On Thursday afternoon (NZ time) TORnsibs Delyth and Estelwyn attended the planting of 11 Commemorative Trees in a Wellington park. These trees were purchased with funds raised by members of the TORn boards, as a way of expressing our gratitude for the moving and inspiring work of Peter Jackson and his team.
Here’s our report:
To our surprise, Wellington turned on an unusually warm and sunny day, no sign of the wintry cold and rain from yesterday. As one of the council people commented later, LOTR events seem to have this effect on the weather, as the same thing happened on the day of the ROTK premiere.
Estelwyn spent the morning traveling over from Nelson, and we finally met in person at the Wellington Railway Station around lunchtime. We were kindly given a lift out to Willowbank Park by Amanda White, our contact from WCC. She was really excited to have some people from TORn present, and took great delight in introducing us as “The Lord of the Rings Fans”. We arrived at the site at about 1pm, which gave us plenty of time to check out the location – a very nice area, with a stream and some large eucalyptus trees, one of which had been blown down in a recent storm, making it seem even more appropriate to be planting there.
Our trees were planted together at a site near the road so they will be easy to find if anyone is there in the future. The trees (kauri – NZ’s largest tree) are 7-8 years old and about 2m tall. They were waiting patiently on the slightly muddy ground by large, freshly dug holes. We were introduced to people as they arrived, including the Mayor, Kerry Prendergast, and Myfanwy Hill, the organiser of the event – and keeper of the mayoral gumboots and the well-polished ceremonial spade!
The ceremony was a pretty low-key affair, which began with an introduction from the manager of the Parks and Gardens department of the council. He explained that the council’s new Commemorative Tree programme was a part of the overall strategy for greening of the city, talked in general about management and care of trees by the council, and said a little about these particular trees.
The Mayor then went on to welcome all those present, including us (Delyth and Estelwyn), 3 city councilors, a handful of council staff, a couple of council parks department volunteers, and a local midwife. She spoke about the concept of planting a tree as a memorial, to celebrate a birth or other event, or to “honour someone or express appreciation”. She also mentioned the appropriateness of TORn’s trees launching the Commemorative Tree programme – to be honouring both “one of Wellington’s best-loved sons”, and Professor Tolkien, who loved trees! She then indicated that we could say a few words.
Estelwyn agreed to speak on behalf of the TORnsibs, though it was quite impromptu. She explained briefly how the idea of this “commemoration” had evolved, and what it meant to us at TORn – the idea of saying “Thank-you” to Peter Jackson et al. in a tangible, lasting way that also gave something back to the community of Wellington. She mentioned that we were only 2 of hundreds of people round the world who had contributed to this fundraising effort, which also included a large donation to the Organ Donation awareness campaign GiveLife. She finished by explaining the significance for us at TORn of planting 11 trees – 9 for the Fellowship, 1 for PJ, and one for JRRT, plus 11 trees to celebrate 11 Oscars!
After this a Maori man from WCC said a karakia (a Maori prayer/blessing) and then we helped the Mayor plant the first tree! Plenty of photos were taken of us for a local newspaper, and one of the newspaper photographers gleefully informed us that he had just come from a press conference with Peter Jackson about King Kong. We got to plant another two trees while more photos were taken, although without our own pair of ceremonial gumboots it got a bit messy! The remaining trees were planted by the other councilors and invited guests. When all eleven trees were in the ground, we took some photos of the finished job, and then we were whisked off (in good Kiwi style) for a cup of tea in the restaurant next door.
Inside, one of the councilors we met proudly claimed to be the second New Zealander to read LOTR back in 1954. His 4th form (about age 14) English teacher had been a student of Tolkien’s at Oxford and had brought back to NZ three big hard cover books and given them to him to read. He said he had enjoyed them very much, but they were hardly talked about then. He then went on to tell us of his surprise some years later (1968) when he was in California, to discover LOTR had become all the rage with the “flower power” people!
Once everyone had left, Amanda drove us back into town while telling us stories of her encounters with LOTR in Wellington. She had one particularly interesting tidbit of information. She was in the crowd at a rugby match where PJ and co. recorded the “Death!” chant for the Ride of the Rohirrim scene. They also recorded the chanting of “Grond! Grond!”
All in all, it was a fun afternoon. It felt good to represent TORn and to help people understood our reasons for planting these special trees. We want to thank all the TORnsibs who contributed to this fundraising effort, and especially White_Aslan for her organising talent. You can all be really proud – the trees are lovely. Photos to come!
KING KONG PRINCIPAL PHOTOGRAPHY SET TO BEGIN FOR ACADEMY AWARD®-WINNING FILMMAKER PETER JACKSON AND UNIVERSAL PICTURES
CAST INCLUDES NAOMI WATTS, JACK BLACK AND ADRIEN BRODY
Universal City, CA, September 2, 2004 – Principal photography is set to begin September, 2004 on the dramatic adventure King Kong, with triple Academy Award® winner Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King) bringing his sweeping cinematic vision to the iconic story of the gigantic ape-monster captured in the wilds and brought to civilization where he meets his tragic fate. Jackson assumes directing, producing and co-screenwriting duties and surrounds himself with a list of superlative filmmaking and acting talents.
