Posts by Russell Brown
-
Something I keep meaning to say: if Equity wanted public support for actors' demands, then it should have gone to the public. This was an absolute sitter for a managed PR campaign via social media and conventional news sources.
How much better would Robyn Malcolm have looked calling for "a fair go for New Zealand actors" on Campbell Live than trying to defend an aggressive position whose purpose was never clear?
-
Hard News: A few (more) words on The Hobbit, in reply to Dylan Reeve,
NZ actors aren’t missing out on these parts they aren’t being cast for, because they’d never have been cast for them.
Particularly the case with the Vincent Gallo fiasco. The creative theme in the Steinlager Pure ads series was craggy, cool Americans who liked our beer. Arguing that Gallo wasn't famous enough to front an ad campaign over a New Zealander was idiotic.
-
Hard News: A few (more) words on The Hobbit, in reply to Rob Stowell,
The hope (AFAIR- possibly way wrong :)) was for a collective agreement, but one that would apply to contractors (the ‘pink book’ but with legal teeth).
WETA claimed this would violate some section of the commerce act designed to protect us all from cartels. Chris Findlayson jumped on board, waving the crown law opinion, but not letting anyone see it.Kelly has always insisted this is a nonsense (I asked her at a public meeting why it couldn’t be tested in court, and she said she didn’t think it needed to be, it was rubbish.)
It was the position of the wider production industry for a long time before the Hobbit dispute, and it took amendment of a similar law to achieve collective bargaining in Ireland. I don't think it was rubbish as such. As you say, it could have been contested in court.
-
Hard News: A few (more) words on The Hobbit, in reply to Rob Stowell,
But I reckon Helen Kelly (who only took a public role after things got custardy) comes out looking pretty good.
She brought the skills that had been woefully missing from the union side, and did well with the shambles she found. (It’s incredible that Simon Whipp of MEAA went on holiday when it all broke loose.) Robyn Malcolm had been drafted in to speak to media in search of PR value, but she didn’t have those skills and wasn’t given any coherent message to deliver – she’s a good person and a fine actor and I felt sorry for her being exposed like that.
Before it was taken over by the MEAA, Equity had played a cooperative role in the local screen industry and negotiated directly with Spada on industry guidelines. Afterwards, it began to engage in acts of brinksmanship that it inevitably lost on. I know people on the production side who were flat-out lied to by MEAA.
The actors, I think, had some legitimate grievances. I think it was time to talk about residuals for, say, the leads in Outrageous Fortune and NZ actors in foreign film productions. (It's ironic that the Hobbit, the first production to offer modest residuals, was the one targeted.) Some Spada members could have been more responsive. But pursuing employee status for actors as a means to collective bargaining was a really dumb move for Equity. It wasn’t going to happen.
The relevant contrast is with Irish Equity, which lobbied patiently and successfully for a law change which allowed screen industry contractors to bargain collectively on industry conditions.
The MEAA style didn’t work in New Zealand (you could argue it didn’t work too well in Australia either) and the tactic of trying to dictate casting decisions by withholding letters of non-objection was disastrous, because it led to genuine uncertainty at Disney and others about the safety of the New Zealand industry.
MEAA is a Screen Actors Guild affiliate, and both those organisations had interests that were not the same as those of New Zealand actors.
I think it’s unequivocally clear now that Jackson and the government, to put it politely, misrepresented the situation with the SAG don’t-work order on The Hobbit. It had been essentially resolved by the time of the techies’ march, but Warners exploited it to get what they really wanted.
I think they genuinely were concerned by the Bryson case – one techie’s long, expensive legal battle over employment status – and that there was an actual risk of producer flight. (Disney was clearly pretty alarmed by Equity’s bid to get its private casting notes to try and contest the cast of non-New Zealand actors.) But also that Bryson maybe wouldn’t have happened had Weta’s HR practices been less shoddy.
Oddly, the law change, as odious as its passage was, has probably had very little impact on the industry. What it says is that if you’re hired as a contractor, you’re a contractor, and you don’t get to argue the toss later. Most people in the project-based screen industry are quite content to be contractors, and HR ineptitude excepted, it should hardly ever be an issue.
But who gave Warners the ban – that great big stick to beat everyone with? MEAA/Equity, which embarked on this course without even having a clear set of demands or negotiating conditions. It’s astounding that it’s still not clear what the fuck the ban was ever about. And to consider that Equity requested this ban while it was not even a legally-constituted trade union in New Zealand.
As Lew Stoddart said at the time, Equity “brought a knife to a gunfight”. And they got shot to bits.
-
Hard News: When "common sense" isn't, in reply to Matthew Poole,
At 0.05 it’s still possible for most, but by 0.08 it’s incredibly difficult or impossible for most. I don’t much care what you think is safe for you, I care what’s safe for the majority. The evidence is also very, very firmly not in your favour.
I'm really not clear on what your point is with respect to your criticism of Ben. Why is having some objective measure of alcohol intake such a terrible thing?
-
Hard News: A few (more) words on The Hobbit, in reply to FletcherB,
It seems the actors , the hollywood movie houses, Peter Jackson and the Govt were all spinning or telling porkies to the public in one way or another… None of them smell of roses here…
My view exactly.
Although it's striking how many people can't bring themselves to acknowledge that Equity was the author of at least some of its own misfortune.
As Lew Stoddart put it at the time, they brought a knife to a gunfight.
-
Hard News: A few (more) words on The Hobbit, in reply to Rob Stowell,
Coda on the Hobbit Saga (so mush more interesting and revealing about modern NZ than the films!) as documents released …
Those documents are fascinating, and I don't think they support a black-and-white analysis of the dispute on either side. There were plenty of players and it got nasty.
-
Hard News: When "common sense" isn't, in reply to BenWilson,
I add a slightly different metric that a lawyer friend of mine picked up at a seminar on drink-drive laws.
The way he had it explained was via the metaphor of a bathtub. People's bathtubs fill up at different rates (ie: alcohol enters the bloodstream at different rates) but everyone's drains at roughly the same rate -- about one standard drink an hour.
You'd be an idiot to bet your licence (or other people's safety) on it, but it's a useful way of thinking about the rate at which alcohol leaves your system, and certainly better than just guessing how you are.
Several years ago, I did drive home one night when I thought I was a bit touch-and-go, got stopped and came up as a "youth fail" -- under 80 but over 50. I was chastened, relieved and kind of shocked. There was no way I'd have considered driving having had any more to drink, but I was still under. When I see reports of people being pulled up at twice the limit (including people I know) I'm astounded by that.
I had quite a good chat to the cop who tested me, apologised for the bother and acknowledged I'd taken a risk. It was a teachable moment.
-
Hard News: When "common sense" isn't, in reply to Moz,
Do you disagree with me, or you don’t like my tone? It sounds as though you don’t like my tone. Which is unhelpful. http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Tone_argument
What’s unhelpful in my view as moderator is you invoking “tone argument” as a response to criticism of the content of your speech. I had no problem with your comment as part of a robust discussion, but please don’t do that. It adds precisely nothing to the debate.
-
Hard News: When "common sense" isn't, in reply to Christopher Dempsey,
A few of us were musing about doing a Maunga ride – spend a day visiting all the maunga in the Auckland field to celebrate them.
I keep meaning to pick a good day and see if I can do Mt Albert, Mt Roskill, Big King, One Tree Hill and Mt Eden (in that order, I figure) in one ride. It would be great to include Mangere in that, but bikes are verboten. Also, I can't ride to the actual top of Big King.