Can I just tell you this - my last day in Wellington, New Zealand was probably the greatest day off I've had on this entire PR tour.

First, Alex and I get dropped off at Wingnut Films, Peter Jackson's production company, where we meet Carter Nixon, long time production assistant for the company and our official man-about-town for the day,

FIRST STOP: WETA WORKSHOP

Inside the entry way was a seven foot tall Ugluk, the Urok Hai leader from LOTR. Next to the couch, a crouching Gollum on a rock with a tasty fish in his hand. I was excited beyond belief to be here.

In the conference room next to us, glass cabinets filled with countless collectible LOTR figurines, BAFTA awards and, of course, thr four Academy Awards won by Richard Taylor.

2001 LOTR: Fellowship - Visual Effects, Make-up
2003 LOTR: Return - Costume Design, Make-Up

After chatting with the folks up front for a few minutes, out comes Taylor himself to personally take us on the tour. What was supposed to take 30 minutes ended up lasting nearly 90 minutes. It was incredible to see all the costumes they were currently creating for The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as well as for King Kong. They have full-time model builders creating limited edition collectibles for LOTR fans and some of the most amazing miniatures in the works for the big primate.

They have a full-time blacksmith creating the most beautiful armor you'll ever see and a swordsmith who cranks out a shiny new hand-made weapon a week. Real steal and really heavy. I held Aragorn's sword and saw the oven that ran non-stop, 24 hours a day, for more than 4 years, baking the LOTR prosthetics. Unbelievable.

After that, we said our good-byes to Richard and headed over to WETA Digital where we saw one of the largest super computers on the planet (currently ranked #80 I believe), effects created for LOTR and upcoming King Kong magic. Here's all I'm gonna say: this monkey movie is gonna be off the hook! Get ready to be blown away.

From here, we went on to Jackson's new post-production house, Park Road Post, which he's spent more than 35 million renovating. It looks like a Frank Llyod Wright house, only gigantic. We watched about 15 minutes of Return of the King in the room where he actually mixed it. Holy Mackeral was that f'n cool.

GREAT JOB OPS: Jackson has created an industry in New Zealand that is thriving. Because of him, his partners and their vision, they have built a sustainable business that employs more than 500 people full time! (And that doesn't even include the hundreds of folks just working on Kong!)

After this, Carter took us to the final destination of the day. The set of King Kong. The previous weekend, Wingnut hosted a screening of SSM for the entire cast and crew at Park Road (how cool is that?), so when we got on set, a lot of the people knew the movie. Naomi Watts and Jack Black had seen it, as well as Colin Hanks, Tom's son, who also starred in Orange County with Black.

Everyone was so uber-cool to us and the set for the movie was astonishing. That's all I can say. Today was the second day of shooting, and after about an hour on set hanging out with Matt - Peter's right hand man, they we ready for another angle on the scene they were shooting. Time to re-set everything and for Alex and I to actuallt get an audience with the man himself - Action Jackson.

NOTE: I have met all kinds of folks since making this movie, but I have never been more nervous to meet anyone in my life than PJ. I don't know if it was the build-up to the day or what, but I was like a star-struck little kid when I met him. He was very kind and we chatted about the movie, his facilities and how he's helped change the business in New Zealand. Awesome.

As Carter took us back to the hotel, I couldn't help but think how this was one of the coolest things that I've ever gotten to do and I was extremely thankful. Thankful for all the amazing opportunities I've had in the last 9 months, thankful that I get to be in New Zealand and travel all over the world with this movie, thankful that I'm a filmmaker and thankful that folks like Peter Jackson exist: people who know that the key to success is giving back.

That's exactly how I feel.