Jackson re-teams with longtime collaborators Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, co-writing the screenplay with three-time Oscar®-winning partner Walsh and The Lord of the Rings co-writer, Academy Award® winner Boyens. The screenplay is based on the original story by Merian C. Cooper and Edgar Wallace, which became the classic 1933 RKO Radio Pictures film, directed by adventurers Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack. Jan Blenkin, Carolynne Cunningham, Fran Walsh and Jackson will produce the film under their WingNut Films banner, with Universal Pictures releasing King Kong worldwide on December 14, 2005. As with his Lord of the Rings trilogy, Jackson will shoot King Kong on location in his native New Zealand.
Set to star in the Universal Pictures release is a slate of some of Hollywood’s most versatile and accomplished actors, including Academy Award® nominee Naomi Watts (21 Grams), Jack Black (School of Rock) and Academy Award® winner Adrien Brody (The Pianist).
Naomi Watts portrays Ann Darrow, an actress from the world of vaudeville who finds herself out of a job in Depression-era New York. Her luck changes when she meets Carl Denham, played by Jack Black-an entrepreneur, raconteur, adventurer and filmmaker who is struggling to make a name for himself in the entertainment industry. Bold, ebullient and charismatic, Denham has a natural sense of showmanship and an appetite for greatness, which ultimately leads to catastrophe.
Adrien Brody steps into the role of Jack Driscoll, a New York playwright, who becomes an unlikely hero in a romantic adventure story which will test his physical courage and his heart.
Peter Jackson commented, “I’m thrilled to be working with Naomi-not many actresses could step into Fay Wray’s shoes and I have no doubt she will be equally as stunning in the role of Ann Darrow.” Watts will be starring opposite Brody in a feisty love story which has been updated from that of the original film. “Adrien is one of the most gifted actors working today-he is smart and charming and incredibly versatile and I think he’s going to be fantastic in this role, which is unlike any he has played before.”
Jackson has been wanting to work with Jack Black ever since he saw him in High Fidelity. “Jack adds a wonderful dimension to the role of Carl Denham. He’s playing a maverick visionary who is undone by the monstrousness of his own ambition.”
Cast members also include Andy Serkis (The Lord of the Rings trilogy), Thomas Kretschmann (U-571), Colin Hanks (Orange County) and Kyle Chandler (Angel’s Dance, television’s Early Edition).
Andy Serkis (who served as the live-action basis behind the CGI Rings character of Gollum) will provide on-set reference for the title character of King Kong.
Serkis also plays the character of Lumpy the cook, in service aboard the tramp steamer Venture, bound for Skull Island, under the command of Captain Englehorn, played by Thomas Kretschmann. Colin Hanks portrays a production assistant to filmmaker Carl Denham and Kyle Chandler takes on the role of a 1930’s movie star cast opposite Ann Darrow.
Jackson added, “The fun part of my job is getting to work with talented actors like Colin, Thomas, Kyle and Andy because they bring so much more to a role than what is written on the page. Colin Hanks is the perfect guy to play Denham’s assistant, Preston. He is so good – you forget that you’re watching an actor – which can be a little disconcerting.”
“Thomas brings a quiet authority to the role of Captain Englehorn. His droll sense of irony is the perfect counterpoint to Denham.”
Kyle Chandler is playing the role of Bruce Baxter – a nineteen-thirties ‘movie star’ who appears in the film Denham is shooting. “It’s a film within a film; Kyle brings enormous charm and style to this role, managing to capture the quality of some of the great legends of the era, such as Cary Grant and Clark Gable.”
King Kong also marks the return of Andy Serkis to New Zealand and will reunite actor and director on another epic piece of fantasy story-telling.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing what Andy Serkis does with the character of Lumpy, the cook. This will be the first time we will actually get to shoot extended drama sequences together, in the full knowledge that Andy will not be ‘painted out’ after the fact-as he was with Gollum. But Andy hasn’t escaped that fate entirely. He will also provide valuable on-set reference for the character of Kong and he has spent weeks in the London Zoo and in the highlands of Rwanda researching various aspects of gorilla behavior. It is not our intention to soften Kong in an attempt to humanize him. The power of the story lies in the fact that this is a savage beast from a hostile environment and we will not compromise that.”
Actors Evan Parke (Planet of the Apes), Lobo Chan and Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot) have also come onboard King Kong as crew of the Venture, with Parke as Hayes, the first mate, a hardened ex-infantryman from WWI; Bell as the ship’s lookout, Jimmy, a delinquent with a habit for getting into trouble; and Chan rounding out the crew as Choy, the ever-optimistic deckhand.
Jackson’s creative team on King Kong includes director of photography Andrew Lesnie (cinematographer for the Rings trilogy and Oscar® winner for The Fellowship of the Ring); editor Jamie Selkirk (Oscar® winner, The Return of the King); production designer Grant Major (Oscar® nominee for all three Rings and winner for The Return of the King); costumer Terry Ryan (The Hard Word, Paradise Road); and unit production manager Anne Bruning, who last worked in New Zealand on The Last Samurai.
Visual effects will be again accomplished by New Zealand-based companies Weta Digital and Weta Workshop, recipients of multiple Academy Awards® for their collective work on The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Visual effects and miniatures will supplement practical locations in creating primordial jungles and ’30s-period America.
