Peter Jackson was born on October 31, 1961 in Pukerua Bay, North Island, New Zealand. He was an only child. Peter always loved filmmaking, and began making short films with his friends at the age of eight, when his family bought their first Super 8 video camera. Eventually, Peter entered some of his movies in amateur short film contests, though he didn’t win.
When Peter was 22, he embarked on his first full-length film, “Bad Taste,” which was released in 1987. This film began as a low budget project, filmed on a $250 second-hand camera. Peter directed, produced, filmed and acted in a number of roles for this film. He did almost everything himself, including baking the latex models in his family’s oven. After four hard years, the movie was complete. One of Peter’s friends arranged for it to be shown in a local film festival. Because of its bizarre humor and overdose of special effects, “Bad Taste” was a success. Peter became a well-known director and producer after the release of his first professionally produced film, “Brain Dead” in 1992.
Peter continues to make movies. He has been credited as a director, producer, writer, editor, actor, costume designer, visual and special effects manager and cinematographer. Having started out as an amateur with a low budget, Peter often has cameos or larger roles in his movies and he is known for the special effects he creates on a low budget. Peter is best known for directing Lord of the Rings, but before he created the film version of Tolkien’s epic trilogy, he filmed many other movies. These include “The Frighteners” (1996), “Forgotten Silver” (1996), “Heavenly Creatures”(1994), “Brain Dead” (1992), “Meet the Feebles” (1989), “Bad Taste” (1987) and “The Valley (1976). He owns WingNut Films, ThreeFootSix (a film company), New Zealand Film Unit and WETA Limited, or WingNut Effects and Technical Allusions (he explained that spelling was not one of his strong points, and besides WETI sounded slightly awkward).
Peter now lives with Fran Walsh and their two children, Billy and Katie, in Karaka Bay, Wellington, New Zealand. Peter likes collecting WWI model airplanes, the Beatles, old James Bond movies and “Dawn of the Dead,” which sparked his interest in horror films. Peter’s parents, Bill and Joan both passed away during the production of “Lord of the Rings”.
