The New York Times has weighed in on the controversy over the Wellington airport’s plan to erect a sign reading “Wellywood” on a ridge near the runway. Quotes from representatives of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce (which claims to own rights to the sign) and the airport are given. The role of Peter Jackson’s films is noted:

Since the blockbuster “Lord of the Rings” trilogy was shot in New Zealand, that country’s film industry has proved a boon to tourism, with foreigners eager to climb the peaks that served as Mount Doom.

Last year, New Zealand officials agreed to contribute special financing to ensure that the two movies based on J. R. R. Tolkien’s “Hobbit” would be shot there, and the Wellywood sign was supposed to boost “Middle-earth” affection further.

Stuff.co.nz reports that there is considerable opposition to the proposed “Wellywood” sign being voiced, particularly online. There’s now a “Wellingtonians against the Wellywood Sign” on Facebook; so far its members outnumber the “Support Wellywood” page, but the latter does have a substantial number of boosters. Representatives for the airport, which plans to put the sign on a ridge where it will be visible from planes landing and taking off to the north, say the project will go forward.

We all know that the Lord of the Ring film boosted tourism in New Zealand. Now the same thing will certainly be happening with The Hobbit. The town of Matamata, near the farm which doubles as Hobbiton, is planning to spruce itself up in preparation for the arrival of the cast and crew and later, of course, the tourists. The Matamata-Piako District Council seems set to provide substantial funds to modernize one street, and a floral display is planned to be at its peak during filming.

Around 1.5 million people have visited the town since the trilogy’s release put it on the Middle-earth map.

Recently (apparently back in February, since principal photography on The Hobbit was still a month away), an Australian travel show called “Getaway” posted a story on Wellington Rovers Tours. It shows a small group visiting two locations, Mt. Victoria (the “Get off the road!” scene) and Kaitoke Regional Park (Rivendell), as well as the Weta Cave (props museum and Weta products store). Now Jack Machiela, one of the company’s guides and webmaster of The Noldor Blog, has posted the four-minute segment on YouTube.

Those of us who have done the tour can indulge in a moment of nostalgia, and those who haven’t can get a foretaste of things (with luck!) to come.

I’ve been on the tour twice, hard at work doing research for The Frodo Franchise. (When you study and write about movies for a living, work is often quite fun and even occasionally exciting!) I also interviewed company founder Jason Bragg. It’s covered in the book starting on page 284.

The “Getaway” host is one of these hyperactive guys who seems to think he can make an already fascinating subject even more interesting by wisecracking, jumping around, and using fast editing and music. Not true, of course. I for one wish such chaps would just stand aside and let us see more of the actual subject, telling us about it in a straightforward way. Still, the segment does manage to show around three-minutes’ worth of the tour.

The website Middle-earth News interviewed Jack Machiela back on March 8, but I just caught up with it. Jack lives in Wellington, works as a guide for Wellington Rover Tours, and runs the informative Noldor Blog. (I wrote about Wellington Rover Tours for Chapter 10 of The Frodo Franchise, having interviewed its founder, Jason Bragg.)

Jack talks about celebrities he has met around Wellington, his favorite Rings locations, and where to get a good cup of coffee or a sandwich in the area.

For years Wellington Rover Tours has given a copy of the “Middle Earth Post” poster, with a map of some of the shooting locations and some fun stuff on the back. I’ve got two tucked away. Then Jack Machiela came up with the idea to commission a new map by calligrapher Daniel Reeve, well known for his work on the maps and documents of the LOTR trilogy. It has been popular enough with tourists that Jack is now selling a very limited number of copies on his Noldor Blog. If they’re popular, more will become available.