Gordon Campbell with Scoop.co.nz has weighed in on recent events concerning what he phrases as the end game…
Continue ReadingGordon Campbell with Scoop.co.nz has weighed in on recent events concerning what he phrases as the end game for The Hobbit. He states the actors boycott is really just a “sideshow” and what matters is “the production incentives available in New Zealand compared to elsewhere in the world” as well as “the late intrusion of the 74 year old corporate raider Carl Icahn into the sale of debt-burdened MGM, which owns a major stake in The Hobbit project.”
You can read the entire article here.
Bruce Hopkins has been very busy on his radio show lately, first up Bruce talks with Royd Tolkien, great grandson of JRR Tolkien, autjor of The Hobbit, Lord Of The RIngs, Silmirilian and a vast treasure of other books about films, alcohol and life! Listen Here.
Bruce also talks with Cliff, Quickbeam, Broadway who is a film maker living in the belly of Hollywood. Cliff is one of the drivers of the TORN website and producer of the doco ‘Ringers’. Listen Here.
Lastly, Bruce Hopkins chats with Michael Regina, head of the worlds largest Tolkien fan website, TheOneRing.Net, TORN, about how the current impasse between the producers and acting unions is affecting the fan base of the hugely anticipated Hobbit films. Listen Here.
Government ministers are happy to play a facilitation role between actors and Sir Peter Jackson to resolve their dispute over work on The Hobbit, Prime Minister John Key says.
Mr Key told Breakfast on TV One today that there had been “tentative discussions” with ministers, including Minister for Economic Development Gerry Brownlee. Read more
The LA Times is reporting news we’ve all been waiting to hear: “The Hobbit” is finally close, maybe just days away, from getting a greenlight!
“The studios have nearly finalized a deal with director, producer and co-writer Peter Jackson to make the two movies and have resolved most other key issues that have long held up the project, including those related to underlying rights from the estate of author J.R.R. Tolkien. The one remaining hurdle is getting an official go-ahead from MGM, which is set to co-finance the movies because under a long-standing agreement it owns half the rights and controls international distribution.”
The story goes on to report that recent issues with various actors’ unions are also close to being resolved. An imminent green light would pave the way for filming to begin in January, keeping the targeted opening date of December, 2012 for the first movie doable. Interestingly, the story lists Peter Jackson as director, something that has yet to be confirmed. Stay tuned here for more on that, and the impending green light! … (Read More)
WELLINGTON – Friday, 1 October 2010 An Australian trade union, the MEAA, has generated a world wide actor boycott on The Hobbit, to bolster their demand that producers on the film enter into collective bargaining with the NZ Equity/MEAA. The MEAA has now admitted that their collective bargaining proposal is in fact, illegal, under New Zealand law. In Sir Peter Jackson’s opinion “The Hobbit is being punished with a boycott which is endangering thousands of NZ jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars of foreign income, for no good reason.”
The attack on The Hobbit by NZ Actors Equity and the MEAA has resulted in a very public dispute, between NZ Equity and the producers of The Hobbit. The actors are claiming they are underpaid and do not enjoy the same working conditons as their overseas counterparts. This accusation that has been levelled specifically at The Hobbit, but Sir Peter Jackson says it has no basis in fact. Continue reading “Media Release – Peter Jackson Speaks on Actor Boycott of “The Hobbit””
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..
