The Wellywood sign - vote now!

Now is the time to cast a vote for the "Wellywood" sign. Cast your vote here. The vote closes on Friday, November 18 and the winner will be announced on Monday, November 21.

The sign will be located at the entrance to the Miramar suburb. Elsewhere in Miramar you will find Park Road Post Production facilities, the Stone Street Studios, the Weta Workshop, Weta Digital, the Weta Cave, the Roxy Cinema, and huge number of other film industry companies.


There's been a lot of local debate for and against the sign. Personally, I'm totally in favour of it.

The Wellywood sign would be perfect - it yells "film industry", which none of the other options do. That was the whole point of the sign in the first place. Currently, if you are a visitor to Wellington, there is nothing to photograph as an iconic "Wellington film industry souvenir" photo. Paris has its Eiffel Tower, Sydney has the Opera House, New York has the Statue of Liberty. And of course, Hollywood has its sign as well. Our little town isn't important enough for a tower, but a simple sign on the hill would be perfect.

Some of the early options included a giant Weta (a NZ insect), or the phrase "Middle-earth". All cool signs, I'm sure - but Wellywood is more than the Weta Workshop, and certainly more than the Middle-earth films. Even in Wellington, there are lots of people who don't realise the Weta Workshop has been involved in more than 120 movies since the LOTR trilogy; including such huge franchises as Narnia, and the X-Men movies, and of course Oscar nominees Avatar and District 9, and more recently the new Spielberg/Jackson production of Tintin.



The two other options - the Taniwha (a sea-monster from Maori mythology), and the wind-blown Wellington sign - are interesting choices, but neither say anything about Wellington's huge achievemnents in the world's film industry.


"Wellywood" celebrates it in one iconic and easy to recognise sign. Vote now, and lets get this going viral among Wellington's many fans outside the country! Please repost this message elsewhere too!

Again, you can cast your vote here.

  - Jack Machiela, from the NZ Noldor blog


PS - in case this is reposted and the hyperlink is lost - the voting link goes to  http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/wellywood-or-what/wellywood-poll/5927480/Vote-now-The-final-Wellywood-vote

Hobbit filmset spotted on the highway?

I thought I'd share this lovely series of photos that were taken by one of my passengers as I was driving towards Rivendell - they appear to be parts of... Rivendell?

We were driving on State Highway 2, heading towards Upper Hutt, and the Kaitoke Regional Park where the Rivendell set was based for LOTR, when in the distance, I couldn't help but notice an interesting cargo on the back of one of the trucks in front of us. I had my iPhone lying beside me on the seat, and handed it over to one of my passengers, who took these photos (all except the last one when we had stopped for a traffic light):

The pictures appear to show a piece of very nice "stone" masonry, with curved tiles on a fairly large wooden base. Also, underneath some camo plastic, there were what appeared to be pre-fabricated wooden fences of some sort. See for you self - all the pictures can be clicked on for a larger view.


We drove beside the truck for a little while, and my passenger took a few more pictures. Please excuse her reflection in the glass; it was a very sunny day here in Wellington today.

On the right you can clearly see the "stone" wall - on the left is the camo sheet with the fences underneath it. The odd shape at the bottom of the wall is actually my passenger's knees reflected.

In the photo you can see the wooden structure that is holding the wall up.

Another view of the wall from the back of our van.

And a better view of the wall, with more detail intricate patterns of the stone tiles. This stuff reminds me of the architecture of Rivendell.

And I took this picture myself, when we were positioned right behind the truck as we were waiting for a light to change. A different angle of the fences and the wall.


We followed the truck for a while, until it turned off just before Upper Hutt. So unfortunately it doesn't look like the Rivendell sets will be rebuilt at Kaitoke Regional Park - at least, not yet!

  - Jack M.

Filming of Cardinal seems to have begun

Driving through Rivendell today, we passed a large ancient stone structure and an old tree that I'm sure weren't there yesterday. It looks like the filming of the video game has begun, as I blogged about a few days ago.

To the left, an ancient stone clearing. To the right, a tree being moved into the forest. All perfectly normal.

