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Sean Divine Jacobs, November 9, 1976. better known as Sheek Louch (also known as Donnie Def Jam and "Donnie G"), is an African American rapper and member of The LOX (aka D-Block), along with Styles P and Jadakiss.

Personal life and career[link]

At around the age of 12, he was inspired to rhyme by his friend Jason Phillips (Jadakiss). He and Jason would later form The LOX with Styles P. Mary J. Blige "discovered" the trio, and they would soon be signed to Sean Combs's Bad Boy Records. Their first album, Money, Power & Respect, was released on January 13, 1998.

Sheek and his fellow LOX members later parted ways with Bad Boy Records, and joined the Ruff Ryders group, which included DMX. Their second album, We Are the Streets, was released on January 25, 2000. Meanwhile, Sheek, an aspiring entrepreneur, began working on their D-Block brand, building a studio, and looking for new talent to join their roster. He also opened a D-Block car wash and D-Block "fitteds" around the same time.

Sheek released his solo debut Walk Witt Me on Universal Records through D-Block Records. Early promotional material, such as within the liner notes of Styles P's album A Gangster and a Gentleman, indicate that the album's original title was Walk With Me.

He was also featured on an episode of World's Wildest Police Videos, which demonstrated his notorious past^{[citation needed]}.

He has worked somewhat prolifically with Ghostface Killah. They are currently working together along with other members of Wu-Tang Clan and D-Block on the Wu-Block LP, after drawing inspiration from one another while touring and recording.

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Singles[link]

Featured singles[link]

References[link]

Derek Pike is a 24 year old American filmmaker from New York, currently living in Los Angeles and widely known as a music video director. He is of half British and half Japanese-American descent. A natural storyteller, most of his music videos are narrative based. In high school he attended Carrabassett Valley Academy and was a nationally ranked snowboarder, some of his sponsors included Arbor Snowboards, Smith Optics, Adidas, Giro, and Swix. He got his start shooting snowboard and skateboard videos. In May of 2010 Derek graduated from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts where he majored in Film and Television. During his freshman year of college he walked on to the NYU soccer team, but later resigned due to his academic schedule.

Is attached to direct a feature film in the summer of 2012, and is currently developing a television show.

He has also appeared as an actor, most recently for the Wu Tang Clan "Massacre" trailers.

Has been credited for creating "HBD" the popular social networking abbreviation for Happy Birthday.

Selected filmography[link]

• "Chains, Whips, and Bars" - XV (2012) (music video)
• "Swervin" - XV (2012) (music video)
• "Stay Awhile" - International Quincy feat. Kendre (2012) (music video) (on 5/3/12 the video premiered on BET's 106 and Park and #StayAwhile was trending worldwide on Twitter)
• "Traffic Light" - Jared Evan (2012) (music video)
• "Had too Much to Dream Last Night" - The Kickdrums feat. The Kid Daytona (2011) (music video)
• "Road Runner" - Imelda May (2011) (music video)
• "Monumental" - Smif-n-Wessun & Pete Rock feat. Tyler Woods (2011) (music video)
• "Anything to Survive" - Freddie Gibbs feat. Freeway (2011) (music video)
• "For the Record" - T.Shirt (2011) (music video) *Twitter Contest Winner*
• "Keep it Warm for Ya" - Freddie Gibbs & Statik Selektah (2011) *Recorded, shot, and edited over a 24 hr period*
• "Oh My" - DJ Drama feat. Fabolous, Wiz Khalifa & Roscoe Dash (2011) (music video) *MTV Jam of the week, and #1 video on MTV's Sucker Free Countdown (5/27/11)*
• "Magazine Girl" - New Boyz (2011) (music video)
• "Too Cool to Care" - New Boyz (2011) (commercial)
• "Momma Miss America" - Laws (2011) (music video)
• "Butter Knives" - Raekwon (2011) (music video)
• "Ferryboat Killaz" - Raekwon (2011) (music video)
• "Embers" - Jared Evan (2011) (music video)
• "I Need a Dollar" (version 2) - Aloe Blacc (2011) (music video)
• "Ex-Girl" - Emilio Rojas feat. Mickey Factz (2011) (music video)
• "Greatest Story Never Told" – Saigon feat. Just Blaze (2011) (music video)
• "Fly Lullaby" - The Kid Daytona (2010) (music video)
• "So Buttery" - The Kid Daytona (2010) (music video)
• "Take Aim" - The Kid Daytona feat. Freddie Gibbs & The Kickdrums (2010) (music video)
• "Cocaine Trafficking" – Sheek Louch feat. Jadakiss & Styles P (2010) (music video)
• "Jungle Music" – Sheek Louch (2010) (music video)
• "Remember Me" – Sheek Louch (2010) (music video)
• "I Want it All" – Saigon (2010) (music video)
• "You Make Me Sick" – Saigon (2010) (music video)
• "For My Dawgs" – Waka Flocka Flame (2010) (music video)
• "Speakers on Blast" – Skyzoo (2010) (music video)
• "A Different League" - Thee Tom Hardy feat. Skyzoo (2010) (music video)
• "One for the Money" - Thee Tom Hardy feat. Donnis (2010) (music video)
• "Off the Radar" - Thee Tom Hardy feat. Euro (2010) (music video)
• "Hold You Down" (remix) - Laws feat. Big K.R.I.T. & Emilio Rojas (2010) (music video)
• "Frisbees" – Skyzoo (2010) (music video)
• "Story of No One" – 6th Sense (2010) (music video)
• "Better Late Than Never" – Outasight (2010) (music video)
• "Don't Stand So Close" – Consequence feat. Styles P (2010) (music video)
• "Down this Road" – Consequence feat. Maino (2010) (music video)
• "Sin City" - Mr.Finley (2010) (music video)
• "Blowin Dat Endo" - Mr.Finley (2010) (music video)
• "Life is Short" – Consequence feat. Statik Selektah (2010) (music video)
• "Night Train" – Joell Ortiz feat. Novel (2010) (music video)
• "It's Cold" – Saigon (2010) (music video)
• "Vacancy Album Trailers" – Brutha (2010) (trailers)
• "Def Jam / Serato 25th Anniversary Vinyl Pack" – feat. Nick Cannon, DJ Enuff, Cipha Sounds (2010) (commercial)
• "2009 Rap Up" – Skillz (2010) (music video)
• "Air Born" – The Kid Daytona feat. Bun B (2009) (music video)
• "Fatherhood" – Saigon feat. Lokz (2009) (music video)
• "Aye Aye Aye" – Saigon (2009) (music video)
• "Grown Thangz" – Young Chris (2009) (music video)
• "24k Rap" – J Dilla feat. Havoc and Raekwon (2009) (music video)
• "Anxiety Attacks" – Tame One (2009) (music video)
• "Dirty Genes" – Mojoe (2008) (music video)

