Hobbits say goodbye to New Zealand!

[Palantir]

Correction: the problem is not with the New Zealanders but the handful of union people at Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance "MEAA" out of Australia whom the New Zealand Actors’ Equity are under. My apologies for misspeaking & lambasting Nz.
So for Nz I hope the film stays in country, if not I hope there's some legal action Nz can take against MEAA for ruining their economy to the turn of $1 Billion plus.

This of course explains why the Nz workers are out rallying against the boycott which by the way according to the below article has still NOT been lifted.

For this NOT being a "political" move to blackmail the movie it’s interesting to note as the article points out MEAA had 3+ years to bring up their concerns but waited until just 1 month before it was to get going to bring up their heartfelt concerns for the poor downtrodden Nz actors. Who again had been paid above scale for their work on the LotR.

But yes I can see the union’s point of view in this horrible situation: better to lose guaranteed work (above scale) for 4+ years and lose my entire industry than to have to work overtime (at above scale) without "clauses" being jacked up. I certainly don't know the ins & outs of union contracts but I think I'd like guaranteed work above scale for 4 years with the added bonus that MORE work would be arriving every year for me & my kids.

There was obviously a time & place for these "discussions" (like when Del Toro was just sitting down there) but that time was not now. Warner Bros might just decide that no discussions are even needed now since they won't have to deal with MEAA in Europe.

http://tvnz.co.nz/q-and-a-news/q-interview-helen-kelly-and-john-barnett-3851374

 

[Dr Zaius]

Just unions being unions. Organized extortion in the name of "protecting" workers from the Evil of full-time employment.

 

[Palantir]

He talks about "profit sharing" if only the actors would play ball. He doesn't mention that the profit sharing would only apply to non-union actors.

There go those pesky Unions again, screwing the hard working people out of their money. Just think of the profit sharing & $$ they'd get on this film if they were not in a union.

So he's being pretty disengenuous. But of course he would; he represents management, and does not have the actors' best interests at heart.

Again, how is paying your employees MORE than their own unions say they should be paid a BAD thing? Yep, all the videos we saw of those poor beaten and hungry workers back on the LotR sets tears my heart out. If I remember right they all pretty much said it was the best shooting / working experience they had ever had. (Wait maybe those were just the non-union workers...)

He wants to make his movie off the back of the employees...

Isn't that the way real life works- your do your job? (Assuming you aren’t in a union)
"Hey, are you a carpenter- you are, a union one- no problem? Would you build a set for me for the next 4 years, I'll pay you 15% more than anyone else will - just like last time. What about you? Do you hold cameras? You do, a union camera holder? No problem, would you hold this camera for me, I’ll pay you 15% more than anyone else for the next 4 years - just like last time...” (Repeat & wash)

Until MEAA supplies some hard proof that "Jackson" was beating the "union workers" and taking food out of their kids mouths I think I'll stand by him thank you.

Obviously I'm poking fun at you MD but I haven't seen / read about the problems the unions are screaming about.

 

[Palantir]

"Yet while hope remains, even the smallest person can change the course of history."

View attachment 31511

:laugh:

 

[Palantir]

Nothing was settled from the Monday meeting between Warner Bros & the Nz government.

Some excerpts on the meeting:

Prime Minister John Key says he is not "overly confident" the Hobbit will be made in New Zealand - but the decision will be made by the weekend. Mr Key says the Government will consider bigger taxpayer-funded sweeteners to The Hobbit's makers but ruled out matching the bids of other nations vying to have the movies filmed in their countries.


I think this next comment says it all (got to love MEAA for messing up a sure thing):

Prime Minister John Key- "But there is no question the industrial action has caused real concern… and they'll need resolution to some of those issues. It's also fair to say if it wasn't for the industrial action they were good to go." ...
Asked about the size of the gap between what New Zealand taxpayers were putting up and other governments were offering Mr Key answered: "It's not in the tens of millions, put it that way. There's a lot of noughts."


He's talking hundreds of millions of dollars in offers- some countries obviously see the benefits both short & long term in getting the Hobbit made there. Tourism from the Hobbit alone will bring millions into their economies for years to come. I bet those workers will LOVE having above standard wages, too bad MEAA tried to squeeze Warners for more.


Considering that MEAA has yet to truely end the boycott this could be the killer:

The big issue for the studio was "certainty" and they did not trust the assurances of either the CTU, Actors Equity or the Australian-based actors union - which led the charge in the industrial action against The Hobbit - that there would be no further disruption.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/film/4271665/Key-No-Hobbit-bidding-war

I believe that Warners would rather just make the movies in Nz for the goodwill etc it would get them . But they can buy a lot of goodwill elsewhere when $100 million+ dollars of perks are involved.

 

[Michael Dorosh]

I haven't seen / read about the problems the unions are screaming about.

Then maybe you should stop talking about that which you profess not to understand. Your posts come off as embarrassing uninformed anti-union rants. Frankly, I think they're beneath you. You keep proceeding from the supposition that the union is doing this for fun, yet by your own admission you haven't a clue what the entire episode is about.

 

[Palantir]

Some confusion, what I meant above was that I had not read previously during the entire making of the LotR Trilogy nor up to last month about any "problems" the Union had with the movies.

I fully understand what MEAA is demanding and what they did, and it wasn't for fun- it was underhanded. They thought they had the Movie backed into a corner and could force their demands upon them. In their wildest dreams they never thought the producers would say, "up yours" & move the movie out of Nz. When just a couple of people can wreck a 1 billion dollar industry and throw 1000's of people out of work because they want more than what they are already getting ABOVE "standard" is atrocious. MEAA might get a tiny bit of sympathy except that all the workers that they are professing they want to help are out protesting their own "bosses" actions.

The impact & loss of jobs & income goes way beyond just those few union workers, the caterers, hotel workers, taxi drivers, cleaning people, dry cleaners, restaurant workers will all be "under employed" thanks MEAA.
{You do realize of course that the number of Nz union workers tied directly to MEAA is less that 200, MEAA claims @600 but that number has been disproven.}


When the head of WETA is out in the street rallying against his own union trying to save his & all his employees’ jobs instead or siding with MEAA for “more, more” I tend to not believe what the MEAA Union is saying. I also haven't seen the Prime Minister of Nz make any comments siding with the MEAA & telling Warner’s they are at fault.

Surely you can't say that MEAA has looked out after the best interests of its members, unless losing their jobs and means of income is helping them out.

 

[AnewNewbie]

http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/hobbit-movie-in-new-zealand-3856571

The PM has kissed enough WB Execs' gluteus maximus to keep the movies in NZ.

 

[Palantir]

They pulled it off - good for Nz! :clap:

As mentioned Warner's really did want to make the movies there.
If it was just about money they'd be gone.