Bret McKenzie

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Bret McKenzie
Bret McKenzie Muppets Most Wanted Premiere (cropped).jpg
McKenzie at the Muppets Most Wanted premiere on 11 March 2014
Background information
Birth nameBret Peter Tarrant McKenzie
Also known asRhymenoceros
Born (1976-06-29) 29 June 1976 (age 48)
Wellington, New Zealand
Genres
Occupations
Instruments
Years active1994–present
Labels Sub Pop
Member of Flight of the Conchords
Relatives Deirdre Tarrant (mother)
Peter McKenzie (father)

Bret Peter Tarrant McKenzie ONZM (born 29 June 1976) is a New Zealand musician, comedian, music supervisor, and actor. He is best known as one half of musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords along with Jemaine Clement. In the 2000s, the duo's comedy and music became the basis of a BBC radio series and then an oft-lauded American television series, which aired for two seasons on HBO. Active since 1998, the duo released their most recent comedy special, Live in London , in 2018.

Contents

Primarily a musician, McKenzie has worked as a songwriter and music supervisor for film and television since the 2010s. He served as music supervisor for two Muppet films, The Muppets (2011) and Muppets Most Wanted (2014), the former of which won him an Academy Award for Best Original Song for the song "Man or Muppet". In the 2000s, McKenzie was part of reggae fusion band The Black Seeds and Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra, and, in the 2010s, he began performing solo material. His debut album Songs Without Jokes was released in August 2022.

As an actor, he portrayed elves in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies: in the first he remained unnamed with fans naming him Figwit, a character originally cast as an extra who gained attention thanks to the trilogy's fan community. He later appears in The Hobbit as Lindir, a minor character who originally appears in the book of The Fellowship of the Ring .

Bret McKenzie with collaborator Jemaine Clement performing as Flight of the Conchords in 2007 Flight of the Conchords @ Gramercy, 2007.jpg
Bret McKenzie with collaborator Jemaine Clement performing as Flight of the Conchords in 2007

Early life

McKenzie was born in Wellington to Peter McKenzie, a part-time actor, and Deirdre Tarrant, a contemporary dance teacher. He was raised in Kelburn with his brothers Justin and Jonny. [1] McKenzie attended Clifton Terrace Model School between 1982 and 1987 [2] ("model" refers to a standard school for training teachers as opposed to modelling). [1] His classmates at the school included Antonia Prebble and Age Pryor. [1]

McKenzie then went on to Wellington College where he was a prefect and won the Wellington regional heats of the Smokefree Rockquest with his jazz and funk band, The Blue Samanthas. [1]

Career

Flight of the Conchords

While studying at Victoria University of Wellington, McKenzie met Jemaine Clement, a fellow student who was also studying film and theatre. They didn't complete their degrees but ended up living together and first were members of So You're a Man, and then later forming Flight of the Conchords. [1]

As Flight of the Conchords they have toured internationally and released four CDs: Folk the World Tour in 2002, The Distant Future (which won the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album) in 2007, [1] the Grammy nominated Flight of the Conchords in 2008, and I Told You I Was Freaky in 2009. The Conchords produced a six-part improvisational comedy radio programme for the BBC [1] and have appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien , the Late Show with David Letterman [1] and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson .

After a successful appearance in 2005 on HBOs One Night Stand , [1] the Conchords were offered their own 12-part HBO series Flight of the Conchords . Its first season ran from June to September 2007, and its second season premiered on HBO 18 January 2009. Along with Clement, McKenzie was featured as 2007 Salon "Sexiest Man Living" [3] [4] and 2008's "100 Sexiest People" in a special edition of the Australian magazine Who. [5] More recently, the duo toured in 2012, 2016, and 2018.

Acting

McKenzie has acted periodically since making his professional acting debut in 2000, a small role in the UK series Dark Knight which was filmed in Wellington. Outside the Flight of the Conchords television adaption, he is most notable for his appearances in the first and third films in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy. His silent role in the first film as Figwit achieved some minor internet fame, [1] which led to Jackson giving him a line in the third film. [1] His father Peter McKenzie played the role of Elendil in Lord of the Rings. [6] In April 2011, McKenzie was cast as the elf Lindir for The Hobbit . [7]

McKenzie, together with Australian comedian Hamish Blake, starred in a New Zealand feature film, Two Little Boys , finished in late 2011 and released in New Zealand in March 2012. [8] He had a supporting role in the 2013 film Austenland .

