It was such an honour to meet Jasmine Watson, jewelry artist for the LotR movies, and hear her talk about her pieces for the movies and her experience there. It was also very cool to hear Greg Tozer from WETA tell us his anecdotes about the WETA folks and the actors during the filming. All the other panels I attended were interesting and well presented – I thought the ConCom did a great job, and will definitely go to this con next year!
Attached is a picture of me with Greg Tozer from WETA.
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Johanna Washington
TolCon was an amazing experience and I have to attribute much of that to our amazing Guests of Honor. Greg Tozer was an absolute gem. If any of you went to ComiCon last year, he spoke for Weta. He was so happy to hear we were a small con and enjoyed his time so much with us and mingling with the guests that he donated his autograph fees to our charity, People for Puget Sound. He is honestly one of the kindest, generous-of-spirit persons I have had the privilege to know. Weta gave us a wonderful gift when they asked Greg to join us for TolCon.
Jasmine Watson brought grace to the con (and Jewelry!) Her grace is reflected in her jewelry…absolutely gorgeous! I didn’t have the opportunity to see either her or Greg’s presentations (such is the life of the Hotel Liaison) but from the rave reviews I heard about them, they were impressive. Greg brought samples from the Weta workshop of feet, ears, orc armor, etc. and Jasmine had a lovely power point presentation highlighting the jewelry she’s created for various productions throughout the years.
We were also honored to have Luke Ski, who sings parody songs similar to Weird Al, which focus on Fanboys, but has a particular song which earned him and his wife a free trip to Seattle, “Stealing like a hobbit” to the tune of Em and Em’s, “Cleaning Out my Closet.” Absolutely hysterical. As well as “KeanuMan” to the song “Piano Man.”
People seemed to enjoy the wide array of programming we had ranging from language classes and costuming to gardening in Middle Earth and cake decorating, and also including special events such as, “Who Drank My Half-Pint, a Hobbit’s Guide to Beer Sampling” and our TolFilm fanfilm festival. Raining Men is still the “raining” (harhar)champion.
What was most astounding, however were the items we received for the silent auction for People for Puget Sound. Viggo’s generosity was overwhelming, with 2 signed books (Miyelo and The Horse is Good) and 3 signed photographs. Weta sent a bust of Gandalf signed by Richard Taylor and the sculpturist. And 3ft6 sent (get ready for a new pair of shorts) Elijah Wood! (Just kidding…haha..ha..ahem) But I literally did need a new pair of shorts…they sent an Art of the Two towers SIGNED by the entire fellowship! AND two (2) two towers shirts with gollum embroidered on them…AND (and this is where I changed my shorts) a Fellowship poster signed by nearly every major actor in LOTR and Peter, Fran, and Philipa. The poster still had tapemarks on it…3ft6 had taken it off their walls and sent it to us.*cries* Among other items donated for the auction, we were able to gather over $1700 for People for Puget Sound.
Greg gives TolCon 5 stars and two thumbs up and told us he’d have to fight to get to go to TolCon again because everyone will want to take a turn with the ladies of TolCon. Almost every picture Greg has with us, he’s surrounded by women because we have 3 members of a 20 person Convention Committee that are men. The rest of us are proud Tolkien women.
So that’s a bit of my report. I’m looking forward to TolCon 2005. I hope I get to see more of you there next year!
Johanna Washington Hotel and Guest Liaison NW Tolkien Society
Just to clear up this Decipher Weta Card confusion once and for all, here’s the deal. The person who wrote to you called HumbleSauron appears to be a little confused as well, and is certainly not someone from Weta, so, with all these rumours flying around, I felt compelled to write and straighten things out.
There is no secret behind the origin of these cards. Decipher have been very up front about them from the beginning, so I’ll simply repeat and clarify what they have already said publicly about them on their website. The images are not depicting scenes from the Extended Edition of ROTK. They feature scenes, objects and characters from the books that didn’t appear in the movies but did appear in the books. They have been especially complied for these cards. Weta Workshop and Decipher Inc have collaborated in this process. Decipher hold the rights to produce extra material derived from the books and, wanting to maintain the spirit and flavour of the films, they hired Weta Workshop as collaborators on the project. Where necessary we have made new items, but in most cases we have creatively reused props and costumes already made for the movie in new ways to create new images.
