[talking about how he made the murder scene of Heavenly Creatures]: "We went to the murder site, and we just felt uncomfortable about filming there. It was very strange, and maybe it was just our imagination, but it was very quiet, very tranquil. I mean, all the way down the path you hear the wind and the birds, and suddenly, when you arrive at the spot, you hear nothing. So we filmed the murder scene at Victoria Park, but it was on a different track, about a hundred yards away."

[talking about the help he received from Wendy Rieper, sister of Pauline, to make Heavenly Creatures]: "She thought that the portrayal of the tension between Pauline and her mother was very accurate. It was nice, because Wendy is one of the few key people alive who refuses to talk about it. She absolutely refuses to have anything to do with journalists, with anyone, so it was actually very sweet of her to get the message back to us. It was quite amazing to us that she had even gone to see this film. She thought it was good, but incredibly difficult to watch."

[talking about the research work he did for Heavenly Creatures]: "The structure was fairly apparent once we started to do research. It wasn't just the diaries themselves, it was the general research. We read as much of the diaries as we could--we haven't actually ever seen the full, unedited diary, but we gathered as many of the excerpts that were released at the time of the trial as we could, which amounted to quite a few pages. And we read the newspapers, and interviewed people, and then the three acts sort of materialized quite neatly. You know, act one is when the two girls meet and become friends, and the turning point is at the end of the first act when you realize that they are now bonded."

Peter Jackson was born in New Zealand on Halloween 1961. His first film, BAD TASTE (1987), was produced on a showstring budget over a period of four years. It eventually became a cult classic and was even shown at the Cannes Film Festival. Jackson's next film, MEET THE FEEBLES (1989), a sort of adult version of The Muppet Show, was even more audacious and outrageous. Jackson's third feature film, the zombie splatter movie BRAINDEAD (1992), finally meant his breakthrough. The commercial success of this film enabled him to direct HEAVENLY CREATURES (1994), an exhilarating psycho drama, that was a deviation from the horror genre, but every bit as dark and brooding. In 1996, Jackson teamed up with Robert Zemeckis to direct THE FRIGHTENERS (1996), another horror comedy, but this time with expensive digital effects. Jackson's next project was a mock documentary. FORGOTTEN SILVER (1996) detailed the re-discovery of the oeuvre of a (fictional) master filmmaker. In 1997, Jackson again collaborated with Zemeckis on the latter's excellent science-fiction drama CONTACT. From then on Jackson worked on the LORD OF THE RINGS-trilogy, the first part of which was released in December 2001. The second part was released in December 2002, and the third part will be released December 2003. Peter Jackson usually cowrites his films with Frances Walsh. Early (minor) screen credits include the television series WORZEL GUMMIDGE DOWN UNDER (1986-1987), for which Jackson did the special effects (and Fran Walsh wrote some episodes), the TV war drama 1914 ALL OUT (1987), which Jackson edited. In 1994, Jackson reportedly worked as a project manager for a special effects company on HERCULES AND THE LOST KINGDOM (1994), one of five TV adventures produced by Sam Raimi, followed by the series in 1995.

Peter Jackson official fanclub is at: http://tbhl.theonering.net/