5 A directors life

1 What do you know about The Lord of the Rings films? Who was the director?
What do you know about him?

2 a Before you read, check these words/phrases with your teacher or in a dictionary.

a remake a horror film an Oscar nomination a producer successful a screenplay scream a voice

b Read the article about the film director, Peter Jackson. Put these events in order (18).
a His film won 11 Oscars. e He got married.
b He made his first film. f He made his second remake of King Kong.
c He made The Lord of the Rings films. g He was born in New Zealand. 1
d He worked for a newspaper. h He got his first movie camera.

The Lord of the Oscars

ir Peter Jackson,
S the famous film director
and producer, was born in
New Zealand in 1961. His life
changed when a family friend gave
the Jacksons a movie camera. Peter
ExTRA READING:
In 1997, Peter and Fran met Saul
Zaentz, a film producer. They decided
to make films of the famous books
The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.
An English writer, JRR Tolkien, wrote
these books between 1937 and 1949,

used the camera to make his first and Peter loved reading the stories
photocopiable

film a remake of the classic movie
King Kong when he was only
twelve.
After Peter left school he worked for
a newspaper, but he continued to
make films in his free time. Around
this time he met and worked with
Fran Walsh, a writer and musician.
Peter and Fran got married in 1987,
the same year that he made his first
major movie, a horror film called
Bad Taste. Then in 1994 he made
Heavenly Creatures, a film about the
lives of two teenage girls. This film
was very important for Peter because
it won an Oscar nomination. Now
the big studios knew Peter Jacksons
name and he started making films in
Hollywood.
when he was young. Peter directed all
three The Lord of the Rings movies,
which they filmed in New Zealand in
1999 and 2000. All three movies were
very successful, and the third film, The
Return of the King, won 11 Oscars.
Three of these Oscars were for Peters
wife Fran, who wrote the screenplay
and the songs. Peter had small acting
parts in all three The Lord of the Rings
films. Fran didnt act in the films,
but when the nazguls screamed, the
audience heard Frans voice.
Peters next film was another remake
of King Kong, the film he made in his
parents house when he was a boy. a nazgul
But this time the studio paid him $20
million and the film made $550 million
worldwide!

3 Read the article again. Answer these questions.

1 When was Peter Jackson born? In 1961.
2 How old was he when he made his first film?
3 What type of film was Bad Taste?
4 Why was Heavenly Creatures important for Peter?
5 Which books did JRR Tolkein write?
6 Where and when did they make The Lord of the
Rings films?
7 Whose voice did they use for the nazguls scream?
8 How much did the studio pay Peter to direct
King Kong?

and The Hobbit. 6 In New Zealand in 1999 and 2000. 7 Frans voice. 8 $20 million.
2 b h2 b3 d4 e5 c6 a7 f8 3 2 He was 12. 3 A horror film. 4 Because it won an Oscar nomination. 5 The Lord of the Rings

222 face2face Second edition Elementary Photocopiable Cambridge University Press 2012 Instructions p214