References[link]

• Diddy's son Quincy launches music career with "Stay Awhile" - drjays.com - 4/3/2012
• VIBE Exclusive: Quincy music video debut directed by Derek Pike - vibe.com - 4/2/2012
• Imelda May Roadrunner by Derek Pike - promonews.com - 8/17/11
• DJ Drama Calls Oh My a Limitless Drug - mtv.com - 5/30/11
• Y'all Respect the One that Got Shot - decaturdan.com - 4/14/11
• Video Static: "Greatest Story Never Told" - videostatic.com - 1/17/11
• Shooting Classics - qthequestion.com - 11/12/10
• Interview: Derek Pike - juiceonline.com - 08/23/10
• Derek Pike Interview - blog.nicholaspatten.com - 06/17/10
• MC Saigon and Video Director Derek Pike - timeoutny.com - 04/28/10
• Derek Pike: The Right Direction - amalgamdigital.com - 09/25/09
• The Volume: On set with The Kid Daytona feat. Bun B directed by Derek Pike - timeoutny.com - 09/11/09
• NYU senior Derek Pike directs new The Kid Daytona Video - nyulocal.com - 09/11/09

External links[link]

• Derek Pike
• Twitter
• Blog

Sir Peter Jackson
Jackson at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con International
Born	(1961-10-31) 31 October 1961 (age 50) Pukerua Bay, New Zealand
Occupation	Film director, film producer, screenwriter
Years active	1976–present
Spouse	Fran Walsh (1987–present)

Sir Peter Robert Jackson, KNZM^[1] (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand film director, producer, actor, and screenwriter, who is well known for his The Lord of the Rings film trilogy (2001 to 2003), adapted from the novel by J. R. R. Tolkien.

He won international attention early in his career with his "splatstick" horror comedies beginning with Bad Taste (1987) before coming to mainstream prominence with Heavenly Creatures (1994), for which he shared an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay nomination with his wife, Fran Walsh. Jackson has been awarded three Academy Awards in his career, including the award for Best Director in 2003; he also won the BAFTA, Golden Globe and Saturn Award for Best Direction the same year.

His films also include Meet the Feebles (1989), Braindead (1992), Forgotten Silver (1995), The Frighteners (1996), King Kong (2005),^[2] The Lovely Bones (2009), and the upcoming The Lord of the Rings prequels The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) and The Hobbit: There and Back Again (2013). He is also the producer of District 9 (2009) and The Adventures of Tintin (2011).

Jackson was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2002. He was later knighted (as a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit) by then Governor-General Anand Satyanand at a ceremony in Wellington in April, 2010.

Early life[link]

Jackson, an only child, was born on 31 October 1961. He grew up in Pukerua Bay, a coastal town near Wellington. His parents - Joan (born Ruck^[3][4]), a factory worker and housewife, and William (Bill) Jackson, a wages clerk - were both immigrants from England.^[5][6] His father was a veteran of the Siege of Malta in World War II. He is distantly related to Richard Hill^[7] a member of the English 2003 Rugby World Cup winner.

As a child, Jackson was a keen film fan, growing up on Ray Harryhausen films as well as finding inspiration in the television series Thunderbirds and Monty Python's Flying Circus. After a family friend gave the Jacksons a Super 8 cine-camera with Peter in mind, he began making short films with his friends. Jackson has long cited King Kong as his favourite film and around the age of nine he attempted to remake it using his own stop-motion models.^[8] Also as a child Jackson made a WWII epic^{[citation needed]} and a James Bond spoof named Coldfinger.^[9] Most notably though was a 10 minute short called 'The Valley' which won him a special prize because of the shots he used.

In school Jackson expressed no interest (or skill) in sports. His classmates also remember him wearing a Duffel coat with " an obsession verging on religious."

Jackson had no formal training in film-making, but learned about editing, special effects and make-up largely through his own trial and error. As a young adult Jackson discovered the work of author J. R. R. Tolkien after watching The Lord of the Rings (1978), an animated film by Ralph Bakshi that was a part-adaptation of Tolkien's fantasy trilogy.^[10]

When he was 16 years old, Jackson left school and began working full time as a photo-engraver for the local newspaper. For the 7 years he worked there, Jackson lived at home with his parents so he could save as much money as possible to spend on filming equipment. After two years of work Jackson bought a 16 mm camera, and began shooting a short film that later became Bad Taste.^[11]

Career[link]

The splatter period[link]

Over four years (from 1983 to 1987) Jackson's first feature, Bad Taste, grew in haphazard fashion from a short film into a 90-minute splatter comedy, with many of Jackson's friends acting and working on it for free. Shooting was normally done in the weekends since Jackson was now working full-time. Bad Taste is about aliens that come to earth with the intention of turning humans into food. Jackson had two acting roles including a famous scene in which he fights himself on top of a cliff.

