Barrie M. Osborne met Peter Jackson (barefoot, wearing shorts) while having breakfast. From this meeting, he remembers the sense of humour of the director. Osborne confirms that most of the production budget (announced as something around $270 millions) was spent in New Zealand, creating enormous benefits. Like many of the cast, he kind of fell in love with the country and became a resident of Wellington. He is complimentary of New Line's support and vision. Right down to the fact that New Line "eventually supported" Jackson's cut of the film. Admittedly, that was after it was cut from four and a half hours to three.

Barrie M. Osborne most recently produced the worldwide box office blockbuster and groundbreaking special effects award-winner The Matrix. His other producing credits include John Woo's Face/Off and China Moon. He has served as executive producer on The Fan, Dick Tracy, Child's Play, Wilder Napalm, and Rapa Nui.

A native New Yorker who earned a degree in sociology from Minnesota's Carleton College, Osborne rose to the rank of 1st Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers before entering the film industry in 1970, as an apprentice editor and assistant production manager. Accepted into the trainee program at the Directors Guild of America, Osborne worked under the tutelage of directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, Alan Pakula and Sydney Pollack on films including The Godfather Part II, Three Days of the Condor and All The Presidents Men. He subsequently worked on a number of films in various capacities including Apocalypse Now, The Big Chill, King of Comedy, The Cotton Club, Peggy Sue Got Married, Cutter's Way and Fandango.

During a two year tenure as Vice President for Feature Production at Walt Disney Pictures, Osborne oversaw features including Ruthless People, The Color of Money, Tin Men, Three Men And A Baby, Tough Guys, Outrageous Fortune, Roger Rabbit and Good Morning Vietnam.

"As filmmakers we took great pride in creating a Middle-earth that feels real,. This movie is ultimately driven by this kind of conscientious filmmaking by such amazing film artisans, and a one of a kind story that truly propels you into another world."

"Every aspect of production from cinematography to production and costume design to the moving score, brings to these characters so much warmth and emotion that you really identify not only with the tale, but with the personalities in it. It reminded me of the Godfather saga in that there were so many different characters you could identify with. Some fall while others become heroic.”

About Viggo Mortensen : "He’s the kind of actor who one day had his tooth knocked out by a sword and actually asked if they could superglue it back on so he could finish the scene. He became Aragorn, and therefore brings real power to the role.”

Fran Walsh garnered an Academy Award nomination for Best Screenplay for the feature Heavenly Creatures, which she co-wrote with her collaborator Peter Jackson. Other writing credits co-written with Jackson include Forgotten Silver, The Frighteners, Meet the Feebles and Braindead. Walsh, who has a background in music, began her writing career soon after leaving Victoria University where she majored in English Literature.

Producer Tim Sanders teamed previously with Peter Jackson as co-producer on The Frighteners. His diverse film credits include serving as producer on Aberration; as line producer on Traps, Reckless Kelly and Til There was You; as associate producer on Melvin-Son of Alvin and Razorback; as production manager on The Year of Living Dangerously; as unit manager on Race for the Yankee Zephyr, Gallipoli and The Survivor; and as location manager on Touch and Go.

For television, Sanders executive produced the series "Shortland Street" and "Marlin Bay"; produced the series "Plainclothes", "Return to Eden" and the miniseries "Fallout" and "The Last Frontier"; line produced the series "White Fang", "Which Way Home" and "A Dangerous Life"; and associate produced the telefilm "Angel in Green." Sanders was also supervising producer for the miniseries "Iran." Sanders has held posts as Head of Production at South Pacific Pictures in New Zealand and producer of Film and Television Development, Communicado, New Zealand.

Philippa Boyens, who makes her debut as a screenwriter with The Lord Of The Rings trilogy. Prior to this, Boyens worked in theatre as a playwright, teacher, producer and editor. Boyens moved to film via a stint as Director or the New Zealand Writers Guild. Her love of J.R.R. Tolkien's work brought her to this project, having been a fan since she was eleven years old. Boyens was recently named by Variety magazine in their list of Ten Writers to watch and along with Walsh and Jackson, has begun work on their next project.

Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne are the Co-Chairmen and Co-Chief Executive Officers of New Line Cinema Corporation. Since Lynne joined the company, they have together guided New Line's growth from a privately held distributor of art films into one of the entertainment industry's leading independent motion picture production and distribution companies.

