Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Anatomy of a Shambles

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  • Craig Ranapia,

    @Petra:

    Oh, don't be silly. You should be grateful for being called an idiotic star-struck scab tool of a rapacious multi-national corporation in the pages of Kiwi-owned, pro-union outfits like APN and Fairfax Media.

    Wait a mo'...

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • FletcherB,

    I'm confused, is 3 foot 6 a different company to
    3 foot 7 or are we selling one of them short?

    I'm guessing they are, in order, the production companies for the LOTR and now Hobbit.

    I expect they are essentially the same people in the same positions, but legally separate entities?

    I expect SirPJ has a large shareholding in both.

    no knowledge... all guesswork

    West Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 893 posts Report Reply

  • Sam F,

    Newsflash, fellow PASers, we're all useful idiots for Russell's advancement of the geek agenda:

    ...Employee rights are nothing against the imperative to have a big budget NZ movie that will make Americans respect us on Twitter.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1611 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    Nice turns of phrase though, you must admit.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • webweaver,

    And the union bashing? Ummm, I generally support unions, I think they have advanced western civilsation hugely, and I think there is a place for them today. Without a doubt. Does this mean I have to support every union in every action? No, it does not. I'm not a blind ideologue, ffs - each on it's own merit. Like the women. And the men.

    Hear! Hear! Totally agree with you Petra.

    I'm not "my union, right or wrong" - just like I wouldn't be "my country, right or wrong". Supporting something doesn't preclude my right to point out when I think they've made an error of judgement or have made a decision I don't agree with. Crikey!

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 332 posts Report Reply

  • Marcus Turner,

    @I

    initially interested in the aliteration...

    Since Nov 2006 • 212 posts Report Reply

  • Sam F,

    The Standard is almost as good as Kiwiblog for mining nuggets of particularly shining idiocy.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1611 posts Report Reply

  • Petra,

    lol@Craig

    I think it's time for a cold one. I have every link open that y'all are providing in an effort to educate myself, and now I'm completely crosseyed and have reached the giggling like a lunachick stage.

    Thanks, you guys, for being a drop of witty reason in a bucket of witless confusion.

    Cin cin!

    Rotorua • Since Mar 2007 • 317 posts Report Reply

  • Pat Hackett,

    In my opinion, Simon Whipp has been grooming Jennifer Ward'Lealand and the rest of the NZAE leadership for this fight, for a long time. Whipp and Ward-Lealand presented the NZ situation to the FIA conference in Marrakech in 2008; Ward-Lealand and Tandi Wright talk about NZ actors being on inferior contracts in the 2009 Annual Report etc. Whipp and Ward-Lealand must have presented the boycott strategy to the FIA at their July 2010 conference in order for them to sign off on the resolution, and the subsequent letter to the Hobbit producers.

    I feel sorry for Ward-Lealand, and I think she was used by Whipp. I doubt she understood the complexities (or down-right impossibility) of trying to get a collective contract for self-employed contractors. I doubt she understood that the MEAA contract would give the MEAA rights to and control of all residuals, on all future productions in NZ. I suspect she thought the FIA resolution was a sign of support for NZAE to have talks with Jackson, rather than the heavy-handed blackmail that it really was. I doubt she understood that the NZAE losing their registration gave her no legal mandate. In short, she trusted Whipp and his advice and he left her hanging.

    Auckland • Since Oct 2010 • 95 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    Warners never actually said that.

    New Line Cinema said it:

    Recent reports that the boycott of The Hobbit was lifted by unions a number of days ago and that Warner Bros asked to delay this announcement are false.

    It was not until last night that we received confirmation of the retractions from SAG, NZ Equity and AFTRA through press reports. We are still awaiting retractions from the other guilds.

    (The next paragraph doesn't make sense. "NZ Equity/MEAA continued to demand, as a condition of the retractions, that we participate in union negotiations with the independent contractor performers". The paragraph above they say that they've received retractions from NZ Equity).

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Newsflash, fellow PASers, we're all useful idiots for Russell's advancement of the geek agenda:

    ...Employee rights are nothing against the imperative to have a big budget NZ movie that will make Americans respect us on Twitter.

    I actually think that's quite clever.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • David Hood,

    Don't have time to access the podcasts right now, but I wasn't overly impressed with what I heard - a fair bit seemed to be a diversion into the history of global unions and syndicalism - interesting, yes, but a diversion nonetheless.

    My impression is it was a Labour day broadcast that had elements of the current headliner story involving a union added in.

    Dunedin • Since May 2007 • 1445 posts Report Reply

  • Andre Alessi,

    Just reading The Hobbit, you'd have virtually no idea of Bilbo's social status at all, and no idea about his society.

    Not to suggest that Rudman's column isn't completely terrible (it really is) but Tolkien deliberately suggests Bilbo was the equivalent of an upper class English gentleman: he didn't work for his money, had a house on the hill with a groundskeeper, spoke with more "careful" grammar, wore a waistcoat and had a pocketwatch and handkerchiefs, etc etc All that would have been considered "obvious" to someone reading the book in 1930's England.

    Overall though, the setting of the book isn't "feudal", it's a fairy tale.

    Devonport, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 864 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    On Declaring Victory ...

