Posts by Pat Hackett
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@ Jacqui Dunn. You are correct. But NZAE were wanting Jackson to implement the MEAA contract - a higher residual amount, paid earlier. With MEAA in control of collection and distribution of the residuals.
Their fallback negotiating position was probably accepting the lower residual conditions offered by Jackson, but still securing control with an MEAA contract, thus setting a precedent for all future NZ productions.
Their actual end-game position has been little more than discussions with Spada over the pink book, massive egg on their face, and everyone running for cover.
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Let's face it. Movie studios didn't come to NZ becuase of our acting talent. They came here because of the creativity of the likes of Jackson/Taylor etc, and because NZ film crew are more cost effective i.e. they multi-task and work their arses off without complaint.
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Let's not forget this:
MEAA's Simon Whipp told The Hollywood Reporter that success with "The Hobbit" might pave the way for unionizing other productions in the country
or this:
The dispute ratcheted up on Friday with the member alert from actors unions in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Australia.
"The (MEAA) agreement for large-budget international studio films ... provides for residuals that are equivalent to those under the SAG (Screen Actors Guild) agreement," the member alert states. "The residuals proposed by the producers of 'The Hobbit' are less in every respect."It was always about the money, and more importantly, the control of the money. The MEAA contract stipulates that all residuals are paid to the MEAA. They clip a precentage off the top, and pay them to the actors quarterly. On the Hobbit Jackson was setting up a separate entity/account to collect the residuals on behalf of the actors.
The dispute was never about just wanting to "talk", because NZAE ignored offers from SPADA for 18 months to renegotiate the Pink Book. Suddenly the CTU are claiming discussions with SPADA as some sort of win.
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Wednesday will be truly weird. Nationwide peaceful protests by ordinary workers are going to be condemned by the Unions and left-wing blogs like The Standard.
And weirder still, they will be the first protest marches in recent memory that won't be joined by the usual suspects such as Minto, Bradford, Darroch, Rocky. or any Labour or Green MPs. Maybe NZ really is Middle Earth.
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FIA, UK Equity and MEAA all, as of earlier this evening, have No Work notice up, no sign of withdrawal.
Well, if they are waiting for a phone call from Simon Whipp, are they aware he cannot speak?
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Robyn Malcolm on Close Up tonight: "There was never a boycott."
Helen Kelly, if you want Robyn to speak on behalf of the unionised actors, then for Gods sake give her a script. She works well with scripts.
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Just tried to read the 29 Sep Press Release on MEAA website entitled: The Hobbit: Australian Actors Support NZ Actor's Strong Stance and I got this message:
The document is being edited/updated by a User and is unavailable at this moment.
http://www.alliance.org.au/resources/press_releases/2010_press_releases
I hope there isn't some late night history re-writing going on.
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..but they need to realise it is just Jackson pushing the risk on to them.
Oh they understand the risks, all right. Like the risk of paying more tax if you're classed as a fulltime employee.
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Have just read MEAA 2009 Annual Report (I know, I know) and they proudly state that NZAE membership was 85 in 2009. Maybe they had a massive recruitment drive in the last 12 months, but if not they didn't seem to have a huge mandate to impose a global boycott on behalf on NZ actors.
MEAA, via the "Equity Trust" collect all residuals, super entitlements etc on behalf of Equity members, paying them out quarterly (if they can locate said performer). They have collected $49M of residuals in 7 years, so if their clip is 15%, it is a big money spinner. Locking in the Hobbit and future NZ/Jackson productions would have been a big coup.
So it was always just all about the money - in this case the MEAA gaining control of the money, like they do in Aussie.
(In addition Equity members pay a joining fee $235 and a weekly direct debit of $21 if they earn over $85K).
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There is no notice on the MEAA Australian website that the boycott has been lifted.