The Hunt for Gollum is an unofficial not-for-profit short film by a group of enthusiast filmmakers. As a Lord of the Rings Fan Film, it is not affiliated with the Tolkien Estate or New Line Cinema and was produced as an entirely non commercial film. The entire movie was released online for free to view on the internet on May 3, 2009; it was made for the enjoyment of the material and the experience of making a high quality low budget film.