 Building up to an ancient ruin of some sort. Made from Styrofoam.

It also looks very much like the name of the game will be "Cardinal", and not "Monk" or "Abbott", as I'd previously reported. After work, just before I got home, I noticed a few new signs around my own suburb, marked "Cardinal", with the distinctive look of the film industry's directive signs.

The bottom sign is new

Cardinals turn left?

From the sounds of things, the filming at Rivendell will be from the 16th to about the 19th of February, however, these signs I photographed are closer to Wellington City and probably point towards Makara, where a lot of filming was done as well - notably parts of Black Sheep, and of course a few scenes of our very own Lord Of The Rings. Specifically the part where Sam, Frodo and Gollum walk past the old statue of a king with its head removed, when the evening sun reveals the blossom on the king's head.

I'll keep my eyes open in the next few days, there might be some LOTR people about - or perhaps even Hobbit people?

Filmset in Rivendell, (not Hobbit)

I've heard from a few people that there will be some filming going on in the Kaitoke Regional Park, aka Rivendell. Although apparently swords will be used, it doesn't sound like it will be The Hobbit. I've pieced together some details, weeded out the stuff that sounded too fantastical or unlikely, and this is what I think is happening:

- Being filmed are the short movie interludes for a video game, to be shown between advancing levels of the game
- The game is called "The Monk", or "The Abbott", or something similar. I couldn't get anyone to tie that one down
- The park location will be used between the 16th and 19th of February
- The director will be Lee Tamahori, of James Bond and Once Were Warriors fame
- There will be swords, medieval tents, and horses
- Weta is involved, although I have no idea if that's Weta Digital or Weta Workshop, nor do I know at what level they'll be involved


And today, while on tour, we met up with Shane Rangi at Rivendell, who was doing some "reccing" (recconaissance) with some studio crew. He was very friendly, but appropriately tightlipped, of course :)  He did let slip that he'd be a part of the filming next week.

I have blogged about Shane in the past - check out this entry from March last year, where he was also scouting around the Rivendell area with a group of execs. Possibly it's about the same filmshoot?

If I see anything worthwhile next week, I'll be sure to post some pictures!

The Hobbit WILL be filmed in New Zealand, after all!

On my browser right now are about two dozen links to websites and facebook pages that are reporting that The Hobbit will go ahead in New Zealand. There are some HUGE celebrations around NZ tonight!

If you want to see our Prime Minister John Key's full press conference, take a look at this page on TV3. They have a 5 minute clip including questions time.

TVNZ also has a page for it here. Their video is about 10 minutes long.

And of course, our newspaper collective, stuff.co.nz had a few words to say on the matter as well.


I understand that the Matterhorn restaurant is the location of an inpromptu party right now. Can't make it myself, but that's mainly because I've been celebrating too much to legally drive there at this stage. :)


Personally, I've avoided talking about the actor's boycott that has taken over this country's news media in the last few weeks, mainly because it was too close to my heart. If the Hobbit hadn't had the go-ahead to be filmed here in New Zealand, I may as well pack up my bags and decide on a new career. Sure, LOTR tourism would still exist, but pretty soon it would stagnate. Pretty much everyone has always assumed (rightly, it turns out) that taking The Hobbit away from New Zealand would amount to lunacy. Frankly, I would have wound down the blog, and gone on with something else less work intensive.

Some of the specific reasons I didn't report on any of it on this blog - it was well reported elsewhere. I usually had no personal angle to add to it. When I did have my own story, I was bound by loyalty to keep things confidential (like the non-unionised actors meeting I attended). If we'd lost the Hobbit, I wanted it to end on a high note ("green light for Hobbit" and "pro-Hobbit rally" for instance), while if we didn't lose it (as it turns out), I don't want three weeks of hatred and spitefulness messing up my blog forever. And let's face it, some pretty awful things were said, and lots of untruths as well.


I'm sure everyone has been reading The One Ring, and perhaps Kristin Thompson's excellent blog The Frodo Franchise as well. Kristin's accurate analysis of everything LOTR/Hobbit related, especially the financial and political side, is always fascinating to read. If you haven't subscribed to her posts, I can highly recommend them.



