Industrial Laws

Law change may keep The Hobbit in New Zealand

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key flagged possible changes to industrial laws today in a last-ditch bid to persuade Hollywood studios to shoot Peter Jackson's "Hobbit" movies in the country.

As Warner Bros. confirmed it was looking at alternative locations, Key said he would look at clarifying industrial legislation at the centre of a dispute between Jackson and the actors' union NZ Equity.

Mr Key said he was hopeful The Hobbit, a two-part prequel to The Lord of the Rings could still be filmed in New Zealand.

"I don't think we should write off our chances of retaining the movies," he told national news agency NZPA.

"There's work to be done and the government hasn't given up trying to do its best to secure the movies."

The row over the $US500 million project centres on NZ Equity's demand that Jackson allow it to negotiate minimum standards for actors, which the director has refused, saying it would set an unacceptable industry precedent.

Much of the debate hinges on an obscure argument over whether workers on films such as The Hobbit are employees of the production company, which entitles them to minimum benefits, or independent contractors.

Mr Key said his conservative government would look at changing the law to clarify that actors were independent contractors if it would ease Warner's fears the production will be plagued by industrial strife.

"That's the area that they have concerns... and they need to be sure they can make the movie without being injuncted in the courts," he told the Dominion Post newspaper.

Mr Key said he would meet with Warner executives, who are scheduled to arrive in New Zealand next week to make a decision on where the films will be shot.

The row prompted NZ Equity to last month call for a global boycott of the production through international actors' unions, which was lifted this week.

Warner Bros said in a statement that it only learned the ban had been removed late yesterday and the industrial dispute had already disrupted its plans to shoot in New Zealand.

"The actions of these unions have caused us substantial damage and disruption and forced us to consider other filming locations for the first time," it said. "Alternative locations are still being considered."

New Zealand provided a stunning location for The Lord of the Rings and Jackson said yesterday that the country's film industry would be devastated if The Hobbit moved elsewhere.

Producers have mentioned Scotland, Canada, Ireland, Australia and eastern Europe as possible alternative locations, along with the Leavesden Studios near London, where the Harry Potter movies were filmed.

On Thursday,  members of New Zealand's movie industry took to the streets of the capital Wellington chanting "Save Middle Earth" in protest at the filming move.

Speaking from the grounds of parliament where the protesters gathered, Richard Taylor, from conceptual design and physical manufacturing facility Weta Workshop, described the past few weeks as "craziness." Taylor added that the industry wanted The Hobbit to remain in New Zealand and urged members to take control of keeping the movies in the country.

The Hobbit co-producer Fran Walsh had said she and Jackson would try to keep the film in New Zealand, AFP reported.

However, she said Warner Bros., the film studio behind the movie, wanted to move production to Britain's Leavesden Studios, where Harry Potter was shot.

(Published by Adelaide Now - October 22, 2010)