Tim Launder is the General Manager of Weta Limited! His primary job is in charge of reaching things on high shelves. This is a super tough and detail oriented job at Weta...well, cause there is lots of high shelves in the Weta Workshop and if he isn't careful, he might just get dust in his eyes, trip over one of Daniel Falconer's many ongoing sculpts, and perhaps break that ONE and ONLY model of that secret environment that they are working on! Fortunately for Tim, he is blessed with supernatural powers which allows him to navigate the shelves and the workshop with relative ease...being that he has SUPER long ARMS!!

As the General Manager at Weta Limited, Tim also sells and markets the wonderful art and creations developed by the team in the Workshop. He travels the world sharing the creative genious that has become Weta Limited and engage with fans and collectors the world over to share and gather feedback and return to New Zealand where he helps create those special items that we all so frantically desire!

Tim is in charge of Weta Limited managing the sales, marketing, and promotion of Weta merchandise. Weta Limited offers a wide range of innovative art created by the same craftspeople who work on their movies!

TL: My kids. Having children reminded me of what life used to be like, before society started converting me into a boring adult. So I now try to live my life through the eyes of the 10 year old I used to be. Weta is full of kids in adult clothing. We don’t want to grow up.

Tolkien’s works cross over cultures, languages and age groups. They are 80 odd years young and will only grow more popular over time. Our aspiration is to make sure any commercial products respect his legacy.  The team at Weta are huge fans of his works, and we just love creating authentic art, that we hope lives up to his legacy.

TL: Yes, married to Junko and 2 lovely kids, Ken and Emma.

I tried reading LOTR when I was about 12, but struggled with the length of it and gave it away. I was never a dedicated reader. But I loved watching the Trilogy several times and listened to the entire 9 hour reading of The Hobbit in one day, while I drove from Auckland to Wellington.

Extended Edition

No

TL: As a kid, I enjoyed creating my own universes in my head. I was mostly influenced by games and shows like Dungeons and Dragons, The Six Million Dollar Man, Monty Python, Get Smart, Warcraft, Batman etc. And I think I watched just about every movie in the old video store near our house.  As I grow older, I have become more of a gamer. I am addicted to Warcraft III.

TL: Well, New Zealand is a small country with limited opportunities in most industries. When I was young, there very limited opportunities in entertainment. No one would ever have imagined how Peter Jackson, Richard Taylor and friends could have created a movie business in little old Wellington, New Zealand. So I joined New Zealand’s largest industry, the dairy industry, and spent 20 years working all over the world selling cheese and milk powder.  Then, when my kids were about 10 years old, I realized I wanted to see life through a child’s eyes once again. About this time, this position at Weta was advertised in the local newspaper and I immediately applied, thinking I had no chance whatsoever. I guess I just got lucky.

TL: Oh, it has to be Gandalf (thanks to the incredibly talented Sir Ian McKellen), Hobbiton, and the Tree Ents. Very Monty Pythonesque!

TheGD: If you were cast to be one of the main characters in the coming Hobbit films who would it be?

TL: Well, I am 2 meters tall, so I guess the dwarves are not an option. Secretly, I would really like to be Gandalf (but I have no acting talent).

TL: Of course, there are many. We have lots of fans and collectors in the Workshop, and we argue endlessly about our favourites. But it doesn’t really matter what I think. My task is to listen to the fans and create the items they would like to collect. So I keep asking forums to vote on their favourite choices and tell us what you want. Sounds like a job for the Green Dragon! (We are being heard folks...so please keep voting in the polls, Weta is paying attention!)

TL: Actually, I am not a collector. I get my jollies from going down into the Workshop and simply watching the artists at work. It truly is like Willie Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. (Having said that, I have got my eye on John Howe’s Smaug. You would not believe the level of detail and passion that was poured into this beautiful work of art)

TL: I’d jump into Greg Broadmore’s universe of Dr Grordbort’s. I have always enjoyed worlds with a bit of over-the-top lunacy about them (such as Monty Python’s search for the Holy Grail) and his books are hilarious. Hopefully we’ll get to make the movie.

TL: Just over 2 years What do you like about your job? I like walking into the Weta Cave and hearing the “ooohh” of wonder as people walk in the door. I like going to conventions and watching people’s eyes as they geek out at the Weta booth. I love seeing a class of visually impaired children “watch” the Lord of the Rings movie for the first time, by touching our LOTR collectibles with their fingers. And I really like it when my kids tell their friends their Dad has a cool job.