Guest starring roles include him and fellow Conchord Clement as a pair of camp counselors in "Elementary School Musical", the season premiere of the 22nd season of The Simpsons , which aired on 26 September 2010, and other comedies. [9]

Music and songwriting for screen

McKenzie has contributed to a number of projects outside of Flight of the Conchords. In the late 1990s, McKenzie joined the reggae fusion group The Black Seeds; he put out four albums with band before leaving around 2007. [10] The Black Seeds had some minor radio hits during his tenure, and continue to be regionally successful. [11] In the mid-2000s, he released music under the name The Video Kid, including his album Prototype. [12] In 2005, he helped form the Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra which was active into the 2010s. [1] [13]

In the late 2010s, he began writing and recording solo material again, and later toured New Zealand in 2018 with a collective that included musicians Age Pryor and Nigel Collins. [14]

During the summer of 2010, McKenzie flew to Los Angeles to serve as the music supervisor for The Muppets. [15] He went on to write four of the five original songs from the film's soundtrack including "Man or Muppet" and "Life's a Happy Song" both of which were nominated for Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards and Satellite Awards for Best Original Song. [16] At the 84th Academy Awards in 2012 his song, "Man or Muppet", won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. [1]

McKenzie then wrote the original songs for the 2014 movie Muppets Most Wanted, [17] as well as songs for other children's films like The Pirates! Band of Misfits and Dora and the Lost City of Gold . Other credits include the 2016 Sainsbury's Christmas advert featuring James Corden on vocals. [18] He has written songs for The Simpsons on numerous occasions.

McKenzie released his debut solo album, Songs Without Jokes, on Sub Pop in August 2022. The release will be followed with an extensive tour in New Zealand, Great Britain, Ireland, and North America. [19] The album is inspired by the songwriting of Steely Dan, Randy Newman, and Harry Nilsson. [19]

Personal life

He is married to New Zealand publicist Hannah Clarke [20] [21] and currently maintains residences in Los Angeles, New York City, and Wellington. They have three children and mainly live in Wellington. [22]

In the 2012 Queen's Birthday and Diamond Jubilee Honours, McKenzie was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to music and film. [23]

Filmography

Flight of the Conchords

YearTitleFormatNotes
2004Stand Up!TV series ABC TV comedy series
2005 The BBC Radio Series: Flight of the Conchords RadioBroadcast 2005; released 2006
2005 One Night Stand: Flight of the Conchords HBO half-hour comedy special
2006Flight of the Conchords:A Texan Odessy TV3 documentary; also producer
2007–2009 Flight of the Conchords TV seriesAlso creator, co-writer, and executive producer
2009Flight of the Conchords: On Air NZ On Air documentary
2018 Flight of the Conchords: Live in London TV specialTV special; Also writer and producer

As actor

YearTitleRoleFormatNotes
2001 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Elf Escort [24] FilmCommonly known as "Figwit".
2003 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Film
2008 The Drinky Crow Show Rob, the Alien (voice)TV series2 episodes
2009 Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! Tim's Tennis DoubleTV seriesEpisode: "Tennis"
2009 Bro'Town VoiceTV series
2009 Diagnosis Death Dr. CruiseFilm
2010 The Simpsons Kurt Hardwick (voice)TV seriesEpisode: "Elementary School Musical" [9]
2012 Outback Hamish (voice)Film
2012 Two Little Boys NigeFilm
2012 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Lindir [24] FilmCameo
2013 Austenland MartinFilm
2017 Bajillion Dollar Propertie$ HuckTV seriesEpisode: "Looking Forward"