Stacey Snider, chairman, Universal Pictures, said, “We are thrilled to be joining Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh on the heels of the landmark achievement of The Lord of the Rings. Peter and his team will bring their superior filmmaking, unequalled vision and the latest in film effects to this treasured classic. With the high-voltage casting of Naomi Watts, Jack Black and Adrien Brody, Peter’s brought on some of the most talented young actors in Hollywood. There is something unbelievably exciting about working with a filmmaker on his dream project, as King Kong is for Peter. I really look forward to our collaboration.”
Jackson noted, “I very much want to respect the iconography of the original film, because I don’t believe we should try to change what worked. Our version of King Kong will reflect the same sort of dramatic sensibility we employed on The Lord of the Rings- placing real characters, with real dilemmas, in the context of a truly fantastical world. I’m determined to give the film a gritty reality and to play the dramatic elements of the story for all they’re worth. Our movie is set in 1933, and this is important because it means we can invest the story with the mystery and romance of a bygone era. The Thirties was a time of discovery, when we did not know the full parameters of the world and literally, anything was possible.”
Peter Jackson made cinematic history with The Lord of the Rings, becoming the first person to direct three major feature films simultaneously. The final installment, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, received 11 Academy Award® nominations and swept every award for which it was nominated (tying the record held by Titanic and Ben-Hur), including Best Picture, Best Directing and Best Adapted Screenplay. The film was awarded BAFTAs for Best Film and Best Adapted Screenplay, with Jackson also garnering Best Director prizes from the Directors Guild, Broadcast Film Critics Association, Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Chicago Film Critics, Los Angeles Film Critics and other nominating groups worldwide. The second installment, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, earned six Academy Award® nominations, including Best Picture. It won two Oscars® and two BAFTA Awards. Released in 2001, the first film in the trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, was nominated for 13 Academy Awards®, including Best Director, and won four. The film also received the American Film Institute’s prestigious Film Award and was nominated for 12 awards from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), winning awards for Best Film and garnering Jackson the David Lean Award for direction. In addition to four Golden Globe nominations, the film also received numerous distinctions and awards around the world.
Jackson and Walsh previously received widespread acclaim for their 1994 feature Heavenly Creatures, which was awarded a Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival and an Academy Award® nomination for Best Screenplay. Other film credits include The Frighteners starring Michael J. Fox, the adult puppet feature Meet the Feebles, the mockumentary Forgotten Silver and Braindead.
Naomi Watts received her first Academy Award® nomination for Best Actress for her role in Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu’s 21 Grams, in which she starred alongside Sean Penn and Benicio Del Toro. Her performance also garnered Best Actress Awards from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, Southeastern Film Critics Association, Washington Area Film Critics and San Diego Film Critics, as well as Best Actress nominations from the SAG Awards, BAFTAs, Broadcast Film Critics and Golden Satellites. At the film’s premiere at the 2003 Venice International Film Festival, she received the Audience Award (Lion of the Public) for Best Actress, and she was also honored by the Palm Springs Film Festival.
Watts earned widespread acclaim for her work in David Lynch’s controversial drama Mullholland Drive, which premiered at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival and which brought her Best Actress Awards from a number of critics’ organizations, including the National Society of Film Critics. In addition, she was named the Female Star of Tomorrow at the 2002 ShoWest Convention, and received the Breakthrough Acting Award at the 2002 Hollywood Film Festival.
Watts has been filming non-stop and has an extensive list of upcoming releases: We Don’t Live Here Anymore, opposite Laura Dern, Peter Krause and Mark Ruffalo-for which she is also a producer; The Assassination of Richard Nixon, opposite Sean Penn and Don Cheadle; David O. Russell’s I (Heart) Huckabee’s, with Jude Law and Dustin Hoffman; Stay for Mark Forster, opposite Ewan McGregor and Ryan Gosling; and The Ring 2 – the sequel to the 2001 blockbuster, The Ring.
Last year, Watts starred in the Merchant-Ivory production Le Divorce, in which she joins an ensemble cast, including Kate Hudson, Glenn Close and Stockard Channing, and starred in Gore Verbinski’s box office hit The Ring. Other film credits include Undertaking Betty and Ned Kelly.
Born in England, Watts moved to Australia at the age of 14 and began studying acting. Her first major film role came in John Duigan’s Flirting. Watts also produced and starred in the short film Ellie Parker, which screened in competition at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival and for which she received the Best Actress in a Short Film Award from the Method Fest.
Jack Black has appeared in many motion pictures, but it was his scene-stealing performance as John Cusack’s sarcastic music store employee in Stephen Frears’ critically-acclaimed comedy High Fidelity that cemented his place in the hearts of audiences. That breakout role in 2000 garnered him a Blockbuster Entertainment Award in the supporting actor category and a nomination for an American Comedy Award. Black then co-hosted the 2002 MTV Movie Awards with Sarah Michelle Gellar; the program was the highest rated MTV Movie Awards show ever and was the top-rated cable program of the year.