The Lord of the Rings represents the first in an ambitious trilogy of films shot concurrently over an unprecedented year and a half of production. The film is a vital part of one of the most impressive slates in New Line's 34-year history, which includes the upcoming I Am Sam, John Q, Blade 2, About Schmidt, and Austin Powers in Goldmember. New Line has released such blockbusters as the Rush Hour and Austin Powers franchises, as well as the hits Wag the Dog, Boogie Nights, The Wedding Singer, Dumb and Dumber, The Mask and Seven. The company's specialty division, Fine Line Features, has released such acclaimed films as the Academy Award-nominated Best Picture Shine, Dancer in the Dark, The Anniversary Party, and The Sweet Hereafter.

In 1997, on the heels of his savvy acquisition of Oscar-winning Shine, Mark Ordesky began his tenure as the head of Fine Line Features. At 34, Ordesky became one of the youngest executives in Hollywood to head a motion picture company. Ordesky has created a unique film culture at Fine Line that supports the efforts of the creative community and has established on-going relationships with such directors as Bernardo Bertolucci, Lars Von Trier, and David Mamet and a haven for emerging talent such as Sundance winner Gavin O'Connor. Ordesky has also nabbed such acquisitions as Saving Grace, Bernardo Bertolucci's Besieged, Oscar-nominated Before Night Falls, Tumbleweeds, and The Sweet Hereafter.

Ordesky's career at New Line Cinema began over ten years ago as he developed a taste for material as a script reader for Chairman Bob Shaye. Working his way up the ladder at the mini-major, Ordesky did everything from managing the company's relationship with John Waters to successfully introducing Jackie Chan to U.S. audiences with the smash success Rumble in the Bronx. Fine Line's recent slate includes David Mamet's State and Main, and Lars Von Trier's Dancer in the Dark.

He received the 'Visionary Award' at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival.

Andrew Lesnie held the Australian Cinematographers Society's coveted Milli Award for 1995 and 1996, making him Australia's Cinematographer of the Year two years running. Most recently, he won the 1997 Australian Film Institute Award for best cinematography for Doing Time for Patsy Cline, and a 1997 A.C.S. gold award for the same film. He won the 1996 A.C.S. Golden Tripod Award for Babe, in 1995 for Temptation of a Monk, and in 1994 for Spider and Rose. His other feature credits include Two if by Sea, The Sugar Factory, Fatal Past, The Delinquents, Dark Age, Boys in the Island, Daydream Believer and Unfinished Business, among others. Lesnie also handled second unit photography on Farewell to the King, Incident at Raven's Gate and Around the World in Eighty Ways. His television credits include "The Rainbow Warrior Conspiracy", "Melba" (A.C.S. Merit Award), and "Cyclone Tracy" (A.C.S. Golden Tripod Award for best photographed miniseries). In addition, Lesnie has garnered A.C.S. Awards for the short films The Outing and The Same Stream.

Brothers Bob and Harvey Weinstein, Co-Chairmen of Miramax Films, founded the company in 1979. The two native New Yorkers named their company after their parents, Miriam and Max, who introduced them to a love of cinema.

Miramax and Dimension Films have released some of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful independent feature films of the past decade including the recent Chocolat, Shakespeare in Love, Life is Beautiful (La Vita E Bella), Good Will Hunting, Pulp Fiction, The English Patient, Scream and Scream 2, The Crying Game, The Piano, Il Postino, Cinema Paradiso, The Wings of the Dove, My Left Foot, Sling Blade, Kolya and Farewell My Concubine, among many others. These films and others have received 134 Academy Award nominations and 40 wins in the past 11 years.

Richard Taylor (born in New Zealand) and Tania Rodger, his Weta Workshop partner (founded 15 years ago in partnership with Peter Jackson) commanded the New Zealand army of artisans and craftsmen who designed and produced just about every single item you see on screen in The Fellowship Of The Ring, from the clothes to the swords, to the prosthetics you don't even recognise, to the hairy hobbits' feet. Over 100 sculptures were created to create Gollum.

Richard Taylor, director of his special effects company WETA, has been special effects designer on all of Peter Jackson's feature films including The Frighteners, Heavenly Creatures, Braindead, Meet the Feebles and the television documentary "Forgotten Silver." Other feature credits for Taylor include Heaven, The Ugly, Once Were Warriors, Jack Brown Genius, Tidal Wave, The Tommyknockers and A Bright Shining Lie. For television, Taylor has designed creature and special makeup effects for "Hercules", "Xena : Warrior Princess" and "Young Hercules."

