Biography
Sir Richard Leslie Taylor KNZM is a New Zealand filmmaker and costume designer. He is the founder, creative director and head of the prop and special effects company Weta Workshop, which he established with Tania Rodger in 1987.
Taylor was born on 8 February 1965 in Cheadle, Cheshire, England, and emigrated to New Zealand as a child. He studied at Wesley College, Paerata, and the former Wellington Polytechnic. He is best known for his work with director Peter Jackson on the Middle-earth film trilogies The Lord of the Rings (2001–2003) and The Hobbit (2012–2014), for which Weta Workshop created costumes, armour, weapons, prosthetics and miniatures. He shared Academy Awards for his contributions to the films, including for costume design on The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003).
Taylor has also worked on films including King Kong (2005). He was knighted in 2010 for services to film.
