Michael Pellerin

Michael Pellerin is an award-winning Canadian-American filmmaker, documentarian and multi-media content producer who has directed more than 250 documentaries, featurettes, webisodes and TV specials. He is best known for his documentaries chronicling and promoting Peter Jackson's films of "The Lord of the Rings" (2001 - 2003), "King Kong" (2005) and "The Hobbit" (2012 - 2014). Pellerin developed a keen interest in the process of filmmaking at an early age, inspired by "King Kong" (1933), the Walt Disney production of "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" (1954), "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968), and the films of Stanley Kubrick. His interest in filmmaking was only matched by his personal avocation for the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. Over the course of his life, he has studied 10,000 pages of the author's published works and manuscripts, 4,000 pages of secondary critical and academic analysis, as well as the ancient Classical, Finnish, Gothic and Germanic and Icelandic sagas and legends that were the antecedents of Middle-earth. Pellerin reconciled these dual passions when he graduated from Northwestern University, earning dual bachelor's degrees majoring in both TV & Film and English, with an emphasis on ancient English language, literature and legend. He then attended the California Institute of the Arts MFA program in Film & Video, where he segued directly into editing and producing in the television industry. After segment producing on television specials such as "ABC's 40th Anniversary" (1994), "HBO's Comic Relief" (1995), and "Monty Python's Flying Circus: Live at Aspen" (1998), Pellerin moved into directing and producing documentaries for The Walt Disney Company's classic and contemporary animated films, including "Fantasia" (1940), "Sleeping Beauty", (1959) "The Lion King" (1994), "Pocahontas" (1995) and "Tron" (1982). He later worked with the nascent Pixar animation studios documenting their first four films, "Toy Story" (1995), "A Bug's Life" (1998), "Toy Story 2" (1999) and "Monsters, Inc." (2001). Pellerin's professional background as a film documentarian, and his personal devotion to works of J.R.R. Tolkien, coalesced into a career-defining era, as he spent the better part of two decades living in New Zealand documenting Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings" (2001 - 2003) and "The Hobbit" (2012 - 2014) Trilogies", as well as his remake of "King Kong" (2005). During this time, he documented 10,000 hours of footage and conducted 500 interviews as well as serving as cameraman on more than 70 of his productions. Ultimately, he was the creator of "The Appendices" (2002 - 2015) - the award winning 12-part, 50-hour documentary series chronicling the making of the films of the Middle-earth Saga as well as the works and life of author J.R.R. Tolkien. On Jackson's remake of "King Kong" (2005), Pellerin helped pioneer the medium of online production video diaries, eventually producing more than 90 web episodes released weekly over a period of 14 months, concurrently during the production of the motion picture. Pellerin also collaborated with Peter Jackson to produce an extensive documentary of the making of the original "King Kong" (1933). As no footage exists documenting the groundbreaking visual effects pioneered in that film, Jackson and Pellerin painstakingly recreated several sequences from the film to demonstrate how they were achieved. Employing period technology, including stop-motion animation, glass matte painting, miniature rear screen projection and live action shooting, they were able to document how the landmark visual effects were achieved. This process culminated in the recreation of "The Lost Spider Pit Sequence" (2005), a deleted scene, long lost to time, that Jackson, Pellerin and their team reproduced, using the historical records of the production as well as the period film equipment and techniques. Over his career, he has been the recipient of multiple awards in his field, including three Saturn Awards for his work on each installment of "The Lord of the Rings" (2001 - 2003) Trilogy Special Editions; the International Recoding Media Association Award's Best in Show five years in a row, for "The Lord of the Rings" (2001 - 2003) Special Editions, "King Kong" (1933) and "'Toy Story': The Ultimate Toy Box" (2000); and five DVD Premiere/Exclusive Awards Best in Show/Best Special Edition awards for "The Lord of the Rings" (2001 - 2003) Special Editions and "The 'Fantasia' Anthology" (2000). Pellerin is a member of the WGA and divides his time living with his wife in Hollywood, California and Wellington, New Zealand.