Peter Jackson

Sir Peter Robert Jackson is a New Zealand filmmaker, entrepreneur, and visual effects pioneer born on 31 October 1961 in Wellington. Raised in Pukerua Bay by his parents Joan and William Jackson, he developed an early passion for cinema through Ray Harryhausen films, Thunderbirds, and Monty Python's Flying Circus. After receiving a Super 8 camera, he created early shorts, including an attempted remake of King Kong, a World War II short titled The Dwarf Patrol, a James Bond spoof named Coldfinger, and an award-winning short titled The Valley.

Jackson attended Kāpiti College and left school at age 16. Without formal film training, he taught himself editing, visual effects, and make-up. He worked as a photo-engraver for The Evening Post for seven years to save for equipment. After buying a 16 mm camera, he shot his feature debut, Bad Taste (1987), an alien horror comedy filmed on weekends with friends that premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. He followed this with Meet the Feebles (1989) and the zombie comedy Braindead (1992).

Jackson achieved mainstream recognition with Heavenly Creatures (1994), a drama based on the Parker–Hulme murder case co-written with his partner Fran Walsh. The film earned them an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. He then co-directed the television mockumentary Forgotten Silver (1995) with Costa Botes, and directed his first major Hollywood feature, The Frighteners (1996), starring Michael J. Fox.

To support his filmmaking, Jackson established WingNut Films as a production company in 1987. In 1993, he co-founded Wellington-based Weta Workshop for physical effects and Weta Digital (now Wētā FX) for digital visual effects.

Jackson gained global acclaim for directing, co-writing, and producing film adaptations of J. R. R. Tolkien's literature. After acquiring the rights in 1997, he shot The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001–2003) in New Zealand. The final entry, The Return of the King (2003), won eleven Academy Awards, earning Jackson wins for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. He later directed and produced The Hobbit trilogy (2012–2014).

His other directorial and production credits include the 2005 remake of King Kong, the digital test short Crossing the Line (2007), the drama adaptation The Lovely Bones (2009), District 9 (2009), The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (2011), the World War I documentary They Shall Not Grow Old (2018), and the documentary The Beatles: Get Back (2021).

Jackson is the fifth-highest-grossing film director of all time, with worldwide film grosses exceeding $6.5 billion. He was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2002 and knighted in 2010. His honors include multiple Academy Awards, BAFTAs, a Golden Globe, Primetime Emmy Awards, Saturn Awards, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2014, and the Honorary Palme d'Or in 2026.