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..
Category: Studios
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.
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.
A leaked memo last week informed us that an MGM buyout wouldn’t go through. MGM is on target for a planned bankruptcy and association with Spyglass that will likely allow two ‘Hobbit’ movies to go forward. Today we have info directly from the once potential buyer reported by the Associated Press which says:
Indian conglomerate Sahara India Pariwar says that its offer to buy out the creditors of struggling Hollywood studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. for more than $2 billion has been rejected.
Subrata Roy Sahara, the company’s chairman, had a conference call with creditors on Tuesday. The company said late Thursday that the offer was rejected within hours.
A spokesman for Houlihan Lokey, an investment bank that is advising MGM’s creditors, declined to comment. You can read the rest right here.
Mike Fleming from Deadline New York writes: Despite the speculation that India conglomerate Sahara India Pariwar might swoop in and buy MGM for $2 billion, it doesn’t sound like management is taking it that seriously. At least not based on this internal memo I just got hold of:
To All Employees: We wanted to take this opportunity to provide you with an update on the Company’s restructuring efforts. Recently we announced that our lenders have again agreed to extend the forbearance period relating to certain of our debt obligations and we are appreciative of their ongoing support throughout this process.
We recognize that throughout this restructuring process, there has been a great deal of speculation about the Company’s future in the media and elsewhere which can be very distracting. We appreciate the focus, hard work and dedication you all have demonstrated for the last year. We can assure you we are working to bring this process to a conclusion as quickly and thoughtfully as possible. However, the process is still evolving and we appreciate your understanding that there are not a lot of definitive answers at this stage. More..
Once again, reported by multiple sources, MGM’s due date for debt has been extended. Today’s September 15 has turned into tomorrow’s October 29, but that date will likely not matter either. The Hollywood reporter says:
As expected, more than 100 holders of almost $4 billion in MGM have agreed to a seventh debt forbearance agreement with the Century City-based studio. The Lion now has until Oct. 29 to pay lenders $250 million in principal and more than $450 million in owed interest.
But it’s likely the payments never will be made, as the struggling Lion is expected to creep into bankruptcy court before that with a plan for turning debt into lender equity.
This may not mean more delays for ‘The Hobbit’ as there seems to be a plan and leadership at work. As reported last week and updated in the L.A. Times blog:
MGM signed a nonbinding letter of intent with Spyglass founders Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum to take over management of the Century City-based studio. That deal must be ratified by MGM’s board of directors and more than 100 creditors, who are expected to swap their debt for equity as part of a prepackaged bankruptcy proceeding.
Stay tuned!