Wētā Workshop

Wētā Workshop is a creative company delivering concept design, special effects, props, collectibles, immersive visitor experiences and video games. Based in Miramar, Wellington, New Zealand. It also offers two tourism experiences, the Wētā Workshop Experiences Wellington Tour and Wētā Workshop Unleashed in Auckland. It is known for effects for television and film.

History

Founded in 1987 by Richard Taylor and Tania Rodger as RT Effects, Wētā Workshop has produced creatures and makeup effects for the TV series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess and effects for films such as Meet the Feebles and Heavenly Creatures.
A digital version, Weta Digital, was formed in 1993 and operates independently as a separate company. The company is named after the New Zealand wētā, one of the world's largest insects.
Wētā Workshop's output was used in director Peter Jackson's film trilogies The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, producing sets, costumes, armour, weapons, creatures and miniatures. It also aided in the making of Jackson's 2005 version of King Kong. It supported the creation of Reclaiming the Blade, a documentary film on stage combat, historical European and Asian swordsmanship.
Wētā Workshop teamed up with Team Fortress 2, creating weapons and cosmetics based on the company's Dr. Grordbort's Infallible Aether Oscillators series. Additionally, Wētā Workshop created the Aegis of Champions, the trophy awarded in The International, an annual esports world championship for Dota 2.
Wētā Workshop's video games division was founded in 2014 and has produced multiple games including the augmented reality project Dr. Grordbort's Invaders for Magic Leap, and the video game Tales of the Shire.
Wētā Workshop made its American musical theatre debut in 2022 with Workshop designer Rebekah Tisch serving as the art director for the musical stage production of Other World at Delaware Theatre Company, creating a digital world for live stage.

Innovations

Chainmail

For The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, realistic looking chainmail was made for the lead actors and for the hundreds of extras that appeared throughout the films. PVC pipe was cut into rings, assembled by hand into a semblance of armour, and then electroplated. A total of 82.9 million links were manufactured from of PVC pipe.
Wētā Workshop makes chainmail for film and creative industries using new techniques developed in-house. PVC injection was used for the armour in Kingdom of Heaven, giving better results than the process for The Lord of the Rings. It produces aluminium or steel chainmail for high-impact stuntwork.

Bigatures

The term bigature is Wētā Workshop's nickname for a very large miniature model. They are used in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, with the largest of them measuring some tall. Extensive computer graphics techniques and computer-controlled cameras were used to seamlessly mesh the bigature photography with live actors and scenes.
Bigatures used in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy included models of:

The Hornburg – the mountain fortress of the Rohirrim
Minas Tirith – the White City of Gondor
Rivendell – Elrond's city for the Elves
Caras Galadhon – Galadriel's city in Lothlórien
Argonath – the gateway into Gondor, two statues of Elendil and Isildur
Osgiliath – the ruined City of Gondor
Orthanc – Saruman's tower
Cirith Ungol – the tower that guards the pass of Shelob
Minas Morgul – Sauron's 'Dead City'
Barad-dûr – Sauron's massive tower
The Black Gate – the gate guarding the gap between the Ered Lithui and the Ephel Dúath
Grond – the battering ram that smashed down the gates of Minas Tirith
People
Jonathon Brough works as a designer and prop finisher.
Daniel Falconer is the author of several Wētā Workshop publications including The Art of District 9: Weta Workshop He is also a member of the design team for the Lord of the Rings film franchise and other films.
Workplace culture

Beginning in June 2020, an investigative project by New Zealand public TV broadcaster 1News into Wētā's workplace culture resulted in over 11 current and former Wētā Workshop employees anonymously sharing accounts of bullying and harassment. Another former employee, Layna Lazar, came public with her own allegation by social media posting the same month that she was sexually harassed repeatedly and after seeking recourse, was fired, this prompted an independent review by Hive Consulting in December of that year. Their reviewer Ashley Benefield cleared the company of the allegations stating that "the majority of allegations in the post including the most serious allegations, have either not been substantiated or were reasonable in the context of circumstances not described in the post". The review's December 2020 report did not address the anonymous allegations of over 11 employees originally reported by 1 News back in July, and the concerned employees stated they were not informed of the review having finished, in spite of their cooperation in it.

Film

Television

Year	Name
1985	The Ray Bradbury Theatre
1991	The Boy from Andromeda
1993	The Tommyknockers
1995	Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
1995	Xena: Warrior Princess
1998	Young Hercules
2005	Jane and the Dragon
2006	The Killian Curse
2009	The WotWots
2015	Thunderbirds Are Go
2015	The Expanse
2015	Childhood's End
2016	Cleverman
2016	The Shannara Chronicles
2017	Black Spot
2018	Altered Carbon
2018	Kiddets
2019	Love Death + Robots
2019	Fast & Furious Spy Racers
2020	Book Hungry Bears
2020	Cleopatra 2025
2021	Jupiter's Legacy
2021	Foundation
2021	Invasion
2022	The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
2022	Obi-Wan Kenobi
2023	Beacon 23
2024	Secrets at Red Rocks
2024	Time Bandits
2024	Sunny
2025	Alien: Earth
2025	Stranger Things

Video games developed

Year	Name	Developer	Publisher	Platforms
2018	Dr. Grordbort's Invaders	Wētā Workshop	Wētā Workshop	Magic Leap
2025	Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Game	Wētā Workshop	Private Division	PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android