This past October, Black proved his box-office draw with the #1 opening box office hit School of Rock, from producer Scott Rudin, director Richard Linklater and writer Mike White. In the film, for which Black received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, he plays a failed rock musician who, in order to get some quick rent money, pretends to be a substitute teacher in an uptight private school.
Black most recently appeared in the film Envy, in which he starred opposite Ben Stiller for director Barry Levinson. Black has also finished the voice work for the animated feature Shark Tale. Alongside Will Smith, Angelina Jolie, Renée Zellweger and Martin Scorsese, Black will voice the young character Lenny in a tale about an undersea mob and the trouble they get in to.
Fans also know Black as the lead singer of the rock-folk comedy group Tenacious D, which he created with friend Kyle Gass. Their self-titled album was released in the fall of 2001 on Epic Records and was quickly certified at gold-selling status. The band had a 1999 variety series on HBO and the duo has completed the script for their semi-autobiographical feature Tenacious D in: The Pick of Destiny, with an anticipated start of production later this year.
Black was recently seen on the big screen in two hit comedies: in the Farrelly brothers’ Shallow Hal, in which he had his first starring role, opposite Gwyneth Paltrow; and in Orange County, from director Jake Kasdan (Zero Effect) and writer Mike White (Chuck & Buck), in which Black starred alongside Colin Hanks. Black’s past film credits also include Saving Silverman (with Jason Biggs and Steve Zahn) and the independent drama Jesus’ Son, with Billy Crudup. He made his feature film debut in Tim Robbins’ Bob Roberts.
Adrien Brody has made an indelible impression on Hollywood. His Oscar® win for his performance in Roman Polanski’s The Pianist made him the youngest person to win a Best Actor award. His portrayal of Wladyslaw Szpilman also earned him Best Actor nominations from the Golden Globes, the Screen Actors Guild and BAFTA. Other accolades for this performance include ones from the Cesar Awards (French equivalent to the Oscars®), the Boston Society of Film Critics and the National Society of Film Critics.
Brody recently starred in M. Night Shyamalan’s dramatic thriller, The Village, opposite Joaquin Phoenix, William Hurt and Sigourney Weaver. He recently filmed The Jacket, directed by John Maybury, starring opposite Keira Knightley.
Brody first came to prominence for his role in Steven Soderbergh’s King of the Hill, and garnered critical praise in Spike Lee’s Summer of Sam and Barry Levinson’s Liberty Heights. He also starred in Eli Chouraqui’s Harrison’s Flowers and in the ensemble film The Singing Detective opposite Robert Downey, Jr., Mel Gibson and Robin Wright Penn, which made its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. His other film credits include Charles Shyer’s romantic drama The Affair of the Necklace, opposite Hilary Swank; Ken Loach’s Bread and Roses; Terrence Malick’s The Thin Red Line; The Last Time I Committed Suicide, with Keanu Reeves; and Eric Bross’ Ten Benny. And last year, Brody could be seen in Dummy and Love the Hard Way.
Brody was born and raised in New York City, where he attended the High School for Performing Arts and then the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
Universal Pictures is a division of Universal Studios (www.universalstudios.com). Universal Studios is part of NBC Universal. NBC Universal is one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. Formed in May 2004 through the combining of NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment, NBC Universal owns and operates the No. 1 television network, the fastest-growing Spanish-language network, a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, and world-renowned theme parks. NBC Universal is 80%-owned by General Electric, with 20% controlled by Vivendi Universal.
The folks from Into the West write: Into the West is thrilled to present The Lord of the Rings
Inaugural Gala & Fund Raising Event Hosted by Amanda Dickson of KSL Radio
Friday, October 29th at 5:30 p.m.
Begin the evening with dinner at Hotel Monaco’s Bambara Restaurant, followed by The Lord of the Rings Symphony, composed by Oscar award winner Howard Shore, conducted by John Mauceri of the Hollywood Bowl and performed by Utah Symphony at Abravanel Hall.
Prior to the performance, enjoy entertainment by Jackson Elementary Strings Students, a costume parade, door prizes and a silent auction that includes items from Borders Books and Music, Side Show Collectibles, Cottonwood Mall and Utah Symphony & Opera.
Costume attire is welcome – Feel free to don your finest Lord of the Rings costumes!!
Tickets are $75 per person, which includes a donation to Jackson Elementary School, one of Salt Lake City’s inner city schools. Considered pioneers in music education, their mission is to expose every student to the art of playing the violin. Through learning how to the play the violin, students not only receive a cultural education, they also improve other areas of their academic performance. Please join us in supporting this worthy cause while celebrating the epic music of The Lord of the Rings. All proceeds from this evening’s event will benefit Jackson Elementary School.
Buy your tickets before Wednesday, September 8th, when tickets go on-sale to the public!
Call now at (801) 533-NOTE (6683) as availability is limited.
Silent Auction Items and Door Prizes include:
A new 50th Anniversary Illustrated Edition of Tolkien’s The Silmarillion, signed by the artist, Ted Nasmith
Gift Certificates donated by Borders Books and Music
Tickets donated by Utah Symphony & Opera
Porcelain figurines donated by the Cottonwood Mall
Unique Lord of the Rings items from Sideshow Collectibles
Lord of the Rings Treasure Trove Collections
Lord of the Rings Posters
Lord of the Rings Pins
If you have an item you would like contribute to this auction, please contact Gloria at GJensen@magellanhealth.com .
