Eowyn Rohan sends this in: Greetings Shirelings! The time has come. A Long-Expected Party II: There and Back Again, is officially one year away! Many meetings have passed between the organizers already, and a great number of things have been planned. There is still more to come, however; but the biggest thing we need is YOU!
Attendees of the first ALEP have raved many times over about the event, and we plan to make things even better – not bigger – this time around! The location will be the same: The restored Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, located southwest of Lexington, Kentucky. The dates will be from September 28th to October 2nd, 2011. Bed space at the Village is filling up quickly, so – if you have thought about coming to our little Party – please don’t hesitate any longer, register today!
Following on from a most successful weekend in May this year (and the sun shone beautifully on Birmingham), planning for next years weekend is underway and will be held on Saturday and Sunday May 21st and 22nd. It will be at the usual venue of Sarehole Mill Recreation Ground within The Shire Country Park, in and around the area that Tolkien and his brother Hilary explored as children.
Sarehole is a lovely rural area, with more trees than in Tolkien’s day and we are basing the weekend around Tolkien’s love of trees and the forests and characters of Middle-earth. As the plans for the weekend develop we will keep you informed. In the meantime pencil in the dates shown above and we look forward to your being at this free event celebrating the life and work of J.R.R. Tolkien.
For further information about the weekend www.middleearthweekend.org.uk or if you live in the Birmingham, England area and would like to take part in the drama excerpts of Tolkien’s work email www.shireproductions.co.uk
The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (CTU) says it is furious at Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Chris Finlayson for “taking sides” in the debate over The Hobbit. Mr Finlayson said yesterday that the Government had sought legal advice from the Crown Law Office confirming that The Hobbit producers had the law on their side in refusing to enter into a union-negotiated agreement with performers who were independent contractors. CTU president Helen Kelly said that advice was biased towards Jackson and as a lawyer, Mr Finlayson would know that. “That’s like saying, ‘I can’t talk to you because this conversation would be illegal,'” Ms Kelly said. Just because there would be contractors working on the project that did not rule out having a union contract, she said. More..
Opposition politicians were today urging the producers of The Hobbit to start talks with an actors’ union to ensure the movie gets made in New Zealand. The movie’s executive producer Sir Peter Jackson has threatened to move the shooting to eastern Europe after NZ Actors Equity said it wanted a collective contract for New Zealand actors appearing in the movie. Actors Equity president Jennifer Ward-Lealand said, following a meeting last night, a delegation would seek to meet the producers of The Hobbit to hold negotiations in good faith. More..
Last week it was reported a two billion dollar offer from Indian conglomerate Sahara India Pariwar was rejected by MGM. But now an article in Businessweek says the offer is being reconsidered by creditors.
Additionally, Sahara has chosen an investment bank in the United States to provide representation, according to Sahara spokeswoman Marcy DePina. She also stated that “part of the quick rejection had to do with Sahara submitting documentation of its assets in rupees”
You can read the entire article here.
Since the news broke this weekend of actor unions putting pressure on the producers of “The Hobbit” regarding wages and working conditions of non-union actors, hundreds of stories, and re-hashes of stories, have hit the internet. It’s enough to boggle the mind! So, we thought we’d provide a recap of what’s happened so far, complete with a number of useful links. Bear in mind that the ‘facts’ presented in one story may conflict with the ‘facts’ presented in other stories. Our goal here is not to take sides, to separate the fact from the fiction, nor to link to 100% of the related articles. Rather, our goal is to give our readers some basic resources as a starting point for their own research. Keep checking TheOneRing.net for the most recent updates!
(Thanks to many of our readers and message board members for their diligent work locating many of the articles linked below. Special thanks to Kristen Thompson at the Frodo Franchise blog for sharing her extra-diligent research with us. Be sure to keep sending updates as you find them to spymaster@theonering.net!)
(Note: dates are based on U.S. time zones)
Sep. 24 – SAG (Screen Actor’s Guild) and other actor unions worldwide (including the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance of Australia) issue statements to their members regarding non-union actors who may be hired to work on “The Hobbit.” Statements range from encouraging support for non-union actors to urging an all-out boycott of the production. NZ Actor’s Equity urges supporters to attend a meeting in Auckland on Sep 27. Links: Offical SAG Alert ; UK Equity Alert ; MEAA Hobbit Fact Sheet ; NZ Actor’s Equity Articles ; TVNZ interview
Sep. 25 – the story breaks on the internet. Links: TheOneRing.net ; Variety
Sep. 26 – Peter Jackson issues a response. Links: TheOneRing.net
Sep. 27 – official response from the studios. Links: Deadline Hollywood
Sep. 28 – statement released from NZ Actor’s Equity meeting. Links: NZ Actor’s Equity Articles ; YouTube Video interviews of NZ Actors re: NZ Actor’s Equity Meeting
Other useful links: NZ Employment Law: Contractors vs. Employees ; NZ Dept. of Labour definition of an Employee ; Ruling on Bryson vs. Three Foot Six ; Karl Urban backs Union Stance ; Movie Studios Look at Other Options for The Hobbit ; TVNZ – The Plot Thickens ; SPADA on Hobbit Battle ; Gordon Campbell on Trade Unions vs. The Hobbit ; More from PJ on stuff.co.nz ; stuff.co.nz on Unions having No Legal Standing