From here on in, expect the casting rumours, the location rumours, and general film news to be foremost on my mind. The awful uncertainties have finally gone (I hope!), and I can relax a bit and get on with the job of reporting some FUN rumours for a change!

Hope you'll join me!

  - Jack M.

Pro-Hobbit rally in Wellington

I just got back from the pro-Hobbit rally here in Wellington at Civic Square, which was attended by thousands of people. There was a nice positive feeling from the crowd, which was a great change from all the negativity from the last few weeks surrounding the Actors Equity boycott of the Hobbit movie.

There were many famous faces in the crowd - some took a turn at the microphone while others were there simply to support Sir Peter Jackson.

A good turnout from the crowd, too. I estimated around 3000-4000 people or so but I was in the middle of them so didn't get an accurate picture. Let's see what the newspapers and TV reports say about it tonight.

Here's a few photos I took (if you follow me on Twitter you may have already seen some of these - if you don't yet, you probably should consider it).

12:26pm - The first Hobbits have arrived

12:33pm - The crowd is building up. In the foreground are my friend Grant McKenna and my wife Aiko.

12:51pm - Festivities have started - the Maori song Pokarekare Ana is sung, and the first speech is from the newly elected mayor of Wellington, Celia Wade-Brown.

12:54pm - Sir Richard Taylor, head wizard at Weta Workshop, gives a rousing speech, and reads a prepared letter from Sir Peter Jackson.

12:56pm - a partial shot of the crowd

1:02pm - Liz Mullane speaks next. She's the casting director from LOTR, and also for The Hobbit.

1:06pm - A good friend of mine and fellow LOTR tourguide, Ted Guise from Wellington Movie Tours, talked about tourism, and The Hobbit's impact on it.


Unfortunately I missed photographing some of the speakers at this point - one of them was Chris Guide, Ted's brother. Also a number of others - crew members, designers, a producer, technicians, etc. (my apologies to those I missed!).I was a bit too busy spotting faces in the crowd. Although Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh weren't there, I did spot Katie Jackson with some friends. I didn't photograph her - I gather she doesn't like the limelight as much as she used to when she played "cute hobbit child" in Fellowship of the Ring. :)

1:20pm - Next up, a speech from Gino Acevedo, SFX wizard extraordinaire (and incidentally Liz Mullane's partner - they met on the set of LOTR, apparently)

1:22pm - Wait, is that Barry Osborne in the crowd (producer of LOTR, and Matrix as well)?

After Gino's speech, Sir Richard Taylor got up once more to address the crowd. Sir Richard is always a welcome sight - people here adore him. He's one of the most gentle people I've ever had the pleasure of meeting, with the most contagious sense of enthusiasm. The crowd loved him today.

1:29pm - A few balloons of hope are released - maybe Hollywood will see them...

1:43pm - Peter Lyon (sword smith) and Alan Lee (artist/designer) continue to mingle while the crowd disperses.

After the speeches, the microphone was switched off, and people started to drift away, although slowly. There were a lot of groups of people who hadn't caught up with each other for a while, seemingly. Lots of anticipation from different groups eager to get started. TV crews will no doubt have lengthy reports tonight, but it was the individual stories they won't catch. Everywhere I looked I saw hopeful people wanting to get started on this film.

This gathering was truly a show of unity aimed at the Hollywood executives, who are expected in the next few days. Let's hope it was enough.

- Jack

Hobbit Announcement due on August 21st?

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Update, Aug 10th, 2010 - further information has come to hand earlier today but I couldn't get to a computer earlier. Essentially, it doesn't look like there will be any announcement on the 21 of August, and it really is just a private function happening at the Weta Cave, so if you were thinking of making a special trip out from elsewhere in the world just for the day, please don't bother. You'll be better off coming in on the 22nd, when the Cave is actually open to the public again. Also, they'll have the new displays up by then, so do come on the 22nd. It'll be worth your while, I promise, especially if you haven't been to the Weta Cave before.


