Hard News: Hobbit Wars
542 Responses
First ←Older Page 1 … 14 15 16 17 18 … 22 Newer→ Last
-
@Craig R: Am I the only one wondering if Kiwi actors would be better served if anyone but the MEAA was doing the talking?
But are they doing the talking? Does anyone know?
-
greater than some of its parts...
SAG still pays collected residuals to the family of dead actors in perpetuity (apparently)...
and I believe some people appearing in ads receive residuals on any repeats after a contracted number of screenings...
so for actors it is surely the equivalent of music's "needle money"...
(at the risk of starting a copyright tangent) -
[eyes narrow]
Did someone say COPYRIGHT ??
dun dun dun dun dun dun dun.... -
They are coming ... Fly, you fools!!
-
I thought this "third world conditions" thing had been put to bed when Peter Jackson revealed they were being offered around $5000 a week.
Don't let's get too excited. He's not paying them $5000 a week for 52 weeks of the year. And do they residuals? If so, how much?
-
It's disappointing that Mune should be commenting when he genuinely doesn't seem to know much about the dispute.
Who isn't at the moment - commenting in the dark, I mean?
-
Suddenly it doesn't look like ineptitude, but dirty tricks.
Michael - are you just making stuff up here, or do you have some actual evidence to point to?
-
commenting in the dark, I mean?
Ok then,imho,
what JWL seems to be saying to the public at large is ,it's not about the money , it's not a call for a boycott, it's a request to the Actors (that has now grown into the "entire industry") to hold off on signing contracts so a few issues that seem to be basic human rights can get ironed out. Could be why the tight lips after the meeting in Grey Lynn.
What tends to have happened (in the past anyway) is if there is an issue (which in any other industry would be an employment right) a person has to go out in the cold to deal with it.Especially the long hours worked, public holidays etc. The perception quickly becomes (as has here) that everyone's livelihood is at stake and noone wants to be a part of anything that could upset the apple cart. If one does ,well jobs do become less frequent. So JWL must feel like she is out in the cold now. -
Like I said Jan, speculation.
I'm just connecting two facts.
There is no question that the Equity Organiser is getting paid, and its a legitimate question to ask where that money coming from, and whether that explains why such an active organisation as NZ Equity let its legal status lapse? It's quite a hard thing to let happen - the companies office sends you repeated warnings, then puts a notice in the paper stating it intention to strike you off the register. It's not something that just happens through a single oversight.The second thing to consider is just how much money the residuals are, and who would control this cash. If it is like SAG they get paid the money as lump sum and administer it to their members. Like Peter Jackson said, this is serious money. It make sense for the MEAA to try and control this money: if you have a million dollars in the bank, many more things become possible for your organisation. Talking to SPADA about "guidelines" does nothing for their bottom line - hence completely ignoring them. They want a contract which locks MEAA into controlling this money from any big production that comes to NZ.
Whatever happens you can be sure of this: Any time someone says it's not about the money: its always about the money.
-
And What happened with the fire? Much damage?
-
Don't let's get too excited. He's not paying them $5000 a week for 52 weeks of the year.
And who said they were? I'm perfectly well aware that Jennifer Ward-Lealand and the rest of the cast of ATC's (splendid) production of August: Osage County weren't getting paid minimum wage for a 40 hour week over the three week season. But I don't get pay or play for my radio work either, and while I bitch about freelance rates as much as anyone I don't call it "slave labour" or "Third World conditions" (to quote Ian Mune, before you get upset again) either.
Michael - are you just making stuff up here, or do you have some actual evidence to point to?
It's pretty difficult to know for sure, since NZAE let their union registration lapse. I'm sure it's entirely coincidental that one effect of that is no longer required to meet the public disclosure/reporting requirements of the Incorporated Societies Act.
-
I'm just connecting two facts....
Whatever happens you can be sure of this: Any time someone says it's not about the money: its always about the money.Innit.
-
disproportionately
Boycott leads to union president fronting on national television and feeding us this line "Peter Jackson does not know what we want"
been bothering me all day
-
Did someone say COPYRIGHT ???
aren't we all well-behaved about it now
-
....(grittingteeth) because, smiling sweetly sunshine, for some of us life would return into being a small fluffy creature in a concrete mixer. Again.
We are all over that kind of stuff, right?
(Rushes off to exchange fluffy suit for impregnable scales.)
-
MGM & Warners near agreement over The Hobbit...
