Philippa Boyens

New Zealand native Philippa Boyens was a playwright prior to becoming an Oscar-winning screenwriter. Boyens, Fran Walsh, and famed director Peter Jackson teamed up to write the highly successful screenplays for the epic "The Lord of the Rings" film trilogy. Boyens and her team remained faithful to J.R.R. Tolkien's beloved novels while still making the films appealing to a contemporary audience. She worked with Jackson and Walsh again, co-writing the films "King Kong," starring Naomi Watts and Adrien Brody, and "The Lovely Bones," with Mark Wahlberg and Stanley Tucci. Boyens, Jackson, and Walsh added "Pan's Labyrinth" director Guillermo del Toro to their team for "The Hobbit Part 1" and "The Hobbit Part 2." Boyens has also co-produced the film "District 9" along with "King Kong" and "The Lovely Bones."