List of New Zealand film makers

Last updated

The following is a list of New Zealand film makers.

Contents

International directors

NameNotable titlesOther
Andrew Adamson Shrek 1 and 2, The Narnia film series Academy Award nominee
Martin Campbell Casino Royale, The Mask of Zorro, GoldenEye BAFTA winner
Jane Campion The Piano, Holy Smoke! Academy Award winner
Richard Curtis Love Actually, Bridget Jones's Diary (writer) BAFTA winner, Academy Award nominee
Winston Cowie Zayed's Antarctic Lights, Our Sea. Our Heritage , Wild Abu Dhabi: The Turtles of Al Dhafra New York Festivals TV and Film Awards
Roger Donaldson Species, Worlds Fastest Indian Dante's Peak, Cocktail, The Recruit Golden Palm nominee
Ellory Elkayem Eight Legged Freaks
Peter Jackson Bad Taste, The Frighteners, Heavenly Creatures, The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, King Kong, the Hobbit trilogy 9 time Academy Award nominee, three of which he won.
Gerard Johnstone M3GAN, Housebound (2014 film)
Geoff Murphy Utu, Under Siege II, Goodbye Pork Pie
Andrew Niccol Lord of War, Gattaca, The Truman Show (writer) BAFTA winner, Academy Award nominee
David Sims The Truth About Tangiwai , Painting in an Empty Land , Mystery at Midge Bay Gold Houston International Film Festival
Lee Tamahori Once Were Warriors, Die Another Day, Along Came a Spider, xXx: State of the Union, The Devil's Double
Vincent Ward River Queen, Map of the Human Heart, What Dreams May Come 2 time Golden Palm nominee
Niki Caro Whale Rider, North Country BAFTA winner
Taika Waititi Boy, Two cars, one night, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Jojo Rabbit, Thor: Ragnarok Academy Award winner, BAFTA winner

Domestic directors

NameNotable For
Murray Ball Footrot Flats: The Dog's Tale
Barry Barclay Ngati
Michael Bennett Matariki
Paul Campion The Devil's Rock
Ben Hawker Blackspot
Jonathan King Black Sheep
Paul Maunder Sons for the Return Home
Brad McGann In My Father's Den
James Napier Robertson The Dark Horse
Robert Sarkies Out of the Blue, Scarfies
Glenn Standring Perfect Creature, The Irrefutable Truth about Demons
Mika X GURL

Producers

Actors

New Zealand at the Academy Awards

New Zealand film makers have won a total of sixteen Oscars at the US Film Academy Awards from 41 nominations. Eleven wins were for work on the Lord of the Rings film trilogy. The first New Zealand nomination was in 1958 for Snows of Aorangi with New Zealand's first wins coming in 1994 for The Piano. 1994

Winners and nominees

YearCategoryFilmResultRecipient
1958Best Short Subject (Live Action) Snows of Aorangi Nominated
1964Best Documentary (Short) 140 Days Under the World Nominated
1980Best Adapted Screenplay Breaker Morant Nominated Jonathan Hardy
1987Best Short Film (Animated) The Frog, the Dog and the Devil NominatedBob Stenhouse, Hugh MacDonald & Martin Townsend
1994Best Director The Piano Nominated Jane Campion
1994Best Supporting ActressThe PianoWon Anna Paquin
1994Best Original ScreenplayThe PianoWonJane Campion
1995Best Original Screenplay Four Weddings and a Funeral Nominated Richard Curtis
1995Best Original Screenplay Heavenly Creatures Nominated Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh
1999Best Original Screenplay The Truman Show Nominated Andrew Niccol
1999Best Actor The Insider Nominated Russell Crowe
2001Best Actor Gladiator WonRussell Crowe
2002Best Makeup The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Won Richard Taylor
2002Best Visual EffectsThe Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the RingWonRichard Taylor
2002Best Adapted ScreenplayThe Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the RingNominatedPeter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Phillipa Boyens
2002Best Art Direction/Set DirectionThe Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the RingNominated Dan Hennah & Grant Major
2002Best Costume DesignThe Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the RingNominatedRichard Taylor & Ngila Dickson
2002Best DirectorThe Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the RingNominatedPeter Jackson
2002Best EditingThe Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the RingNominated John Gilbert
2002Best PictureThe Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the RingNominatedPeter Jackson and Fran Walsh
2002Best SoundThe Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the RingNominatedHammond Peek
2002Best Actor A Beautiful Mind NominatedRussell Crowe
2003Best Art Direction/Set Decoration The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers NominatedDan Hennah & Grant Major
2003Best EditingThe Lord of the Rings: The Two TowersNominatedMichael Horton
2003Best PictureThe Lord of the Rings: The Two TowersNominatedPeter Jackson and Fran Walsh
2004Best Adapted ScreenplayThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the KingWonPeter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Phillipa Boynes
2004Best Art DirectionThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the KingWonDan Hennah and Grant Major
2004Best Costume DesignThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the KingWonNgila Dickson and Richard Taylor
2004Best DirectorThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the KingWonPeter Jackson
2004Best EditingThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the KingWon Jamie Selkirk
2004Best Original SongThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the KingWonFran Walsh
2004Best MakeupThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the KingWonRichard Taylor
2004Best PictureThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the KingWonPeter Jackson and Fran Walsh
2004Best Sound MixingThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the KingWon Michael Hedges and Hammond Peek
2004Best Actress Whale Rider Nominated Keisha Castle-Hughes
2004Best Costume Design The Last Samurai Nominated Ngila Dickson
2005Best Animated Feature Film Shrek 2 Nominated Andrew Adamson
2005Best Short Film Two Cars, One Night Nominated Taika Cohen and Ainsley Gardener
2006Best Visual Effects King Kong WonRichard Taylor and Christian Rivers
2006Best Sound MixingKing KongWon Michael Hedges and Hammond Peek
2006Best Sound EditingKing KongWon Mike Hopkins and Ethan Van der Ryn
2006Best Art DirectionKing KongNominatedDan Hennah, Grant Major and Simon Bright
2006Best Sound Mixing The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe NominatedTony Johnson
2008Best Picture Atonement Nominated Tim Bevan
2010Best Art Direction Avatar Won Kim Sinclair
2010Best Picture District 9 NominatedPeter Jackson
2012Best Original Song The Muppets Won Bret McKenzie
2013Best Art Direction The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey NominatedDan Hennah, Grant Major and Simon Bright
2013Best Picture Les Misérables NominatedTim Bevan
2014Best Sound Mixing The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Nominated Michael Hedges
2015Best Adapted Screenplay The Theory of Everything Nominated Anthony McCarten
2023Best Sound Mixing Avatar: The Way of Water Nominated Michael Hedges

Special effects

Richard Taylor, who is the head of Weta Workshop, has won a notable number of awards for his work on the Lord of the Rings film trilogy and King Kong. Currently, he holds one of the largest Academy Award Collections.