San Luis Obispo, CA -- The San Luis Obispo International Film Festival (SLOIFF) announced today its annual King Vidor Award will be presented to Sir Richard Taylor.  Partners with director Peter Jackson, Mr. Taylor and his wife Tania Rodger will be making an extremely rare public appearance outside their New Zealand based WETA workshop and numerous WETA companies to accept the award on Saturday, March 10, 2012 at the Fremont Theatre.
 
Sir Richard Taylor is co-owner and creative lead at WETA WORKSHOP, which he runs with his wife, Tania Rodger.  He is a five-time Academy Award-winning design and effects supervisor who draws on 25 years of filmmaking experience.  He is also a co-founder of the WETA companies, with partner Peter Jackson, and the Stone Street Studio complex in Wellington, New Zealand.
 
Although Richard is best known for his work on Academy Award-winning film projects, including the Lord of the Rings trilogy, King Kong, The Chronicles of Narnia, Avatar and District 9, Weta Workshop offers its services to all creative industries throughout the world. 
 
Richard and his team also run a publishing arm, a commercial chainmaille manufacturing business and fine art bronze foundry in China, a high-end collectibles division and a retail store called the Weta Cave.