...it's win win for both!an excerpt from Never say there and back again;
A Hobbit's tale:
"...Bilbo Bond slipped the ring on his goldfinger
and, to the bewilderment of the circling SMERSH orcs, winked out of sight.
With the familiar heft of his trusty Walther PPK in hand he set off to wipe that Smaug look off
Blofeld's face." -
OK, who talked IrishBill round?
You may also want to talk to people with online influence who should be natural allies such as Russell Brown.
-
You know (or might not) I have this lovely collection of edged weapons (mere unto rapiers.) I was always been offput by the really limited range of stuff(weaponry) Peter Jackson employed. BANG! mainly.
But that is his intrinsic delight - blood & things that go bang. Splatterdom.
Which is why I find his own films slender on characterisation, and really feeble on storytelling. And - ephemeral.
And, regrettably, the books that he has used the storylines for, are similarly damaged. ("The Lovely Bones" - ? Ycch. "Heavenly Creatures"? go read the original.) )
I keep my trilogies of TLOTR on my bookshelf. I have never yet watched Peter Jackson (&Fran Walsh's) adaptations because - quite frankly - they cant match anywhere near to my inhead theatre...
-
OK, who talked IrishBill round?
I think the union movement might be starting to get how badly misconceived this strategy has been. Most of what he says is good advice.
It's just a shame he didn't have a more reasoned view of it two or three days ago.
I think this is actually going to damage the trade union movement.
-
They retain copyright of the music - so if you buy the soundtrack on disc the composer makes money, not the production company (usually).
I would think that Warners would have the rights to release any music composed for The Hobbit. Release 'options' have been in every composer contract I have signed (all 3 of them!). But you are of course right that composers retain the publishing copyright of any composed score, with the recordings sync licensed in perpetuity to the film. Well usually something like that.
I am no expert but residuals or a profit share are negotiable as well (though probably harder to get if you are getting paid a million bucks up front for a score). And of course there are APRA/AMCOS payments (or the 'needle money' as Ian called it, ie songwriters get paid every time the needle drops{thank you wikipedia!}).
So, being a rather minor player in film land who loves the dribble of ongoing royalties (yay $50! pizza night!) I think actors getting residuals just seems fair. But as has been stated over and over again in this forum and others; residuals were written into the acting contracts for this film before any union action was taken.
This issue is pretty much all people are talking about in Wellington at the moment. In fact some people are no longer talking to each other because of it! what a stink buzz.
-
Russell B - a quite serious enquiry: I've been a member of *many* unions over my working life (including journalists'-)
Do you *seriously* think this momentary artsy thing is going to damage *the trade union movement*? Because I think the trade union movement is already so compromised & damaged that it is almost dead.
E.g. i cannot call upon my trade union (NZAS) for help with problems with UK publishers.I have been told that I must join their (UK)union (large amount of money required, no guarentee given for satisfactory resolution) and the ANZ arm appears to be totally ineffectual (you ever tried to get royalties out of CLL?)
-
Do you *seriously* think this momentary artsy thing is going to damage *the trade union movement*? Because I think the trade union movement is already so compromised & damaged that it is almost dead.
Honestly, I don't give a rodent's rear end about "the union movement" -- but the creative sector really deserves a lot better. If Unite can get its act together and do a pretty decent job, most of the time, for workers who've traditionally been hell on heels to cover, it's not impossible.
OK, who talked IrishBill round?
Jaysus, the irony deficiency would be hilarious if it wasn't so bloody sad. In the end, it's still all the fault of "a concerted and well-planned campaign by the employer" who should just STFU and eat whatever deceptive or misleading drivel IrishBill and Co. throw out there.
A little bit of advice for The Standard I know won't be taken is this:
1) Do let the facts get in the way of your narrative.
2) Own your shit when you get it wrong instead of shrilly trying to defend the indefensible.
3) Remember that people who disagree with you aren't necessarily stupid or evil.
4) If Kiwibog and the Sub-Standard are going to continue baiting and enabling trolls, they should own it. I'm disappointed, but not surprised, at the tone and lack of substance of a lot of commentary on this issue.
-
Media advisory re The Hobbit
Helen Kelly, CTU President has met with Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh and we are hopeful that a meaningful dialogue between Equity, SPADA, and Three Foot Seven can be established.
Ends. -
Media advisory re The Hobbit
Helen Kelly, CTU President has met with Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh and we are hopeful that a meaningful dialogue between Equity, SPADA, and Three Foot Seven can be established.
Ends. -
So, Craig - the creative sector goes - where?
(I pay dues to NZSA.)
Post your response…
This topic is closed.