Philippa Jane Boyens (born 1962) is a New Zealand screenwriter and film producer who co-wrote the screenplay for Peter Jackson's films ''The Lord of the Rings'' series, ''

King Kong King Kong is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. He has been dubbed The Eighth Wonder of the World, a phrase commonly used within the franchise. His first appearance was in the novelizat ...

'', '' The Lovely Bones'', and the three-part film ''

The Hobbit ''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the ''N ...

'', all with Jackson and

Fran Walsh Dame Frances Rosemary Walsh (born 10 January 1959) is a New Zealand screenwriter and film producer. The partner of filmmaker Peter Jackson, Walsh has contributed to all of their films since 1989: as co-writer since '' Meet the Feebles'', and ...

. She, Jackson, and Walsh won the

Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay Film adaptation, adapted from previously established material. The most frequently adapted media are novels, but other adapted narrative formats include st ...

for '' The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King'' at the

76th Academy Awards The 76th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2003 and took place on February 29, 2004, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 ...

in 2004. She was also co-producer on every one of Jackson's films since ''King Kong'', and on '' District 9''. Prior to screen-writing, Boyens worked in theater as a playwright, teacher, producer, and editor. She also spent time as director of the New Zealand Writers Guild.

Personal life

Born in 1962, Boyens is the daughter of John Fraser Boyens and Jane Moana Menhennet. She was educated at Massey High School, and was later a part-time student at the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

, graduating with a BA in English and history in 1994. She received a Distinguished Alumni Award from the university in 2006. She has three children: daughter Phoebe Gittins and son Calum Gittins (both with actor Paul Gittins); and a second son, Isaac Miller. Phoebe appeared as a Hobbit in '' The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring'', as one of George Harvey's victims in '' The Lovely Bones'', and as a wench in the

Prancing Pony Bree is a fictional village in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, east of the Shire. Bree-land, which contains Bree and a few other villages, is the only place where Hobbits and Men lived side by side. It was inspired by the name of the Buckingh ...

in '' The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug''; Calum appeared as Haleth in '' The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers''; and Isaac appeared as a young Hobbit in a flashback of the Old Took's party in the extended edition of '' The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey''. In the 2004 Queen's Birthday Honours, Boyens was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to film.

Work on ''Lord of the Rings''

Boyens first became a Tolkien fan as a child. When she came on board to help the writing team on ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's b ...

'', she had already read the book seven times.

Filmography

Writer

Producer

Soundtrack

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyens, Philippa 1962 births 21st-century New Zealand women writers 21st-century New Zealand writers 21st-century screenwriters Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award winners Best Adapted Screenplay BAFTA Award winners Hugo Award-winning writers Living people Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit Nebula Award winners New Zealand screenwriters New Zealand women screenwriters People educated at Massey High School University of Auckland alumni