Weta Digital, one of the world’s premier visual effects companies, has a new partner in entrepreneurial  Sean Parker. Parker has made a significant investment in the company known for its culture of creativity and innovation. From Gollum to Caesar, Middle earth to Pandora, Weta Digital has created some of the most memorable characters and worlds of the last twenty-five years.

“I’ve long admired Peter Jackson’s and Fran Walsh’s work, and the ground-breaking VFX and animation that Weta Digital has created over the last two decades. The visionary leadership, imagination, and technical expertise of Weta Digital was vital to the creation of Academy Award-winning films such as Avatar, King Kong and Lord of the Rings. I look forward to helping grow Weta Digital and I’m excited to partner with Peter, the leadership of Weta, and its incredibly talented team.”

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“Sean Parker brings an invaluable expertise that will fortify Weta Digital from a technological perspective, while also focusing on its growth as an industry leader,” said Jackson. “As I have gotten to know him, I have been extremely impressed with his curiosity, intelligence and passion.”

 

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Sean Parker is an entrepreneur with a record of launching genre-defining companies and organizations. Mr. Parker was the co-founder of Napster at age 19 and of Plaxo at 21. In 2004 he joined with Mark Zuckerberg to develop the online social network Facebook and served as Facebook’s founding president, and in 2007 he co-founded Causes on Facebook, which registered 180 million people to donate money and take action around social issues.

He is also the founder and President of the Parker Foundation, which focuses on three areas: Life Sciences, Global Public Health and Civic Engagement. In April 2016, the Parker Foundation announced a $250 million grant to form the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, which builds on Parker’s role in funding and promoting research into the relationship between the immune system and cancer. Parker serves on the boards of the Obama Foundation, The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), and Global Citizen.

Weta Digital in Wellington, New Zealand is led by Multi-Oscar winning Senior Visual Effects Supervisor Joe Letteri. Weta Digital is known for incredible creativity and commitment to developing innovative technology. Their groundbreaking performance-driven animated characters like Gollum, Kong, Neytiri, and Caesar are widely regarded as some of the best character animation ever put on screen. Weta’s development of the revolutionary virtual production workflow for Avatar led the industry in integrated VP techniques into modern filmmaking.

Weta Digital’s artists have six visual effects Academy Awards, ten Academy Sci-Tech Awards and six visual effects BAFTA Awards. Recent projects include Alita: Battle Angel, Mortal Engines, Avengers: Infinity Wars, Avengers: End Game; Game of Thrones and Umbrella Academy, in addition to upcoming 2019 projects Ad Astra, Lady and the Tramp, and Gemini Man.