Tag Archives: Richard Taylor

Meet the Feebles Inspires Happytime Murders Writer

Meet the Feebles Inspires Happytime Murders Writer

Danny Mulheron, Meet the Feebles writer, and American scriptwriter Todd Berger – for the R-rated puppet comedy, The Happytime Murders – recount almost 30 years of bad taste for an article in The Hollywood…

Inside Magic Leap, the Startup Changing Computing Forever

Inside Magic Leap, the Startup Changing Computing Forever

At Magic Leap, the start-up that secretly raised nearly $1.4 billion in venture capital, humanoid robots are walking down the halls, green reptilian monsters hang out in the lounge and there are cartoon fairies…

Richard Taylor to Help Bring Monkey King to US

Richard Taylor to Help Bring Monkey King to US

Special effects maestro New Zealander Richard Taylor will direct the design of characters in the upcoming American film version of The Monkey King, a Chinese blockbuster. “There has been a rush to bring Western-originated movies to…

Peter the Great’s Hobbit Premieres in China

Peter the Great’s Hobbit Premieres in China

Oscar-winning director Peter Jackson was joined by Weta Workshop’s Richard Taylor (pictured far left) in Beijing for the Chinese premiere of the final Hobbit installment on 19 January. This was Jackson’s final stop on his…

Empire Reunites Peter Jackson and the Bad Taste Gang

Empire Reunites Peter Jackson and the Bad Taste Gang

For the January issue of Empire, devoted entirely to bidding “Farewell to Middle-earth,” Peter Jackson and the crew of the 1987 splatter classic, Bad Taste are reunited “to reminiscence about the crazy shoot.” “That year,…

Weta’s Richard Taylor Takes on Thunderbirds Challenge

Weta’s Richard Taylor Takes on Thunderbirds Challenge

The idea to adapt half-century-old television series Thunderbirds began 12 years ago when New Zealander Richard Taylor an Oscar-winning visual effects, makeup and costumes wizard, went to the UK to ask for creator Gerry…

Hobbits Fit Their Safety Masks for Air NZ Safety Video

Hobbits Fit Their Safety Masks for Air NZ Safety Video

Ahead of the final instalment of The Hobbit trilogy, and continuing its long tradition of entertaining in-flight videos, Air New Zealand has launched its latest “epic” pre-flight safety demonstration. The airline has done a new…

Master of All Surveyed

Master of All Surveyed

“Watching on a monitor, tucked out of sight , is Peter Jackson, the magician of Middle Earth,” Kim Masters writes for The Hollywood Reporter. “He had to overcome many…

Theatrical Isolation

Theatrical Isolation

Paul Stephanus, director of the play Quarantine, plans to ferry his audience at dusk to a disused convalescence chamber on Matiu/Somes Island in Wellington harbour during next month’s Fringe Festival. Once the audience disembarks…

Weta Puts Out Feelers

Weta Puts Out Feelers

New York-based Ohio Edit is to represent Weta Digital on the US commercial circuit. Company heads Peter Jackson and Richard Taylor decided that their acclaimed effects house would benefit from small international projects in…

Alveridge Animated

Alveridge Animated

The rights to Queenstown artist Ivan Clarke’s Lonely Dog picture book — “a series of paintings featuring a lonesome-looking pooch” and his friends in the mythical world of Alveridge — has been bought by…

Brain Dead Dolls

Brain Dead Dolls

Wellington’s Weta Workshop will create practical and creature effects for American director Kristoffer Aaron Morgan’s independent horror film, The Home. “The Home is going to be an amazing film that we are thrilled to…

Taylor-made for Shortlives

Taylor-made for Shortlives

Richard Taylor’s animated children’s programme Jane and the Dragon now airs in the US every Sunday afternoon on NBC. Jane and the Dragon is created from drawings so detailed they required even more…

Jane and the Weta

Jane and the Weta

Weta Workshop is collaborating with Toronto-based animation house Nelvana to produce a CGI television series of Martin Baynton’s popular Jane and the Dragon books. The 26-episode series is Weta’s first foray into children’s programming….

Rings Exhibition Lord of Museum Toll-Gates

Rings Exhibition Lord of Museum Toll-Gates

The Lord of the Rings exhibition opened at London’s Science Museum in September, and has already proven to be the most successful show in the institution’s history. Developed and presented by Te Papa, over 14,000…