Taylor and his partner, Tania Rodger, have received numerous international special effects awards including Best Models and Miniatures (Spain), and a Saturn Award nomination for Jackson's The Frighteners. The couple also garnered Best Special Effect's Awards for Braindead at Stiges Festival-Spain, Avorez Festival-France-France, Portuguese Film Festival, Silver Scream Award, Holland, and for Meet the Feebles a Best Physical Effect Award at the Fanta Festival-Italy. New Zealand Film Awards include Best Contribution Design for Braindead, Heavenly Creatures, Forgotten Silver and The Ugly, as well as nominations for Jack Brown Genius and Heaven.

Richard Taylor received an honorary Doctor of Literature degree from Victoria University, New Zealand, in 2003. "Victoria University vice-chancellor Stuart McCutcheon said Mr Taylor had overcome many hurdles to become an internationally recognised leader in design and was a worthy recipient of an honorary doctorate."

Grant Major received a New Zealand Film and Television award for Best Design on Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures in 1995. Two years later Major picked up the same award for The Ugly. Major's other film credits include Jackson's The Frighteners, Memory and Desire, The Aberrations, Jack be Nimble, An Angel at my Table and, as art director, for Other Halves. Major's work as an art director for television includes telefilms "Hercules" and "The Grasscutter", the series "Hanlon", as well as commercials and news programs. Major also worked as a production designer on the telefilm "The Chosen."

Born in Palmerston North, New Zealand, Major's career in design began at Television New Zealand. His background ranges from production design for the Commonwealth Games ceremonies to designer for the New Zealand Pavilions at the World Expos in Australia and Spain.

John Gilbert has been involved in the post production of over 20 feature films. His editorial credits include Crush, Via Satellite (Best Editor Award at the New Zealand Film and Television Awards), Punitive Damage and associate editor on Peter Jackson's The Frighteners. He also produced the short film Willy Nilly. John Gilbert's first position in the film industry was with the New Zealand National Film Unit during a break from university. Gilbert never returned to his History and Anthropology degree, but moved on to TVNZ where he worked as an assistant editor, then editor. As a freelancer assistant editor and sound editor Gilbert edited many short films, documentaries, and television dramas including The Lounge Bar, Jean Batten Garbo of the Skies, Street Legal, The Chosen and Coverstory.

Rick Porras associate produced Contact and previously worked with Peter Jackson as post production supervisor on The Frighteners. After graduating from Stanford University, Porras ventured into the film business as a buyer for Filmline International attending the international festivals and markets. Porras then joined Robert Zemeckis Productions as a production assistant and later assistant to director/producer Zemeckis on the HBO series "Tales From the Crypt : Yellow" and the feature film The Public Eye. Porras continued working with Zemeckis in other capacities including production associate on Death Becomes Her and post-production supervisor on Forrest Gump. He was also post-production consultant on Tales From The Crypt : You Murderer and to the South-Side Amusement Co.

Jamie Selkirk has collaborated with Peter Jackson on the majority of his films, first as editor, sound editor and post production supervisor for Bad Taste, Meet The Feebles and Heavenly Creatures. With Jackson's Braindead, Selkirk made the move to associate producer/editor and then to producer and editor on The Frighteners. Selkirk's other credits include Jack Brown Genius, The Lie of the Land, Battletruck, The Scarecrow, Wild Horses and The Silent One.

Selkirk's career in editing started at the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporations. He moved to editorial as a trainee editor and began cutting newsreels, current affairs, documentaries, and dramas. Before his foray into production, Selkirk formed his own post-production company, Mr. Chopper, and worked on a variety of productions and television commercials.

Jamie Selkirk was honoured at an investiture ceremony at Wellington's Government House in August 2004 as a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (the award recognised Selkirk's services to film.) "I was a bit nervous about losing my balance on the ramp," he said.

Ellen M. Somers was Producer / Supervisor on What Dreams May Come, which won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. Prior to that Somers was hired by Warner Bros. as Vice President of Production-Digital Studios to build Warner Digital Studios. The studio quickly grew to over 160 people and in less than two years produced visual effects for Eraser, Mars Attacks, Batman, Robin, and the Iceman, My Fellow Americans and Vegas Vacation, while producing stunning effects for the advertising community. Somers personally production supervised Mars Attacks and Batman, Robin, and the Iceman.
While Head of Production for the critically acclaimed Boss Film Studios, Somers production supervised visual effects on such films as Ghost, Alien III, Batman Returns, Cliffhanger, Outbreak and Species. Somers also worked as Executive Producer, Line Producer, and Visual Effects Supervisor on numerous commercials for clients including Coca Cola, Chevrolet, Budweiser, Miller, McDonalds, and others.

