Amazon Studios today announced that British Chinese director Wayne Che Yip has joined the creative team of its Amazon Original The Lord of the Rings television series as a director and co-executive producer.

Yip joins the international ensemble cast, currently filming in New Zealand, to direct four episodes. He continues the work of Spanish filmmaker J.A. Bayona, who directed the first two episodes of the series.

Best known for his work directing popular genre content including Hunters, Preacher, Utopia (Channel 4), and Doctor Who, Yip has also recently directed episodes of Amazon Studios' upcoming epic fantasy series, The Wheel of Time.

"It is a true honor to be invited into the world of Tolkien by J.D. & Patrick and Amazon Studios. Every day I look forward to working with the incredible team here in New Zealand as we humbly contribute to the legacy of the greatest stories ever told," said Yip.

About the Amazon Original The Lord of the Rings television series:

Amazon Studios' forthcoming series brings to screens for the very first time the heroic legends of the fabled Second Age of Middle-earth's history. This epic drama is set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Beginning in a time of relative peace, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of the elf-capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the furthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone.

As previously announced, the series is led by showrunners and executive producers J.D. Payne & Patrick McKay; they are joined by executive producers Lindsey Weber, Callum Greene, J.A. Bayona, Belén Atienza, Justin Doble, Jason Cahill, Gennifer Hutchison, Bruce Richmond and Sharon Tal Yguado, co-executive producer Wayne Che Yip, and producer Christopher Newman.

For more information about the series, including Wayne Che Yip's full biography and cast biographies, visit the Amazon Studios press site here: https://press.amazonstudios.com/us/en