I also want to make an observation that seems to have bypassed a few of you out there - I set this blog up so I can post all the juicy rumours I hear, and for no other reason. If sometimes I don't have the full information, then keep in mind that 99% of the time I'm simply not privvy to it. I just happen to be in a good position to hear ground-level stuff, which unfortunately sometimes turns out to be incorrect. If you've followed my blog over the last year and a bit, you'll know me well enough that I sometimes speculate wildly, have a tendency to run off at the mouth/keyboard, am not always diplomatic, and yes, occasionally just plain rant (get me started on 3D, go on... I dare ya).

If you can't handle any of that, hit Ctrl-F4 now please. If you want to stick around, I promise I'll let you know anything I hear that I can publish without damaging my sources. Usually I'll be the furst to publish, and sometimes it's even true.

If, on the other hand,  you want to hear extra stuff that isn't juicy enough to make it onto the blog, follow me on Twitter and Facebook (buttons on the right of this page).

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Update, Aug 9th, 2010 - Kristin Thompson has responded to my query on her blog.
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I got a message today from a friend of mine who had visited the Weta Cave a few days ago, and spoke to a few other visitors there about the Cave's annual refurbishment (which started today), and was told that they are also closed for a "private function" on the 21st of August, which is a Saturday.

The staff were quite annoyed about it, apparently, since it's not been announced to them what function it is for (ha! that's what secrecy feels like, guys!)


So I spoke to a few people on the phone tonight, and I've been able to piece a few things together. Now, by August the 22nd it may turn out that my 2+2 equalled 5, so let me just give you the information I have right now:

1. The Weta Cave is shutting for 5 days to refurbish - something that took only 2 days last year
2. About a week later, they're closing again, for a very secret private function
3. A different contact told me that apparently a lot of LOTR/Hobbit related sets and props are being taken out of storage at the moment. The contact was unclear about why it was happening, but there was a certain urgency about it, and apparently this is a very recent development as well, so nothing relating to the reports at Hobbiton being rebuild (which are all true, incidentally). The idea was that these props are being taken out of storage for some local (Wellington) purpose, in the next few weeks.

All the people I spoke to in the last few days seem to think an announcement is imminent, and morale is at a high here in Wellywood at the moment.

Couple that with the known stuff that's been going on earlier this year -

1. MGM Studios apparently need to have about 10% of the film in the can by the end of the year, or they'll lose the filming rights. (I don't know the full details about this - perhaps a better person to comment on this might be Kristin Thompson who seems to have her finger more on the pulse of the various studios' financial and legal details, and runs the excellent blog "The Frodo Franchise"?
2. The recent pressure on the studio to start the movie is mounting - Sir Ian McKellen wants to get started, Sir Peter Jackson is just seemingly going ahead as though there's actual money at stake, and Guillermo del Toro has already walked away - The Suits at MGM and Warners MUST surely see that they have to get started asap?
3. Brad Pitt was recently in town. Apparently. And eating curry, no less. That can only mean one thing. (he was hungry?)

Ok, except for the last item, I'm putting my money on the big announcement happening  on the 21st of August.

Speaking of spotting Famous People in Wellywood - did anyone else in Wellington hear about Steven Spielberg and Daniel Craig being here this week? The Dominion Post and Stuff didn't report those two, I think...

  - Jack M.

Weta Workshop in refurbishing mode

The Weta Cave is closed for the next week, to change all their displays, except one (the skeleton dog from The Frighteners is most likely staying since it's so fragile - nobody wants to move it!).

As is often the case at Weta, everything is completely shrouded in secrecy. The staff at the Cave themselves don't seem to have any clear idea about what they're going to see when they get back to work next week. Apparently they were asked for suggestions but nothing has come back to them as to what final decisions have been made in the meantime.

From what little I have heard and have tried to piece together, I am hoping there might be more Lord Of The Rings stuff, possibly some stuff from The Water Horse, maybe a few actual swords from The Last Samurai, and maybe even some preview stuff from the new Narnia movie Voyage Of The Dawn Treader. I'm expecting more horror stuff as well though - maybe even some gory details from Peter Jackson's early zombie movie Braindead (aka Dead Alive in the USA).

