Tag: LOTR

  • Jeff Bezos thanks ‘Rings of Power’ makers for ignoring his notes on the show

    By IANS

    LOS ANGELES: Amazon head honcho Jeff Bezos thanked ‘Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ showrunners Patrick McKay and John D. Payne at the UK premiere of the Amazon Prime Video series on Tuesday night – for ignoring his notes on the show.

    “Every showrunner’s dream – and I mean every showrunner – their dream is to get notes on scripts and early cuts from the founder and executive chairman,” Bezos quipped while introducing the first two episodes of the series.

    “They loved that. I need to thank you both for listening whenever it helped but mostly I need to thank you for ignoring me at exactly the right times.”

    Bezos also shared that there had been reservations about picking McKay and Payne, who have just a handful of credits between them, to helm the eye-wateringly expensive blockbuster series, saying: “One of the best decisions we made was to bet on this relatively unknown team. Some people even questioned our choice. But we saw something special.

    “J.D., Patrick, thank you for taking this on and putting your whole selves into it. Everybody here in this audience, you are all about to see that we made the right choice.”

    In a rare speech, the Amazon head told the audience, which included Tokien’s grandson Michael Tolkien, Amazon Studio boss Jennifer Salke, head of television Vernon Sanders, castmembers, press and even some fans dressed in full Middle Earth cosplay, that he himself first became enamoured with the fantasy books as a teenager and that his Tolkien-obsessed son had warned him not to “eff up” the series.

    “My grandfather’s the one who introduced me to Tolkien,” said Bezos.

    “I fell in love immediately, I was probably 13 or 14 years old. I fell in love with the adventure of course, with the detailed universe, with the feelings of hope and optimism, with the idea that everybody has a role to play. And I’m happy to report that that cycle continues today. My kids have become Tolkien fans as well.”

    “In fact, one of my boys I think approaches the level of a Tolkien scholar, he knows so much about this universe. And after Amazon got involved in this project, my son came up to me one day, he looked me in the eyes, very sincerely, and he said: ‘Dad, please don’t eff this up’. And he was right. We know that this world is important to so many people, we know it’s a privilege to work inside this world and we know it’s a big responsibility.”

    Salke also took the stage before the show screened to thank Bezos, the cast and crew and in particular the Tolkien estate “for their trust and partnership.”

    It is understood that Amazon Studios struck a deal directly with the Tolkien estate to license the IP, enabling them to bypass the Saul Zaentz Company, who until last month controlled all the screen rights except for television series more than eight episodes long. The Prime Video series consists of eight episodes.

    Also walking the red carpet at the London premiere were castmembers including Sir Lenny Henry, who plays Sadoc Burrows, Morfydd Clark, who plays the elf Galadriel (the younger version of the character played by Cate Blanchett in the Peter Jackson adaptation) and Markella Kavenagh, who plays the adventurous ‘Nori’ Brandyfoot.

    LOS ANGELES: Amazon head honcho Jeff Bezos thanked ‘Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ showrunners Patrick McKay and John D. Payne at the UK premiere of the Amazon Prime Video series on Tuesday night – for ignoring his notes on the show.

    “Every showrunner’s dream – and I mean every showrunner – their dream is to get notes on scripts and early cuts from the founder and executive chairman,” Bezos quipped while introducing the first two episodes of the series.

    “They loved that. I need to thank you both for listening whenever it helped but mostly I need to thank you for ignoring me at exactly the right times.”

    Bezos also shared that there had been reservations about picking McKay and Payne, who have just a handful of credits between them, to helm the eye-wateringly expensive blockbuster series, saying: “One of the best decisions we made was to bet on this relatively unknown team. Some people even questioned our choice. But we saw something special.

    “J.D., Patrick, thank you for taking this on and putting your whole selves into it. Everybody here in this audience, you are all about to see that we made the right choice.”

    In a rare speech, the Amazon head told the audience, which included Tokien’s grandson Michael Tolkien, Amazon Studio boss Jennifer Salke, head of television Vernon Sanders, castmembers, press and even some fans dressed in full Middle Earth cosplay, that he himself first became enamoured with the fantasy books as a teenager and that his Tolkien-obsessed son had warned him not to “eff up” the series.

    “My grandfather’s the one who introduced me to Tolkien,” said Bezos.

    “I fell in love immediately, I was probably 13 or 14 years old. I fell in love with the adventure of course, with the detailed universe, with the feelings of hope and optimism, with the idea that everybody has a role to play. And I’m happy to report that that cycle continues today. My kids have become Tolkien fans as well.”

