Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Anatomy of a Shambles

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  • Jonathan King,

    Matt Dravitzki says, on Facebook (5 secs ago):

    "Standby ..."

    Since Sep 2010 • 185 posts Report Reply

  • Geoff Lealand,

    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????

    Hmm! Good questions. It is probably the reason why I have been following this conversation, rather than contributing to it. I also didn't want to compromise my chapter " The Peter Jackson Era" for the Te Papa Press New Zealand Film: An Illustrated History, as I did spend some time discussing how the LOTR trilogy was greatly advantaged by the non-unionised nature of the NZ film industry--as well as the tax breaks and ancillary support (eg road-building by the NZ Army).

    If I write about The Hobbit, I probably would have to frame it within a discussion of the financial imperatives of Hollywood. Personally, I want two hobbit films like I want a hole in my head but I realise I am probably in a minority--and I have to consider future employment opportunities for my students.

    Still, in all this debate I wonder if there is any space for the notion of cultural nationalism. Is it a dead duck? Has Jackson, Adamson etc made all us globally oriented, where we don't make films for NZrs anymore, but for less differentiated global audiences? It may be that we do both--I consider Gaylene Preston's Home By Christmas one of the most beautiful films I have ever viewed but I suspect it has little cultural resonance for my students.

    Nevertheless, it does seem a far, far time ago when there were campaigns such as the Make It New Zealand, led by actors and producers and artists.

    Screen & Media Studies, U… • Since Oct 2007 • 2562 posts Report Reply

  • Jeremy Eade,

    An aside.
    The publicity worldwide for this is pretty decent. The Hobbit has been given serious headlines around the world, of course for this movie to make money it needs to be seen by the world so raising its profile again can't be all bad.

    If this Movie can't Avatar it something is deeply wrong with the movie industry.It's almost the best cert in Hollywood.

    auckland • Since Mar 2008 • 1112 posts Report Reply

  • Pat Hackett,

    "...where we don't make films for NZrs anymore..."

    What about Boy?

    Auckland • Since Oct 2010 • 95 posts Report Reply

  • Ross Mason,

    I'm not "my union, right or wrong" - just like I wouldn't be "my country, right or wrong".

    I'm a Union Bloke

    The union has made me wise
    To the lies of the company spies
    And I don't get fooled by the factory rules
    'cause I always read between the lines

    And I always get my way
    If I strike for higher pay
    When I show my card to the Scotland Yard
    And this is what I say:

    Oh, oh, you don't get me, I'm part of the union
    You don't get me, I'm part of the union
    You don't get me, I'm part of the union
    Until the day I die
    Until the day I die

    Before the union did appear
    My life was half as clear
    Now I've got the power to the working hour
    And every other day of the year

    So though I'm a working man
    I can ruin the government's plan
    And though I'm not hard, the sight of my card
    Makes me some kind of superman

    Hmmm...."ruin the government's plan" eh? Hardly, looks like the gimmint might win this one.

    Upper Hutt • Since Jun 2007 • 1590 posts Report Reply

  • Jeremy Eade,

    Hardly, looks like the gimmint might win this one.

    They won the game along time ago.

    auckland • Since Mar 2008 • 1112 posts Report Reply

  • Geoff Lealand,

    What about Boy?

    Fair enough, but an exception rather than the rule (has anyone else seen I'm Not Harry Jenson or The Strength of Water or Insatiable Moon?)?)

    Screen & Media Studies, U… • Since Oct 2007 • 2562 posts Report Reply

  • Dan Slevin,

    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.

    I think all the actors in AE have been gearing up for a scrap for a while. I recall sitting around a BBQ two Christmases ago as actor friends discussed the need for more clout and told me that (as an example) the day rate for performers on Legend of the Seeker was $1000. Ten years earlier on Xena it had been $1200. So the terms were getting worse over time not better.

    And I sympathise greatly with the feeling that they had no option but to just take whatever was being offered and that eventually something snaps.

    And I also realise that you can't go to ordinary New Zealanders and complain about only being paid $1000 a day so the argument becomes about less tangible (but equally painful) developments like the new market for Outrageous Fortune DVDs and ringtones which actors didn't get a cut of. Which ordinary New Zealanders also don't really have much sympathy for.

    As I've said privately and publicly to actor friends, I don't have a problem with the goals. I just think that this campaign was the wrong battle, fought at the wrong time, led by the wrong people.

    Wellington, NZ • Since Mar 2007 • 95 posts Report Reply

  • nzlemming,

    Hmm the Strawbs, eh? While a fun little song, I always heard a tinge of cynicism in it and there's some agreement on that as noted by Wikipedia

    Waikanae • Since Nov 2006 • 2937 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    Fair enough, but an exception rather than the rule

    We might have frightened the horses with "Once Were Warriors." One sad sad movie. I just hate crying in the dark, makeup runs all over the place like a mad woman's ....

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

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

    So THAT was what all the bitterness with the Sackville-Bagginses was about. Lotho Pimple was actually Hamfast's son!

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Ross Mason,

    Is it my sensitive ears again or are we beginning to harp on about the timeline of the letters. Maybe just filling in time as we head for the record even?

    It does seem endless unless some folk - dare I say - deliberately keeping this cooking so that it is still to the fore when the big decision is made?

    No conspriracy but........but the first 10 pages of this post had all the pertinent bits didn't it?

    Upper Hutt • Since Jun 2007 • 1590 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Tim Watkins blogs that no one comes out of this well.

