{"id":77551,"date":"2013-08-24T07:35:44","date_gmt":"2013-08-24T12:35:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/?p=77551"},"modified":"2013-08-24T00:47:36","modified_gmt":"2013-08-24T05:47:36","slug":"johnny-fraser-allen-from-school-to-weta-workshop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/2013\/08\/24\/77551-johnny-fraser-allen-from-school-to-weta-workshop\/","title":{"rendered":"Johnny Fraser-Allen: from school to Weta Workshop"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Hohnny
Johnny Fraser-Allen. Photo: FAIRFAX NZ.<\/figcaption><\/figure> Johnny Frazer Allen is a rising star in Tolkien fandom and the art world. He won a lot of hearts at San Diego Comic-con with his generosity and authentic fan enthusiasm, providing insight into the design of Radagast while signing with author\/actress Evangeline Lilly. TheOneRing.net even covered his Gloaming exhibition earlier this year. <\/p>\n

Johnny has a standing invite to appear on TORn Tuesdays to further chat with fans, when he’s able to break free from his many obligations! <\/p>\n

Here, mainstream magazine Stuff now profiles Frazer-Allen’s rising career. <\/p>\n

\n

There is a fairytale-like feeling to the story of 28-year-old Johnny Fraser-Allen. A chance encounter with Weta Workshop’s Sir Richard Taylor at the airport, and the pivotal decision to miss a flight home so he could talk to him, landed Fraser-Allen his dream job at Weta at the age of 19. Nearly a decade on, he has put working for the creative company on hold to focus on his latest adventure – writing and illustrating children’s books, and gearing up for his second exhibition.<\/p>\n

Landing his dream job at Weta took a touch of fate for Fraser-Allen. He had flown from Christchurch to Wellington, hoping to show Taylor his final high school design portfolio at a photography exhibition by Lord of The Rings star Viggo Mortensen, but Taylor was a no-show.<\/p>\n

Despondently waiting for his flight home, he spotted Taylor at the airport. “I had the choice of missing my flight or talking to him, so I missed my flight.”<\/p>\n

The meeting was a turning point.<\/p>\n

“Richard took a lot of time with me, gave me a lot of advice, then he gave me his card and told me to bring my portfolio up in person.”<\/p>\n

When Fraser-Allen got home, he scrapped his portfolio and started again, based on the Oscar winner’s advice.<\/p>\n

When Taylor eventually looked at his portfolio, he said Fraser-Allen’s skills weren’t good enough for the design room, but he employed him based on his enthusiasm.<\/p>\n

[Read More<\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Johnny Frazer Allen is a rising star in Tolkien fandom and the art world. He won a lot…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":77552,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8,1515,4,496,77,148,104],"tags":[2122,2123],"class_list":["post-77551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-production-crew-news","category-evangeline-lilly","category-hobbit-movie","category-production","category-taylor","category-hobbit","category-production-weta-workshop","tag-johnny-fraser-allen","tag-the-gloaming"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t