Directors

Peter Jackson

A New Zealand director, screenwriter, film producer, best known for The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit trilogy, both of which are adapted from the novels by J. R. R. Tolkien. Other notable films include drama Heavenly Creatures, mockumentary Forgotten Silver, horror comedy The Frighteners, epic monster remake film King Kong, and the supernatural drama film The Lovely Bones.

His production company is Wingnut Films, and most regular collaborators are co-writers and producers Walsh and Philippa Boyens. Jackson was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2002. He was later knighted by Anand Satyanand, the Governor-General of New Zealand, at a ceremony in Wellington in April 2010. In December 2014, Jackson was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Tim Burton

Born 1958, California, Tim Burton is an American film director, producer, artist, writer and animator. Burton is best known for his dark, Gothic, eccentric and quirky fantasy films such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, animated musical The Nightmare Before Christmas, biographical film Ed Wood, horror fantasy Sleepy Hollow, and later creations such as Corpse Bride, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Dark Shadows and Frankenweenie. Further famous works include  Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and fantasy film Alice in Wonderland, which garnered a staggering worldwide gross of over $1 billion.

Burton was the son of Jean Burton, the owner of a cat-themed gift shop, and Bill Burton, a former minor league baseball player. Ironically I find Burton reminiscent of some of his own character creations; coming from a peculiar family with an obsession for dark fantasy from a young age. As a preteen, Burton would make short films in his backyard on Evergreen Street using stop motion animation techniques, coincidentally around the same age, myself and my partner Sophie were producing amateur stop motion animation projects. Some of his first films were shot on 8 mm film without sound, (one of his oldest known juvenile films is The Island of Doctor Agor, created aged 13).