List of New Zealand film makers

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The following is a list of New Zealand film makers.

International directors

Name Notable titles Other
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 We're Warriors, Die Another Day, Along Came a Spider, xXx: State of the Union, Mulholland Drive
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

Name Notable 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

Year Category Film Result Recipient
1958 Best Short Subject (Live Action) Snows of Aorangi Nominated
1964 Best Documentary (Short) 140 Days Under the World Nominated
1980 Best Adapted Screenplay Breaker Morant Nominated Jonathan Hardy
1987 Best Short Film (Animated) The Frog, the Dog and the Devil Nominated Bob Stenhouse, Hugh MacDonald & Martin Townsend
1994 Best Director The Piano Nominated Jane Campion
1994 Best Supporting Actress The Piano Won Anna Paquin
1994 Best Original Screenplay The Piano Won Jane Campion
1995 Best Original Screenplay Four Weddings and a Funeral Nominated Richard Curtis
1995 Best Original Screenplay Heavenly Creatures Nominated Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh
1999 Best Original Screenplay The Truman Show Nominated Andrew Niccol
1999 Best Actor The Insider Nominated Russell Crowe
2001 Best Actor Gladiator Won Russell Crowe
2002 Best Makeup The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Won Richard Taylor
2002 Best Visual Effects The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Won Richard Taylor
2002 Best Adapted Screenplay The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Nominated Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Phillipa Boyens
2002 Best Art Direction/Set Direction The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Nominated Dan Hennah & Grant Major
2002 Best Costume Design The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Nominated Richard Taylor & Ngila Dickson
2002 Best Director The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Nominated Peter Jackson
2002 Best Editing The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Nominated John Gilbert
2002 Best Picture The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Nominated Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh
2002 Best Sound The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Nominated Hammond Peek
2002 Best Actor A Beautiful Mind Nominated Russell Crowe
2003 Best Art Direction/Set Decoration The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Nominated Dan Hennah & Grant Major
2003 Best Editing The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Nominated Michael Horton
2003 Best Picture The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Nominated Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh
2004 Best Adapted Screenplay The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Won Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Phillipa Boynes
2004 Best Art Direction The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Won Dan Hennah and Grant Major
2004 Best Costume Design The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Won Ngila Dickson and Richard Taylor
2004 Best Director The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Won Peter Jackson
2004 Best Editing The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Won Jamie Selkirk
2004 Best Original Song The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Won Fran Walsh
2004 Best Makeup The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Won Richard Taylor
2004 Best Picture The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Won Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh
2004 Best Sound Mixing The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Won Michael Hedges and Hammond Peek
2004 Best Actress Whale Rider Nominated Keisha Castle-Hughes
2004 Best Costume Design The Last Samurai Nominated Ngila Dickson
2005 Best Animated Feature Film Shrek 2 Nominated Andrew Adamson
2005 Best Short Film Two Cars, One Night Nominated Taika Cohen and Ainsley Gardener
2006 Best Visual Effects King Kong Won Richard Taylor and Christian Rivers
2006 Best Sound Mixing King Kong Won Michael Hedges and Hammond Peek
2006 Best Sound Editing King Kong Won Mike Hopkins and Ethan Van der Ryn
2006 Best Art Direction King Kong Nominated Dan Hennah, Grant Major and Simon Bright
2006 Best Sound Mixing The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Nominated Tony Johnson
2008 Best Picture Atonement Nominated Tim Bevan
2010 Best Art Direction Avatar Won Kim Sinclair
2010 Best Picture District 9 Nominated Peter Jackson
2012 Best Original Song The Muppets Won Bret McKenzie
2013 Best Art Direction The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Nominated Dan Hennah, Grant Major and Simon Bright
2013 Best Picture Les Misérables Nominated Tim Bevan
2014 Best Sound Mixing The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Nominated Michael Hedges
2015 Best Adapted Screenplay The Theory of Everything Nominated Anthony McCarten
2023 Best 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.