Sir Richard Leslie Taylor KNZM (born 8 February 1965) is the founder, creative director and head of New Zealand film prop and special effects company Wētā Workshop.

Taylor was born in Cheadle, Cheshire, England, on 8 February 1965, and emigrated as a child to New Zealand, where his family lived at Te Hihi, and later the Auckland suburb of Patumahoe.

The company were also heavily involved in the making of Peter Jackson's interpretation of King Kong for which he won his fifth Academy Award, in Visual Effects.

[10] In February 2012 Taylor was named New Zealander of the year, beating finalists World of Wearable Art founder Suzie Moncrieff and Auckland plastic surgeon Sharad P. Paul, nominated for his work on skin cancer.

[12][13] In May of 2020, due to economic fallout resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, the relationship between Taylor's Weta Workshop and Magic Leap came to an end, when the latter company laid off about 1,000 staff members worldwide.