Specifically, I'd like to see a little less of Dr Grordbort's Raygun collection. I am a big fan of it, but it seems to be taking over the Cave a little too much for my liking. I think the staff are also a bit tired of having to explain to everyone what it's all about, and why there's no movies of it.


Actually, what I'd really like to see is Richard Taylor and Tania Rodger's first creations - maybe some political satire puppets, or a certain trumpet perhaps?


Once the renovations are complete, I'll do my best to get some shots of the displays, and will post them here as soon as possible. Expect to see an entry in a week or so.


Anyone else have a favourite item they'd like to see?

  - Jack M.

Another nail in the coffin of the 3D industry

I was just reading a report from some recent studies of the 3D movies recently released, on NZ's news site stuff.co.nz.

It looks like the love affair with 3D movies is already past its use-by date. Wait - already? What am I saying - it took longer than I expected.

In short, some figures from the reported findings:

• December 2009 - Avatar 3D, approx 71% of the audience watched in 3D
• March 2010 - How To Train Your Dragon 3D, approx 68% of the audience watched in 3D
• May 2010 - Shrek Forever After 3D, the figure had dropped to 61%
• July 2010 - The Last Airbender 3D, down to 56%
• Later in July 2010 - Despicable Me 3D - 45%

And still they haven't figured it out - "Critics say part of the problem may be the technology itself". Nope, it's the fact that the audience isn't clamouring for 3D in a cinema. It's a solution desparately looking for a problem to solve, and there isn't a problem. We like 2D. Really, we do!


I saw three other quotes this week on the subject. The first one is from the film critic Roger Ebert, and is listed at the above link as well (near the end) - "3D is a waste of a perfectly good dimension and Hollywood's current crazy stampede towards it is suicidal".

 The second one was a figure I saw on theonering.net, from ComicCon'2010. Apparently they conducted a survey during their panel, and found that "out of 450 people surveyed, 450 don’t want 3D for ‘The Hobbit’". Sounds like the audience really doesn't want it, doesn't it? Ok, so 450 isn't a huge scientific sample, but at ComicCon, they're pretty dedicated film watchers. I'm hoping the eventual makers of the film listen to the audience.


The last quote I unfortnately can't find back right now (it was on a podcast that I haven't seen transcribed anywhere). Apparently, when Sir Ian McKellen was in Wellington, he me up with some of the Weta technicians, one of whom asked him what he thought of Avatar 3D, to which he replied something along the lines of "you know, theatre is in 3D?"... classic. Obviously he wasn't too impressed with the "advances" in technology. Go Sir Ian. :)

In essence, that's what the big bucks have been trying to emulate - the theatre experience. For some reason, it's what everyone is supposed to want (but very few actually do).


I know I've blogged about this a few times before, (ok, ok, they weren't so much blogs as rants), but I feel very strongly about 3D. It was a gimick in the 1950's, it was a gimick in the 1960's. It's still a gimick now. If they ever solve the "stupid glasses" problem, I'm prepared to look at it again but I doubt very much whether we'll all still be talking about 3D in 2012 ((before the apocalypse, obviously)). It'll be a long forgotten fad by then, and all your expensive glasses and 3D TVs will be under your beds, resting in peace with your slinkies and your hula-hoops.

You can quote me on that in 2013.

  - Jack M.

Update on Noldor Blog

After an extended blogging sabbatical, it's probably high time I started updating this thing again. :)  Truth be told, I just  haven't heard anything newsworthy recently, or at least nothing that wasn't already widely reported by other sources. I think we all know by now that Guillermo del Toro has walked away from The Hobbit production. I have very little else to add on that matter except to say I'm genuinely sorry to see him leave the project. I had the pleasure of meeting the man on several occasions, and he struck me as perfect for the job, also given his previous movies. Alas, it was not meant to be.


On a personal note, I've "pulled a Del Toro" myself (as a friend of mine phrased it so delicately). After working for only three and a half days over the last two months,  I've decided to resign from Flat Earth Tours. I still think they have a lot to offer people - they also run Wine Tours, Cultural Tours, Wellington Historical Tours, etc, but anyone who knows me will realise I need more Tolkien in my life than they were offering me. It wasn't a decision I took lightly, but a necessary one. I have rent to pay and cats to feed!

