Peter Jackson

He tied the nuptial knot with Fran Walsh, a writer by profession. The two first met while working on the film scripts together in the initial phase.

During his heydays, Walsh turned out to be the perfect partner for him both personally and professionally assisting him in all his endeavors.

The couple has been blessed with two children Billy, who was born in 1995 and Katie in 1996. His wife and two children have had their share of screen space in various movies directed by him.

Peter Jackson was born to immigrant English parents - Joan and William Jackson. While his mother was a factory worker cum housewife, his father was a wages clerk.

Since his childhood days, he has a strong affinity towards films and filmmaking. An avid movie buff, he started making short films as a child.

Films like ‘King Kong’, ‘Casinos’, ‘Goodfellas’ and ‘Waterloo’ inspired him as a child.

Ever since watching ‘King Kong’ he long aspired to make a remake of the same. At the age of 12, he did make a first attempt at the same using a puppet.

His most impressive filmmaking during this phase included the special prize winning short film, ‘The Dwarf Patrol’. In it, he first employed special effects which later on became a key feature in most of his films.

His first ever professional vocation was as a photographic lithographer at a local newspaper. He worked in the profile for about seven years.

Within a short span of time, he saved enough money to buy a state-of-art camera. He employed the one-day off from work to begin shooting his own film.

What essentially started out to be a short film eventually turned into a full-fledged 90-minutes comedy feature film titled Bad Taste. Four years and finance from the New Zealand Film Commission later, ‘Bad Taste’ was released in 1987 at the Cannes Film Festival.

After his debut work, he started working on film scripts along with established names from the film industry.

‘Meet The Feebles’ was his next venture which released in 1989. The movie, a musical comedy, is a black satirical fare that was originally intended to be a short film for television. It was also the first film with special effects team Richard Taylor and Tania Rodger.

His long list of exemplary work till date has been bestowed with a number of prestigious awards and honors including three Academy Awards, three Australian Film Institute Awards, four British Academy Film Awards and one Golden Globe Award.

Other awards received by him include one Critics Choice Award, one Director’s Guild of America Award, three New Zealand Film and TV Awards, one Producer’s Guild of America Awards and four Saturn Awards.

In 2002, he was made a Companion of The New Zealand Order of Merit.

Later in 2010, he was promoted to the rank of the Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his outstanding contribution to films.

In 2012, he was bestowed with New Zealand's highest honour as he was appointed to the Order of New Zealand.