Posts by Jonathan King
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
Interesting. If you search on "hobbit" on the MEAA site, you won't spot the notice, though you can still find Equity's version on their site. (even more interesting, the letters referenced in the "Hobbit Fact Sheet" are still on the site, but don't show up in the search)
"We never said anyone should boycott the film, we just suggested that people might like to hold off on signing their contract until they've considered the issues. And, in other news, we have always been at war with Eastasia ..."
-
They're almost as rare as the solar-powered sundial watches.
Still holding out hope to reacquire one of those!
-
Hey Joe, just (re)acquired a copy of Captain Sunshine last week -- saw your name in relation to the exquisite colours ...
-
Mad Max has been "postponed" for a year + ... so the healthy, vibrant Australian international film production industry NZ Equity were pointing to is now ... er, Happy Feet 2.
(There was, of course, some irony in Equity citing Mad Max and Happy Feet as [their only] examples of how things were fine in Aus: they were what George Miller turned to when his Justice League was killed off -- in part due to MEAA's vocal opposition to it qualifying for the local production grant.)
The Australian newspaper: "Executives told The Weekend Australian the NZ imbroglio reflected poorly on the film industry at a time when the key Melbourne, Sydney and Gold Coast film studios were empty and the rising dollar scuppered hopes of other international productions."
-
FIA (Federation of International Actors) resolution, as issued by MEAA :
“Resolved, that the International Federation of Actors urges each of its affiliates to adopt instructions to their members that no member of any FIA affiliate will agree to act in the theatrical film The Hobbit until such time as the producer has entered into a collective bargaining agreement with the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance for production in New Zealand providing for satisfactory terms and conditions for all performers employed on the productions.”
Jennifer Ward-Lealand on The Nation (Sunday, October 3):"... the Commerce Act says you cannot collectively bargain, absolutely, and we've never asked for that."
-
Terrific post, Michael.
-
Well, Simon Whipp (rather foolishly) said that to the Hollywood reporter. Unfortunately Robyn Malcolm repeated something similar. Maybe in their heads that was somehow a sound strategy once upon a time. I think they've backed away from that well and truly now.
Have they -- and I'm not arguing with you here, Peter -- 'backed away from that' now ... in that officially (or even unofficially) they haven't said squat to anyone for days?
-
and completely defend their right to be well paid.
I wonder if the concept of 'right to be well paid' is part of the problem here. Do we -- those of us who choose a career in the arts or fringe enterprises in a TINY market -- actually have right to be well paid? Of course we'd LOVE it ... but, you know, seriously, why do we have a right -- especially when, as is the case with most NZ productions the economics don't stack up for that to be the case?
Obviously a mega-budget film like The Hobbit distorts these questions -- working on a big thing like that you do have a right to be paid. And I have no doubt that that's why they're pinning everything onto this film ... But remember, they're asking for a standard contract that will cover across everything.
If everyone on a New Zealand film was well paid the film wouldn't get made (especially -- as I keep saying -- as budgets get smaller and smaller, which they are) and then no-one would get paid.
-
Note the membership numbers for actors equity are 600
Why do we 'note' that? Because Trotter says so? Equity won't say.
-
Coming soon to movie complex near you:
Spadacuss: Blood and ScandalsDirected by Michael Hurst