Several of the cards involved very little or no Weta input because they required no new material to be created or were simple image montages. Some (mostly characters) required heavier collaboration between the two companies. Others were all Weta’s work. The latter two categories feature Weta “bug” icons on their cards as a kind of signature (in reference to the native New Zealand insect from which the company derives its name). Decipher have done this as a kind gesture of thanks to Weta for their involvement. On cards that had little or no Weta involvement, the bug doesn’t appear. The absence of a bug does not indicate that the image is from the Extended Edition of ROTK- none of these cards are.
It is true that for the most part the cards feature cameos of Weta or Three Foot Six folks. It made sense because these people were available and it afforded us all a chance to get our moment in the spotlight and be a part of Middle-earth. With respect to Glorfindel, the actor who portrayed that character in the cards was an Elven extra and double during the entire three-movie shoot, but never had his stand-out moment in the films, so we felt it was only right he should get first dibs at being everyone’s favourite missing Elf. There was a costume selected for Radagast at one point when it was possible he was going to appear in the films, but that was nixed quite early on. Weta Workshop’s own John Harding was lined up to play the part if it happened, so when these cards came along he was once again the logical choice.
Some of these new cards have debuted already. Others will appear in the coming months. Please feel free to post this e-mail with my name on it. There is no secrecy here and this is not a spy report or anything unprofessional like that or I would not be writing. I hope that helps explain where these new images have come from. It has been a great fun project for us and I think the final images look really cool. We hope you all enjoy them,
“LORD OF THE RINGS” STAR DOMINIC MONAGHAN INTERVIEWED FOR DOCUMENTARY FEATURE, “RINGERS LORD OF THE FANS”
HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA — WEDNESDAY, MAY 12, 2004 — Actor Dominic Monaghan granted an exclusive interview to the producers of the upcoming feature documentary, RINGERS: LORD OF THE FANS. Mr. Monaghan revealed how the bonds of love and family brought him to read J.R.R. Tolkien’s masterpiece, “The Lord of the Rings,” long before he was cast in Peter Jackson’s Oscar-winning film trilogy adapted from the book.
Mr. Monaghan gained worldwide fame for playing the fun-loving hobbit Merry Brandybuck in the “Rings” Trilogy, which has won a total of 17 Academy Awards, including a Best Picture win for the final installment, “The Return of the King.” Mr. Monaghan is a recipient of the Screen Actor’s Guild Award (Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture) for his work in the “Rings” Trilogy. He recently played a successful con artist in the British gangster film “Spivs,” starring Ken Stott (“Shallow Grave”) and Nick Moran (“Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels”). Mr. Monaghan’s most recent project is ABC’s new drama series “Lost,” starring Ian Somerhalder (“Smallville”), Jorge Garcia (“Becker”), and Matthew Fox (“Party of Five”). With the most expensive pilot ever made for television, “Lost” follows a group of people stranded on a Pacific island who are forced to build a new society after surviving a plane crash.
The “Ringers” documentary filmmakers have secured interviews with many actors and entertainers, exploring how the works of J.R.R. Tolkien influenced them at the dawn of their careers. After 16 months of location shooting on three continents, and speaking with dozens of actors, filmmakers, rock musicians, authors, and academics, “Ringers” stands as the most comprehensive film document of the ongoing Tolkien phenomenon.
About the documentary:
Very funny and often moving, “Ringers: Lord of the Fans” shows the hidden power behind Tolkien’s books — and how after 50 years a single literary work continues to spark the minds and hearts of millions, across cultures and across time. “Ringers” explores the real foundations of Middle-earth; a community of true fans who share a common bond. Moving beyond “cult classic” and over several different generations, the film unearths academics, musicians, authors, filmmakers, and a plethora of pop junkies — the people gathered under the banner of ‘Ringer.’
Actor – Dominic Monaghan, Author/Filmmaker – Clive Barker, Writer/Director/Producer – Cameron Crowe, Actor – David Carradine, Comics Illustrator – Colleen Doran, Author – Terry Pratchett, Author – Peter S. Beagle, Author – Terry Brooks, Tolkien Scholar – Dr. Jane Chance, Chairperson of the Tolkien Society – Christine Crawshaw, Author – Colin Duriez, Filmmaker/Critic – Chris Gore, Screenwriter/Publisher – Forrest J. Ackerman, Actor – Bill Mumy, Author/Tolkien Scholar – Dr. Tom Shippey, Author/Broadcaster – Brian Sibley, Great-Grandson – Royd Tolkien, and hundreds of Tolkien fans!
