Looking Back at the Lord of the Rings Effect

“[The Lord of the Rings film series] absolutely put us on the map,” says Jasmine Millet, head of creative industries at Tātaki Auckland Unlimited and an advocate for the region’s filmmaking industry. “People started thinking about New Zealand, wanting to visit New Zealand en masse in a way that they never would have without those films.” In the two decades since the release of The Return of the King, Kevin Baxter reports for the Los Angeles Times, the Oscar-winning final film in Peter Jackson’s trilogy, New Zealand has become a major player in the global motion picture industry.

“The trilogy is just a big advertisement for New Zealand,” says Shayne Forrest, general manager for tourism at the 5.5-hectare Hobbiton movie set. “The filmmakers that made these movies, Jackson and all his team, they’re all New Zealanders. So it really got to showcase New Zealand as being a creative hub that could punch well above its weight in the international arena.”

Nature, however, may have provided New Zealand’s filmmakers with their most valuable asset.

Original article by Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, November 28, 2023.