Posts by Samuel Scott
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Why is it risky for Warners to be in a country that values worker rights? They operate in US, Canada, Oz, UK - they are all unionised and have vibrant film industries. What is your alternative for NZ performers (or workers generally for that matter).
Well it's not. The production may very well move to a country that has a much more unionised film industry. The problem has always been the initial approach of MEAA, the international boycott order, and the general mixed message from NZAE (if there is a clear message/goal it has not been made clear to the NZ public).
If the MEAA had been negotiating conditions of the pink book and sensible dealing with SPADA and 3 Foot 6 over the, umm what is it? two or three years that these films have been in pre production then this would not have happened.
Many people are probably about to lose their jobs. However I think it is terrible that some people have been calling you (ie Helen) names, or threatening union leaders... I guess people are just angry and frustrated and saying things in the heat of the moment.
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I'm finding what the government is saying about this pretty ridiculous now. What I have heard from people very much in the know is that no offers from other countries appeared until the word 'boycott' appeared. So yes, the unions actions are to blame for starting that ball rolling, that is clear.
Now it seems pretty clear that Warners will only be interested in the money aspect of it. Wether the govt changes the tax break percentages or not is a completely separate issue, but unfortunately it is now most likely issue that will decide where the film is shot.
Any claims that Wingnut have overblown the actors actions to leverage govt policy are insane as the need to do so did not exist until the boycott. They were building sets already, I think we can assume Warners weren't considering Ireland, Czechoslovakia or Tasmania until the governments of those countries got a sniff of trouble.
National, seem to be determined to squeeze as much anti-union sentiment out of all of this as they can....which probably wont be that hard.
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Apparently the Australian bid was very healthy. Imagine that!
When Gerry Brownlee said this morning "I don't believe financial incentives are the issue here. I think it would be wrong to allow people to suggest that it is the money issue that is behind all this. It is not." he was entirely wrong.
The union issue started the ball rolling, but it is now in the hands of Warners. That is just straight up fact. There is nothing the union could do now to change the fact that the location of film has been thrown to the wolves.
Wether you are pro the actions of the union or not, this whole thing is a major bummer.
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Does the Listener have a full TV/Radio anywhere on it's site? Surely that is one of it's defining services, and its not like by with holding the information people will go by the print version, they'll simply look somewhere else on line.
I know you're talking about editorial content, but by providing a service online that people would use a lot (and which they obviously already have on hand) that would seemingly provide the advertising bucks to have more editorial content for free. Maybe.
The current online TV guides are mostly affiliated with networks or providers, which means zero room for opinion. Seems like there is a bit of a void there.
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Do I get hurt and offended when people slag off Simply Red,....No.
That is lucky as that band gets a pretty tough time from music snobs such as myself (for which I apologise, I can't help it!). Simon Sweetman likes them though....
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that really sucks.
That does suck. I think its their customer service which lets them down. In terms of what they actually provide I think they are way ahead of any other options in Wellington. I tend to get a bit flustered when dealing with them over the phone, actually I am really quite rude to service centre people now, it seems to get you what you want faster (and then makes me feel awful when I've hung up).
However, having the speed of my broadband has tripled in the time I have been with Telstra and they have never put up their prices in any significant way. Just so weird that they have never rolled out their cable network in Auckland.
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...and hey any other Telstra customers out there? They just upped my internet speed to 15mbs and my allowance from 10 to 20 gig without changing the charge. boom.
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The Laneway lineup is astounding. Ariel Pink released the standout album of the year for me, Beach House = awesome, Deehunter = awesome etc etc. Really mind boggling just how many great bands are playing. Sadly I wont be there.
I can just listen to this song on repeat instead;
There has been lots of net chatter about Unknown Mortal Orchestra this week, and the question of who are these guys. I first heard them a couple months ago at iguessimfloating but somehow the Mint Chickyness of it passed me by. After Flying Nun posted a track to their bandcamp page it seemed pretty likely that this was some sort of Minties related project. IGIF say they received the track mysteriously from someone called Ruban...
What ever, the two songs by UMO released so far are off the hook radness.
...ooops long comment, I should have just written a blog.
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Auckland has a left leaning Mayor AND a place serving authentic NYC style 'slice' on K'Road, I may just consider a move north.
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Very sad news about Ian. I didn't really know him, other than from playing at Cabana, but he seemed really nice. And he had 2x vintage 1176 compressors in his front of house system. In my book, that is a sign of true class.
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Music awards were a hoot. I loved the opening pop trifecta. Not at all my cup of tea musically, but I thought those boys owned it. And great to see some excellent break dancing at this sort of event.
...also Anika, woah what a performance. Her crazy tongue in cheek soul bit was fantastic.