Last night’s meeting of New Zealand Actor’s Equity was cancelled, and a planned protest of that meeting by a group of 1000 film technicians turned into a march through the streets of Wellington. It is all part of the latest happenings as New Zealand tries to secure the production of The Hobbit films. The group of film technicians, lead by Sir Richard Taylor, had planned to call for the end of the NZ Actor’s Equity Hobbit film boycott.
Speaking after the technicians’ meeting Sir Richard Taylor, head of WETA Workshop, told TVNZ that the New Zealand film industry was “at some level of peril”.
“The mood is one of great concern … Wellington film technicians want to be heard. They want to be represented in these very bizarre and strange events that are going on right now,” he said.
What does this mean for the production of The Hobbit films? The issue now is ‘where’ the Hobbit films will be filmed. It was assumed from the start that revisiting middle-earth would take place in New Zealand, but with these type of ongoing issues, we could see the production move elsewhere as Peter Jackson stated a few weeks back. TheOneRing.net is proud to have strong ties to New Zealand and we hope that some resolution can be reached asap.
We have posted a new poll on the site to get your opinion on the location of The Hobbit films, tell us what you think!
Here are a few articles outlining the events last night…
Hobbit films in ‘peril’, says Weta chief – NZ Herald
Hobbit Technicians meet in Mirmar – Dominion Post/Stuff.co.nz
March over The Hobbit – Dominion Post/Stuff.co.nz
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The incomparable Richard Taylor has called a meeting of film technicians to discuss “The Hobbit” status for New Zealand set to start Wednesday at 5 p.m. With the future destination of the two-part mega-budgeted films up in the air, Taylor and others in the New Zealand film industry are hoping to keep the Peter Jackson produced and directed project on the island nation. Many were alerted via Facebook and were urged to phone or forward the message to others.
It seems reasonable to assume this could be a reaction to an actor’s meeting that we have reported here. You can read the whole message after the break. Continue reading “New Zealand film technicians called to meet to discuss ‘Hobbit’ and industry future”
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Fictional Frontiers with Sohaib which airs on WNJC-1360 AM Philadelphia did a segment with a TORn senior staffer regarding all the most recent developments with “The Hobbit”. You can catch it right here.
And, if you keep listening beyond the “Hobbit” segment, you can hear Naomi Novik talk about Peter Jackson and “The Lord of the Rings,” and “The Hobbit,” and her own Temeraire series which Jackson owns the rights to and plans to eventually turn into films.
Update: Thanks to our friend, Deleece Cook, you can read a full transcript of the TORn interview using the “Continue Reading” link below.
Continue reading “TORn senior staff goes radio to talk ‘Hobbit’”
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It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anybody but while the world awaits word on which nation “The Hobbit” will film in, locals are already positioning for specifics locations. Southern film chief Kevin Jennings has high hopes for Wakatipu. Read the whole story from a Kiwi source right here and thanks to Hobbitonmayor for the tip.
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TORn staffer Garfeimao has some thoughts on what comes next for fans as “The Hobbit” moves into its new status as a full-fledged in-production film. She writes:
So now we have the greenlight, what comes next?
When the Hobbit was first announced two years ago, it didn’t take long for fans to start fantasy-casting the project. At the time, no one really understood the scope of how long it actually takes to get a project of this size and magnitude off the ground. And under normal circumstances, it was only supposed to take a year, which we now know stretched into more. With the greenlight on the project now, the casting can begin in earnest, or at least, once the Actor’s Equity situation is resolved one way or another. That should be the last hurdle in the way of this project getting off the ground and moving forward. But what really does come next? Continue reading “‘The Hobbit’ has a greenlight, now what?”
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Bobafett sends in this recent message from Gerry Brownlee, Minister for Economic Developement in New Zealand. 14 Octorber 2010 Media Statement: The Screen Production and Developement Assosiation (SPADA), Actors’ Equity, and Council of Trade Unions representatives met today, in a meeting facilitated by Minister for Economic Developement Gerry Browlee. It was a useful and productive discussion. Thepartiesw have agreed to work together to udate the conditions of engagement for performers in the New Zealand screen production industry. The parties believe this process will help to ensure New Zealand remains an attractive screen production environment. No further comment will be made.
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