    So who can you trust? A look at the cast of characters and you'd be forgiven for thinking there ain't a goodie amongst them.

    We've got Warner Bros putting out a statement insisting that they didn't know about the actors' "don't work" order being lifted until late last week, and yet emails - which I've sighted - showing Warner executives negotiating the wording of a press statement announcing the end to the boycott from as early as Monday.

    Those emails also show that Sir Peter's "camp" was aware the settlement was imminent, yet the director backed protest marches against the "don't work" order and issued public statements full of hyperbole, adding fuel to a fiery dispute that seemed finally to be settling down. He laid into "Australian unions" when he knows that the MEAA and New Zealand Actors' Equity joined up four years ago and are representing the will of local actors.

    And most disturbing of all, he has used his unparalleled political capital - the Hillary-like reverence in which he is held in this country - against some of his own people.

    We've got unions resorting to name calling and claiming the studios just want better tax breaks without producing any evidence to support their claim. At the same time, the actors they represent over-reach by opting for a worldwide boycott that paints the studio into a corner where it has to concede or leave.

    To round things off, there's the government talking up the level of uncertainty for political purposes - so they can either blame the unions for the loss or claim hero status if the films remain.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    developments like the new market for Outrageous Fortune DVDs and ringtones which actors didn't get a cut of.

    Point? Does Graham Brazier get royalties for "Gutter Black", ?
    Or should we reopen the thread that shall not be mentioned?

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    Fair enough, but an exception rather than the rule (has anyone else seen I'm Not Harry Jenson or The Strength of Water or Insatiable Moon?)?)

    I've seen the first one. I think there's a pretty narrow lane when you consider "uniquely NZ films". Harry Jenson could have been made in other places.

    Hobbit and Lord of the Rings are clearly international movies made in NZ. Boy and Whalerider are NZ films. There's a big area in between. Outrageous Fortune I definitely see as a NZ story, very much reflecting part of our cultural identity, but the US version will be similar but with an American mirror held up to it.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Ross Mason,

    Keys press scrum on STUFF after this afternoons meeting:

    This says it all:

    The Government is almost certain to change the law regarding the definition of a contractor - Warner Bros' main concern.

    But Mr Key said there was still a huge gulf between Warner Bros' demands for a bigger taxpayer subsidy and what the Government was willing to pay.

    "I think it's fair to say on the financial side there's a fair bit of hardball being played on both sides.

    "We have the capacity to move a little bit, but we don't have the capacity to write out cheques that we can't afford to cash."

    He said if it was "just a matter of dollars and cents" the Government was not prepared to bridge the gap between what other countries offered and the 15 per cent tax breaks available here.

    He said Warner Bros was asking for "lots" and the Government was offering "not lots".

    However, things were looking more promising on the industrial law front.

    "We got some good advice overnight and I think that's an area which is looking increasingly more likely that we can reach agreement. There's a greater degree of confidence. That's looking more optimistic, but on the financial side of things at the moment, it's looking pretty difficult."

    Yep. Subsidies. Labour laws. Yeee Haaaa!

    Upper Hutt • Since Jun 2007 • 1590 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    Tim Watkins blogs that no one comes out of this well.

    Pretty fair summary really, though I suspect he was light on the union who have come out of this the worst.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Andre Alessi,

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

    It's no coincidence that Tolkien abbreviated Lobelia Sackville-Baggins' last name as "the S.-B.'s".

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

  • BenWilson,

    Still, in all this debate I wonder if there is any space for the notion of cultural nationalism. Is it a dead duck? Has Jackson, Adamson etc made all us globally oriented, where we don't make films for NZrs anymore, but for less differentiated global audiences?

    Well, LOTR was also watched by a lot of NZers.

    You mean movies about NZers, right? Or even "movies only NZers would like"?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • SteveH,

    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

    But still, having good cause to believe that the boycott would be lifted is not likely to be enough for Warners - they need it to be actually lifted. I don't think they ever denied knowing that it would be lifted before the 20th, only the claims that it was actually lifted before the 20th and that they had requested the delay. It's a matter of fact that the notice rescinding the ban went up on the 20th, and Radio New Zealand, having seen the emails, stated that "it remains unclear why the statement was not released, and at exactly what point it faltered." So I don't see how either of Warners' points have shown to be false.

    Since Sep 2009 • 444 posts Report Reply

  • Jeremy Eade,

    Personally as an average film goer, if the Lord of the Rings was made in say Bulgaria, became synonymous with the film, then the Hobbit was shifted to England in such a bitter way, it might put me off my special film. …..and they need everyone to see this film fast.

    auckland • Since Mar 2008 • 1112 posts Report Reply

  • Ross Mason,

    Edit: Ignore. Writted something shouldn't have.

    Upper Hutt • Since Jun 2007 • 1590 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    "the S.-B.'s".

    HA! That's me, my other half and the dog. :)

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    Surely with the dog it's a title rather than a name?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    Personally as an average film goer, if the Lord of the Rings was made in say Bulgaria, became synonymous with the film, then the Hobbit was shifted to England in such a bitter way, it might put me off my special film. …..and they need everyone to see this film fast.

    It will put NZers off. The rest...not so sure. Non-fanbois won't care. And fanbois are always going to watch it, whether they care or not (and most likely get pissed off about things like mispronounced Elvish anyway). I don't really rate our international kudos as worth more than a few million ticket sales.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

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