It’s all getting a bit nasty over in the world of The Hobbit. Yesterday we reported that seven major acting unions, including America’s SAG and Britain’s Equity, had decided to stand in league with the New Zealand Actors’ Equity (a sub-group of the Australian MEAA), and tell their members not to sign up for the films. And seeing as nearly every actor is a member of one of those unions, that throws a major spanner in the works (you can read more about why they’re trying to boycott the production here).
First Peter Jackson issued a strongly worded statement saying it would be illegal under NZ law to negotiate in the way the union want to, that the union only represents 10% of New Zealand actors anyway, and that the actions risk the entire production being moved to Europe. Now the studios has issued their own release, once more blasting the unions over their actions.
They say, ‘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.’
At the moment it’s a complete stalemate, and it’s difficult to see how either side can move, especially if it is true it would be illegal for Jackson to negotiate with the union in the way they want. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens next. (Source: Variety)