So I'm considering all my options, of which I'm sure to write about at length, at a later date. In the meantime, I know some of you were planning to come to New Zealand on one of my tours with Flat Earth - if you're already booked in with them, I'd say stick with that booking (ask for Todd, he's a fantastic guide as well). If you were hoping to have me as your guide, I can run a private tour instead, but please get in touch with me as soon as possible so I can arrange dates etc.


I'm not sure what the future holds, but it's pretty bright. There's lots of excitement on the horizon - apart from anything else, The Hobbit will surely start at some point. If you been following me on Facebook or Twitter, you'll know that I like to drop obscure hints about rumours I am not allowed to speak openly about - I've been hearing from almost all my studio contacts that the mood is very hopeful, closer to the sources. Surely the MGM creditors must by now realise that the longer they wait, the less money this project will make since all the good people are leaving (no, not me, I meant GDT, dummy!). Time is of the essence. If the first Hobbit movie is rubbish, there will be less audience for the second one, so the stakes are high to do it right. Perhaps Peter Jackson will direct after all (or should I say "Derek"?) ...


Few other things have happened here in Wellington of late. Richard Taylor has turned into Sir Richard Taylor, although Tanya Rodger was passed over for a Queen's honour (this time). Sir Ian McKellen arrived here today for a week to perform a play. And we're expecting there will finally be a "Wellywood" sign in our hills, but that seems to be dragging its feet. I'll be amongst the first to post photos when it happens, I hope!


One small but significant event on the horizon - the Weta Cave has announced that they will be closing for a few days in August (from the 9th to the 13th), for their now annual makeover. No word on what the new displays will be, I couldn't get anything useful from Anna, although Steve mentioned that some of it may be from "one of the movies he's in" - I didn't actually realise he was in anything, so that didn't help me at all - thanks Steve! :)

If you haven't been to the Weta Cave since before July last year, get there quickly before they change everything again - and then revisit after August the 13th for the new stuff!



Hopefully I'll have more news for you again soon. Keep watching!


  - Jack M.

Bag End Miniature - a first look, straight from the Weta Cave

I was at the Weta Cave yesterday with a group of people, about 20 minutes after the first two Bag End Miniatures were put on display. I'm trying to get a link here to the Weta Workshop's page on it but their site is currently down, so this will be updated later.

I "happened" to have a camera with me, so I thought I'd share some close up photos of this totally stunning, gorgeous piece of art. This is what it looks like from the front.

The front door is opened - there will also be an "open edition", which won't have the inside sculpting. So, perversly, the open edition will be a closed sculpure, while the closed edition (individually numbered) will have the open sculpting, viewable from the rear. These photos show the limited edition.

Here's the view from behind:

There are six rooms in total, no more than about an inch tall, and totally filled with Bilbo and Frodo's clutter. The detail is absolutely amazing. It must have been tough getting paintbrushes in there! My photos don't do it any justice at all, but take a look.

From the left, we see the bedroom:

The Hallway, with open door:

The Lounge(*):

The Dining Room(*):

A Reading Room(*):

And a Rumpus Room(*):

I think this is possibly one of Weta's finest miniatures. I understand this edition will be limited to 111 only (Eleventy-one), but I may have misheard that - I was too entranced with the piece to pay much attention to the information provided.

The other edition will be unlimited, which I think is also a first for Weta - they will be able to reproduce it in unlimited numbers. Unfortunately, that won't of course include most of the detail above (really just the top photo), but it'll be a great piece in your display cabinet (and mine)!

  - Jack M.


(*) I've probably totally misnamed the rooms - if anyone knows the actual names, drop me a line?

New Weta Miniatures on the horizon?

I was talking to a guy in the last week who brought news from Hong Kong (my spies are everywhere!), where Greg Broadmore's exhibition of his Dr Grordbort range of guns and accessories are being displayed. This travelling exhibition was originally set up in mainland China, in Chengdu. All the proceeds for the exhibition there went to support the victims of the big earthquake in the Sichuan province in 2008.

