Posts by Russell Brown
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Hard News: A few (more) words on The Hobbit, in reply to giovanni tiso,
Also, you don’t claim a third of your mortgage. You can claim a third of your interest.
Yes, sorry, that's what I meant.
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Hard News: A very roundabout review of…, in reply to Matthew Reid,
Not wanting to be at all critical Russell, nor pedantic, but I’m interested that you said
Not at all. I don't mind explaining it.
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Hard News: A very roundabout review of…, in reply to Lucy Stewart,
Russell may well have a different take on this, but I’d say that something like Asperger’s, which helps shape one’s worldview and way of thinking – even if the behaviours aren’t obvious, the way of perceiving the world is still there – is something people are, far more than something they have.
Yes, that’s it, and my choice of words is conscious and consistent. It’s my way of recognising that their experience of the world is profoundly different to mine. Leo experiences sound, smell and light differently. The fact that he might have to leave the kitchen if there’s a curry cooking doesn’t mean his response to the overwhelming smell is wrong, just different.
Managing this is often a subtle business. When Leo and I went to visit Helen and Chelfyn Baxter (Aspies the both), Helen put down a couple of savouries on a plate next to him – then immediately realised he had a problem with it and moved the plate. It was sweet to see someone else be aware of these things.
He can read text off a screen differently to you or me – sometimes it seems like he takes in a whole screen of text in one go. And his hearing – same ears, different brain – is amazing. Jimmy, a movie buff, remembers huge swathes of dialogue, and has always “played back” stuff he’s seen – his lips will move, he laughs at the jokes, he’s actually seeing it.
When you say that someone “has” Aspergers, it sounds as if it’s an affliction, or something they’ll get over, rather than the neurophysiology they’re born with.
Aspies often do learn to live well in the neurotypical world, but they don’t stop being Aspies.
And don’t get me started on “curing” autism …
Of course, this is complex, and people on the autistic spectrum, (and their parents) differ. But it’s certainly not unusual for someone to identify, or be identified, as Asperger’s.
Or as "neurodiverse".
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Hard News: A few (more) words on The Hobbit, in reply to Ross Mason,
The Nats nailed the coffin shut on collectivism in NZ film industry.with the legislation.
Not necessarily. The large majority of film workers don't want to be employees and rather like claiming a third of the mortgage against their tax. As I said above, this gives them the ultimate excuse when IRD questions their tax status. But they still like their guilds and unions.
The Irish changed the law to allow contractors to negotiate collective agreements. As I wrote in the original post for this discussion, I would like to see Labour adopt something like the Irish law as manifesto policy. Unfortunately, we're instead getting Trevor Mallard claiming "there was never a boycott", which is, frankly, bloody ridiculous.
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So the extreme case here is that Jackson/Warners ginned up the whole thing in order to relieve the film industry of one part of the Employment Relations Act, which (although Bryson wasn't a general precedent) did introduce an element of uncertainty in its provision for the courts to be able to reconsider contracts based on what they deemed to be the "real" nature of the relationship.
But this ignores the fact of the boycott and the manner of its application -- and the fact of MEAA's established form in these disputes. (Example: The producers of This Is Not My Life were told that their cast had asked to be represented by MEAA in a collective agreement negotiation. This was something of surprise to the producers, because they had not actually cast anyone at that point.)
But mostly, if Warners cared nothing about a global "don't work" order (which would be odd) and only wanted to be sure of avoiding another Bryson, why not simply ask for that? It's hard to imagine that the current government would be reluctant to make a minor amendment to Labour's employment law.
In short: this did start with the boycott. And the situation was subsequently exploited by the producers.
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Hard News: A few (more) words on The Hobbit, in reply to Geoff Lealand,
I guess there are many more words to be said on this on this matter. It does make the explanations offered by Phillipa Boyens at the SPADA conference rather disingenuous.
Yes. I made a point of quizzing her on exactly what she told the techies at the meeting of Weta, so it's there in some detail.
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Okay, then, this: claiming “there was no boycott”, and that action was only taken because no one would talk, when way back in June, Whipp got this though FIA:
“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.”
This was months before contracts were even done, and before they’d requested talks with Warners, let alone Jackson -- it wasn't ever about actual terms and conditions on offer. And then NZAE spokespeople and Helen Kelly said they’d never sought a collective bargaining agreement.
I agree, it is a different flavour of lie, a hapless one, even, but the union was not a blameless victim in this, as people are now trying to say.
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A look at the Spada response to claims in the MEAA newsletter is useful, if only as a reminder that a good deal of what MEAA said was misleading too.
Even after talks with Spada finally began, this was a straight-up lie:
The contracts now being offered by the producers of The Hobbit include conditions such as residual payments for performers. This is a great result considering how reluctant the producers were to improve performers’ terms and conditions.
The residuals were in the original contracts. Indeed, the contracts before and after the action appear to be identical.
So, without excusing Warner/Jackson's egregious claims at all, it's pretty clear they weren't the only people acting in bad faith.
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Hard News: A very roundabout review of…, in reply to Whoops,
Hi Russell – can you point me to any more NotSchool information or theri site – I looked but google has failed me (other than a couple of blgos about it).
Email me by clicking that little envelope icon and I'll put you in touch with Jean.
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Hard News: A few (more) words on The Hobbit, in reply to giovanni tiso,
Also known in standard English as being a fucking liar, yes.
Well, it wasn't a lie that other locations were being canvassed and inspected, rival bids were coming in, etc.