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SAG & AFTRA Nix Non-Union ‘The Hobbit’ For Kiwi & Oz Actors
Peter Jackson Slaps Back At Kiwi/Oz Unions
New Line, Warner Bros. Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures are concerned by the recent allegations of unfair treatment of actors in New Zealand and instructions from the performers’ guilds to their membership to withhold services from the producers of “The Hobbit” in New Zealand.
We are proud to have good relations with all of those performers’ guilds and value their contribution to the motion pictures produced in their respective jurisdictions throughout the world. But we believe that in this case the allegations are baseless and unfair to Peter Jackson and his team in Wellington who have been tireless supporters of the New Zealand motion picture community.
To classify the production as “non-union” is inaccurate. The cast and crew are being engaged under collective bargaining agreements where applicable and we are mindful of the rights of those individuals pursuant to those agreements. And while we have previously worked with MEAA, an Australian union now seeking to represent actors in New Zealand, the fact remains that there cannot be any collective bargaining with MEAA on this New Zealand production, for to do so would expose the production to liability and sanctions under New Zealand law. This legal prohibition has been explained to MEAA. We are disappointed that MEAA has nonetheless continued to pursue this course of action.
Motion picture production requires the certainty that a production can reasonably proceed without disruption and it is our general policy to avoid filming in locations where there is potential for work force uncertainty or other forms of instability. As such, we are exploring all alternative options in order to protect our business interests.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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Stupid MEAA….stay out of this!
If MEAA keeps this production from filming in New Zealand because of their greed and idiocy, I will be pissed. Peter Jackson is a decent and honest man.
When I think of all Mr Jackson must be going through…
…I’m reminded of Woody Harrelson in Zombieland. That part where he wipes away the tears with a fistfull of hundreds.
Boo-Hoo!
What is wrong with you? Do you really think he’s doing this for the money?
Greed? Idiocy? I think you mean respect for NZ performers.
Greedy? Idiocy? I think you mean respect for NZ performers!
Yes agree Sir Peter is what is known as a good honest Kiwi bloke, similar to that other great Kiwi bloke Sir Edmund Hillary.
They might as well let Terry Gilliam direct “The Hobbit” at this point.
I got a novel idea. Shoot the movie in Hollywood!
if they shoot the movie in Hollywood, Bilbo Baggins will probably be played by Ashton Kutcher and Gandalf by Steve Carell.
BD’s words are still relevant- Money doesn’t talk… it swears
Are there any public reports (preferably from a reputable news source) of people who worked on Peter Jackson’s previous productions in NZ being treated unfairly? Has anybody involved in the LOTR gone on record as saying they were treated unfairly? I’m not talking about somebody complaining they didn’t get a percentage of gross, or that they didn’t make Big Money. I’m talking about somebody who was payed significantly less than what they would have made working on a union project in the USA.
I’ve read the copy of the statement issued by SAG that’s on this site (http://www.deadline.com/2010/09/sag-aftra-target-non-union-the-hobbit/) and while they say that actors in NZ have been treated unfairly they seem to be very careful to avoid saying that any of the people or companies involved in the production of The Hobbit have treated anybody unfairly. The fact that they make no direct claims of mistreatment against the people involved in the production leads me to believe that while actors in NZ working on other productions may have had problems there are no direct complaints against the people involved in the production of The Hobbit. If that’s the case, then why is this production being targeted? Why are the various unions talking about unfair treatment when they discuss this production?
I understand that MEAA is upset that the production won’t enter into collective bargaining with the MEAA. But given the legal advice that The Hobbit has received I’d say that the MEAA’s lawyers and the production’s lawyers should be fighting it out in a boardroom or if necessary a courtroom, But unless the MEAA, SAG and the rest of the associated unions & guilds have direct and verifiable complaints of mistreatment to make against the producers of The Hobbit, they should call off the public mudslinging – and apologize to Peter Jackson.
It’s not the production its self, it’s the timing and if they don’t stand up for themselves now then NZ performers will continue to be walked all over for the rest of their lives. It’s now or never.
When that movie has to pull out of NZ, it’s the end for the NZ movie industry.
There will be no large production any more, simply because no company can afford the risk of industrial action in the middle of a production.