The film was finally completed thanks to a late injection of finance from the New Zealand Film Commission, after Jim Booth, the body's executive director, became convinced of Jackson's talent (Booth later left the Commission to become Jackson's producer). In May 1987, Bad Taste was unveiled at the Cannes Film Festival, where rights to the film quickly sold to twelve countries.

Around this time Peter Jackson began working on writing a number of film scripts, in varied collaborative groupings with playwright Stephen Sinclair, writer Fran Walsh and writer/actor Danny Mulheron. Walsh would later become his wife. Some of the scripts from this period, including a sequel to A Nightmare on Elm Street, have never been made into movies; the proposed zombie film Braindead underwent extensive rewrites.

Jackson's next film to see release was Meet the Feebles (1989), co-written by the four writers mentioned above. An ensemble musical comedy starring Muppet-style puppets, Meet the Feebles originally began as a short film intended for television, but was rapidly expanded into a full-length film after unexpected enthusiasm from Japanese investors, and the collapse of Braindead, six weeks before filming. Begun on a very low budget, Meet the Feebles went weeks over schedule. Jackson stated of his second feature length film, "It's got a quality of humour that alienates a lot of people.. It's very black, very satirical, very savage."^[12] Feebles marked Jackson's first collaboration with special effects team Richard Taylor and Tania Rodger, who would later work on all Jackson's movies.

Jackson's next release was the horror comedy Braindead (1992) (released in North America as Dead Alive), now seen as a landmark in splatter movies. Originally planned as a Spanish co-production, the film reversed the usual zombie plot. Rather than keeping the zombies out of his place of refuge, the hero attempts to keep them inside, while maintaining a façade of normality. The film features extensive special effects including miniature trams, stop motion and a plethora of gory make-up effects.

[edit] Heavenly Creatures and Forgotten Silver

Released in 1994 after Jackson won a race to bring the story to the screen, Heavenly Creatures marked a major change for Jackson in terms of both style and tone. The film is based on real-life events: namely the Parker–Hulme murder in which two teenage girls in 1950s Christchurch became close friends, some say lovers, and later murdered the mother of one of the girls. Jackson's partner Fran Walsh helped persuade him that the events had the makings of a movie; Jackson has been quoted saying that the film "only got made" because of her enthusiasm for the subject matter.^[13] Many New Zealanders were apprehensive about how Jackson would treat the material, an apprehension that would later turn in many cases to relief. The film's fame coincided with the New Zealand media tracking down the real-life Juliet Hulme, who now wrote books under the name Anne Perry. Jackson would cast the actors Melanie Lynskey and Kate Winslet in the roles of Parker and Hulme. Heavenly Creatures received considerable critical acclaim, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay and making top ten of the year lists in Time, The Guardian, The Sydney Morning Herald, and The New Zealand Herald.

The success of Heavenly Creatures won Jackson attention from US company Miramax, who promoted the film vigorously in America and signed the director to a first-look deal.

The following year, in collaboration with Wellington film-maker Costa Botes, Jackson co-directed the mockumentary Forgotten Silver (1995). This ambitious made-for-television piece told the story of New Zealand film pioneer Colin McKenzie, who had supposedly invented colour film and 'talkies', and attempted an epic film of Salome before being forgotten by the world. Though the programme played in a slot normally reserved for drama, no other warning was given that it was fictionalised. Many were outraged at discovering Colin McKenzie had never existed. Some have argued that the number of people who believed the increasingly improbable story provides testimony to Jackson and Botes' skill at playing on New Zealand's national myth of a nation of innovators and forgotten trail-blazers.^[14]

In the meantime, Jackson and Walsh had two children, Billy (1995) and Katie (1996).

Hollywood, Weta, and the Film Commission[link]

A drawing of Peter Jackson, surrounded by characters and objects from his films

The success of Heavenly Creatures helped pave the way for Jackson's first big budget Hollywood film, The Frighteners starring Michael J. Fox, in 1996. Thanks partly to support from American producer Robert Zemeckis, Jackson was given permission to make this comedy/horror film entirely in New Zealand despite being set in a North American town. This period was a key one of change for both Jackson and Weta Workshop, the special effects company — born from the one man contributions of George Port to Heavenly Creatures — with which Jackson is often associated. Weta, initiated by Jackson and key collaborators, grew rapidly during this period to incorporate both digital and physical effects, make-up and costumes, the first two areas normally commanded by Jackson collaborator Richard Taylor.

The Frighteners was regarded as a commercial failure. Some critics^[who?] expressed disappointment that it displayed little of the anarchistic humor of Jackson's early movies and that the script felt underdeveloped.^{[citation needed]} In February 1997, Jackson launched legal proceedings against the New Zealand Listener magazine for defamation, over a review of The Frighteners which claimed that the film was "built from the rubble of other people's movies".^[15] In the end, the case was not pursued further. Around this time Jackson's remake of King Kong was shelved by Universal Studios, partly because of Mighty Joe Young and Godzilla (1998 film), both giant monster movies, that had already gone into production. Universal feared it would be thrown aside by the two higher budget movies.