For additional information, contact: Melanie Marquez, Publicist 9220 Sunset Blvd Suite 220 West Hollywood, CA 90069 Office: +1 323-669-1173 Cell: +1 626-833-6790 Melanie@LitchfieldEnt.com
Jeff Duncan, Assistant Manager of Media Relations for the Houston Symphony writes:
Houstonians will be able to experience a two-hour journey into the magical world of J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth on July 1 and 2, when there will be two performances of Howard Shore’s monumental composition The Lord of the Rings Symphony in Six Movements, performed by the Houston Symphony, four singers, the Houston Symphony Chorus, and the Houston Children’s Chorus, conducted by Alexander Mickelthwate.
This symphonic adventure has sold out in every city where it has played since its premiere in March. The choruses will sing in “Elvish,” and musicians will play such instruments as Norwegian fiddles, Japanese drums, African flutes and Tibetan gongs.
More than 250 musical performers, enhanced by enormous Lord of the Rings images, will make for a truly breathtaking musical experience. The performances will feature original concept and storyboard artwork from the films by artists Alan Lee and John Howe. The images will be projected on a gigantic screen hung above the orchestra and will chronologically align with the music as the story of the hobbits’ journey from the peaceful Shire to the dreaded land of Mordor unfolds.
Shore has based this two-hour symphonic adventure on selections from his multi-Oscar and Grammy-award winning scores from the recent Lord of the Rings films.
“This Lord of the Rings Symphony is a two-hour piece based on the 12 hours of music I wrote for the three films,” says Howard Shore. “Each film was a four-hour composition. And this new symphony takes a concert audience through the story of the Lord of the Rings in a narrative way, using the choirs, using the singing.”
Howard Shore is one of Hollywood’s most prolific composers. With more than 60 movie scores, including The Silence of the Lambs, Philadelphia, Ed Wood, The Fly, and Naked Lunch, Shore’s compositions are well recognized. His work on the Lord of the Rings trilogy earned “Best Score” and “Best Song” at this year’s Academy Awards Ceremony.
Thursday, July 1, 2004, 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 2, 2004, 7:30 p.m. Alexander Mickelthwate, Conductor Houston Symphony Chorus Charles Hausmann, Director Houston Symphony Children’s Chorus Stephen Roddy, Founder and Director
Concert ticket prices are $20 – $55. Tickets are available at the Jones Hall box office, by phone at 713-224-7575 ($2.75 per ticket handling fee applies) and online at www.houstonsymphony.org. Tickets can also be purchased online through Ticketmaster at www.ticketmaster.com.
Carlene Cordova, director of “Ringers: Lord of the Fans” writes: A certain Hobbit wanted me to let everyone know that his new show “Lost” has just been picked up by ABC for 13 episodes.
“Lost” is a new drama from ABC TV that follows a group of castaways stranded on a Pacific Island. Instead of wacky shenanigans with the Skipper and everyone’s favorite “little buddy,” this show is a drama about the group creating a new society a la “Lord of the Flies.” (That’s “Lord of the FLIES” a book by William Golding, which has absolutely nothing to do with ‘Rings’ in case you were wondering. )
Dominic Monaghan’s character is a rock musician. No word on whether or not a movie star, professor or millionaire round out the troupe. The show’s pilot was the most expensive ever produced and also stars Matthew Fox (Party of Five), Jorge Garcia, Maggie Grace, Josh Holloway, Malcolm David Kelly, Daniel Dae Kim, Evangeline Lilly, Harold Perrineau Jr. and Ian Somerhalder.
Rumors have this as a mid-season replacement, but I’ll let you know for sure when we get an official press release from ABC. Sounds like a great show!
Ian Collier writes: I had this info come in from the cinema manager of the Phoenix Picturehouse, and as it has all three LotR films and Braindead I thought you’d want to know about it too.
ALL-NIGHT SPECIAL SATURDAY MAY 15th 2004
at the Phoenix Picturehouse, 57 Walton Street, OXFORD, UK 01865 512526
SCREEN 1
THE LORD OF THE RINGS 10.00pm THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING [PG] 2.00am THE TWO TOWERS [12A] 6.00am THE RETURN OF THE KING [12A]
SCREEN 2
ZOMBIE NIGHT 10.30pm NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD [18] 12.30am DAWN OF THE DEAD [18] 2.30am SHAUN OF THE DEAD [15] 4.30am 28 DAYS LATER [18] 7.00am BRAINDEAD [18]
Tickets: £16 FULL / £14 CONC / £12 MEMBERS
(£8 TO ANYONE DRESSED AS A LORD OF THE RINGS CHARACTER OR A ZOMBIE)
