JACKSON, PETER (1961– ). Through his ambitious inspiration to film J.R.R Tolkien’s masterpiece, Peter Jackson has achieved international recognition and acclaim, and is recognized as one of the best directors in the history of cinema. In addition to directing, he wrote the screenplay and produced the Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), and Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) (see LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY). Jackson learned his craft over a long apprenticeship from 1976, working in almost every creative and technical element of the industry. These include working as producer, director, writer, actor, as well as on special effects and visual effects, as editor, in the make-up department, as a cinematographer, and as costume designer.
Jackson saw the release of his first film as a director, Bad Taste, in 1987. Taking four years to complete, the film became a horror/science fiction cult classic, and eventually won acclaim and prizes at the Cannes Film Festival. He then cowrote and directed the animated musical *comedy, Meet the Feebles (1989). He came to national and international attention through the award-winning Heavenly Creatures (1994), based on the story of two teenage girls who brutally murdered one of their mothers with a brick in 1952. The insight in the story is that two people can perform criminal acts that one of them would not be able to commit. In 1995, he codirected and cowrote Forgotten Silver, which is presented as a *documentary about pioneering New Zealand filmmaker Colin McKenzie, whose work with mechanized camera and color film preceded the reality by decades. The film is a first-class parody that highlights the director’s knowledge and love of early cinema. The effect of the film, in the sense that it has been taken as real, has been likened to Orson Welles’ broadcast of War of the Worlds.
Jackson was by this time recognized as an emerging talent by the international community and made The Frighteners (1966) for Universal Pictures with an international cast including Michael J. Fox and Trini Alvarado. This comedy/horror film was released to mixed critical reception, partly because the computer-generated special effects went nowhere. In his next films—The Lord of the Rings trilogy—his use of computer animations was much more effective and restrained. The three films were shot at the same time (that is, the shooting was completed before the first film was released), and then released at intervals of 12 months, on each Boxing Day. If he was not internationally acclaimed before these films, he certainly was afterward. Jackson won British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) prizes for direction and film for both The Two Towers and The Fellowship of the Ring and the *Australian Film Institute awarded best foreign film awards for the two films. The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films voted a Saturn Award for The Fellowship of the Ring in 2002, and the American Film Institute voted The Fellowship of the Ring Movie of the Year in 2002. The Fellowship of the Ring was nominated for Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay in 2002, while The Two Towers was nominated for an Oscar for Best Motion Picture of the Year in 2003. The Return of the King scooped the Academy Awards in 2004, winning 11 Oscars, including best achievement in directing and best motion picture of the year. The British Academy for Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awarded the film four prizes in the same year, including best film. His next feature is King Kong.
Other films Jackson directed include The Valley (1976) and Braindead (1992), in which he acted.