People all talk about making The Hobbit films three instead of two or one and how it was all about the money. I think this from Variety helps make sense of that, Aside from being a technological innovator and renowned director, Jackson has another claim to fame: No other filmmaker has single-handedly boosted a country’s economy. According to the New Zealand tourism board, international arrivals to Wellington jumped 87% in the 12 years since the first “Lord of the Rings”; the Hobbiton movie set, on NZ’s North Island, has attracted 700,000 visitors since opening in 2003, with 250,000 of those in the past year. Since the first “Lord of the Rings” began pre-production in 1998, Jackson has helped the local economy — and Kiwi filmmakers — by building five companies, including Weta Digital, outside Wellington, which collectively employ approximately 1,000 people year-round (though more than 4,000 were needed for the three “Hobbit” films). Aside from Jackson’s films, including “The Adventures of Tintin,” which he produced and Steven Spielberg directed, they have handled complex projects like “Avatar” and mini-budget local pictures, and serve one of Jackson’s avowed goals: to increase production in New Zealand. Jackson has been helping out an entire country with his films and so yes, money was a factor, but not just the way we think of it, as greed, but in the good ways, keeping people employed a few more years and supporting an entire country that has benefited from this masterpiece in film making.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 22:10:22 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015