This week I thought I would cast the design net a little further out...and feature a costume, makeup, special effects, and creature designer. Sir Richard Leslie Taylor is the creator and head of New Zealand film prop and special effects company Weta Workshop. Raised in the small town of Patumahoe, just outside of Pukekohe, Taylor was educated at Wesley College, Paerata.
A close friend of Peter Jackson, he and his company created all of the props, costumes, prosthetics, miniatures and weaponry for Jackson's epic The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. For his work on the three films, he shared in winning four Academy Awards. This included two for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring in Make Up and Visual Effects, and two for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in Costume Design and Make Up.
Academy Awards
Nominated: Best Costume Design, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Won: Best Makeup, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Won: Best Visual Effects, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Won: Best Makeup, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Won: Best Costume Design, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Won: Best Visual Effects, King Kong (2005)
Film Credits
The Wind in the Willows (visual effects supervisor) (in production)
2012 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (creatures)
2011 The Devil's Rock (design & effects supervisor: Weta Workshop)
2009 The Lovely Bones (design supervisor: Weta Workshop)
2009 District 9 (design & effects supervisor: Weta Workshop)
2008 Eel Girl (short) (effects supervisor: Weta Workshop)
2007 The Water Horse (supervisor: Weta Workshop)
2007 30 Days of Night (designer: Weta Workshop, effects supervisor: Weta Workshop)
2006 Black Sheep (special effects)
2005 The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (creative supervisor: Weta Workshop)
2005 King Kong (special miniature effects)
2005 The Legend of Zorro (miniature train designer: Weta Workshop, miniatures designer & supervisor: Weta Workshop)
2003 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (creatures: armour and miniatures, workshop supervisor: Weta Workshop - uncredited)
2003 Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (miniature effects supervisor: Weta Workshop)
2002 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (creatures: armour and miniatures)
2001 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (president: Weta Workshop - uncredited, supervisor: special makeup, creatures, armour and miniatures / Weta workshop - uncredited)
Young Hercules (TV series) (creature special effects - 6 episodes, 1998-1999) (creature special effects designer - 2 episodes, 1998)
1998 Heaven (special effects)
1996-1998 Xena: Warrior Princess (TV series) (special effects designer - 3 episodes)
1997 Tidal Wave: No Escape (TV movie) (miniature effects supervisor: Australia)
1994 Once Were Warriors (prosthetics)
1994 Heavenly Creatures (borovnian prosthetics and suite effects designer, prosthetic effects)
1994 Hercules: The Legendary Journeys - Hercules and the Lost Kingdom (TV movie) (special effects designer: Weta Ltd.)
1993 The Tommyknockers (TV mini-series) (alien supervisor: New Zealand)
1992 Braindead (creature & gore effects, stop motion animator)
1989 Meet the Feebles (puppet maker)