As composer and music director

YearTitleFormatNotes
2010–2023 The Simpsons TV seriesSongwriter for the episodes "Elementary School Musical", "Friend with Benefit","Panic on the Streets of Springfield" and "Homer's Adventures Through the Windshield Glass"
2011 The Muppets Feature FilmMusic supervisor and writer of original songs [25]
Academy Award for Best Original Song
2014 Muppets Most Wanted Feature FilmMusic supervisor and original songwriter [26] [27] [28]
2016 Sainsbury's: The Greatest GiftShortComposer
2019 Dora and the Lost City of Gold FilmWriter and producer: "Hooray! We Did It"
2021 Luca FilmAdditional story contributions
2024 Thelma the Unicorn FilmOriginal songwriter
2025 Plankton: The Movie FilmOriginal songwriter
TBABob the MusicalFeature FilmSongwriter [29]
Moonland [30] Writer, songwriter
Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas [31]

Discography

Solo

Collaborative

The Black Seeds

Flight of the Conchords

Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra in 2008 outside Delux Cafe in Wellington. McKenzie on the far left. Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra (2008)-01.jpg
Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra in 2008 outside Delux Cafe in Wellington. McKenzie on the far left.

Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra

Awards and nominations

AwardYear [a] Recipient(s) and nominee(s)CategoryResultRef.
Academy Awards 2011 Bret McKenzie for "Man or Muppet" from The Muppets Best Original Song Won
Annie Awards 2010 Tim Long, Alf Clausen, Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie for The Simpsons : Elementary School MusicalMusic in a Television ProductionNominated
Critics' Choice Movie Awards 2011 Bret McKenzie for "Life's a Happy Song" from The Muppets Best Song Won
Bret McKenzie for "Man or Muppet" from The Muppets Nominated
Emmy Awards 2008 James Bobin, Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie for "Yoko" Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series Nominated [33] [34]
Bret McKenzie, Jemaine Clement and James Bobin for "Inner City Pressure" Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics Nominated
Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement for "The Most Beautiful Girl (In the Room)"Nominated
2009 Stu Smiley, James Bobin, Troy Miller, Jemaine Clement, Bret McKenzie, Tracey Baird and Anna Dozoka for Flight of the Conchords Outstanding Comedy Series Nominated
James Bobin, Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie for "Prime Minister" Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series Nominated
James Bobin, Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement for "Carol Brown" Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics Nominated
2019 Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement for "Father & Son"Nominated
Grammy Awards 2007 Flight of the Conchords for The Distant Future Best Comedy Album Won [35]
2008 Flight of the Conchords for Flight of the Conchords Nominated
2010 Flight of the Conchords for I Told You I Was Freaky Nominated
2012 Bret McKenzie for "Man or Muppet" from The Muppets Best Song Written for Visual Media Nominated
Hollywood Music in Media Awards 2014Bret McKenzie for "I'll Get You What You Want (Cockatoo in Malibu)" Best Original Song in a Feature Film Nominated
New Zealand Film Awards 2012 Bret McKenzie in Two Little Boys Best ActorNominated
New Zealand Music Awards 2008 Flight of the Conchords for Flight of the Conchords Album of the Year Won
Best Group Won
Breakthrough Artist of the Year Won
Flight of the Conchords International Achievement Won
2013 Flight of the Conchords for "Feel Inside (And Stuff Like That)" Highest Selling New Zealand Single Won
Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards 2008 Flight of the ConchordsFunniest DuoNominated
Satellite Awards 2007 Flight of the Conchords Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy Nominated
2009 Nominated
2011 "Life's a Happy Song" from The Muppets Best Original Song Nominated
"Man or Muppet" from The Muppets Nominated
2014 "I'll Get You What You Want (Cockatoo in Malibu)" from Muppets Most Wanted Nominated
TCA Awards 2008 Flight of the Conchords Outstanding Achievement in Comedy Nominated
Outstanding New Program Nominated
Writers Guild of America Awards 2007 Damon Beesley, James Bobin, Jemaine Clement, Eric Kaplan, Bret McKenzie, Iain Morris, Duncan Sarkies, Pauls Simms, and Taika Waititi for Flight of the Conchords Comedy Series Nominated [36]
New Series Nominated
James Bobin, Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie for "Sally Returns" Episodic Comedy Nominated

Notes

  1. Indicates the year of ceremony. Each year is linked to the article about the awards held that year, wherever possible.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flight of the Conchords</span> New Zealand musical comedy duo