Ngila Dickson, born in Dunedin, New Zealand, received the Best Contribution to Design Award at the New Zealand Television Awards in both 1997 and 1998. For her work on "Xena : Warrior Princess", Dickson garnered the Best Costume Award at the 4th International Cult TV Awards. Dickson's film credits as a costume designer include Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures, Jack be Nimble, Crush, Grampire, Ruby and Rata, User Friendly, and the telefilm "Rainbow Warrior." For television, Dickson has designed for the series "Hercules", "Xena : Warrior Princess", "High Tide", "Mrs Piggle Wiggle" and the "Ray Bradbury" Series.

In 1980, after earning his M.F.A. degree from Otis Parsons School of Design, Rygiel joined Pacific Electric Pictures, one of the earliest companies to employ computer animation for the advertising and film markets. In 1983, Rygiel's work took him to Digital Productions where he began work of The Last Starfighter, a film notable for its pioneering use of digital imaging in place of models for the space ships. While at Digital Productions, Rygiel's commercial work was nominated for numerous awards and he won a prestigious CLIO award for the introduction of the Sony Walkman. From 1987 until 1989, Rygiel supervised numerous projects while at visual effects companies Pacific Data Images (PDI) and Metrolight. In 1989 Rygiel was asked to form and head a computer animation department at Boss Film Studios. This department of one grew to over 75 animators and 100 support staff within a few short years, winning another CLIO Award for the Geo Prism automobile commercial. While at Boss, Rygiel supervised many feature films, both as Digital Effects Supervisor and Visual Effects Supervisor.

His credits there include Starship Troopers, Species, Outbreak, Air Force One, The Scout, The Last Action Hero, Cliffhanger, Batman Returns, Alien III, and Ghost. In 1997 Rygiel went on to supervise, The Parent Trap, Star Trek : Insurrection, Anna and the King, and 102 Dalmatians. Rygiel is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as well as the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Dan Hennah was the art director for Peter Jackson's The Frighteners. Other feature film credits as art director include Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior, White Water Summer and Savage Islands; as supervising art director on The Rescue; as production designer on Mesmerised and as dressing prop on Mutiny on the Bounty.

As a production designer for television, Hennah's credits include the Cloud 9 television series "The Tribe", "Twist in the Tale", "William Tell" and "Treasure Island." Further television credits find Hennah as associate designer on "99-1", art director on "Heart of the High Country" and production designer on the movie-of-the-week "Adrift." Born in Hastings, New Zealand, Hennah went on to study architecture at the Wellington Polytechnic School of Architecture. Hennah's first position in the film industry was as a production assistant on the film Prisoner.

Over three decades ago Peter Owen started work at Bristol Old Vic while a student of Modern Languages at Bristol University. After working in theatre, television and opera all over Europe, Owen began work as a film make-up and hair designer on The Draughtsman's Contract. His other early films include Prick Up you Ears and Dangerous Liaisons. More recent feature credits include Little Women, Age of Innocence, Oscar & Lucinda, Bird Cage, Beloved, Portrait of a Lady, Onegin and Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow for which he received the 1st Annual Hollywood Guild of Makeup Artists & Hairstylists - Best Character Makeup, 2000.

Owen's company with Peter King, Owen & King, counts as regular clients Meryl Streep, Michelle Pfeiffer, John Malkovich, Bruce Willis, Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett, Johnny Depp, Cameron Diaz, Robert DeNiro, Helen Hunt and Ralph Fiennes, among others.

After training and working as a hairdresser, King joined Bristol Old Vic and worked on his first film The Draughtsman's Contract. Thereafter King worked for Peter Owen on numerous opera, theater, and film production until they formed a company with Caroline Turner. His early work as a designer includes The Blackheath Poisonings, Secret Weapon, Princess Caraboo, Fairytale-A True Story and Batman ! V. More recently he has worked on Avengers and Little Voice and received BAFTA Nominations for Velvet Goldmine and An Ideal Husband.

As a company, Owen & King have as regular clients Meryl Streep, Michelle Pfeiffer, John Malkovich, Bruce Willis, Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett, Johnny Depp, Cameron Diaz, Robert De Niro, Helen Hunt and Ralph Fiennes, among others.