Film, Culture, & Lord of the Rings: Charlie's Study Abroad

Charlie Davidson Start Date: Apr 27, 2025 - End Date: Aug 24, 2025
  • Cultural Exchange
  • Educational/Research Trip
  • Study/Degree Abroad
  • New Zealand

My Travel Story

by: Charlie Davidson Start Date: Apr 27, 2025 - End Date: Aug 24, 2025
  • Cultural Exchange
  • Educational/Research Trip
  • Study/Degree Abroad
Hello, my name is Charlie. I am a 24-year-old college student on my journey to getting my BA in Film (Film and Media Studies) at Arizona State University Online. I was just recently accepted into a study abroad program to go to New Zealand this summer! It will be a 3-week trip where I will get to explore the beautiful New Zealand scenery, get to visit sites where Lord of The Rings was filmed, take a tour through Weta Workshop, and take part in incredible lectures surrounding Film and the Māori people and their culture! I am so immensely excited about this opportunity, so I am taking all courses of action that I can to try and help fund this excursion! I am only able to be in college as it is because of student loans and education benefits! I am looking to raise some money to help me pay for this trip. I have never had any opportunity remotely close to this before, so the fact that I have been granted just the possibility of going on this trip is amazing! If you are at all interested or able to help me study abroad this summer, I would be forever grateful!
I am also an artist on the side while being in college! I am an art vendor, where I go to mainly K-pop events and sell my art! I am very willing to do commissions to help raise these funds as well!

Thank you so very much for your time! I hope you have a wonderful day, person reading this!
Here is a breakdown of my program:

Summer 2025 dates: June 21 - July 12, 2025
Movie Location Visit: Rivendell, Hobbiton, Mt. Doom, and others
Interaction with Māori Cultural Production: Te Puia School of Arts and Crafts, Māori Television Studios, Haka Instruction
Local Mentors assigned to connect regularly with each group
Real-time academic visit to Weta Workshop
Interactive lectures with historians, film industry professionals, and cultural experts
Earn 6 credits
This program focuses on New Zealand history and Māori culture, New Zealand cinema, Indigenous media production, and the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies, (which were shot in New Zealand). Students will engage these subjects in critical, creative, and practical ways. The program includes real-time lectures by professors at major universities; virtual visits to museums, archives, and national parks; engagement with Māori Cultural Sites, television studios; a Weta workshop for special effects; and engagement with film directors, archivists, and tourism guides. The program will be grounded in field trips and lectures by university professors, industry professionals, and cultural liaisons.
  • New Zealand

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