The Lord of the Rings producer Barrie Osborne has been named as an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to the film industry.
"I was honoured and very grateful," he said. "I think it's a tribute to all the people I've worked with in New Zealand."
Together with Sir Peter Jackson and Ms Fran Walsh, Mr Osborne was part of the team which received the 2004 Academy Award for Best Picture for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
He had been nominated twice for the preceding two Lord of the Rings films.
"The Lord of the Rings was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It was a five-year commitment," he said.
"We ended up making three movies at once, and at the end sweeping in the Academy Awards. It was a real tribute to the effort of everybody."
He has been instrumental in attracting a large variety of film productions to New Zealand, including The Rescue, The Water Horse, Pete's Dragon, Krampus, Ghost in the Shell and MEG. Mr Osborne says this is due to "the ease with which we can make films here".
"The organising of the crew is really flexible and accommodating to different types and sizes of production. We have really skilled and capable crew," he said.
"Other factors are the incentives, as well as the exchange rate and the infrastructure - including communication facilities and that sort of thing - as well as the support of the Government. The size of New Zealand means we can go to the minister, if we need it."
He's also been involved in the telling of New Zealand stories such as The World's Fastest Indian. Productions Mr Osborne has supported have contributed well in excess of $500 million in economic benefit to New Zealand.
He said working in the film industry has meant long hours - but it's rewarding.
"Starting at the bottom and working my way up from runner to [assistant director] to producing - it's been a question of interest, passion and hard work," he says.
"One of the things I love about film is you never stop learning. You use the lessons you learn on other productions."
Newshub.