This period of transition seems not to have been entirely a happy one; it also marked one of the high points of tension between Jackson and the New Zealand Film Commission since Meet the Feebles had gone over-budget earlier in his career. Jackson has claimed the Commission considered firing him from Feebles, though the NZFC went on to help fund his next three films. In 1997, the director submitted a lengthy criticism of the Commission for a magazine supplement meant to celebrate the body's 20th anniversary, criticising what he called inconsistent decision-making by inexperienced board members. The magazine felt that the material was too long and potentially defamatory to publish in that form; a shortened version of the material went on to appear in Metro magazine.^[16] In the Metro article Jackson criticized the Commission over funding decisions concerning a film he was hoping to executive produce, but refused to drop a client-confidentiality clause that allowed them to publicly reply to his criticisms.

[edit] The Lord of the Rings

Jackson in 2003, at the premiere of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in Wellington

Peter Jackson won the rights to film J. R. R. Tolkien's epic in 1997 after meeting with producer Saul Zaentz. Originally working with Miramax towards a two-film production, Jackson was later pressured to render the story as a single film, and finally overcame a tight deadline by making a last minute deal with New Line, who were keen on a trilogy.

Principal photography stretched from 11 October 1999 to 22 December 2000 with extensive location filming across New Zealand. With the benefit of extended post-production and extra periods of shooting before each film's release, the series met huge success and sent Jackson's popularity soaring. The Return of the King itself met with huge critical acclaim, winning eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. The film was the first of the fantasy film genre to win the award for Best Picture and was the second sequel to win Best Picture (the first being The Godfather Part II).

Jackson's mother, Joan, died three days before the release of the first movie in the trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring. There was a special showing of the film after her funeral.^[17]

Following The Return of the King, Jackson lost a large amount of weight –over 50 pounds (23 kg) to the point of being unrecognisable to some fans. In The Daily Telegraph, he attributed his weight loss to his diet. He said, "I just got tired of being overweight and unfit, so I changed my diet from hamburgers to yogurt and muesli and it seems to work."^[18]

[edit] King Kong

Universal Studios signed Peter Jackson for a second time to remake the 1933 classic King Kong — the film that inspired him to become a film director as a child.^[19] He was reportedly paid a fee of US$20 million upfront, the highest salary ever paid to date to a film director in advance of production, against a 20 percent take of the box-office rentals (the portion of the price of the ticket that goes to the film distributor, in this case Universal). The film was released on 14 December 2005, and grossed around US$550 million worldwide.^[20]

[edit] The Lovely Bones

Jackson completed an adaptation of Alice Sebold's bestseller, The Lovely Bones, which was released in the United States on 11 December 2009.^[21] Jackson has said the film was a welcome relief from his larger-scale epics. The storyline's combination of fantasy aspects and themes of murder bears some similarities to Heavenly Creatures.

The film was an anticipated Best Picture Oscar contender, but ended up receiving poor reviews and middling box office returns. It currently holds 32% rotten on Rotten Tomatoes.

The Tintin franchise[link]

Jackson is the main producer on The Adventures of Tintin, directed by Steven Spielberg. He is officially labeled as producer but helped Spielberg, before he began working on The Hobbit, directing the film. He also supervised Weta Digital on the post production of the film. Jamie Bell and Andy Serkis were cast due to their collaboration with Peter Jackson on King Kong and The Lord of the Rings. Spielberg also chose to work with Peter Jackson due to the impressive digital work on the Lord of the Rings films, and knew Peter Jackson's company Weta Workshop would make his vision a reality.

In December 2011, Spielberg confirmed a sequel to his 3D movie will be made and are said to be based on The Seven Crystal Balls and Prisoners of the Sun.^[22] He explained the Thompson detectives will "have a much bigger role". The sequel will be produced by Spielberg and directed by Jackson.^[22] Kathleen Kennedy said the script might be done by February or March 2012 and motion-captured in summer 2012, so that the movie will be on track to be released on either Christmas 2014 or summer 2015.^[23] In February 2012, Spielberg revealed to Total Film that they had completed a story outline for the sequel.

Current and future projects[link]

Jackson had talked of producing films for others as early as 1995, but a number of factors slowed developments in this regard, including the failure of Jack Brown Genius (1995). After he became a force in Hollywood, he was set to produce a $128 million movie version of the science fiction video game series Halo, but the project went on hold when financial backers withdrew their support.^[24][25] The failure of Halo however led to what became District 9, which ended up being a box office hit and garnered a Best Picture nomination.

Jackson is set to produce a remake of The Dam Busters, to be directed by longtime Weta designer Christian Rivers and for which Stephen Fry has written a screenplay.^[26][27]

Jackson has also won the rights to a film adaptation of the fantasy novel series Temeraire, a novel about dragons being used in combat in the Napoleonic Wars and a dragon named Temeraire and his captain, Will Laurence, written by Naomi Novik. It remains to be seen if he will direct it.^[28]

Jackson produced District 9, a science fiction project which Neill Blomkamp directed. The script was written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell.^[29]

In recent years, Jackson has also directed a short film entitled Crossing the Line to test a new model of digital cinema camera, the RED ONE. The film takes place during World War I, and was shot in two days. "Crossing the Line" was shown at NAB 2007 (the USA National Association of Broadcasters). Clips of the film can be found at Reduser.net.^[30]

Jackson and his newly formed studio Wingnut Interactive are working on an unrevealed project being developed by Microsoft Game Studios in collaboration with Bungie Studios. The project has been officially titled Halo: Chronicles but beyond speculation little else is known about its nature. He was to be the executive producer on a Halo film, developed and released by Universal Studios and 20th Century Fox but in October 2006 the film was postponed indefinitely. The film was never officially cancelled and in late June 2008 Peter Jackson commented that, "With upcoming developments (Halo: Chronicles), I wouldn't know when to expect a movie, and I'm the producer."

