Welcome - Weta in a Nutshell

  • Workshop sign
  • Richard Taylor and Tania Rodger - Weta co-founders
  • Peter Jackson, Richard Taylor and Tania Rodger with Frighteners crew
  • Weta
  • Lord Cockswain and his Moon Mistress
  • The Weta Cave in Miramar, Wellington
  • Bronze Sculpture for the Dyslexia Discovery Exhibit

Workshop Services

This section is for our potential clients to see what services Weta Workshop can offer you. Weta Workshop houses a range of disciplines under one roof - including conceptual design, weapons, armour & chainmaille, specialist props, vehicles, specialty costumes, models and miniatures, special makeup & prosthetics and public art & displays.

History

The company that would one day be known as Weta was born as RT Effects in the back room of Richard Taylor and Tania Rodger's Wellington flat in 1987. From this humble base of operations, Richard Taylor and Tania Rodger supported the emerging local film industry with a range of services in special effects, creature work, prosthetics and make-up effects.

In 1994, Richard and Tania joined with friends Peter Jackson and Jamie Selkirk to expand the company dramatically to service the local and international industry's special effects requirements. They named their new company Weta, with Richard and Tania heading up Weta Workshop, the conceptual design and creative services arm of the greater Weta company.

Since then, Richard, Tania and the team at Weta Workshop have had the great pleasure of contributing to conceptually groundbreaking projects alongside some of the greatest visionaries of our time; ventures that have seen Weta Workshop at the helm of creating new, compelling mythologies and worlds.

Over the years, Richard and Tania have also diversified Weta's scope of interest into a range of other creative enterprises, including collectibles, children's television and intellectual property development. All of these endeavours have allowed the team at Weta Workshop a unique perspective, experience and desire to tackle any creative challenge.

Creative Community

Weta Workshop is part of the greater Wellington-based creative community of Weta Digital, Park Road Post, and Stone Street Studios. Focused on inventiveness and quality, this collective community works together to provide a comprehensive range of services; including studio space hire, physical effects, digital effects, and post-production facilities, all within a few minutes of each other. Their complementary relationship is reflected in their integrated approach towards solving specific filmmaking issues and challenges.

 

 

Welcome to the Weta Group of Companies!

There are two distinct arms to our company, Weta Workshop and Weta Digital.

Each business has its own website. This site is for fans, friends and artists, as well as clients of Weta Workshop. You can visit Weta Digital's website here.

Weta Workshop is a five time Oscar winning conceptual design and physical manufacturing facility servicing the world's entertainment and creative industries"

Well, that's roughly how we sum up our company to our clients. And it's correct. That's what we do.

  • We've enjoyed a long and highly creative relationship with filmmaker and Weta co-owner Peter Jackson since the beginning of his career, working on films from Meet The Feebles through to The Lord Of The Rings trilogy (Fellowship Of The Ring, The Two Towers, Return Of The King) and King Kong.
  • We recently worked with James Cameron on conceptual design, specialty costumes, props and weapons for AVATAR
  • The Weta Workshop team designed and crafted the armour, props, weapons and cultures for The Chronicles Of Narnia.
  • For Neill Blomkamp's District 9, we had fun creating the weapons, props, creatures, make up effects and prosthetics
  • We've built a fully functional Warthog for Microsoft's Halo3 game promotional films
  • And much more - check out all the movies we've worked on.

But Weta is so much more than that...

And we love to engage with fans and other creative people...

That's why our website is quite different from other companies in the filmmaking business. It includes a lot of stuff for you. The fan. The one who watches the movies. We're all fans of something in here, be it movies, gaming, TV shows or beautiful art. So we hope you will enjoy it as much as we do.

My Weta

We want you to come back. Often. That's why we're encouraging you to set up your own personal profile. It's free and only takes a few minutes. This will make your time here much more fun. You'll be able to add your comments, write your reviews, showcase your own creativity, tell us what stuff you like and connect with other fans. As well as keep track of your collection, your past orders, not to mention all the Weta Dollars you can earn on your purchases!

Inside Weta

This is where you get the "inside" scoop - read the latest news, listen to our Weta Cast, learn more about our artists and get updates on the projects we are working on. See a record of all our projects since 1987 and the awards we have been honoured to receive. Set up your own profile and you'll be able to add comments and reviews on all of our work. Be first to hear new announcements by signing up for our free newsletter.

Shop

We love creating high quality art, with all the authenticity, attention to detail and passion of our movie work. This is where you can purchase a piece of the art of Weta. We have an ever growing range of items from limited edition collectibles, books and clothing to swords, rayguns and jewellery. We offer original Weta brands like Dr Grordbort's rayguns and Peter Lyon's hand crafted swords. You can purchase items from movies we helped to create like The Lord of the Rings, Kong and Narnia, or some of our favourite brands like Doctor Who and Halo 3. Set up your own profile to earn Weta Dollars and save money on future purchases.

 

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