You mean that no Production can take place in NZ because of earthquakes; I mean that’s a disruption. Get real, if you want to go Non Union, have ‘private contracts’ that aren’t as equitable as the industry standard ones you follow in LA, just say so. Clearly protecting your business interests are best served by reducing costs and paying less than appropriate scale and offering terms and conditions that are less than accepted most places. That way you can help bail out MGM (New Line?); Unions can build that bridge and ‘get over it’. Nice to know you consider NZ a third world country, where ‘sweat shop’ like conditions can be afforded to the many for the benefit of the few. Please let the ‘spinners’ come in and advise how much benefit there’s been for the entire NZ Industry because of such magnanimous behavior. We should all be so lucky???!! And here I thought Gollum was a fictional character; ‘ Non Unionses is our presciouses??!!
“Get real, if you want to go Non Union, have ‘private contracts’ that aren’t as equitable as the industry standard ones you follow in LA, just say so.”
“Equitable”, like “fair” is in the pocketbook of the beholder. The only thing that is really equitable is a mutual agreement between the contractor and the employee, not what a third party, union, or other entity decides one party, the other or both ought to ask for or to pay. More and more, the “industry standard”, i e , the union’s standard, is not the standard of many of their dues paying membership, and not just in this industry but everywhere that the interests of the union bureaucrats actually cost their members jobs. Unions should not have to rely upon mischaracterization and coercion to make membership desirable for their members and potential employers. More and more there is a zero tolerance for bullying, and not just on the schoolyard.
MEAA,
You fucked with the wrong film.
Sincerely,
Already impatient and pissed off fans.
Typical socialist New Zealand. Someone works hard to establish something, and then creates jobs for the rest. And all they can think to do is get greedy, and ratchet up their payment demands.
This is the third movie that will close down in NZ. Any more and they won’t have an industry.
What I did hear is that behind the scenes LOTR was exceptionally ugly, and because of confidentiality agreements etc they can’t talk at all. As far as our local industry goes… the blockbusters have not benefited the local production crews, and there’s been worse than a drought for quite some time. Really if you had the option to go and work in a sweat shop; would you??
It’s win-win for the Aussie crowd. They get more visibility, perhaps inch closer to gaining some new territory, and it’s no skin off their nose if NZ film people loose work over it. They certainly don’t care that they’re making bones about nothing to do it.
This production is good for NZ, good for MGM, and good for the worldwide BO. Well…here’s hoping the malcontents can’t kill the golden goose that is. ‘The Hobbit’.
This debate doesn’t make any sense. Demands for minimum pay and conditions guarantees are a threat to the NZ film industry by greedy unions while Jackson’s actual threat to uproot and go elsewhere unless he can keep more money for himself and the studios isn’t?!? Who are the greedy ones?
Hey another blatent attempt by our highly unionised neighbour to impose thier feather bedded work processes in our juristiction.
One message go home and stay home. You are not committed to NZ merely furthuring your own parochial interests ( as always )
Aussies stay home.
I wish an objective third party would analyze the New Zealand labor laws that are in question here. Clearly, that is the key issue.
Having peripherally followed the LOTR lawsuits for years, I remember that there were some important non-principal actors in the films that complained of not benefiting whatsoever on the amazing profits that the films and DVDs brought in. That said, there were FAR more talented folks who said that it was a privilege to work on the films and it brought MANY jobs to New Zealand.
I’d love the production to come to northern New England (U.S.). The landsapes in north-central Vermont in particular are very Hobbit-like, though our mountains are a bit short
There are also many talented actors up here that don’t often get the opportunity to work on a big film (What Lies Beneath was the last to shoot in the area).
Short mountains are good, and I have a cousin in the business in northeastern Vermont. Alas, all I have is a screenplay with no funding. It’s always the funding.
Australian Union operating in New Zealand is nuts and a classic conflict of interest, Australia has its own film industry and therefore is a competitor to New Zealands industry. If it becomes a choice…they have to support the majority of their membership which appears to be Australian. No wonder it an’t legal.
The hard reality we all have to face at some point in life is the offers we accept are the best options we had at the time..
People complain all the time after the fact and are full of a sense of entitlement…we need to keep real about it….