Jackson spent $5 million to purchase 20 hectares of land in Wairarapa, a property containing a mansion, private lake, tunnel and the interior of Bag End from The Lord of the Rings. In 2009, he purchased a Gulfstream G550 jet; his total net worth is estimated by National Business Review at NZ$450 million.^[31] Jackson owns an aircraft restoration and manufacturing company, The Vintage Aviator, which is dedicated to World War I and World War II fighter planes among other planes from the 1920s and 1930s. He is chairman of the Omaka Aviation Heritage Trust, which hosts a biennial air show.^[32] In late December 2009 announced his interest on the movie adaption of the novel Mortal Engines.^[33] In April 2010 it was confirmed that he would be both director and producer of the project and as of May 2010 it is rumoured that WETA has already begun preliminary work on the movie.

[edit] The Hobbit

Jackson's involvement in the making of a film version of The Hobbit, has a long and chequered history. In November 2006, a letter from Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh stated that due to an ongoing legal dispute between Wingnut Films (Jackson's production company) and New Line Cinema, Jackson would not be directing the film.^[34] New Line Cinema's head Robert Shaye commented that Jackson "...will never make any movie with New Line Cinema again while I'm still working at the company...".^[35] This prompted an online call for a boycott of New Line Cinema,^[36] and by August 2007 Shaye was trying to repair his working relationship.^[37] On 18 December 2007, it was announced that Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema had reached agreement to make two prequels, both based on The Hobbit, and to be released in 2012 and 2013 with Jackson as a writer and executive producer and Guillermo del Toro directing.^[38][39]

However, in early 2010, del Toro dropped out of directing the film because of production delays^[40] and a month later Jackson was back in negotiations to direct The Hobbit;^[41] and on October 15 he was finalised as the director^[42][43]—with New Zealand confirmed as the location a couple of weeks later.^[44] The film started production on March 20, 2011.

Games[link]

Jackson was set to make games with Microsoft Game Studios, a partnership announced on 27 September 2006, at X06.^[45] Specifically, Jackson and Microsoft were teaming together to form a new studio called Wingnut Interactive.^[46] In collaboration with Bungie Studios, Jackson was to co-write, co-design and co-produce a new game taking place in the Halo universe - tentatively called Halo: Chronicles. However on 27 July 2009, in an interview about his new movie District 9, he said that Halo: Chronicles had been cancelled, while Microsoft confirmed that the game is "on hold". Jackson's game studio Wingnut Interactive is now at work on original intellectual property.^[47]

Charitable activities[link]

Jackson has given NZ$500,000 to stem cell research.^[48]

He purchased a church in the Wellington suburb of Seatoun for about $10 million, saving it from demolition.^[49]

He also contributes his expertise to 48HOURS, a New Zealand film-making competition, through annually selecting 3 "Wildcards" for the National Final.

Jackson, a World War I aviation enthusiast, is chair of the 14-18 Aviation Heritage Trust.^[50] He donated his services and provided replica aircraft to create a 10 minute multimedia display called Over the Front for the Australian War Memorial in 2008.^[51]

He contributed to the defense fund for the West Memphis Three.^[52]

In 2011, Jackson and Walsh purchased 1 Kent Terrace, the home of BATS Theatre in Wellington, effectively securing the theatre's future.^[53]

Style[link]

Jackson is known for his attention to detail, a habit of shooting scenes from many angles, a macabre sense of humour, and a general playfulness - the latter to the point where The Lord of the Rings conceptual designer Alan Lee jokingly remarked "the film is almost incidental really".^[54]

Jackson was a noted perfectionist on the Lord of the Rings shoot, where he demanded numerous takes of scenes, requesting additional takes by repeatedly saying, "one more for luck".^[55] Jackson is also renowned within the New Zealand film industry for his insistence on "coverage" — shooting a scene from as many angles as possible, giving him more options during editing.^{[citation needed]} Jackson has been known to spend days shooting a single scene. This is evident in his work where even scenes featuring simple conversations often feature a wide array of multiple camera angles and shot-sizes as well as zooming closeups on characters' faces. One of his most common visual trademarks is shooting close-ups of actors with wide-angle lenses.

Unlike some other film directors, Jackson has remained in his native country to make films. This has been the genesis of several production and support companies. Most of Jackson's assets are found on the Miramar Peninsula in his home town of Wellington where much of his filming occurs; and he was instrumental in having the world premiere of The Return of the King in the city's iconic Embassy Theatre which he helped restore.

He was an early user of computer enhancement technology and provided digital special effects to a number of Hollywood films by use of telecommunications and satellite links to transmit raw images and the final results across the Pacific Ocean.^{[citation needed]}

During filming of The Lord of the Rings, Jackson was famous for wearing shorts and going barefoot under most circumstances, especially during film shoots.^[56]

Cameo roles[link]

Jackson usually makes cameo appearances in his own films:

• In The Lovely Bones, he appears as a customer in a camera store playing with a camera.
• Jackson appears as a biplane gunner attacking Kong in New York, reprising the cameo which original King Kong filmmaker Merian C. Cooper made in his 1933 film.
• The Lord of the Rings film trilogy includes multiple cameos. In The Fellowship of the Ring, Jackson plays a drunken, carrot-chomping citizen of Bree. In The Two Towers, he plays a spear-throwing defender of Helm's Deep. In his significant cameo in The Return of the King he is seen as the boatswain of a murderous corsair ship. This character is seen very briefly in the theatrical version. In the extended version he is onscreen for a longer period of time and is accidentally killed by Legolas's "warning shot". A detailed action figure of Jackson was made of this character in the same line as the rest of the Lord of the Rings toys.
• Jackson's second cameo in Return of the King is during the scene of Shelob's Lair, where Sam's arm (Jackson's) is seen entering the shot as Shelob is wrapping Frodo in webbing. This was due to Sean Astin's temporary absence, and Peter wanted to progress the production of the scene as much as possible, even without the actor.^[57]
• In The Frighteners, Jackson is a biker bumped into by Frank Bannister.
• In Heavenly Creatures, he is the bum who gets kissed by Juliet Hulme.
• In Braindead, he is the mortician's assistant.
• In the puppet movie Meet the Feebles, Jackson appears as an audience member disguised as one of the aliens from Bad Taste.^{[citation needed]}

