The Team
The Red Carpet Crew
Red Carpet Tours has been running tours of New Zealand featuring LOTR locations, with the cooperation of many individuals involved with the LOTR production.
After some years in tourism, Vic and Raewyn James spent 6 months of 2001 touring the country to select LOTR sites, and gain approval for access. Each of the private landowners had signed secrecy agreements with New Line, and their permission to ease the restrictions had to be gained.
To make the tours worthwhile experiences in Tolkien-iana, Vic searched for a personable Tolkien expert ... and found Erica Challis, who had long been a Tolkien scholar and enthusiast. Hearing rumours about a LOTR production in New Zealand, Erica helped found the fan website http://www.theonering.net/ (aka TORN), which developed a following that produces over 2 million hits each month. She has also published a well-received book, The People's Guide to JRR Tolkien.
During filming of the trilogy Erica and her colleagues on TORN worked to build a closer relationship between their essentially fan-generated website and the film-makers. After establishing a positive relationship between TORN and LOTR-New Line, Erica was regarded as a link that carried information and feedback between the film company and the fans in a way that was very satisfactory for both sides. With Erica's assistance, Red Carpet Tours began to operate Middle Earth tours on a modest scale in 2002.
In these years, Vic has also developed cordial working relationships with landowners in helping to develop their private LOTR sites into workable businesses. He's proud of spearheading the drive to save the Hobbiton site from destruction.
Julie James is the Social Media Manager and one of our New Zealand Guides for Red Carpet Tours.
She comes to us with middle management corporate training and experience in the areas of financial planning, as well as qualifications in Tourism. Although spending most of her life in New Zealand and a true 'Kiwi' (Hobbit), Julie has travelled extensively and has a passion for travel and people.
The passion for all things Lord of the Rings by Julie and her family make sharing Middle Earth with others a real joy! Red Carpet Tours is definitely the best Lord of the Rings Tour Company in New Zealand and it is our pleasure to take you 'there and back again'.
As the work of RCT has increased, it has brought in another associate ... Susi Knight, professional photographer and writer, who has been a Tolkien fan since childhood in Los Angeles, where her father's job as Project Architect on the Los Angeles Music Center surrounded her in a world of creative people and great ideas. As a designer and promoter, Susi worked from Italy setting up tours to the US Southwest, where her European clients could see the best of artwork produced by the Navajo and Pueblo people (she's an expert). In the course of that, she came across RCT, and struck up a relationship. She has also been working with a London-based events firm on the program for a major LOTR event, has designed the RCT website, and is working with a number of the supporting LOTR performers and behind-the-scenes people on future events.