“…the fact remains that there cannot be any collective bargaining with MEAA on this New Zealand production, for to do so would expose the production to liability and sanctions under New Zealand law.”
At this point in this Peter Jackson fiasco, I’ve learned Mr. Weta himself actually had a few options available to him to bring his “NZ brothers” more on par with their American counterparts in SAG. He could have offered to UP the value this “pot” he himself mentioned Warner Bros. started on LOTR in order to pay actors residuals, which they did to tip-toe around the law. I guess there’s a limit to how much of their budget they’ll spend as “humanitarians”.
Just how much in non payment of guild participations and full residuals is Warner Bros. saving by “looking for alternate locations”, such as “Eastern Europe”, to look for the next sucker who’ll trade “a boost to your economy” for your first-born child?
Everyone gets this. MGM is under serious stress, maybe even considering a merger with Lionsgate. Gary and Roger from Spyglass need to squeeze everything they can, from EVERYBODY, in order to make this film work. Thing is, everybody knows how much business this movie will do, released in 3D, heavy license fees from TNT, merchandising and character spin-offs, TV adaptation, Netflix and VOD. No one is fooled.
And this will be a catalog treasure; library darling – we can milk this for decades to come, long past the resurgence of MGM.
Give these actors what they deserve. Stand up and do the right thing.
I’m glad this has been brought from “behind closed doors”. This whole thing goes back up to “ultimate Capitalism” and is fed by corporate stock dividends, bonuses and promotions that DON’T end up in the hands of those who significantly help complete the epic film that fuels the bottom line.
“The cast and crew are being engaged under collective bargaining agreements where applicable.”
What a disgusting comment – obviously the agreement is not applicable in New Zealand, which is what this whole discussion is about. This just basically says “it’s not in force here, and so we’re following the law.”
“Motion picture production requires the certainty that a production can reasonably proceed without disruption… we are exploring all alternative options in order to protect our business interests.”
Why don’t you scout a bit in China. I hear shit’s real cheap and the women don’t talk back.
If any talent guild in the world with representatives reading through this situation as it unfolds has ever wondered what it means to stand up for the disenfranchised, now is the time to pitch in and just say no to THE HOBBIT until its producers union-up.
WB obviously just wants to save a buck here, but this film has become legendary, even years before its shoot and release. What a statement it would be to show good faith and heighten levels of enthusiasm on its sets.
God knows what the Tolkien estate thinks of this whole thing right now. I hope this shitfest doesn’t somehow violate one of the license conditions.
This stench will hang and carry along until the shoot, and whatever workers the studio does get will receive gag orders, such as the ones WB forced them to sign on “Rings”, basically stripping them of the recourse a professional would need in a sticky situation.
What a PR nightmare – for WB, MGM, Spyglass, and especially Peter Jackson.
Edit: Who the f*ck cares about New Line.
Well I guess that’s a thought if all you want is green screen piece of crap.
Keep on, NZ. Fail to see that Americans have been shooting themselves in the feet for decades. Americans have been demanding better pay through unions and that has scared away acting, manufacturing & agriculture jobs. It’s all about money, and you either accept what they give you or they’ll move on. If Europe complains, they’ll find someplace in Africa where they’ll work for food.
Are they getting paid at least the rate of the NZ minimum wage laws?
Are they working of their own free will?
Then what is the issue.
It should be an individuals choice to work, for how much, and for whom. Not some unions.
Teach them a lesson, ship the whole thing off to Eastern Europe.
I don’t think it can be underestimated how much of this emanates from Peter Jackson’s Kiwi Napoleonic complex towards Australia.
The Kiwi’s are infamously sensitive to Aussie lording-it-over-bullshit.
That said, this goes right up the chain of unions and lands right at SAG’s door, period.
Ron Perlman probably is on this movie because of the Del Toro Hellboy connection, but his status as the top vote getter in the recent SAG election reinforces the narrative among those of us who believe you should follow the money – and the money aint going to actors these days.
Stars? Sure. But look at the disparity between A-listers who support strong unionism – Ed Harris, and the endless list of those who pretend they do, but, again, if you follow the money, really don’t.