Into the West – Lord of the Rings Fellowship of Utah is composed of members who are inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s words, have an interest in the encouragement of culture and philanthropy, and promote the values of Service, Celebration and Charity. Our group has monthly educational lectures, parties and ongoing philanthropic events such as quilts for Primary Children’s Hospital, book drives for Valley Mental Health’s ARTEC unit, and humanitarian aid kits for third world countries. If you would like to learn more about us visit our web site at http://vcode.com/intothewest . If you would like receive Into the West information and updates please send your email address to: GJensen@magellanhealth.com .
Into the West gratefully acknowledges:
Utah Symphony & Opera Bambara Restaurant Borders Books and Music Cottonwood Mall Sideshow Collectibles
After three days of convention-madness the time has come to write something about it. And to make an undoubtedly long story short: I loved it! It was definetely a weekend well spent. A now for the slightly longer version…
Much has been said and written about the Fellowship Festival already, and rightly so because the lineup they brought to London for the weekend was probably the most impressive I have seen on a fan-organised event (not counting our Oscar-parties).
The organisers behind the Fellowship Festival have taken a leaf from the (succesfull) idea behind conventions like Ring*Con (the German one) and combined the film with the books by inviting a host of (Tolkien Society) guest speakers and featuring workshops on writing Tengwar, making your own Hobbit-feet and much, much more.
But many of the highlights of the weekend were the panels and workshops in which some of the actors participated: Sarah McLeod and Cameron Rhodes managed to make a Hobbit-dance look good, John Noble spellbounded an audience of Tolkien Society people in a very interesting discussion about his character (Denethor), Sandro Kopp discussed his drawings and sketches (Sandro is in fact a talented artist, watch some of his work on www.Sandro-Kopp.com!), John Howe and Alan Lee discussed their work and had people lining up all the way throughout the hall for their autographs, Lawrence Makoare and Jed Brophy (and every now and then the occasional convention-visitor) did a highly amusing stunt demonstration and of course there was WETA‘s Gino Acevedo who turned one lucky visitor into an Orc each day during a 2+ hour makeup-session.
And as if that wasn’t enough to fill up a large room for an entire weekend there were vendors and companies that filled up the hall with stands. EA Games went all out promoting various new games, the Games Workshop-area never seemed to be empty and companies like Cards Inc. and Comminvent (a company officially licensed to produce and sell beautiful LOTR-inspired jewelry in most European countries) had plenty of space to promote their goods. Smaller spaces were reserved for, amongst others, Red Carpet Tours, Discover Middle-earth, Stansborough Fibres Ltd (the officially licensed company that made the fibre for the Elven cloaks, beautiful stuff!) and Blades Inc.
The other half of the Festival took place in the impressively large (and possibly too large) ‘Hall of Fire’ where a pretty much non-stop program of q&a’s and other forms of entertainment kept visitors entertained throughout the weekend. The organisers were smart in pairing up guests for panels which meant that Jarl and Jorn Benzon, Sandro Kopp and later Jed Brophy did theirs together as well as Bruce Hopkins, Sarah McLeod and Cameron Rhodes. Gino Acevedo and Lawrence Makoare teamed up for a talk about all of the makeup that was done for the films (with Gino admitting that the old-age Bilbo makeup was his favorite) and had a wonderful slideshow of pictures backing them up. Craig Parker and Mark Ferguson (who apart from MC-ing the event also did a few panels) did their stuff together as well, because it hardly seems possible to separate the two.
Moving on swiftly to the highlights, because they were many. Unfortunately you’ll have to do without pictures as I was stupid enough to leave my digital camera at home and the ones I made with the disposable one are still being developed. Other people took pictures though; there are a bunch here and of course Ian Smith was there so keep an eye on IanSmith.co.uk for his report and pictures (no rush Ian, no rush…). If you have pictures you’d like to share, please email them my way!
Now I could write books about the many panel-highlights but I won’t, partly because I’m hoping someone else will and partly because, well, this would get very long. So I’ll summarize a bit. Bernard Hill talked about how he first auditioned for Gandalf but ended up with the part of Theoden, how he ‘borrowed’ some of the smaller dead Orcs and Uruk’s that were used on the scaled down Helms Deep set and his run-in with merchandise like a bobble-head Theoden. In later panels he really got going talking about the makeup-trailer and the Christmas-decorations the cast and crew made for it.
All in all he seemed to have a good time despite admitting he didn’t really know what to expect of his first ever convention. The only possible bad reaction he got from the weekend was one question from the audience that went along the lines of: “Is it true that noone on set wanted to do a scene with you because you smell bad?” Of course this question came from Karl Urban so we might need to take a grain of salt with it.
Karl Urban was another great addition to the Festival’s lineup, and its a pity that he had to cancel the other convention-appearances he had planned for this year due to work commitments. And yes folks, don’t worry he revealed what kind of commitments: he’s been cast for a part in the upcoming movie adaptation of Doom (the videogame), you read it here first. Upcoming projects were a recurring theme this weekend, especially behind the scenes, and they should be, but more on that later.