He has also made cameos in several films not directed by him. In the opening sequence of Hot Fuzz (2007), he played a demented man dressed as Father Christmas, who stabs Nicholas Angel (played by Simon Pegg) in the hand.^[58] Pegg, in the commentary, joked that when Jackson saw that his cameo was extremely short, he walked out of the theater and walked in circles in the hallway for the rest of the duration of the film.

Jackson's eldest son, Billy (born 1995), has made cameo appearances in every one of his father's films since his birth, namely The Frighteners (1996), The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, and King Kong. His daughter, Katie (born 1996), appears in all the above films except The Frighteners.

Jackson had a cameo on the HBO show Entourage in 5 August 2007 episode, "Gary's Desk", in which he offers a business proposal to Eric Murphy, manager to the lead character, Vincent Chase.

Filmography[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

Jackson was appointed a Companion in the New Zealand Order of Merit, in the 2002 New Year Honours.^[59] In 2010 he was advanced to Knight Companion of New Zealand. The investiture ceremony took place at Premier House in Wellington on 28 April 2010.^[60]

Bibliography[link]

• Brian Sibley. Peter Jackson- A Film-maker's Journey. Sydney, HarperCollins, 2006. ISBN 0-7322-8562-3.
• Ian Pryor. Peter Jackson- From prince of splatter to lord of the rings. Auckland, Random House, 2003, New York, St. Martin's Press, 2004. ISBN 1-86941-555-8 (NZ Edition)
• Andrea Bordoni, Matteo Marino, "Peter Jackson". Milan, Il Castoro, 2002. ISBN 978-88-8033-225-1. The first book-length study of the director.(Italian)

See also[link]

• Cinema of New Zealand
• List of New Zealand film makers
• Park Road Post
• Weta Workshop
• Weta Digital

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Peter Jackson

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Peter Jackson

• Peter Jackson on Facebook
• Peter Jackson on Charlie Rose
• Peter Jackson at the Internet Movie Database
• Peter Jackson collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• In-depth interview about King Kong and future projects
• Peter Jackson at FEARnet
• Peter Jackson's trip from splatstick to RAF

v t e Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film series Films The Lord of the Rings The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) The Two Towers (2002) The Return of the King (2003) The Hobbit An Unexpected Journey (2012) There and Back Again (2013) Production Production design Principal photography Special effects Original characters Music "Aníron" "Concerning Hobbits" "In Dreams" "Into the West" "May It Be" "A Walking Song" Related articles Accolades The Exhibition Gollum: How We Made Movie Magic The Long and Short of It

Gucci Mane
Gucci Mane performing in Williamsburg, Brooklyn on August 29, 2010.
Background information
Birth name	Radric Davis
Born	(1980-02-02) February 2, 1980 (age 32) Birmingham, Alabama
Origin	Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Genres	Southern hip hop, gangsta rap
Occupations	Rapper
Years active	2005 – present
Labels	1017 Brick Squad Records, Asylum, Warner Bros.
Associated acts	1017 Brick Squad, Young Money, V-Nasty, Yo Gotti, Soulja Boy, Plies, Usher, Young Jeezy, E-40, French Montana, Maino, Jadakiss, CTE, Lil' Kim, Birdman
Website	www.guccimaneonline.com

Radric Davis^[1] (born February 2, 1980),^[2] better known by his stage name Gucci Mane, is an American rapper. He debuted in 2005 with Trap House and followed with albums such as Hard to Kill in 2006, Trap-A-Thon and Back to the Trap House in 2007. In 2009, his second studio album The State vs. Radric Davis was released, and The Appeal: Georgia's Most Wanted was released in 2010, and is his highest charting album so far. Gucci Mane has released many other mixtapes and independent albums as well.

While serving a six-month jail term for assault in late 2005, Davis was charged with murder, though the charges were later dropped due to a lack of evidence. In 2009, he served a year-long county jail sentence for violating probation for his 2005 aggravated assault conviction.

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Davis was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and later moved with his single mother to Atlanta. He enjoyed writing poetry as a child, and began rapping at age 14.^[1]

[edit] 2005–2006: Trap House and Hard to Kill

In 2005, Davis released his independent debut album entitled Trap House, which featured the successful single "Icy" with Young Jeezy. Disputes over the rights to this single caused a rift between the two artists. Hard to Kill followed in 2006. Hard To Kill included the hit single "Freaky Gurl". The song peaked at number 12 on the Hot Rap Tracks, number 19 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, and at number 62 on the Hot 100.

[edit] 2007: Back to the Trap House

The official remix of Freaky Gurl featuring Ludacris and Lil Kim was included on his 2007 commercial debut album Back to the Trap House. Gucci Mane appeared on OJ da Juiceman's "Make Tha Trap Say Aye" and began working on various mixtapes.^[3] Gucci Mane signed to Warner Bros. Records in May 2009.^[4]

[edit] 2009–2010: The State vs. Radric Davis

He appeared on remixes of the songs "Boom Boom Pow" by The Black Eyed Peas, "Obsessed" by Mariah Carey and "5 Star Chick" by Yo Gotti and made a guest appearance on Mario's "Break Up" (he has made 17 guest appearances total in 2009). Gucci Mane's second studio album The State vs. Radric Davis was released under the label Warner Bros. Records on December 8, 2009. Its first single, "Wasted" featuring Plies, was originally from Mane's 2009 mixtape Writing on the Wall. It peaked at number 36 on the Hot 100, number 3 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, and number 3 on the Rap Songs making it Gucci Mane's most successful single to date. The second single is "Spotlight" featuring Usher. The third single is "Lemonade". The fourth single is "Bingo", featuring Waka Flocka Flame and Soulja Boy Tell 'Em. On October 2, 2009, Gucci Mane was listed at number 6 on MTV's annual Hottest MC in the Game list.^[5]

Gucci Mane performing on August 29, 2010.