That rather large group starts with Hanks and includes Clooney and Damon and on down.
It is, of course, inexcusable behavior, reflective of the disconnect that now rules between “stars” of old, who’s default position was “we’re with them” (rank and file) when push came to shove, and “stars” now, who’s default position is “me.”
I mean, this is just another corporate money squeeze helped along by a formerly fat, little, man who made the Trilogy and now doesn’t want to play in the union sandbox anymore.
Well, in “olden days” he would just be shut down. Now, he faces little real opposition – let’s see what big, scary Ken Howard and his crew will do in response.
No, let’s not wait. Nothing. And then they’ll wrap nothing in a bow, and sprinkle some perfume on it and sell it to the membership of SAG while the executives and producers laugh at the new world order.
But, the bottom line is this is a test run for the true intentions of the UFS-led “strength in numbers/we can’t be divided” talking points. This is a Warner Brothers picture, so McKellan and Blanchett will be doing this through SAG.
So, what, is he going to do it with Sigmond Vladmuck playing Gandalf, that non-union acting genius from Serbia, when Jackson shoots in Eastern Europe?
Methinks not. So, the leverage that SAG didn’t use but has always had in the last two years of cluster-fuck-nuts-what-the-fuck-are-you-doing-ism, is still there, just as it was when the A-list could have saved the union.
No McKellan? Really? No Blanchett? Really? Gonna go non-union on SAG, Sir Peter? Really?
Well, the SAG of old would have just shut you down:
No SAG = no stars = no movie.
Now? SAG has choices to make and they haven’t chosen wisely lately. We’re about to enter into an alliance with AFTRA, led by Roberta Reardon, who has no on-screen credits. None. So, she clearly has no idea what she’s talking about when it comes to the on-screen, TV or movie middle-class actors life.
You don’t live it? You don’t know it.
Ken Howard? No excuse. Just a clueless old man who’s toupee is too tight. How else to explain the lack of backbone?
Real stars as SAG President are things of the past, and have been for decades. Real stars understood the power to shut down films and get fair deals, and keep them. The studios didn’t like it one bit, then, or now.
Only difference is Ken Howard is no star, never has been and never will be, while Jimmy Cagney would have told Warner’s and Peter Jackson to kiss his Irish ass.
Oh, by the way, anybody notice how this is being spun outside the Hollywood bubble?
Let me paraphrase the CNN on-line story about this from yesterday:
“The Hobbit is in danger of not being made again. What’s the hold-up this time? Actors.”
Nice job SAG. “Actors” are the hold up. You mean us workers who do the, you know, acting part of the movie and want to be protected by fair SAG contracts? “We’re” the problem.
Wow.
The MEAA should just accept now with the studio backing Peter that they can not win the battle and if they do not stop this crap the only winners will be what ever new location gets to film the hobbit. not to mention new zealand will because of these actions be considered by holly wood as a place not to shoot without risk.
Ask Hobbit producers to publish NZ lawyers Simpson Grierson legal opinion about reality of negotiations with NZ Equity – permitted under NZ law.
I just wanted to say thank you to that spineless Australian film union the MEAA and the equally spineless NZ actors union for setting in motion the destruction of the NZ film industry, worldwide blockbusters like LOTR and King Kong may never again be made in that country…remember that amazing day back in 2004 when LOTR ROTK won 11 Academy Awards and New Zealand was on top of the movie world, the likes of which may never be seen again. Naturally Sir Peter Jackson & Sir Richard Taylor would be desperate for The Hobbit to be made there, they know all the countless benefits LOTR brought to NZ 10 years ago and what it set in motion…among others the huge national pride. I just can’t believe this is happening…surely that foolish union must relies that they are doing more harm than good, i just pray that this can be sorted before it’s too late and so the NZ film industry is not…GONE WITH THE WIND.
They need a ball-busting prick to front up to that union and reveal some home truths. Like they actually WILL cost jobs and the film with ridiculous actions like this.
Only way it works with them is with hammer.
I suggest they go for a conservative political operative nutter who has experience in confronting unions the hard way and spearhead them into this for the sake of the entire film.
Ben Scott would be my suggestion. They call him the ‘Ari Gold’ of Australian conservative nutjobs!