I haven't spoken to anyone who saw the exhibition in Chengdu, but I was shown some very interesting pictures (although very briefly, and very small photos) of the displays in Hong Kong. Specifically, I saw a new LOTR miniature that I hadn't seen before, of Gollum creeping up a precipe of some sort. I would approximate from the scale that the statue was roughly the same size as the one that came with my The Two Towers (Extended Edition) DVD boxed set, way back in 2003, so about 15-20cms tall. He looked pretty awesome! Is this Weta's new miniature, after the soon-to-go-be-released Pillars of the Kings? Btw, if you want that one, be quick, since it's apparently very close to sold out already, through pre-orders.

Unfortunately I don't have copies of the photos, but I'm more than happy to publish any sent to me (hint!)...


So, I did a bit of a search online, and although I couldn't find any Gollum miniature photos, I did come up with this picture, of Dr Grordbort's range, specifically the previously announced (but never mentioned again) Goliathon 800 Moon Hater miniature:

So, apparently it does exist already! It wasn't clear to me whether these displays were in the Exhibition or in the attached Weta shop, but it would have been awesome to see them!

This piece I didn't recognise at all - it may have come from a graphic novel or something. It certainly looks stunning though![Update: according to the good folks at the Weta Collectible forums of The Shadow And Flame, they represent the Earth elite forces, from the Victory book.

I did see Gollum amongst the photos though - but this one is fullsize, and is either the faux-bronze or the actual bronze - I suspect the faux-bronze since it's had to be hauled to Hong Kong!

I also recognise this piece - this was done in full-size, outside Blizzard Entertainment headquarters in the US (thanks to The Shadow And Flame for the info).

It seems to be a much smaller version of the giant statue. Merchandise? Faux Bronze? Artist Conceptual Proof of the real one? Your guess as good as mine!


But the best is still to come - I searched further online, and found this - it looks to be a new range called "Guardians of the Garden".

Quote : "A Weta original. A range of small bronze sculptures of fantasy creatures riding on Eurocentric forest animals, getting up to mischief in your garden. They bring alive your garden with irreverent humor, childhood fantasy and beautiful art". Gorgeous!

NB - I love the "not approved" comment on the photos - I wonder how my source came by them then? Weta Ltd is usually VERY careful about what they let out of their sights!



It certainly looks like Weta is beavering away in the background, and is certainly not sitting still while they wait for The Hobbit to go ahead!

  - Jack

Roundup of lesser things

Another two weeks have passed since the last entry, and not a lot of official stuff has happened. The green light on The Hobbit still hasn't been lit, and although there's some movement in some of the actors (notable Sir Ian McKellen), nothing official has been announced. Frankly, from a news perspective, there's nothing going on at the moment - but at least I'm honest and up-front about that.

The local newspapers, both Wellington's as well as Auckland's, have been busy sensationalising things even more than usual. I can't believe people buy papers anymore, when the truth is so easy to find these days, online.


The announced Wellywood sign

The first botched newsreport of course was the announcement by the Wellington Airport that they are in the final stages of putting up a big "Wellywood" sign in the Miramar hills. The required Resource Consent has already been granted by the Wellington City Council, so apart from a high court appeal (fairly unlikely), it looks like it's all going ahead, and around June we will have ourselves something to actually photograph with pride. The airport's lawyers seem quite certain that all the legal requirements have been met as well, so I can't see anything else in the way.

I think they're planning on "Wellywood" but this has appeal, no?

The Dominion Post however, decided to make it a huge public spectacle, with online surveys and by opening comments on their website (through stuff.co.nz). Of course, there was a lot of backlash from the Great Unwashed, but that's always going to be the case. The Beehive (NZ's government building) was treated in the same way when it was first announced (well, similar anyway; that was pre-blogging), and now nobody talks about it anymore, but tourists come daily to photograph it. The national Museum Te Papa caught a lot of flack at the time of construction, but that's quitened down. Hell, I'm sure the Eiffel Tower got a lot of complaints when it was first announced/built, and now look at it. Hard to imagine Paris without it.