Flight of the Conchords are a New Zealand musical comedy duo formed in Wellington in 1998. The band consists of multi-instrumentalists Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement. Beginning as a popular live comedy act in the early 2000s, the duo's comedy and music became the basis of the self-titled BBC radio series (2005) and, subsequently, the HBO American television series (2007–2009). Most recently, they released the HBO comedy special Live in London in 2018. The special was concurrently released by Sub Pop as their fifth album.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jemaine Clement</span> New Zealand actor, comedian, musician and filmmaker (born 1974)

Jemaine Atea Mahana Clement is a New Zealand actor, comedian, musician, and filmmaker. He has released several albums with Bret McKenzie as the musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords, and created a comedy TV series titled Flight of the Conchords for both the BBC and HBO, for which he received six Primetime Emmy nominations.

<i>Folk the World Tour</i> 2002 live album by Flight of the Conchords

Folk the World Tour is the debut live album by New Zealand comedy folk band Flight of the Conchords. Self-released on 14 November 2002, the album was recorded at two shows in New Zealand, in April 2001 at the BATS Theatre in Wellington and in May 2002 at The Classic in Auckland. The album also includes two studio tracks, "Hotties" and "Frodo", recorded in June 2002 at Cable Street Studio in Wellington.

<i>Flight of the Conchords</i> (TV series) American sitcom

Flight of the Conchords is an American sitcom that was first shown on HBO on June 17, 2007. The show follows the adventures of a struggling two-man band from New Zealand, as its members seek fame and success in New York City. The show stars the duo of Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, who also perform as real-life musical comedy act Flight of the Conchords. In the series, they play fictionalised versions of themselves and their band. A second season was announced on August 17, 2007 and shown from January 18, 2009. On December 11, 2009, the duo announced that the series was not going to be returning for a third season.

Sally (<i>Flight of the Conchords</i>) 1st episode of the 1st season of Flight of the Conchords

"Sally" is the pilot episode of the American television sitcom Flight of the Conchords. It first aired on HBO on June 17, 2007. In this episode, New Zealanders Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie of the band Flight of the Conchords have moved to New York City to try to make it in the United States. At a party, Jemaine falls for, and subsequently begins dating, Sally—Bret's former girlfriend. As Jemaine's attentions focus on Sally, a lonely Bret is forced to deal with the advances of Mel, the band's obsessed—and only—fan. Meanwhile, Murray, the band's manager, helps the band film their first music video, although they cannot afford decent costumes or proper video equipment.

<i>Flight of the Conchords</i> (radio series) 2005 BBC radio series

Flight of the Conchords was a radio series broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in 2005, starring the New Zealand musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords. A 3-CD set containing all the episodes was released in 2006 by the BBC. Each disc consisted of 2 episodes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Bobin</span> British filmmaker

James Bobin is a British filmmaker. He worked as a director and writer on Da Ali G Show and helped create the characters of Ali G, Borat, and Brüno. With Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement, he co-created Flight of the Conchords. He directed the feature films The Muppets (2011), Muppets Most Wanted (2014), and Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016) from Disney, and Dora and the Lost City of Gold (2019) from Paramount Pictures.

<i>Flight of the Conchords</i> (album) 2008 studio album by Flight of the Conchords

Flight of the Conchords is the debut full-length studio recorded album by New Zealand folk parody duo Flight of the Conchords, released 21 April 2008 by Sub Pop. Two songs, "Business Time" and "The Most Beautiful Girl ", have been released as downloadable content for the video game Rock Band.

<i>Tongan Ninja</i> 2002 film by Jason Stutter

Tongan Ninja is a 2002 kung-fu action comedy film directed by Jason Stutter and filmed in New Zealand. The film garnered notoriety at the time for co-starring and being co-written by Jemaine Clement, star of the HBO comedy Flight of the Conchords. The film is a parody of English-dubbed martial arts films, with a plot heavily based on Way of the Dragon. It also features songs written by Jemaine Clement and Flight of the Conchords co-star Bret McKenzie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The New Cup</span> 2nd episode of the 2nd season of Flight of the Conchords

"The New Cup" is the second episode of the second season of the HBO comedy series Flight of the Conchords, and the series' fourteenth episode overall. This episode first aired in the United States on January 25, 2009. The episode was directed by James Bobin and written by Duncan Sarkies. In this episode, Bret and Jemaine's fortunes unravel after Bret buys a new teacup. With emergency band funds unavailable, Jemaine takes desperate measures in hopes of supplementing their income.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Tough Brets</span> 3rd episode of the 2nd season of Flight of the Conchords

"The Tough Brets" is the third episode of the second season of the HBO comedy series Flight of the Conchords, first broadcast in the United States on February 1, 2009.

