Product Description

Authorised and fully illustrated insight into the life and career of the award-winning director, from his childhood film projects up to King Kong, together with Jackson's revealing personal account of his six-year quest to film The Lord of the Rings. Once, Peter Jackson was a name unknown to all but a small band of loyal fans and fellow film-makers. Now he is the newest member of Hollywood's elite fellowship, with his name on the most successful movie trilogy of all time. Written with Jackson's full participation, this extensive biography, illustrated with never-before-seen photos from Jackson's personal collection, tells the inside story of how a New Zealander became Hollywood's hottest property -- from the early cult classics, through Academy Award -winning success with Kate Winslet's Heavenly Creatures, the abandoned King Kong remake, and the filming of The Lord of the Rings, a project which was abandoned two years into pre-production, rejected by most of the other studios and then picked up by New Line Cinema in the biggest gamble in film history. Drawing upon interviews with fifty of Peter Jackson's colleagues and contemporaries, author Brian Sibley paints a portrait of a true auteur, a man gifted with single-minded determination and an artist's vision. Jackson himself is both revealing and insightful about his entire film-making life, from his first childhood steps filming in Super 8 to the grand realisation of his life's dream: King Kong. Together, these joint narratives provide a truly unique and compelling insight into one of the finest cinematic minds at work today.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #39788 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 592 pages

Review
'A brilliant collation of facts, figures, anecdotes and production detail, this will be manna from heaven for Jackson fans, who will devour every last page of this illuminating study with unconfined joy.' Film Review. 'A well rounded examination of the once-rotund director, with Brian Sibley delivering an enthralling dot-to-dot account of Jackson's life and career so far, navigating well clear of celebrity fawning." Total Film

About the Author
Brian Sibley adapted The Lord of the Rings for BBC Radio in 1980, which won several awards, and has gone on to be one of its biggest champions. He is also an acknowledged expert on cinema and television, regularly broadcasting and writing on the subject. His many film-related books include the award-winning The Making of The Lord of the Rings, which impressed Peter Jackson sufficiently to ask him to collaborate on his official biography.

Customer Reviews

Sean Connerry as Gandalf?
I very rarely read biographies, but in this case I had a true respect for Peter Jackson and felt it would be worthwhile. I was not disappointed, in fact I found it so inspirational I was almost temmpted to buy my own Bolex 16mm and make my own films. It is worth mentioning that this is the official biography, so you get some major tracts of text which are directly contributed by the great man.
One thing people may be wary of is that, with the exception of the first few pages, it is very much concentrated on his work as opposed to his personal life, which is right and correct. It charts his rise, his projects from as young as 8 years old, and the single minded dedication which saw Bad Taste, essentially a home movie, recognised at Cannes festival. Then we see his development moving through 'Meet The Feebles' and 'Braindead', two more splatter movies which were in danger of seeing him stereotyped.
In countering this he tackled 'Heavenly Creatures', a true story, and 'Forgotten Silver' which was essentially a 'mockumentary' which caused outrage in New Zealand and a result of him losing his way after the loss of a dear friend and his producer. 'The Frighteners' was his next project, and first dealings with the politics of Hollywood that saw it launched at such an inappropriate time, and with such poor advertising, that it was essentially a flop.
Amazingly, the fact that his Weta company were being headhunted led to a bidding war for his services, with Fox, Miramax and Universal all involved, and some bizarre and fascinating deals. You see the first aborted attempt at KingKong and the amazing audacity of the owners of Miramax (the Weinsteins) trying to force Jackson into condensing Lord of the Rings into a single, two hour, film. The incredible tension surrounding his desperate plea to get New line to take on the project is truly inspiring stuff.
This book is truly insightful, about how this man came from nowhere to do what he has done. The machinations of Hollywood studios are truly interesting and it does not pull its punches with its criticism of Miramax and Universal. His road to stardom was so incredible for his own dedication and passion. Let this be a lesson to all the lesser people churning out there own autobiographies without achieving one millionth of what he has done.

Makes you believe anything is possible...
This is a wonderful insight into the life of Peter Jackson. I picked the book up and couldn't put it down. Each chapter is filled with intriguing stories about how Jackson single-handedly (with help and support from parents and friends) forged himself a film career. The behind-the-scenes stories feel like you're getting a sneaky glimpse into the glamorous (but mostly unglamorous!) film industry. The book leaves you feeling you were there on the sets of his films. So much so that I went back and watched all of his early splatter films again with a new knowledge about how they were made and how much effort was put in (especially on Braindead). On the negative, it seems that nobody proof-read the book as there are quite a few grammatical errors. Nevertheless, this comes highly recommended.

Inspirational!
A compelling, insightful and enjoyable biography. Charting Peter Jackson's rise from geeky kid with a Super 8 camera, through the making of his first feature which was shot on weekends over four years to his current status of superstar director. Jackson comes across as a thoroughly down to earth bloke whose moto of knuckling down and getting things done is wonderfully refreshing in a world of premadonnas. And there is even something here for people who are not avid movie fans: the story of a man who decided to buck the system and won. Full of pictures and interviews the only blemish is the unusually high number of grammatic errors in the text.