    “In fact, one of my boys I think approaches the level of a Tolkien scholar, he knows so much about this universe. And after Amazon got involved in this project, my son came up to me one day, he looked me in the eyes, very sincerely, and he said: ‘Dad, please don’t eff this up’. And he was right. We know that this world is important to so many people, we know it’s a privilege to work inside this world and we know it’s a big responsibility.”

    Salke also took the stage before the show screened to thank Bezos, the cast and crew and in particular the Tolkien estate “for their trust and partnership.”

    It is understood that Amazon Studios struck a deal directly with the Tolkien estate to license the IP, enabling them to bypass the Saul Zaentz Company, who until last month controlled all the screen rights except for television series more than eight episodes long. The Prime Video series consists of eight episodes.

    Also walking the red carpet at the London premiere were castmembers including Sir Lenny Henry, who plays Sadoc Burrows, Morfydd Clark, who plays the elf Galadriel (the younger version of the character played by Cate Blanchett in the Peter Jackson adaptation) and Markella Kavenagh, who plays the adventurous ‘Nori’ Brandyfoot.

  • Enter the World of the Rings

    Express News Service

    The Lord of The Rings (LOTR) trilogy by Peter Jackson was undoubtedly a seminal work in world cinema. Apart from satisfying the fans of the book by JRR Tolkien, the film also went on to create its own legion of fans. Almost twenty years later, with The Rings of Power, Amazon Prime Video is set to take us on a journey back to the world of LOTR, albeit a few thousands of years before the happenings of the original franchise. 

    JD Payne, who has created the show along with his long-time associate Patrick McKay, calls themselves the biggest fans of Tolkien. “These aren’t just stories to us. They are integrated with our hearts and souls so much that when my father passed away I referred to Tolkien in his eulogy, and I wrote my son’s birth announcement in Elvish.” While The Rings of Power is definitely a passion project for Payne and McKay, it is undoubtedly a pressure project too for the duo.

    However, Payne adds that the pressure surrounding the series was mostly internal. “Since we are huge fans of Tolkien, we pushed ourselves to the maximum to get everything right. For starters, we began our writing sessions every day by reading one of Tolkien’s quotes, and kept going back to the thousands of pages he has written about middle earth.”

    Unlike the Peter Jackson series, which was a direct adaptation of The Lord of The Rings book, Rings of Power didn’t have solid source material. They only had an abstract idea of the Second Age, and its characters. Though Tolkien had written a lot about the period, the creators had to develop the characters and story arcs to form a singular, engaging narrative. Payne shares that they were so into the world of Tolkien that after a point, they started thinking like him.

    “Our biggest pointer while writing Rings of Power was ‘Would Tolkien do it?’. It was quite a task to compress 1000s of years of a story into one script. We always ran our ideas through Tolkien Estate, Tolkien’s grandson Simon Tolkien, and a couple of world-renowned Tolkienian scholars to ensure that we were on the right track.”

    While the allegiance to Tolkien and his world is clear, one can’t help but wonder if it would similarly appeal to outsiders of the Tolkienian world. “Absolutely, it will work. While the superfans will get excited on seeing the minute details we have included in every frame, the ones who have no clue about The Lord of The Rings or Tolkien will still have an interesting tale of emotions to be invested in.”

    Interestingly, the makers reportedly had a private screening with ardent fans of Tolkien to check if The Rings of Power met their expectations, and the previews turned out to be a major success. “The audience will be getting to see the visuals of worlds like Númenor for the first time and we had to build not just one but six worlds, just for the first season. Our team had to customise everything on the frame, even the simplest things like a leaf to match the visual the fans of the book have in their mind. It was quite an exciting challenge.”

    Payne feels that there couldn’t have been a better time to make The Rings of Power. “Our project wouldn’t have been possible 10 or 15 years back. Making The Rings of Power as a web series helps us get the best of both worlds. Now we have the production value of a blockbuster film, and the space to explore long-format storytelling. Tolkien’s tales require both these elements to satisfy the audience.” He adds that the viewers will be more invested with the characters when they spend long hours with them. “I am positive that everyone will start rooting for the lead characters as they will be spending close to 50 hours with them.”

    Choosing to go with a fantasy period setting is an impressive choice for creators of fiction, who might generally be tempted to write characters and plotlines set in a contemporary world. However, Payne feels the opposite. “Tolkien didn’t want to build anything allegorical. He didn’t want people to compare the characters with politicians or kingdoms of a particular society. He felt it limits his creation. We also wanted our creation to be timeless and applicable to everyone. The core of Tolkien’s stories is the battle between good and evil, and the corrupting nature of power. These themes will continue to resonate across generations.”

