New Line, Warner Bros. and MGM have issued a combined statement regarding the current ‘Hobbit’ headlines:
New Line, Warner Bros. Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures are concerned by the recent allegations of unfair treatment of actors in New Zealand and instructions from the performers’ guilds to their membership to withhold services from the producers of “The Hobbit” in New Zealand. We are proud to have good relations with all of those performers’ guilds and value their contribution to the motion pictures produced in their respective jurisdictions throughout the world. But we believe that in this case the allegations are baseless and unfair to Peter Jackson and his team in Wellington who have been tireless supporters of the New Zealand motion picture community.
Continue reading “Studios hit back at actors over ‘Hobbit’”
Seven global actors’ unions have instructed their members to walk away from roles in the two big-budget Lord of the Rings prequels because producers have allegedly refused to negotiate a deal guaranteeing wages and working conditions for performers in New Zealand. Unions in the US, Australia, the UK and Canada, acting under the umbrella of the International Federation of Actors (FIA), said Kiwi performers had “struggled on non-union contracts” for some years during filming of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. They said the contracts “provide no minimum guarantees of wages or working conditions”, no payment for future broadcasts and no cancellation payments. More..
Peter Jackson has issued a swift and decisive statement in answer to recent suggestions by the IFA and affiliated actor’s unions that their members turn down parts in “The Hobbit” movie unless all New Zealand actors are allowed to bargain with the movie-makers collectively. Peter made the interesting point that this may be against current New Zealand law:
“NZ law prohibits engaging in collective bargaining with any labour organisation representing performers who are independent contractors, as film actors clearly are. The NZ Commerce Act claims it would be unlawful to engage with an Australian Union on these matters.”
More worrisome for Hobbit fans is his assertion that this may delay the making of “The Hobbit” even further and/or force the production to move to eastern Europe:
..”the “demands” of MEAA cannot be agreed to, or even considered – by law – and therefore the only options that remain involve closing the Hobbit down, or more likely shifting the production to Europe. It could so easily happen. I’ve been told that Disney are no longer bring movies to Australia because of their frustration with the MEAA.”
The MEAA is the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, or the actors union in Australia. The IFA and New Zealand Actors guild solicited the help of the Aussie organization in 2006 to help the unionization process of New Zealand actors. Keep reading to see the entire statement and be sure to join the discussion on our message boards.
Continue reading “Peter Jackson Takes the Gloves Off”
Delayed Peter Jackson movie The Hobbit has shown signs of life with a preliminary casting call in Wellington.
The movie has been held up by the sale of the MGM studio, which owns half of the production.
Budding film stars of all shapes and sizes arrived from around the country.
A preliminary casting call is great news for Wellington’s film industry, but it wasn’t the happiest of days for some Hobbit hopefuls.
[Full story]
Variety reported today that the seven major actor’s unions have told members not to work on “The Hobbit” due to the refusal of producers of the feature film to sign a deal with local New Zealand performers. A SAG (Screen Actor’s Guild) Member Alert published on SAG’s website yesterday states:
“Members of Canadian Actors Equity, US Actors Equity, the Screen Actors Guild, UK Actors Equity, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (Australia) and the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists are advised not to accept work on this non-union production. If you are contacted to be engaged on The Hobbit please notify your union immediately.”
The alert comes after repeated attempts by Australian actor’s union, the Media Entertainment & Arts Alliance (Alliance), to negotiate minimum wages and other working conditions for New Zealand actors who are currently not unionized. The International Federation of Actors (FIA) finally stepped in to urge their affiliates worldwide to flat out refuse to work on “The Hobbit” in a show of solidarity for their New Zealand counterparts. With offers to actors rumored to be “imminent,” the initiative is undoubtedly timed to put maximum pressure on the film-makers to negotiate. It remains to be seen whether playing what they think is their strongest hand now will have the results the FIA desires.
In the past few days, several stories have surfaced around the internet claiming that, in addition to his co-writing duties, Guillermo Del Toro is also now one of the producers of “The Hobbit.” Today we happen to have it on very good authority that this is not the case. Our good friend GDT stopped by our message boards to clear the air and state that he is: “not a producer of any kind.”
When the news first broke here on TheOneRing.net of Guillermo leaving “The Hobbit” as director, Peter Jackson confirmed that GDT was staying on as co-writer:“Guillermo is co-writing the Hobbit screenplays with Philippa Boyens, Fran Walsh and myself, and happily our writing partnership will continue for several more months, until the scripts are fine tuned and polished.” According to Del Toro, currently on tour to promote his new book “The Fall,” producing is definitely not an additional part of those responsibilities. Read Guillermo’s comments and join in the discussion here.
