Fran Walsh

Oscar-winning screenwriter and producer Fran Walsh prefers to remain in the background, but she is a key factor in partner Peter Jackson's Wellywood empire.

Walsh attended Victoria University of Wellington, majoring in English Literature, and graduating in 1981. During this period she also played in bands Naked Spots Dance and punk group The Wallsockets. 

Walsh began writing for the screen when producer Grahame McLean asked her to help out on rewrites for period drama A Woman of Good Character (also known, in its extended version, as It's Lizzie to those Close). Impressed by her abilities, McLean enlisted Walsh to work on series Worzel Gummidge Down Under. Her other 80s work includes scripts for police show Shark in the Park, and composing songs for Stephen Sinclair's theatrical satire Big Bickies (1988).

Walsh met Peter Jackson in the mid-80s, while he was doing post-production work on his feature debut Bad Taste. She and Jackson were among the quartet of writers on his puppet follow-up Meet the Feebles (1989).

Since then, Walsh has worked on all of Jackson's films, collaborating closely with him on  Braindead (1992) (which scored an NZ Film best screenplay award for Jackson, Walsh and Stephen Sinclair); Heavenly Creatures (1994); The Frighteners (1996);  The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001 - 2003); King Kong (2005); and The Lovely Bones (2009), and two upcoming Hobbit features. Since Rings, Jackson and Walsh have often written alongside Phillipa Boyens.

Heavenly Creatures was based upon the 1954 Parker Hulme murders, in which two Christchurch teenagers murdered one of their mothers. The film would likely not have been made - at least not by Jackson - were it not for Walsh's own longtime interest in the case.

Heavenly Creatures brought Walsh and Jackson their first Oscar nomination for scriptwriting. Walsh also played an active role in casting, discovering young co-star Melanie Lynksey while on a casting call through North Island high schools.

The directing credit has always gone to Jackson, while Walsh usually shares writer and producer credits. By all accounts however, their roles overlap more than that designation would suggest. For example, Walsh occasionally served as a second-unit director on The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Walsh is often portrayed as residing in her husband's shadow, but her reticence seems to be deliberate.

Notoriously private, she declined to be interviewed in the Lord of the Rings DVD extras, although she does contribute to an audio commentary.

Walsh is the co-winner of three Oscars, in 2004, for her work on Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, including Best Music (for Original Song, Into the West), Best Picture, and Best Adapted Screenplay. She also won a Grammy Award for her part in co-writing the song.

As one of the producers, she was nominated for Best Picture for the two previous instalments, plus a best adapted screenplay nomination for The Fellowship of the Ring. Among another 21 nominations and 29 wins are gongs from the Australian Film Institute, the BAFTAs, the Golden Globes, and the Writers Guild of America.

Walsh was also a co-writer with Jackson on fantasy Jack Brown Genius (1994), directed by Tony Hiles. Outside of the Walsh/Jackson partnership she has worked as a script supervisor on Harry Sinclair's The Price of Milk (2000), and script consultant on Sinclair's Topless Women Talk About Their Lives (1997) and Scott Reynolds' Heaven (1998).

After working on adaptations of fantasy classic King Kong and Alice Sebold novel The Lovely Bones, Walsh joined the writing and producing team on the two-part movie adaptation of The Hobbit, which is currently in production.

A number of New Zealand Universities, including Massey and Victoria, have awarded Walsh with honorary degrees. In 2002, she became a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit.