http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmhIXCFXJ9c
Like many famous directors, Peter Jackson had such a passion for cinema that he started making his own short films during his teens. In 1976, the 15-year old Jackson and his friends used a Super 8 camera to make a 20-minute silent short called The Valley, which was meant as a tribute to the work of Ray Harryhausen and featured his earliest attempts at stop motion. It wound up getting Jackson his first exposure when it was featured on the popular New Zealand children’s show, Spot On.