Richard Taylor (filmmaker)

Sir Richard Taylor KNZM
Taylor at the 2014 Hobbit*Con
Born	Richard Leslie Taylor 1960's Patumahoe, New Zealand
Occupation	Filmmaker
Partner(s)	Tania Taylor

Sir Richard Leslie Taylor KNZM (born 1960s) is the founder, Creative Director and head of New Zealand film prop and special effects company Weta Workshop.

Taylor is a graduate of the former Wellington Polytechnic.

Peter Jackson, Taylor and his company created all of the props, costumes, prosthetics, miniatures and weaponry for Jackson's epic The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. For his work on the three films, he shared in winning four Academy Awards. This included two for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring in Make Up and Visual Effects, and two for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in Costume Design and Make Up.

Taylor can be seen and heard on all of The Lord of the Rings DVDs, in behind-the-scenes documentaries and on the audio commentaries on the extended edition DVDs. He also appeared on set to give direction to actors and stunt personnel in several fight scenes.

Both Richard Taylor and Weta Workshop appear in the documentary film Reclaiming the Blade, where they discussed the creative and technical process of how movie props (specifically swords) are created at Weta Workshop. Swords created by Weta for films such as The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia are featured in the film as well.