Zealand from a script he co-wrote with “Lord of the Rings” collaborators Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh. Paramount, which owns DreamWorks, will distribute “Bones” worldwide, with Jackson promising to deliver the film by the fourth quarter 2008. [More]