    Incidentally, Payne equates taking up the responsibility of The Rings of Power to marriage as a significant part of his life will be dedicated to this series. He explains that the desire to explore bigger horizons inspires him and McKay to keep running forward. “When we enter a fantasy world, our guard goes down, cynicism disappears and the fictional characters begin to inspire us. We live for such experiences. We often compare ourselves to Frodo Baggins, who was given responsibility beyond his experience and capabilities. And this gave us the fuel to make The Rings of Power.”

    The Lord of The Rings (LOTR) trilogy by Peter Jackson was undoubtedly a seminal work in world cinema. Apart from satisfying the fans of the book by JRR Tolkien, the film also went on to create its own legion of fans. Almost twenty years later, with The Rings of Power, Amazon Prime Video is set to take us on a journey back to the world of LOTR, albeit a few thousands of years before the happenings of the original franchise. 

    JD Payne, who has created the show along with his long-time associate Patrick McKay, calls themselves the biggest fans of Tolkien. “These aren’t just stories to us. They are integrated with our hearts and souls so much that when my father passed away I referred to Tolkien in his eulogy, and I wrote my son’s birth announcement in Elvish.” While The Rings of Power is definitely a passion project for Payne and McKay, it is undoubtedly a pressure project too for the duo.

    However, Payne adds that the pressure surrounding the series was mostly internal. “Since we are huge fans of Tolkien, we pushed ourselves to the maximum to get everything right. For starters, we began our writing sessions every day by reading one of Tolkien’s quotes, and kept going back to the thousands of pages he has written about middle earth.”

    Unlike the Peter Jackson series, which was a direct adaptation of The Lord of The Rings book, Rings of Power didn’t have solid source material. They only had an abstract idea of the Second Age, and its characters. Though Tolkien had written a lot about the period, the creators had to develop the characters and story arcs to form a singular, engaging narrative. Payne shares that they were so into the world of Tolkien that after a point, they started thinking like him.

    “Our biggest pointer while writing Rings of Power was ‘Would Tolkien do it?’. It was quite a task to compress 1000s of years of a story into one script. We always ran our ideas through Tolkien Estate, Tolkien’s grandson Simon Tolkien, and a couple of world-renowned Tolkienian scholars to ensure that we were on the right track.”

    While the allegiance to Tolkien and his world is clear, one can’t help but wonder if it would similarly appeal to outsiders of the Tolkienian world. “Absolutely, it will work. While the superfans will get excited on seeing the minute details we have included in every frame, the ones who have no clue about The Lord of The Rings or Tolkien will still have an interesting tale of emotions to be invested in.”

    Interestingly, the makers reportedly had a private screening with ardent fans of Tolkien to check if The Rings of Power met their expectations, and the previews turned out to be a major success. “The audience will be getting to see the visuals of worlds like Númenor for the first time and we had to build not just one but six worlds, just for the first season. Our team had to customise everything on the frame, even the simplest things like a leaf to match the visual the fans of the book have in their mind. It was quite an exciting challenge.”

    Payne feels that there couldn’t have been a better time to make The Rings of Power. “Our project wouldn’t have been possible 10 or 15 years back. Making The Rings of Power as a web series helps us get the best of both worlds. Now we have the production value of a blockbuster film, and the space to explore long-format storytelling. Tolkien’s tales require both these elements to satisfy the audience.” He adds that the viewers will be more invested with the characters when they spend long hours with them. “I am positive that everyone will start rooting for the lead characters as they will be spending close to 50 hours with them.”

    Choosing to go with a fantasy period setting is an impressive choice for creators of fiction, who might generally be tempted to write characters and plotlines set in a contemporary world. However, Payne feels the opposite. “Tolkien didn’t want to build anything allegorical. He didn’t want people to compare the characters with politicians or kingdoms of a particular society. He felt it limits his creation. We also wanted our creation to be timeless and applicable to everyone. The core of Tolkien’s stories is the battle between good and evil, and the corrupting nature of power. These themes will continue to resonate across generations.”

    Incidentally, Payne equates taking up the responsibility of The Rings of Power to marriage as a significant part of his life will be dedicated to this series. He explains that the desire to explore bigger horizons inspires him and McKay to keep running forward. “When we enter a fantasy world, our guard goes down, cynicism disappears and the fictional characters begin to inspire us. We live for such experiences. We often compare ourselves to Frodo Baggins, who was given responsibility beyond his experience and capabilities. And this gave us the fuel to make The Rings of Power.”