Richard Taylor

Richard Taylor

Richard Taylor was grew up on a farm at Hihi near Pukekohe.He made his own fun such as giving his sister artificial wounds and sculptures out of mud in the creek.When he was child he was dyslexic but at Wesley Collage he read a lot.

He knew form about age 11 that his future work would be making things.He studied at the wellington School of Design.Richard has been with his partner,Tania,since they were 13 years old.In 1987 they set up Richard  Taylor Effects Ltd.in the back room of their flat.They provided special effects and puppet work for clients.They developed a close working relationship with New Zealand film director Peter Jackson and Jamie Selkirk to become Weta Workshop.It is now known as one of the world's top digital effects houses.

It has provided special effects for many films and television shows such as the Hercules and Xena Series,The Last Samurai,The Legends of Zorro,King Kong.On the Lord of the Rings Trilogy Weta Provided the design,Fabrication,and on set operation of the creatures,miniatures,armour,weaponry,special make- up effects and prosthetics such as Hobbit feet.It made over 48,000 separate items.For this work,Richard won four Academy Awards and three Baftas.