[edit] 2010–present: The Appeal: Georgia's Most Wanted and other projects

After being released from jail, Gucci Mane stated that he would start or change the label name from So Icey Entertainment to 1017 Brick Squad Records. The Appeal: Georgia's Most Wanted, was released on September 28, 2010.^[6] The first single from this release was titled "Gucci Time",^[7] produced by Swizz Beatz. It premiered on Gucci Mane's official MySpace page on August 6.^[8] The single also features Swizz Beatz and was released to US urban radio stations on August 24, 2010.^[9]

On March 18, 2011, Gucci Mane released his 10th EP, The Return of Mr. Zone 6, mostly produced by Drumma Boy.^[10] It debuted at #18 on the Billboard 200, and is his highest charting EP. The album also debuted at #2 on the Rap albums chart and #8 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. He also released a collaboration album with Waka Flocka Flame named Ferrari Boyz on August 5, Gucci's first collaboration album.^[11] It's first single is "She Be Puttin On" featuring late-fellow Brick Squad labelmate Slim Dunkin. Ferrari Boyz debuted at #21 on the Billboard 200. Gucci Mane released another collaboration album, this time with rapper V-Nasty, called BAYTL, on December 13.^[12] The album's first single is "Whip Appeal" featuring P2theLA.^[13] Three days after the album's release, while traveling to the video shoot of "Push Ups", a song from BAYTL featuring Slim Dunkin, the latter got into an argument with another person who shot Dunkin dead at an Atlanta recording studio.^[14] On February 5, 2012, Gucci Mane released his Trap Back mixtape. It features guest appearances from Yo Gotti, Rocko, Waka Flocka Flame, Jadakiss, 2 Chainz, and Future, the latter three recently appearing on Young Jeezy's third studio album Thug Motivation 103: Hustlerz Ambition. The first single is the mixtape's title track.^[15] Music videos have been filmed for the songs "Quiet", "Face Card", "In Love With a White Girl" featuring Yo Gotti, "Chicken Room" featuring Rocko, and the title track, and "Sometimes" featuring Future.^{[16][17][18][19][20][21]} Trap Back has been met with positive reviews so far, scoring a 7.8 from Pitchfork Media, a 7.5 from AllHipHop, and an "L" from XXL.^[22][23][24]

Legal issues[link]

2001[link]

In April 2001, Davis was arrested on cocaine charges and sentenced to 90 days in county jail.^[25]

2005[link]

On May 10, 2005, Davis was attacked by a group of men at a house in Decatur, Georgia. Davis and his companions shot at the group, killing one. The corpse of one of the attackers, Pookie Loc, was found later behind a nearby middle school. Davis turned himself in to police investigators on May 19, 2005, and was subsequently charged with murder. Davis claimed that the shots fired by him and his party were in self-defense.^[25] The DeKalb County district attorney's office dropped the murder charge in January 2006 due to insufficient evidence. The previous October, in an unrelated matter, Davis had pleaded no contest to a charge of aggravated assault for assaulting a nightclub promoter the previous June; at the time the murder charge was dropped, he was serving a six-month county jail sentence for this.^[26] Davis was released from jail in late January 2006.^[1]

2008[link]

In September 2008, Gucci Mane was arrested for a probation violation for completing only 25 out of 600 community service hours following his 2005 arrest for aggravated assault. He was sentenced to a year in the county jail but was released after six months.^[27] He was incarcerated in the Fulton County jail for probation violation^[28] and released on May 12, 2010.^[29]

2010[link]

On November 2, 2010, Gucci Mane was arrested for driving on the wrong side of the road, running a red light or stop sign, damage to government property, obstruction, no license, no proof of insurance and other traffic charges. He was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital.^[30]

2011[link]

On January 4, 2011, A judge in the Superior Court of Georgia’s Fulton County ordered rapper Gucci Mane to a psychiatric hospital, according to court documents. The documents reveal that his lawyers filed a Special Plea of Mental Incompetency on Dec. 27 arguing that he is unable “to go forward and/or intelligently participate in the probation revocation hearing.” ^[31]

On September 13, 2011, Davis was given a six month county jail sentence after pleading guilty to two counts of battery, two counts of reckless conduct and one count of disorderly conduct.^[32]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

• 2007: Back to the Trap House
• 2009: The State vs. Radric Davis
• 2010: The Appeal: Georgia's Most Wanted

Collaboration albums[link]

• 2011: Ferrari Boyz (with Waka Flocka Flame)
• 2011: BAYTL (with V-Nasty)

EPs[link]

• 2009: Wasted: The Prequel

Compilation albums[link]

• 2008: Hood Classics

Independent albums[link]

• 2001: La Flare
• 2005: Trap House
• 2006: Hard to Kill
• 2007: Trap-A-Thon
• 2009: Murder Was the Case
• 2011: The Return of Mr. Zone 6

Mixtapes[link]

