Sir Richard Taylor

Sir Richard Taylor (Landscape)

A company director of Weta Work Shop. He operated in this manner for several years, making special effects and puppet work for numerous clients. He made special effects for The Lord of the Rings. He is a close friend of Peter Jackson.

Childhood: He originally came from Oldham in the United Kingdom but he came to New Zealand and he grew up here, South of Auckland on a small farm at Te Hihi. His parents weren’t actually farmers; his father was an engineer and his mother was a science teacher. Taylor grew up knowing nothing else.

Considering all the work he was to do in the film later on, Taylor saw very few films in his early years. He did still watch some television and one of his favorite shows was Thunderbirds. He was interested in the puppets and special effects on the show.

Richard Taylor struggled with dyslexia during his early years. Just for this reason he had problems reading and he actually preferred to spend more time making things. He made sculptures using clay from the farm creek, and moving models from cotton reels. He also made fake wounds on his sister.

School: There wasn’t any place for him to develop his talents in primary school. Later on around 1970 he then attended Wesley College, it was a secondary boys boarding school. Taylor always kept his hopes up and went on his own paths.

During the time in Wesley College Taylor over came his dyslexia problem. On his final year of school, Taylor’s parents and the school adviser were trying to make him a orthodontist. They actually thought it will be a good way for him to use his own creative thinking to earn comfortable living. Taylor then wanted to go to Wellington Polytechnic’s School of Design.

Richard Taylor won an OSCAR

Weta: Sir Richard Taylor won four Oscars. This special effects company is closely linked to Richard Taylor’s name and has helped build his worldwide reputation. For maybe over 20 years, it has had different ranges of advertisements and TV series. He as also won four Baftas. He is now been knighted by the Queen.