So You're a Man were a five-man comedy troupe, who performed in the mid-90s in both New Zealand and Australia. Members were Bret McKenzie, Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi, actor Carey Smith and theatre director David Lawrence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murray Takes It to the Next Level</span> 4th episode of the 2nd season of Flight of the Conchords

"Murray Takes It to the Next Level" is the fourth episode of the second season of the HBO comedy series Flight of the Conchords. This episode first aired in the United States on February 8, 2009. In the episode, Murray tries to elevate Bret and Jemaine on his friendship graph, bringing his questioning pal Jim in on the plan. Mel demands an apology from Bret for inappropriate behavior that she dreamed about.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unnatural Love</span> 5th episode of the 2nd season of Flight of the Conchords

"Unnatural Love" is the fifth episode of the second season of the HBO comedy series Flight of the Conchords, and the seventeenth episode overall. It first aired on February 15, 2009. The episode was directed by Michel Gondry and written by Iain Morris and Damon Beesley. Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie of the band Flight of the Conchords star as fictional versions of themselves. The plot focuses on Jemaine's forbidden romance with the Australian Keitha, which chagrins his fellow New Zealanders Bret and Murray, the band's manager.

<i>I Told You I Was Freaky</i> 2009 studio album by Flight of the Conchords

I Told You I Was Freaky is the second studio album by New Zealand folk parody duo Flight of the Conchords. It features 13 songs. Out of those 13, ten were released as singles on the American iTunes Store following their television debut. It was released on 20 October 2009 in the US and 2 November in the UK. One of the songs, "Demon Woman", was released as part of a downloadable track pack for the video game Rock Band.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Feel Inside (And Stuff Like That)</span> 2012 single by Flight of the Conchords

"Feel Inside " is a 2012 charity single and comedy song by New Zealand comedy duo Flight of the Conchords. The Conchords are joined by a charity supergroup made up of New Zealand singers. Proceeds of the song benefited the New Zealand children's health research charity Cure Kids. The song debuted at number one on the New Zealand Top 40.

<i>Muppets Most Wanted</i> (soundtrack) Soundtrack of the movie Muppets Most Wanted

Muppets Most Wanted: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack is a soundtrack album released by Walt Disney Records on March 18, 2014, for the musical comedy film Muppets Most Wanted. The soundtrack features six original songs, two re-recordings of popular Muppet songs, three cover versions of existing songs, an orchestral suite by Christophe Beck, five demos by Bret McKenzie, and eight dialogue tracks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flight of the Conchords discography</span> Band discography

The discography of Flight of the Conchords, a New Zealand-based comedy band, consists of two studio albums, one live album, two compilation albums, one extended play (EP) and seven singles. Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie formed Flight of the Conchords in Wellington in 1998. Their first release was the live album Folk the World Tour, which the duo self-released in 2002. In 2006, the band signed with American independent label Sub Pop; they released the EP The Distant Future the following year, which reached number eight in New Zealand.

Nigel Collins is a New Zealand musician, actor and playwright. A long time collaborator of Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement of Flight of the Conchords, he appears in their live shows as a string section of one, 'The New Zealand Sympathy Orchestra' playing cello, and also bass, keyboards, percussion, drums and singing backing vocals. He's featured in tours of North America, the UK, Europe, Australia and New Zealand from 2001 to 2018. Collins graduated from Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School in 1999 with a Bachelor of Performing Arts (Acting).

<i>Live in London</i> (Flight of the Conchords album) 2018 comedy special

Flight of the Conchords: Live in London is a 2018 stand-up comedy and music special by Flight of the Conchords. The special was recorded live in July 2018 at the Eventim Apollo in London, and released by HBO on 6 October 2018. The special was released as a double album as Live in London by Sub Pop in March 2019.

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