Peter Jackson
I thought that there might be something unsatisfying about directing two Tolkien movies after 'Lord of the Rings.' I'd be trying to compete with myself and deliberately doing things differently.Collection: Movies
I just got tired of being overweight and unfit, so I changed my diet from hamburgers to yogurt and muesli, and it seems to work.Collection: Diet
If you take a regular animated film, that's being done by animators on computers, so the filmmaking is a fairly technical process.Collection: Computers
I've always tried to make movies that pull the audience out of their seats... I want audiences to be transported.Collection: Movies
There's a very go-to kind of attitude in New Zealand that stems from that psyche of being quite isolated and not being able to rely on the rest of the world's infrastructure.Collection: Attitude
I think everything that you do, you're learning. I mean, every movie that you make is like a film school; that's one of the things that I enjoy about filmmaking.Collection: Learning
I never dreamed in a million years that 'The Lord of the Rings' would be nominated for an Oscar. Those types of fantasy movies never got nominations.Collection: Movies
Every time you do something, people are going to like it, people are going to hate it. You tend to make the movies on the basis you are making them for the people who are going to like them and not worrying too much about people who don't like them.Collection: Movies
No film has captivated my imagination more than 'King Kong.' I'm making movies today because I saw this film when I was 9 years old.Collection: Imagination
The most honest form of filmmaking is to make a film for yourself.Collection: Movies
I feel very lucky to be able to make movies in New Zealand, and I will always be grateful for the support I have received from so many New Zealanders.Collection: Movies
The idea of an animated film is you always kind of get a little bit daunted by it as a filmmaker because it feels like a lot of your communication is going to be with computer artists, and you're going to have to kind of channel the movie through extra pairs of hands.Collection: Communication
New Zealand is not a small country but a large village.
The theatrical versions are the definitive versions. I regard the extended cuts as being a novelty for the fans that really want to see the extra material.
We've all forgotten how to be original.
Everybody's life has these moments, where one thing leads to another. Some are big and obvious and some are small and seemingly insignificant.
'Heavenly Creatures' was really the idea of Fran Walsh. It was a very famous New Zealand murder case, but not one that people knew much about.
I think 'Jaws' is a remarkable film.
The cameo I did in 'Fellowship of the Ring' was I was in the street of Bree, and I was eating a carrot.
When I worked as a newspaper photo engraver in the only job I ever had, many years ago, I'd get the train home to Pukerua Bay where I was staying with my parents. An hour ride, 16 stops, and almost always, I'd have automatic wake-up, seconds before we pulled into my station.
Filmmaking for me is always aiming for the imaginary movie and never achieving it.
Once upon a time, sound was new technology.
In every house, when the curtains are drawn, there's a story going on, and you never get to hear... You get the public side of things, the happy, smiling, social activities.
I want to put everything I think I've learned about filmmaking and storytelling and put it to the test in other areas.
Adapting a novel is not really about being faithful to every word and every moment the author has created. It's more about that same story being filtered through somebody else's sensibility.
Stem cell therapy has the potential to treat a multitude of diseases and illnesses, which up until now have been labelled 'incurable.'
People regard CGI as a gimmick; they almost blame CGI for a bad story or a bad script. They talk about CGI as if it's responsible for a drop in standards.
I always have had a slightly jaundiced view about people who promote books about themselves.
If you're an only child, you spend a lot of time by yourself, and you develop a strong ability to entertain yourself, to conjure up fantasy.
To get an Oscar would be an incredible moment in my career, there is no doubt about that. But the 'Lord of the Rings' films are not made for Oscars, they are made for the audience.
I remember when I was - I must've been 17 or 18 years old - I remember 'The Empire Strikes Back' had a big cliffhanger ending, and it was, like, three years before the next one came out.
It's not a happy time when a film drops dead on your doorstep.
I'm not a regret guy.
I think that George Lucas' 'Star Wars' films are fantastic. What he's done, which I admire, is he has taken all the money and profit from those films and poured it into developing digital sound and surround sound, which we are using today.
What I don't like are pompous, pretentious movies.
Film is such a powerful medium. It's like a weapon and I think you have a duty to self-censor.
I didn't want my kids having to pass through an airport named after their father.
I mean, I didn't have a huge upbringing with movies, I guess.
For a lot of my childhood, I didn't want to direct movies because I didn't really know what directing was.
Rivalry doesn't help anybody.
One of the first movies I ever saw was 'Batman,' based on the TV series with Adam West and Burt Ward.
The big-budget blockbuster is becoming one of the most dependable forms of filmmaking.
The vast majority of the CGI budget is labor.
The only thing about 3-D is the dullness of the image.
Actors will never be replaced. The thought that somehow a computer version of a character is going to be something people prefer to look at is a ludicrous idea.
I was bullied and regarded as little bit of an oddball myself.
I used to send away for eight-minute Super 8 movies of various Ray Harryhausen scenes advertised on the back of 'Famous Monsters of Filmland' magazine.
There was a great magazine in the '80s called 'Cinemagic' for home moviemakers who liked to do monster and special effects movies. It was like a magazine written just for me.
When you're starting out, you know, you have to do something on a very limited budget. You're not going to be able to have great actors, and you're most likely not going to have a great script.
Prosthetic makeup is always frustrating.