The highlight of the day was the premiere of ‘The Lord of the Rings 4: The Return of the Towering Fellowship’, a radio play written by Mark Ferguson (and undoubtedly now available on eBay) and performed in front of a live audience by Mark (voicing Frodo), Cameron Rhodes (voicing Elrond, Sam, Gimli, Gandalf, Richard Taylor and those parts I have forgotten), Sarah McLeod (narrating and voicing Rosie Cotton and Arwen), Craig Parker (voicing various Elves, Legolas, Haldir, Peter Jackson, Gollum and Yoda) and Bruce Hopkins (responsible for the sound effects and travelling music). The story in a nutshell: Frodo got bored, reformed the Fellowship and they went on a quest to stop the evil reincarnated Haldir from killing everyone. No innuendo, possible slash-reference or ‘open door’ was left untouched in the play that kept audiences on the edge of their seats (or rolling around laughing on the floor) for nearly an hour. The second performance on Sunday reached near perfection despite Bruce still getting his sound effects mixed up. The Monday-premiere got rather silly but that was to be expeted and it was a remarkable performance that the actors managed to deliver their lines with straight faces for as long as they did.
The ‘topping’ for the night was Karl Urban who turned out to be another one of these highly amusing and extremely friendly Kiwi-actors that make most conventions as fun as they are. But with that the evening did not end. Not at all. Every night featured a special event; a karaoke sing-along on Saturday, Galadriel‘s Ball on Sunday and a quiz on Monday. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to attend those, but from what I hear they were great fun but ended too early. This was, or so I have been told, because of location guidelines.
The exception to that rule was the highly exclusive Fellowship Feast that was held every night. People who didn’t object to the high ticketprices for the feast (the 200 pounds might have been a bit steep seeing as how people also paid a lot of money for convention-tickets and autographs) were treated to a luxurious four course meal, all the wine you can drink and to top it off some great vocal performances by cast and crew. It is really depressing to see how all the talent can go to one person while some (like me) are stuck with none. Gino Acevedo for instance has a great voice, as has Sarah McLeod. And the family Howe for instance; John in an excellent artist whereas his wife has a gorgeous voice.
Oh well, moving on swiftly again! Sillyness and run roamed the last two days of the Festival. With the Radio Play of course, but other little highlights included the Charity Auction in which Craig, Mark and Karl with a little help from other cast (Lawrence Makoare‘s intimidation-techniques helped raise the prize on some items and Craig Parker helped raise money but eventually came out on the wrong end of the auction when he was talked into buying a GameCube) auctioned of a wide range of items to help raise money for ‘Beat Bullying’, a charity that helps develop anti-bullying strategies (soon the running joke became that bullying was wrong but battling was okay).
Craig Parker amused crowds with his sign-language retelling of The Lord of the Rings, John Noble was (proudly) overheard sharing the story of how his two daughters rejected the charms of Orlando Bloom and Viggo Mortensen and Bruce Hopkins, Sarah McLeod and Cameron Rhodes decided to turn things around for their Sunday panel, inviting all the visitors up on stage while taking place in the hall themselves to ask them questions. On Monday their panel turned into a Cameron Rhodes directed scene from Macbeth featuring a forest of convention-visitors, a young lady whose name escaped me playing a character whose name escaped me and a hopeless Bruce Hopkins as the titlecharacter. And these were just some of the highlights…
The Monday ended with the closing ceremony and the announcements of the various contestwinners. The Fellowship Festival ran a bunch; a poetry competition (entries had been read aloud by the actors on the main stage all day, which is a very nice way of getting them out to the general public), and art-competition (judged by Alan Lee and John Howe), a filmcompetition and the almost obligatory costumecompetition. I guess I’ll never be a fan of competitions so I won’t expand too much on them.
Which brings us to the not so obligatory and slightly more interesting bit of the report, the bit where I tell you all (or; the ones that made it this far) my two cents on the weekend. And I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again: I loved it. In all honesty I have to say that I actually wasn’t planning on attending this event, but this was largely due to real life commitments. I am glad I did however. In the jungle of conventions that people can attend nowadays it is nice to see one that we can file under ‘quality’ instead of ‘quantity’.
Too many conventions are too much of the same, and it was refreshing to see one that went the extra distance so that visitors had more then just the usual q&a’s and autographsessions. And I think the guests; the cast and crew, enjoyed it too. Some of these guys attend up to or over 10 conventions a year so for them it must be much of the same too.