My personal pie-in-the-face award goes to local yokel (and mayoral candidate, no less) Jack Yan, who decided the best way to run for Wellington mayor would be to alert the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce about it, so they can sue the current Council. Nice going, mate - that's one less vote for you. You're costing the city money and tourism before you're even elected.

There are a number of anti-wellywood pages on Facebook by the uninformed, but here's a "pro Wellywood" page instead.



The Hobbit in 3D

Probably not going to happen. At least, nothing has been decided but the local rag (DomPost) decided it was a slow news day and stirred things up again using old quotes from TheOneRing.net forums, where Guillermo del Toro earlier this month mentioned that a conversation has been started about whether 3D would be considered or not. He didn't give any answers to anyone, but that didn't stop the local newspaper (and virally, the rest of the world) from waiting for two weeks before coming up with their own "source", an insider! Possibly as high up as either the cleaning staff or the courier who dropped some parcels off that morning, I reckon! Their article adds nothing but more confusion to the already tumultuous grapevine. I expect truth from newspapers, and actual researched articles.

Matthew Dravitski (Peter Jackson's spokesperson) denied that any new information was known, and he's likely to know, I'd think. If he says there's no decision made on 3D, I'll believe that. Matt's track record on keeping us fans informed is pretty solid.



Props Collector
 
Next, there was the matter of the "fraudulent" Lord Of The Rings props. The Auckland Herald reported that a collector had probably been sold shoddy goods when he paid his us$50,000 for an original Sting sword, and promptly got the studios to quote on half of the information as well. A few days later, the whole sorry mess was debunked by the people who should know the facts better than anyone - OriginalProp.com - who did a throrough investigation into the actual story. Turns out, the collector in question (Troika Brodsky) had actually bought the genuine props off the legal owners who won them in a contest.

The contest was well described in Peter Jackson's biography - apparently NewLine was giving away swords and various other props without telling the NZ makers about it. PJ put a stop to this when he reminded them that the ROTK's extended cut hadn't actually been completed yet, and they might not want to get rid of the props just yet. If I recall correctly, he ended up accepting the remaining props as payment for the extended cuts.

So, another pie-in-the-face award to "reporter" Joseph Barratt from the NZ Herald.



Lies, damn lies, and newspaper articles

From a personal perspective, I was involved in the story about the sinking of the Venture (as I blogged about earlier). I was called by Radio NZ, who interviewed me for about 4 minutes. I asked beforehand if I could hear the story before it went out but apparently that's not the "done thing", so I requested that he use positive soundclips, however, by the time it was on the air, all he'd managed to retain was the most negative and out-of-contexts statements possible. That's the last time I'll trust the traditional press.



  - Jack M.

Real Giant Wetas released in wildlife sanctuary

Just came across this article in the local paper, about the NZ Department of Conservation (DOC) releasing 40 Giant Weta into the Karori Wildlife Anctuary (recently renamed as "Zealandia"). The article itself has absolutely nothing to do with the movie industry, but I thought it might be interesting for people to see what the Weta Workshop has been named after.

The Giant Weta is the largest of the different sub-species, there's also the common Tree Weta and the jumping Cave Weta (not my favourite). Unfortunately, the Giant Weta is pretty rare these days, and a breeding program has been instigated by DOC, notably on the little island in the centre of Wellington's harbour. From there, 40 specimen were transported this week to the wildlife sanctuary here in town, and released. One ended up in the newspaper, on the back of the hand of a brave insect wrangler, six-year-old Rion Anderson of Ngaio.

 

KENT BLECHYNDEN/The Dominion Post

The Weta is a fascinating creature, I often find them outside my house (and occasionally inside). The ones I see on the property aren't as quite big as this one though. Oh, and as with pretty much every other NZ species, they're pretty harmless. What looks like a giant stinger at the rear is actually the ovipositor, with which the female lays her eggs.

Anyway, that's what Richard Taylor named his company after. Apparently when he named it he didn't expect to become a worldwide name - here in NZ everyone knows what a Weta is.

  - Jack M.