John Howe sends this in: Alan Lee will be present at the “SAINT-URSANNE LA FANTASTIQUE” festival for the closing weekend. Alan’s presence as special guest will be the highlight of the summer-long festival, which will have featured concerts, exhibitions and conferences on the theme of Tolkien (with Vincent FerrĂ©, French Tolkien expert) and fantasy. Alan will be signing books in the medieval cloister at 4:00 PM Saturday September 2nd. This will be Alan’s first visit to Switzerland, so it’s a unique opportunity, not to be missed! For more information, visit the official web site. [More]
Category: Crew News
All news about the LOTR Crew.
Katie writes: I received an advertisement in the mail today about a Lord of the Rings concert performed by the Cleveland Orchestra and the Blossom Festival Chorus at the 2007 Blossom Festival in Cleveland, Ohio on July 21 at 9:00PM. Prices for reserved pavilion seats start at $26 and general admission lawn tickets are $22. Gates open early at 6:30PM for picnicking. Tickets can be purchased by calling (216)231-1111 or (800)686-1141, or online at their website: clevelandorchestra.com. Also, if I have understood the letter correctly, it says that Howard Shore will be conducting! Again, this may or may not be correct. Either way, it sounds like something you wouldn’t want to miss. 🙂 More information can be found at their website.
Hollywood heavyweights Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh have joined the fight to protect a historic Seatoun chapel from demolition. It is understood the film-making pair are even considering buying the Our Lady of the Star of the Sea Chapel, estimated to be worth $10 million, to save it for the community. They have been joined by other Seatoun residents, including Dame Pat Evison, concerned that a large residential development would replace the chapel. [More]
A poster on YouTube has put up a special teaser cut together for the Rock Ness Music Festival. TORN’s good friend and producer Barrie Osborne, who also produced the LOTR trilogy, and director Jay Russell have adapted Dick King-Smith’s classic novel about the Loch Ness Monster into a full length feature film. Take a look at the clip!
Richard Taylor, co-founder of Weta Workshop and Digital and representing New Zealand, was one of 47 business leaders from 39 companies competing for the title of Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur of the Year over the weekend. All have won national Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year titles and were in Monte Carlo representing their countries in the world’s only global business award.
Guy Laliberté, the founder and CEO of Cirque du Soleil was named Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur of the Year for 2007. Guy Laliberté represented Canada at the Awards.
Richard said he was thrilled to have been part of the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur of the Year Awards. “I am extremely honoured to have been among the astounding talent which is here in Monte Carlo. It has been an immensely enriching and rewarding experience to meet and socialise with people from around the world who are at the top of their game,” he said.
Richard says he dedicated his Monte Carlo experience to the team that supported his and partner Tania Roger’s creative vision. “My involvement in this competition recognizes the successes Weta has achieved with the combined support of a team that embody four key traits: passion, enthusiasm, tenacity and talent. Tania and I could not have achieved our creative goals without this crew, and for that, I dedicate this experience to them.”
Richard has been in Monte Carlo for the past week, meeting the international independent panel of eight judges that included former Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year winners and judges.
Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards director Roger Hatrick-Smith, who was with Richard in Monte Carlo, said Richard’s participation in Monte Carlo represents New Zealand’s ability to successfully participate in the global business environment.
“It’s a great barometer of New Zealand business, to have Richard Taylor representing us on the world stage. The opportunity to showcase Richard, his business and New Zealand business within this forum is invaluable,” he said.
Richard commented that all of the 46 other finalists were making impressive and significant contributions to global business and to be part of this group was an honour.
“There were contestants such as Canada’s Guy Laliberté who took Cirque du Soleil to the world and India’s Tulsi Tanti who started Suzlon, which is now the fifth largest wind turbine manufacturer in the world. All of these people had highly inspirational business stories to tell. Meeting them and many others in this environment has been inspiring,” he said.
Richard began what would grow to become Weta as a small effects business, with his partner Tania Rodger, in the back of their Wellington flat in 1987.
Richard Taylor, with his co-directors Peter Jackson and Jamie Selkirk, have made Weta into a multi-million dollar business, which operates out of a 65,000 square foot facility in Wellington and provides physical and digital effects for films, advertisements and television shows, as well as now diversifying into high end collectibles, publishing, commercial chainmaille manufacturing and television production.
Along the way, Richard has personally won five Oscars and been involved with the highly acclaimed The Lord of the Rings trilogy and most recently King Kong.
Entries are now open for New Zealand’s 2007 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, which will be announced at an award banquet on 14 November, 2007.
Special effects king Richard Taylor will fly the Kiwi flag in Monaco this week amid the world’s leading entrepreneurs, a prospect he finds daunting. Attending the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur of the Year awards, after winning the New Zealand title last October, Mr Taylor will compete against 46 others from around the world in the luxury Mediterranean port. But it was the prestigious company, rather than the swanky location, that was the biggest treat. “We have always thought of ourselves as creative people, not business people. It’s a bit daunting actually,” he said. [More]