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New Zealand online movie coverage goes pro - Lord of the Rings news - J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings

July 04, 2000 at 13:42:17

Apparently recognizing their value to the Tolkien movie news Web sites, Stuff has now created a special Lord of the Rings movie news section which is sure to be perused by thousands of fans around the world each day.

The Web site collates articles from several New Zealand newspapers which have been assigning increasing importance to Peter Jackson's three-film production of "The Lord of the Rings" in New Zealand. Jackson's project is having a significant impact on several areas in New Zealand through the infusion of new capital and/or revenues. The New Zealand economy is experiencing a noticeable boost directly related to the movie project.

As interest in the films grows, more and more people around the world are being directed to online New Zealand news sources. The international attention appears to be resulting in increased coverage of the movies and in the refinement of existing Web sites. Webmasters are occasionally cited or interviewed by some of the newspapers, and online fandom is being regarded as something of a phenomenon in the small country (population: approx. 4,000,000).

New Zealand actors have achieved international recognition through their work in locally produced television shows such as Shortland Street, a locally produced daytime drama which has been shown in other member countries of the British Commonwealth, and Hercules and Xena (produced in Auckland, New Zealand by Pacific Renaissance Pictures).

The publicity power of the Peter Jackson productions was recently demonstrated by the sudden projection of a relatively unknown actress, Robyn Malcolm, onto the international stage when she was interviewed by a local New Zealand newspaper. Tolkien movie news sites picked up the interview and ran as much background information on her as could be found. Malcolm is known outside of New Zealand to viewers of "Shortland Street", but may forever more be typecast as the Rohirric woman "Morwen", whose character is regarded by Tolkien experts to be non-canonical (not found in the original story).

Almost any mention of the LoTR movie project in a New Zealand newspaper carried by Stuff is sure to be picked up by one or more Tolkien movie news Web sites, whose combined readerships include tens of thousands daily visitors.