    This is part of the original FIA press release on the lifting of the ban (my emphasis):

    International Solidarity advances the cause of Performers in New Zealand

    FIA affiliates lift their advice to members not to accept work on the Hobbit

    On the advice of our member union, New Zealand Actors Equity (NZ Equity), which is a branch of MEAA, the FIA Executive has resolved to lift its previous advice and to inform all affiliates that their members can now accept engagements on the feature film production The Hobbit.
    FIA brings together some 100 performers’ unions around the world. These have stood in solidarity with NZ Equity in the past weeks, instructing members not to accept engagements on The Hobbit until the producers agreed to union contracts for all performers hired for the film. In recent days, NZ Equity has secured improved work conditions and pay for performers in talks with the Screen Production and Development Association of New Zealand (SPADA). As a result, NZ Equity has recommended that all international performers’ unions allow members to work on The Hobbit.

    It was amended after Spada protested.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Pat Hackett,

    Unbelievable. Is this the reason for the delay in dates? (e.g. CTU said Sunday, Warners said Thursday)

    Auckland • Since Oct 2010 • 95 posts Report Reply

  • SteveH,

    New Line Cinema said it:

    Recent reports that the boycott of The Hobbit was lifted by unions a number of days ago and that Warner Bros asked to delay this announcement are false.

    It was not until last night that we received confirmation of the retractions from SAG, NZ Equity and AFTRA through press reports. We are still awaiting retractions from the other guilds.

    But they agreed the boycott was off "last night" (i.e. either 20th or the 21st - it's ambiguous due to timezones) so they didn't actually wait for the other retractions. Their point was they did not receive official confirmation that the boycott was lifted until the 20th/21st - not the 17th as NZAE have claimed.

    Do you agree that it would not have been possible to get a union actor to sign on the 18? If so then Warners weren't lying about the timing, were they? The only way I can see Warners being underhanded about this is if they asked for the lifting of the boycott to be delayed. But even then the unions still could have issued the notice lifting the ban whenever they wanted, yet they waited until the 20th.

    Since Sep 2009 • 444 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    Don't recall any mentions of a groundskeeper in The Hobbit. Bilbo is "well to-do" and "respectable", doesn't work and owns a nice house he inherited. However, there's no context for any of that, it could be that hobbit society has a superabundance of supply, so few people work anyway. Perhaps they all wear waistcoats and pocketwatches? He does seem to cook for himself. In LOTR, it's clear he's a very wealthy Hobbit, but he has also made a fortune on his adventure.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Cecelia,

    Rudman is likely to inflame passions but haven't we already had too much over-heating on this issue?

    Geoff, in a few years time when you write your next paper on NZ film, where will The Hobbit issue stand? A purely industrial and financial issue? A national identity issue? Auteurship????

    And interesting how there have been very few references to the nature of The Hobbit as a novel and the likely quality of Jackson's film version. To do my homework on Jackson, I watched the whole of The Lovely Bones this morning. I "taught" the book to a year 13 a few years ago so am familiar with it. I liked it more than I thought I would but it wasn't outstanding. Heavenly Creatures had a lot more edge.

    Hibiscus Coast • Since Apr 2008 • 559 posts Report Reply

  • webweaver,

    Hmmm. I can't find any reference to Bilbo's "groundskeeper" either. I thought it would be Sam - but I think he only does Frodo's garden.

    However, from page 1 of The Hobbit

    This hobbit was a very well-to-do hobbit, and his name was Baggins. The Bagginses had lived in the neighbourhood of The Hill for time out of mind, and people considered them very respectable, not only because most of them were rich, but also because they never had any adventures or did anything unexpected: you could tell what a Baggins would say on any question without the bother of asking him.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 332 posts Report Reply

  • Jonathan King,

    However, from page 1 of The Hobbit

    Hang on, wait ... There's a book of this out already? Well I never ...

    Since Sep 2010 • 185 posts Report Reply

  • Jeremy Eade,

    The Smile Off of the century (outside elections)

    The Not the News Today site said Warner Brothers were concerned about the "grinning ability" of Mr Key, who, they said, was "formerly known as 'smiling assassin' for financial advice company Merrill Lynch, the film company is looking to enter the negotiation face-off with its own 'smiling assassins'."

    'We need to fight fire with fire on this one,' says Mr Warner, who says he fears the skill of New Zealand's number one smiler.

    Not the News said "Mr Warner" is believed to have convinced some Hollywood Boulevard superstars, who are known for big grins, to help in the negotiations.

    "Among the delegates expected to be involved are Jack Nicholson as the Joker, Adam Sandler as Happy Gilmore and Julia Roberts as herself.

    "The negotiations are expected to be intense with the lunacy of the Joker, the aggression of Happy, and Julia - well ... being Julia, all working together to drain the smile from Prime Minister Key's face."

    auckland • Since Mar 2008 • 1112 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    Sam's Dad "The Gaffer" was Bilbo's keeper in LOTR. But he was not a live-in servant. We're still talking middle-class here, at least in attitude.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Their point was they did not receive official confirmation that the boycott was lifted until the 20th/21st - not the 17th as NZAE have claimed.

    But I think they did have good cause to believe that the boycott would be lifted, to the point of consulting on a press release. I'm not sure if the correspondence has been published, but enough people have "sighted" emails that, in the Herald's words, "undermine" Warners' original account:

    However, a series of emails between Warner Bros and the Screen Actors' Guild (SAG), sighted by NZPA, showed the two parties were discussing the wording of a press release announcing the settlement of the dispute from as early as Monday, US time.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Don't recall any mentions of a groundskeeper in The Hobbit.

    No. That's in the much more controversial Lady Baggins' Lover.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Jeremy Eade,

    Lady Baggins' Lover.....Naked Hobbits, let's not make that movie.

    auckland • Since Mar 2008 • 1112 posts Report Reply

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