Colin McKenzie is Peter Jackson’s fictional filmmaker in the mockumentary Forgotten Silver.
Released in 1995, Forgotten Silver presents a deliberately invented history of New Zealand cinema. It claims that McKenzie was an overlooked pioneer who created ambitious early films and developed remarkable cinematic techniques before disappearing from public memory.
Jackson co-directed the film with Costa Botes. Its convincing style caused some viewers to believe that McKenzie and the supposed discoveries were real, making the project a notable example of a mockumentary built around an elaborate fictional biography.
Colin McKenzie is not Ed Wood, the real filmmaker later depicted in Tim Burton’s film Ed Wood. Carl Denham is a character from Jackson’s King Kong, while Herman Mankiewicz was a real screenwriter. The film’s central joke depends on presenting invented evidence with the tone of a serious documentary.