• 2006: Chicken Talk
• 2007: Bird Flu (Southern Slang)
• 2007: Ice Attack
• 2007: Ice Attack: Part 2
• 2007: No Pad, No Pencil
• 2008: EA Sportscenter
• 2008: Gucci Sosa
• 2008: Mr. Perfect
• 2008: The Movie
• 2009: Bird Flu: Part 2
• 2009: The Movie: Part 2 (The Sequel)
• 2009: Guccitendo
• 2009: Writing's On the Wall
• 2009: The Burrrprint: 3D (The Movie: Part 3)
• 2009: The Cold War: Part 1 (Guccimerica)
• 2009: The Cold War: Part 2 (Great Brrritain)
• 2009: The Cold War: Part 3 (Brrrussia)
• 2010: Mr. Zone 6
• 2010: Jewelry Selection
• 2010: Gucci Classics
• 2010: Ferrari Music
• 2010: Buy My Album
• 2010: Burrrprint (2) HD
• 2011: Gucci 2 Time
• 2011: Writing's On the Wall 2
• 2012: Trap Back
• 2012: I'm Up

Collaboration mixtapes[link]

• 2007: Guapaholics (with Shawty Lo)
• 2008: Definition Of A G (with Yo Gotti)
• 2011: Brick Squad Mafia (with 1017 Brick Squad)
• 2011: Free Bricks small>(with Future)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Gucci Mane

• Official website
• Gucci Mane on Myspace
• Gucci Mane at the Internet Movie Database

Joe Budden
Joe Budden performing live at Rialto Theater in Tucson, AZ (April 11, 2012).
Background information
Birth name	Joseph Anthony Budden II
Born	(1980-08-31) August 31, 1980 (age 31)
Origin	Jersey City, New Jersey
Genres	Hip hop
Occupations	Rapper
Years active	2002 – present
Labels	Def Jam, Desert Storm, Amalgam Digital, E1, Shady Records
Associated acts	Slaughterhouse, Emanny
Website	www.joebuddentv.com

Joe Budden (born August 31, 1980) is an American rapper from Jersey City, New Jersey.

Career[link]

In the year 2003, Budden released his debut solo studio album, Joe Budden. It included Budden's 2003 Grammy-nominated summer hit "Pump It Up", and was also featured in the soundtrack for the movie 2 Fast 2 Furious and the video games Def Jam Vendetta, Def Jam Fight for NY, and Madden NFL 2004. The song "Focus" was also featured in the game and Joe Budden was also a character. Its second single was "Fire" featuring Busta Rhymes, which was in the movie Mean Girls. The song "Drop Drop" was featured on the soundtrack for the movie Cradle 2 the Grave. Joe has hinted in many songs that he was a recovering drug addict and has reaffirmed his position several times through multiple outlets.

After his debut album, Budden's sophomore release titled ‘The Growth’ was hampered due to the label's problems with Joe and his Def Jam seniors not happy with the direction of his music. The production of the album appeared to end up in a development hell and was ultimately not released. Continued disagreements between Budden and Def Jam forced the two sides to part ways.^[1] However, Budden managed to release the first and second installments of his Mood Muzik mixtape series while on Def Jam, and the series has been met with critical acclaim.^[2]

In December 2007 Budden signed a multi-album deal with Amalgam Digital and released his independent debut Padded Room as well as Mood Muzik 3: The Album, Halfway House, and Escape Route.

Joe Budden reached out to Crooked I, Royce da 5'9", Joell Ortiz and Nino Bless for a track titled "Slaughterhouse" on one of his Amalgam Digital releases, Halfway House.^[3] Based on the reception of the track, they decided to form a group, minus Nino Bless, and named it after the first song they made together.^[3] They released numerous songs throughout early 2009, leading up to their self-titled album, which was released through E1 on August 11, 2009.^[4] The album features production from Alchemist, DJ Khalil, Mr. Porter, Streetrunner, plus guest appearances from Pharoahe Monch, K. Young, and The New Royales.^[5] The group signed with Shady Records on January 12, 2011.^[6]

Personal life[link]

Budden has a son from a previous relationship.^[7] In 2010, he was wanted by New Jersey police in relation to unpaid child support payments.^[8]

Budden has also been in the spotlight for his numerous controversies with other rappers including Grafh, Jay-Z, Game, Prodigy, Canibus, Maino, G-Unit, Saigon, J-Hood, Busta Rhymes, Sky Highh, Ransom, MoeRoc and an incident involving several members of the Wu-Tang Clan^[9]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

• 2003: Joe Budden
• 2008: Halfway House
• 2009: Padded Room
• 2009: Escape Route
• TBA: The Great Escape

Collaboration albums[link]

• 2009: Slaughterhouse (with Slaughterhouse)
• 2011: Slaughterhouse EP (with Slaughterhouse)
• 2012: Welcome to: Our House (with Slaughterhouse)

Mixtapes[link]

• 2004: Mood Muzik: The Worst of Joe Budden
• 2006: Mood Muzik 2: Can It Get Any Worse?
• 2007: Mood Muzik 3: For Better or for Worse
• 2010: Mood Muzik 4: A Turn 4 The Worst
• 2011: Mood Muzik 4.5: The Worst Is Yet To Come

Awards and nominations[link]

• Grammy Awards
  • 2004, Best Male Rap Solo Performance: "Pump It Up" (nominated).

• Other awards
  • 2003 Vibe Next Award (winner).
  • United Kingdom, MOBO (Music of Black Origin) Award for "Clubbin" with Marques Houston (nominated).
  • United Kingdom, MOBO (Music of Black Origin) Award for Best Rap Performance (nominated).
  • 2004 Black Reel Award for Best Song from a Movie for "Pump It Up" in 2 Fast 2 Furious (nominated).

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Joe Budden on Twitter
• Joe Budden on Myspace