TL: Ha ! No such thing as a typical day at Weta. (I am usually) running around like a headless chicken. We have a small team of 8 people at Weta Limited, so we all have to help each other out. We run the Weta Cave, the Weta website, Weta shows and exhibitions around the world. We are simply trying to make the Art of Weta more accessible to those people who share our love for fun, imagination and creativity (and actually, they manage me most of the time)

TL: Yes, it really depends on the item, and which technology will deliver the best results. Our artists are perfectionists and each of them has their own views on how best to create something. So there are plenty of debates and hand to hand combat to see who wins. Fortunately, there are always weapons within nearby reach.

We try to focus on those brands or licenses which we have been involved with creatively, so that fans know they are getting authentic props or collectibles from the original artists. We like to think our passion will show through, when the artists have a strong emotional bond to the characters/brands.

Increasingly, we ask fans for feedback. We talk to fans at conventions and on forums and try to understand which items they prefer. We love making all sorts of items, but we need to ensure people want to collect them. Finally, we have to work within the constraints of our licenses, and we always have to ensure our products live up to our own Weta quality standards.

TL: Only a few of us. We are a very small team with very limited resources. Our focus is on building 2 way communication with our customers via newsletters, webcasts, forums, shows and exhibitions. We really do want your feedback (good or bad). Please sign up on our website and post comments / reviews on any of our products and news articles.

As a small company, we just don’t have the resources for large scale promotions. So we are trying to build up our mailing list of fans, by communicating with them and sharing our passion for creativity. We can’t afford to travel overseas to many shows, so we try and make a fuss for Comic Con each year, and we try to make as much use of the internet as possible.

TL: It has to be The Lord of the Rings. I started at Weta over 2 years ago, and it was apparent from my first month in the job, that fans wanted Weta to return to Middle-earth. LOTR fans travel from all over the world to visit us here in New Zealand and they want to take home a piece of Middle-earth with them. There were also so many hard core fans on the forums who had enjoyed collecting Weta’s original LOTR collectibles and were wanting to re-connect with those good times. So this was my priority number 1. It took nearly 18 months for us to get a new license, but we are now back home where we belong, creating authentic art for The Lord of the Rings.

TL: Lots of attention. We want your feedback, good or bad. Please leave comments on our website, or send us feedback info@wetaNZ.com, or post on forums. Share the passion! Yes, 90% of our decisions are based on customer / fan feedback.

TheGD: Is there any particular collectible or production line that you would have liked to REDO? Any line/collectible/item that you hold special and close?

TL: In recent years, we have been guilty of edition sizes which were too high, and some pieces which were just too big. So we are trying to improve on this.

I love the invention of Dr Grordbort’s mini rayguns, the majesty of our LOTR swords, the beauty of John Howe’s sculptures, and wait until you see what’s coming at Comic Con!

TheGD: Can you give us a general idea of the timeline from product development to completion? How much time does Weta Limited spend in developing marketing strategies and how much control does Weta have over development and execution of those marketing strategies? How much input does the licensor (i.e. New Line, Tolkien Estates, etc.) have on decisions within Weta and products being produced?

TL: It’s a very long process. 6-12 months to negotiate a license, 1-3 months to create a new paint master (longer if studio approvals take time), up to 6 months for production and 1-2 months for shipping.

We are thinking about this all the time. As I said, we try to focus on those brands which we have been involved with on a creative level. We get more artistic satisfaction from this and we hope that customers feel the passion of purchasing art from the original artists.

The license holders set the boundaries of our licenses and we need to work within these constraints. Obviously, they have many other companies trying to secure the same or similar licensees, so their role is kind of like parents dealing with the children who all want the most ice cream! They can’t keep everyone happy. The folks at New Line, Tolkien Enterprises and Tolkien Estate have been very supportive of Weta and we really appreciate the opportunities they have given us.

TheGD: Is there any product or line that you have had to cancel or re-accomplish due to licensor unhappiness? What piece has given you the MOST challenges?

TL: Not yet. Quite often we actually have more knowledge about the items than the Licensor, since we also created the originals which are sitting here in the Workshop. We tend to be our own biggest critics. We have to satisfy the likes of Richard Taylor, Alan Lee and John Howe.

Bag End is an incredibly challenging project, because there are so many small pieces. So is another District 9 piece, we are launching at Comic Con. It is  phenomenal!