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Out of all the hype surrounding The Lord of the Rings trilogy there emerged a quiet, unassuming supporting character — the peaceful country of New Zealand. Located approximately 1,250 miles off of the Southeast coast of Australia, the country, long isolated, was a land of many sheep and few humans, a country that didn't cause much of a stir in world events. But the success of Peter Jackson's film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's classic fantasy series created many changes for the "Kiwis" of New Zealand.

A scene from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Courtesy of New Line

"Lord of the Rings changed the way the entire film world viewed New Zealand. What they saw then was, first off, this place that a great many of them had never heard of. And if they had heard of it, they possibly thought it was somewhere maybe off of Florida or off of Scandinavia, or something like that. They knew where it was, that was the first thing. And secondly they knew that it had very significant capabilities, not to mention gorgeous scenery and all that sort of thing," says Ruth Harley, CEO of the New Zealand Film Commission, a government agency created in 1978 to help develop and produce feature and short films with strong cultural content. In the 29 years since, the Film Commission has been involved in financing more than 100 feature films.

In developing a film, Harley and her staff of 20 also look at the possible international appeal, as well as the film's ability to perform at festivals and to return the agency's investment. Additionally, factors such as the quality of the script, the team behind the film, and the budget are factored into the equation. The NZFC worked with Jackson on his first five films before the director helmed the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Also bringing global attention to New Zealand are Weta Workshop and Weta Digital, the Oscar-winning design teams behind both The Lord of the Rings and King Kong. Co-operated by Jackson, Richard Taylor, Tania Rodger, and Jamie Selkirk, the companies have provided jobs for many of the country's artists and filmmakers.

A WETA Workshop employee working on weresheep on the set of Black Sheep. Read Premiere's review of Black Sheep. Photo by Ken George

"When Tania and I first started out, there wasn't a special effects 'industry' as such in New Zealand. It never really occurred to us that the industry might not be secure — we were simply focused on doing something we loved," five-time Oscar-winner Taylor says. "These days, Weta Workshop has a crew of 180… So we've not only grown as a company, the industry in New Zealand has grown, and the fact that we can run a business of this size shows that the industry has grown exponentially."

The global spotlight shining brightly on New Zealand after the final installment in the Rings trilogy — Return of the King snagged 11 Academy Awards — opened international doors for independent filmmakers like Jonathan King, whose dark comedy Black Sheep opens in limited release June 22, and Taika Waititi, whose Eagle Vs. Shark opened in New York and Los Angeles on June 15. While artists like King and Waititi would have had the same opportunities with the NZFC before Jackson's success, international distributors are now willing to take a chance at giving smaller New Zealand films a larger audience.