THE HOBBIT just can’t seem to catch a break. The production as suffered years of set backs from legal battles to directors bailing on the project to the most recent ordeal with SAG convincing the New Zealand Actors Equity to boycott the film.
Lucky various other trade unions were not taking the possibility of losing the $500 million production sitting down as they flooded the streets of Wellington with signs declaring ‘SOS Hobbits’ . Even other actors involved themselves in the march showing how divided SAG has become on the decision to blacklist Jackson‘s film.
The boycott seems to have been short lived with late on Wednesday the Actors Equity backing down following pressures from the trade unions protests and fears that Warner Bros might move the production out of the country.
Even with this possibly crisis averted murmurs from PeterJackson‘s camp says that Warners could still move THE HOBBIT to more of a welcoming climate, “The lifting of the blacklist on THE HOBBIT does nothing to help the film stay in New Zealand. Next week, Warners is coming down to New Zealand to make arrangements to move the production offshore. It appears we now cannot make films in our own country — even when substantial financing is available.”
With Warners fears that the Actors Equity could seriously jeopardise their investment a large community of actors are vowing to hold marches in five major cities in NZ upon Warners Bros arrival to help raise the company’s confidence in them.
Fran Welsh, Jackson‘s co-writer and producer as hinted at a possible alternative location being Britain to take over NZ as a filming location, “There is the Harry Potter studio there that they say would be prefect for us”
Of course this has helped fuel the fire and provoking Helen Kelly the prexy of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions to imply that the producers of THE HOBBIT that they are creating problems just so they can either relocate to a country that has tax incentives, helping to generate more money for Warners or to push the NZ government into giving better incentives or tax breaks to keep them in the country.
It’s not looking promising for NZ even if the dispute is put to rest as there seems to be a enough bad blood between the production and Actors Equity, with Welsh and Jackson describing the equity as “spineless” and “gutless”, that could still throw more spanners in the works.
Either way its still looking like THE HOBBIT will be starting principle photography in February 2011 no matter the outcome of Warners decision on which country to film in.
Paul finished is BA in Film & Broadcast Productions during the summer and has somehow landed the position of Media & Marketing Manager in the London Korean Film Festival happening this November (plug).
While at University Paul found his speciality lay in Script Development, scriptwriting and Editing. He has written, edited and director a small number of not very good short films but does not let that dissuade him from powering through. After the Koreans are through with him he looks to enter the paid world of Script Development.
He likes incredibly bad horror films, East Asian movies, comics and lots of other stuff.