(This is also why it is nice to see and hear that most of them are looking for other things to do with their time. Bruce Hopkins is making some good progress on his Operation Read and the documentairy he is trying to make about it, Cameron Rhodes I don’t think is ever without a job and other actors were heard saying that it was time to stop doing conventions for a while and find ‘a real job’. I can only applaud this, as much as I like running into them at events like these, I’d hate for one of them to turn out as some kind of convention-dinosaur, an actor that never really found an another acting job after a memorable performance and spends his days soing conventions and writing autobiographies about his day-and-a-half on the set of Star Wars/Star Trek/Etc Etc Etc (circle as applicable). Also, I think the LOTR-convention-circuit is rapidly ‘satisfying’ itself. There is an unhealthy amount on conventions out there nowadays and at the rate we are going right now within three months every LOTR-fan that is interested in getting an autograph will have it which undoubtedly will mean that attendance numbers will be dwindling or that the actors won’t be able to sell themselves anymore because there are no buyers. My guess is everyone is trying to jump on the bandwagon of LOTR-conventions and that we’ll be spreading our own butter too thin. A handful of LOTR-only conventions a year would be a much better situation and by making yourself unique in that way and by offering features and events other conventions haven’t got you can possibly draw larger audiences and ‘bigger’ guests. But hey, I’m a doomthinker so I could be very wrong…)
Obviously the Festival had its minor glitches, but perfection cannot be reached in the first attempt. From an organising point of view some things can definitely be done better; the ticket-system was a bit of a mess and I would also recommend reviewing the prices again. A slightly higher entrance fee and free signatures forever might be more tangable for some visitors. When I am honest I would have to say that I wouldn’t pay 20 to 30 pounds for an autograph either. But on the other hand; having your guests sign for free would mean huge waiting lines and that’s not really a preferable situation either, so it’s a delicate balance that organisers have to keep in mind.
Secondly I think the location could be reviewed as well. Alexandra Palace (a huge building with a gorgeous view over London and plenty of space) was home of this years Fellowship Festival, and it was very nice but a tadbit hard to reach for those depending on public transportation. Attendance numbers were unfortunately not that high, which meant that the Hall of Fire never really filled up (though given; it would be hard to get enough people in that space to make it look crammed). And again there’s the opposite side of the coin; from a logistical point of view the location as it was set up now probably couldn’t handle more visitors. The Talan (where the Tolkien Society did their panels) couldn’t possibly hold more visitors, the passages to both halls would get really crammed if there would have been more visitors travelling from one hall to the other.
It was a pity to see that not a lot of people found their way to Alexandra Palace this time around. Maybe it was the price, maybe it was the fact that is close to other conventions or maybe it was because of reasons mentioned above. It did however give the event a lovely almost intimite feel, with actors wandering around every now and then instead of staying hidden in the green room and very few lines for signatures or food.
Nevertheless there have been some complaints, though a lot of the ones I have heard so far seem to come from people who’ve never really attended a convention before. Unfortunately this also seems to be the group of people that the Festival is anxious to reach so what do you do? I guess thats a question for the organisers to answer (though for the right fee, *wink* *wink*, *nudge* *nudge*, I’ll do some advising) and we’ll hopefully see it next year.
Because despite all the bad press they have been getting from certain corners of the internet there will be another Fellowship Festival (August 27th – 29th 2005, mark your calendars!), and rightly so. Because this year the organisers proved that they could deliver on their promises: they brought the guests, they brought the vendors, they have the contacts which means they have a tremendous potential, let’s hope they can build on that. And if they make the neccesary changes I’m sure they’ll be able to put up a show equal to this one, and probably even better.
Marysia writes: I just spent three days at the Fellowship Festival in Alexandra Palace.
The Fellowship Festival is the first UK based attempt to run a more typical genre convention rather than a marketplace event for Lord of the Rings movie fans. It will be followed by similar (though “unofficial”) events in Manchester in October (Master of the Rings – www.autographmania.co.uk) and Bristol in March 2005 (Return of the Convention – www.nadobra.com/conv) and possibly another Fellowship Festival next August. The question is, does it work?
The Fellowship Festival was both a success and a failure. Originally planned for a room that could hold up to 8000 it was scaled down before the event and even then didn’t come near to filling the capacity of the hall used, with a guestimate of 600-900 people there on it’s busiest day. This doesn’t mean they failed, it just means they over-estimated their audience… 700 people is still a lot of people for this kind of event. However there was a slight element of not having fully pulled away from the marketplace event mould with seperate (and very high) charging for autographs rather than inclusion within the ticket price, and the autograph sessions being run in the noisy dealers/exhibitors room.
But there was a lot they got right, bringing in the sort of elements that make conventions fun. Competitions, workshops etc. Some highlights would be…
The spoof radio play written by Mark Ferguson (Gil-Galad) and performed by him, Craig Parker (Haldir), Sarah McLeod (Rosie Cotton), Cameron Hodges (Farmer Maggot) and sound effects by Bruce Hopkins (Gamling). A followup to RotK where Frodo gets bored of the Grey Havens and comes back to Middle-Earth to get back together with Sam (amid much suggestive implications), Legolas (hilariously played by Craig) and others to defeat the evil resurrected Haldir.
A display recreating various fight scenes from the movies done by Lawrence Makoare (Lurtz/Witchking/Gothmog) and Jed Brophy (Snagu/Sharka/Ringwraith) with audience participation. Jed is a bundle of prat-falling energy and Lawrence has an easy drier humour, the end result was hilarious and included a recreation of the extended DVD version of the death of the Witch King with an 8 year old boy in Gimli costume and a girl dressed as Legolas assisting.
Sandro Kopp (Gildor) talked through a CD full of sketches he had done while on set, some of which can be seen on his website at www.sandrokopp.com. He is an accomplished artist exhibited worldwide and gave a nice view of what it was like to be in the background of the set. For instance 1/20th of the Army of the Dead are played by Sandro in a variety of different costumes.
