Trivia / Peter Jackson

• Production Posse: Owing to the remote location of New Zealand, Jackson essentially built an entire studio for himself, piece-by-piece, just to get any of his ambitious films made.
  • Nearly the entire crew of his first feature, Bad Taste, form the nucleus of Jackson's later collaborative team, notably Jamie Selkirk (Editor), Costa Botes (Documentarian), and Fran Walsh (Co-writer & Jackson's wife).
  • With Meet the Feebles, the posse expanded by creating a professional visual effects department, Weta Workshop, eventually led by Production Designer Richard Taylor. Stephen Sinclair co-wrote this film with Jackson, and the two would go on to share a writing credit for Braindead and The Two Towers.
  • Kiwi Actor Jed Brophy first appeared in Jackson's Braindead aka Dead Alive in 1992, and would appear as a minor character in every movie of Jackson's afterwards until being promoted to a starring role as Nori the Dwarf in The ''Hobbit'' Trilogy. Storyboard Artist Christian Rivers became a protege of Jackson's at this time, eventually going on to direct a feature film of his own which Jackson produced.
  • Heavenly Creatures brought in production designer Grant Major, producer/director Carolynne Cunningham, & costumer Ngila Dickson.
  • The Frighteners necessitated a lot of advanced computer hardware, and therefore Weta Digital spun-off from the Workshop and would be essential in creating Jackson's later blockbusters. Art Director Dan Hennah and production manager Rick Porras join the posse and would work on Jackson's next big project....
  • The Lord of the Rings brought in Stephen Sinclair's partner, Phillipa Boyens, as co-writer on all three films; Boyens and Walsh have co-written every other of Jackson's films since. Andy Serkis and Jackson would go on to collaborate in several other Mo-Cap and Performance Capture Projects in the future. Cinematographer Andrew Lesnie would film every single one of Jackson's future feature films until his death in 2015 right after the Hobbit wrapped.

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