Sir Peter Jackson grew up in pukerau, and displayed a passion for filmmaking from a young age, making backyard movies with a Super 8 camera. Inspired by television and movies, he experimented with special effects, leaving school at 17 to pursue a film career. He worked as a photo engraver while saving for equipment and eventually received his first New Zealand  film  for his first feature film, bad taste launching his path to professional filmmaking.
Peter is a globally recognised filmmaker known for achieving massive commercial and critical success with

The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, which earned numerous Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director, and established New Zealand as a prime film location. Beyond directing, he is a co-owner of the influential special effects companies Weta Digital and Weta Workshop, a prolific producer of other acclaimed films like District 9 and the Beatles: Get Back documentary, and a champion of various philanthropic endeavours.

 

The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies. For the final installment, The Return of the King, Jackson won three Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. The trilogy as a whole revolutionized blockbuster filmmaking by demonstrating that epic fantasy films could be both critically acclaimed and commercially successful. Beyond his work in Middle-earth, Jackson also gained recognition for his earlier films, including the Oscar-nominated drama Heavenly Creatures.