The power and the passion: How Sir Peter Jackson changed the face of Wellington

Saturday, 9 September 2023

The seven very short and very tall people who gathered at the Oriental Bay band rotunda on May 10, 1998 likely had little clue they were at the crest of a wave that would break over Wellington, transforming the city.

That was the first casting call for what would become the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, starting a series of events that would raise film-maker Peter Jackson (the Sir would come later) to become arguably the most influential Wellingtonian, if not New Zealander.

He was a driving force behind a significant law change, a mayoral race has been upset, a theatre saved, a man taken off death row, industries established, and masses of cash has flowed into the capital. Jackson and Walsh recently donated $2 million to Te Herenga Waka–Victoria University of Wellington and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra’s new National Music Centre to allow a state-of the-art recording studio to be set up.

In an indirect way, Wellington’s creative industries have thrived in the 25 years since Rings casting began, even if some are struggling now. Industries such as the gaming industry would have been less likely to be as established. Fellow Hollywood heavyweight James Cameron came to New Zealand lured by Jackson’s team’s expertise, and stayed.

But perhaps Jackson’s biggest coup was a deeply personal one. Shelly Bay on the Miramar peninsula, where he had planned a film museum before those ambitions were scuppered, was more recently the site of a planned mega-development that Jackson openly loathed.

In a shock announcement on Friday, it was revealed he and parter Dame Fran Walsh had bought the bay.

“Our immediate goal is to start the landscaping and replanting work required to return Shelly Bay to its natural state,” they said in a joint statement.

“Longer term, we’re keen to look at ways it could be used for both arts and recreation.”

In a subsequent Facebook post they said they were “committed to saving this beautiful piece of coastline for the benefit of everyone”.

The end of the development, and what seemed like a plan to create mostly public land, was a shock given developer Ian Cassels had overcome a succession of battles to break ground, only to walk away. But it was also true to form for Jackson and Walsh, who had by then spent a quarter of a century as the capital’s power duo.

“Without Sir Peter Jackson and Dame Fran Walsh, Wellington’s film industry would look very different,” said WellingtonNZ chief executive John Allen.

“While Sir Peter’s films have created countless jobs for film industry workers, many staff employed by his companies have gone on to set up their own companies in Wellington.

“This flow-on effect has contributed to the rapid growth of the VFX and games industries and cemented Wellington as a region of film talent, experience and innovation excellence.”

Jackson’s name was already well known by 1998 for films such as Bad Taste, Meet the Feebles, and The Frighteners. But with a $264 million (which would grow) project on the table, and the profile and jobs it would bring New Zealand, his influence took off.

“Wellington looks set to become the film capital of New Zealand…,” Wellington mayor Mark Blumsky crowed.

“Our economy will catch a mountain of windfalls from this project.”

He was correct. What is often regarded as Wellington’s best days would follow, largely influenced by the black puffer jacket-wearing crews from Miramar, flush with cash, and busy creating the Rings trilogy, then King Kong, and on to the multitude of films to come out of what became — sometimes cringingly — known as Wellywood.

By the end of 1998, Jackson had bought the National Film Unit from Television New Zealand because of fears that the film industry would otherwise have lost New Zealand's only full post-production film processing laboratory.

The National Business Review in 2000 put Jackson at the top of its “emerging rich” list.

But there were concerns — what would become of the massive industry when the Rings finished? The Government had given Rings a tax break to be made in New Zealand but closed that loophole.

So the Government in 2003 came out with the Large Budget Screen Production Grant scheme, which meant that productions that spend at least $15m in New Zealand got a 12.5% rebate. That meant, from the King Kong movie alone, New Zealand lost $25m in tax revenue.

But supporters of the rebate were quick to point out that the productions brought much more to New Zealand — not just in money and jobs, but an international profile that saw tourists flock here inspired by the landscapes seen in the Rings.

Fast-forward to 2010. Jackson already had long had a swag of Oscars from the Rings trilogy, and it seemed the film industry was safe in New Zealand as Jackson looked at making what would become the three-part Hobbit trilogy.

Then the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, which is based in Australia, but to which New Zealand Actors Equity is aligned, called for actors to boycott the $204m Hobbit in protest at the lack of union contracts. In response, Jackson — ironically a union member, meaning he would have had to blacklist himself — threatened to move the production to eastern Europe.

Prime Minister John Key hosted Hollywood producers at his home and a deal was nutted out to keep the production in New Zealand. It included a law change to clarify the distinction between independent contractors and employees in the film industry.

“A sovereign country has sold its soul to a multinational,” said Council of Trade Unions President Helen Kelly.

Meanwhile, in Arkansas in the United States, Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley had been convicted of the triple-homicide of three children in 1993. Jackson and Walsh, inspired by a documentary casting doubt on the convictions, turned their focus there.

They paid for DNA testing, and a re-examination of the evidence by top pathologists and a former FBI criminal profiler and, in 2011, the trio walked free. Echols had been due to get the death penalty by lethal injection.

Along the way they bought a couple of Seatoun churches to save them from demolition and, in 2011, bought Bats Theatre, securing the future of an institution which bred some of Wellington’s most-established creative talent.

It was in 2015 when the idea for the Wellington City Council and Jackson to work together on a film museum and convention centre first hatched. But after a high-profile spat with Mayor Justin Lester, the pin was pulled in 2019. The convention centre was eventually built by the council, and Jackson’s film museum is rumoured to still be on the cards.

But the Jackson versus Lester beef kept going at Shelly Bay. Lester backed the plans for a $500m development by developer Ian Cassels there. Jackson, who was passionate about what happened to the bay a short drive from his home and business, hated it.

Enter Andy Foster, a long-time city councillor whose past attempts at the mayoralty had failed. But this time, Foster, who had long opposed the development, launched his campaign at Shelly Bay backed by Jackson.

He narrowly beat Lester and was the city’s mayor for a tumultuous three years. Foster failed to stop the development but certainly put road blocks in its way.

It was just last week that Jackson and Walsh won the battle for Shelly Bay, when they bought it off Cassels for a rumoured $39m. Back in 2020, a significant financial backer linked to the film industry — rumoured to be Jackson — pulled financial backing for a court case opposing the development.

But the 2021 sale of Wētā Digital’s digital division saw NBR increase Jackson’s estimated personal wealth from $700m to $3 billion. Cassels wanted out. Jackson clearly had the money.

What the purchase takes the Jackson-Walsh property portfolio to is hard to say. Neither owns any properties in their names, but they are involved in three companies that do own property.

LB HC Ltd owns five properties by the sea in Rongotai (one of the rumoured sites for a film museum), The Vintage Aviator Ltd owns two in Masterton in the Wairarapa, while Stanley Properties Ltd has 66 Wellington properties, seven in Otago, and one in Canterbury.

Meanwhile, Jackson’s lawyer has his name on 94 Wellington properties though it is not clear how many, if any, are held on behalf of Jackson.

Peter Robert Jackson is listed as a director on 41 current New Zealand companies. Some, such as Park Road Post Production, are obvious. Others — such as Toffee Apple Ltd, Jamboree Jam Ltd, and the intriguingly-titled Fart Free Ltd, registered in 2018 — are not so clear.

Richard Murray, 2.07m tall, was one of those seven people, tall and short, to audition for Rings back in 1998. Speaking this week from Brisbane he recalled hoping he would “make some bang on the fact I’m a freak”.

But after he got a part, he got offered a job in Melbourne so never ended up in the films.

As an occasional visitor to Wellington, he thinks the Jackson influence has been mostly positive.

“My hope for the Wellington film industry is it transcends just one person,” he said.

Jackson did not respond to a request for comment.