Lord of the Rings Mania
It happens every July at the San Diego Comic Con
It was 2001 when the premiere of “The Fellowship of the Ring” came to the big screen and launched the careers of several actors, along with director Peter Jackson. Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan and Elijah Wood were all able to use their fame to great advantage. An entirely new generation became privy to the works of J.R.R. Tolkien.
Extra hired us as a video production crew at the 2001 San Diego Comic Con to walk around the floor and up and down the convention hallways stalking producers, directors and actors.
Lord of the Rings Meets Comic Con
The first movie of the blockbuster trilogy arrived to adoring fans at the 2001 Comic Con. Back then Hollywood was just tuning in to the idea of promoting their movies at a big comic-book geek fest. Several fantasy flicks were highlighted that year. A rapt audience caught sneak previews of Spider Man, Planet of the Apes, the new DVD release of Robert Wise’s completed Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Harry Potter, and of course, the crown jewel of all fantasy, Lord of the Rings.
In the Makeup Chair
Lord of the Rings Ork
The lucky winner of a contest was transformed into an Ork all day. The makeup application took about three hours. He got to wear the makeup for a few hours and then had to get back in the chair and have the makeup removed. That took another hour. But that’s what it’s all about in the movie business. It’s a lot of time in the makeup chair. And that’s how actors earn the big bucks.
It seems like only yesterday when the Lord of the Rings trio – Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan and Elijah Wood, came to the San Diego Comic Con as a bunch of fun-loving guys. They were kind enough to pose with Mark Schulze and me for this classic photograph.
Billy Boyd from Lord of the Rings at San Diego Comic Con 2004
We spotted Billy Boyd again at the 2004 San Diego Comic Con.
Elijah Wood (Lord of the Rings) and Jason Gann from Wilfred at San Diego Comic Con 2011
And then, in 2011, we saw Elijah Wood with Jason Gann from the TV show Wilfred signing autographs at the Fox booth.
Elijah Wood and partner Zach Cowie are DJs
In 2014, we happened to be at Deepak Chopra’s Sages & Scientists Symposium in La Costa. Who do you think we ran into? Elijah and his buddy, Zach Cowie formed a duo called Wooden Wisdom, and are DJs. And they do know how to get people dancing. And Elijah said he remembered us. (Nice guy.)
Who knows where we’ll see one or all of the guys from Lord of the Rings again? But we certainly look forward to it.