The Tolkein Society provided a lot of extra content with hobbit dancing (assisted by Cameron Rhodes and Sarah McLeod) and talks on the languages of middle earth and costume making workshops.
Bruce Hopkins performed an impromptu scene from Macbeth under the direction of Cameron Rhodes with a lady from the audience rading for MacBeth and several other audience members playing trees.
John Noble (Denethor) did a particularly touching reading of the winning poetry entry at the closing ceremony.
The cast members present were mostly very relaxed and seemed to have a good time, even those that didn’t do so well on the autograph front. They were often seen looking around the exhibition area or sitting in the main hall watching other talks and from what I hear all had a very enjoyable time, especially in the evenings.
This kind of event can work and I think it’s a welcome break from cross genre marketplace events, but I hope future organisers look at this event and take note of where it did go wrong. Bigger isn’t always better and there are limits to the amount of money fans will pay out. Get the mix right and hopefully events like this will continue in the UK for many years to come.
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gilgalad70
I visited the Fellowship Festival late on Sunday afternoon, after completing my morning’s work and motoring like a fell beast on Pelennor Fields chased by the White One to London.
Once I found the Alexandra Palace, somewhere I’d heard of, and seen from the train, but not gone to by car before, it took a while to find the main entrance (there are two entrances, one to an Ice rink, the other to the Great Court, which led to where the Festival was. We had been greatly encouraged to pre-book our tickets, and were told the ONLY place to buy your tickets for autograph sessions was online. These autograph tickets entitled you to bask in 2 minutes of Star Power, and chat with The Star, and get up to 3 items of your own inscribed as well as ‘one of his/hers’. A maximum of 300 tickets per person per day was to be sold.
At the ‘Box Office’ they had no clue who was still signing, it was 4pm-ish, and nothing big was listed until the Festival Feast took place a mere 3 hours later. The signing stations in the room were deserted. Bruce Hopkins at one end of the line, and Craig Parker at the other were battling with no queues between them. In the centre of the room were a group of folks, some in full dress (Rosy Gamgee, and a few uber-fans) doing a dressed up form of country dancing to a worn out tape, a large block where you could play the LOTR-related EA Games if you so desired, and around the perimeter was a collection of various stalls that helped remind me of school jumble sales and Speech Days. Apart from John Howe and Alan Lee, signing for free, discounted copies of their assorted books (including advanced copies of Alan’s excellent revamped The Hobbit (I got 2), we had a pewter seller, a poster seller, a stall promoting New Zealand as a holiday destination, and a mini lecture theatre in the corner where lectures were being given on the intricacies of Elven weapon adornment.
In the middle of the room, next to the folk dancing, was Cards Inc, UK distributor of the Topps cards, and makers of their own lines of trading cards and memorabilia. Talking to some of the guys in the room, the show had so far been a bit of a disappointment. Stars had ‘disappeared’ when they were advertised to be still signing, and look bored when the flow quickly dried up. The Festival’s PR exclaimed the Biggest companies in the World would be fighting to display their latest wares. OK EA Games are quite big, but Sideshow were notable in their absence. Besides Topps, or New Line itself, is there a bigger LOTR related Big Company out there?
Across the hallway, I was able to catch the end of Karl Urban’s Q&A. He was able to disappoint many (cancelling his Collectormania appearance) and delight (suggesting his fave film was the Caine version of Get Carter , and dissing Stallone’s version (Ok so fish, barrel and shooting comes to mind but…)) someone pointed out it wasn’t him at the end of Two Towers riding beside Bernard Hill. Apparently he had to be away (attending his son’s birth) that day. He wasn’t happy about it. He felt that PJ should have digitally replaced his face on the face of the stand-in. Imagine that, digitally altering reality, in Lord of the Rings! This was followed by the School Nativity Play on Acid AKA Craig Parker and Ferguson’s ‘Radio Play’. For a family show, it was very much off limits. From what I saw and heard, it made Howard Stern look like Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and the worst sketch on Whose Line is it Anyway, look like Frasier. I think one comment I heard was, Tolkien, and PJ if he was dead, would be rolling in their graves like spinning tops..
With all the ‘blowing our own trumpet’ you could read on the website and in the mags, what you got for your 20 GBP (or more if you upgraded) really was a waste of money. Ok nice big venue, thousands of seats in the auditorium, and only just 650 tickets sold ALL Sunday.. unless you were stupid enough to buy tickets just for the feast..
If anyone thought Collectormania was bad, they had to be at Alexandra Palace this weekend. I mean, they didn’t even have blokes selling ‘ltd. ed’ film cells!
Andrew sends along this announcement: New York University’s The Gallatin Film Series, The Tisch School of the Arts & Andrew Vannata present The Lord of the Rings:
FOTR: September 24, 2004 6:00 pm TTT: October 1, 2004 6:00 pm ROTK: October 8, 2004 6:00 pm
Cantor Film Center 36 East 8th Street at University Place
Open to All Free Admission Seating First Come Basis
On Thursday afternoon (NZ time) TORnsibs Delyth and Estelwyn attended the planting of 11 Commemorative Trees in a Wellington park. These trees were purchased with funds raised by members of the TORn boards, as a way of expressing our gratitude for the moving and inspiring work of Peter Jackson and his team.