Posts by Pat Hackett
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Whipp's not completely silent:
http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/movies/hobbit-film-row-turns-ugly-20101021-16w4s.html
The head of the alliance, Simon Whipp, said the unions had lifted the ban because it had reached a stage where rational discussion was unlikely.
They also wanted to avoid the production leaving New Zealand and more rifts between crew and actors.
''We'd been told threats of violence had been made,'' he said. ''We had no choice but to cancel.''
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@SteveH
Sure, some speculation and reading between the lines on my part, but I reckon and I bet my left nut gave that away.
But Simon Whipp is not here on a holiday, and I'm pretty sure he's not dating Robyn Malcolm, so I'm sure he is trying to get something for MEAA out of the train wreck. (So far he's managed to get them re-registered!) But his dream of MEAA clipping the ticket on the Hobbit residuals has gone up in flames.
That part bugs me the most. I doubt the CTU has any other unions under its wings that can earn a passive income like a percentage of film residuals. Yet the MEAA would have stood to earn a large sum of money if their plans for the Hobbit and future NZ films could have come off. And I bet my right nut Whipp has a tasty contract with MEAA which gives him a personal chunk of that income.
Disclaimer: Luckily, I have already had kids.
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I reckon NZAE and Helen Kelly's emails to Warners on Sun/Mon are probably legit, but I bet my left nut Simon Whipp added some "riders" of his own to Warners on separate emails. Warners have said as much, except specifically who added the riders. If it wasn't Kelly or NZAE, it can only have been Whipp.
It was Helen Kelly on Nine to Noon yesterday who made the first "official" announcement to the media that the boycott was lifted, and the SAG announcement was some hours later. She forced a fait accompli on Whipp.
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This dispute is starting to remind me of Disney War , which I'm sure Russell has read. (If not, I'm happy to post you my well-worn copy).
Plenty of parties seem to be scrambling to have their stories in order, depending on Warners decision. If the movie goes, the media backlash against AE and CTU will be immense, and the Nats are ready to ride the crest of that wave. In readiness, the unions have got their "it was all about the tax breaks" story lined up.
If the production stays in NZ, Key will capitalise on the opportunity to be the last minute saviour of thousands of jobs, and will sweeten the deal for Warners to secure himself that gold-plated PR role. The unions position will be that it was always a bluff by Jackson, and we told you so.
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Reading SAG's statement, and the Spada release about Sunday's meeting, it doesn't seem to marry with Kelly's insistance that the delay was due to Warner's wanting to issue a press release about the boycott being lifted.
Why is Kelly's version of events so at odds with everyone else? And why does the CTU want to own this debacle?
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Mexicans with cellphones and Home Office Expenses
Which pretty much sums up why NZ actors don't want to become employees.
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Probably better to prepare a press release for Simon Whipp so he can save face - along the lines that he was asked to intervene to find a solution blah blah and due to NZ's antiquated and unsophisticated labour laws it is unable to implement the internationally acclaimed MEAA contract at this time blah blah so in the interests of ensuring The Hobbit can commence production on time blah blah and we are satisfied that progress has been made that will benefit all NZ actors blah blah.
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Its game over. AE have got nothing left to fight with now. Good luck to them trying to get their members to continue the boycott until they have discussions with Three Foot Seven about some un-enforceable recommended prices and nudity clauses.
Has anyone at AE broken the news to Simon Whipp yet? About the pesky legalee taxee stuff we have in NZ that makes the MEAA contract only good for fish and chip paper?
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In other words, Miriam Dean took a look at the MEAA contract and told them they were kidding themselves if they thought it would fly in NZ for actors who operate as independent contractors.
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Shorter Gordon Campbell: It's no big deal if we lose the Hobbit since we'll still get the Weta work ala Avatar.
In other words, we'll still get most of the production work. The only real losers will be the...um...actors.