An updated chronology of the official press releases issued by the parties involved in The Hobbit dispute, as well as various onlookers. Once the dust is settled, there’ll be an Onfilm post mortem of this sorry episode, its conclusion and the implications thereof. If you note any relevant press releases regarding the imbroglio that are missing, then please drop me a line via nick@onfilm.co.nz, as I’d like to ensure this collection is not merely exhausting but exhaustive too. – Editor

President Jennifer Ward-Lealand expressed her gratitude on behalf of New Zealand performers for the Government’s leadership over the past two days toward negotiating a positive outcome with the studio executives and producers.
“We are pleased the Government was able to resolve the economic concerns of Warner Brothers and New Line. The film business is an internationally competitive one and it’s important New Zealand offers incentives that allow us to continue to build our world-renowned film industry.

Yesterday the Media Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA) issued a newsletter to its members, attempting to explain and justify the industrial action it initiated against The Hobbit. A number of statements made in this communication are mischievous, misleading or false.
At a time when SPADA was hoping trust and goodwill were restored, this communication is divisive and destructive.

“It was the first time a meeting was ever requested and it was clear from the letter, they had already voted to blacklist us, before even asking for one conversation with me. I am sick and tired of hearing Equity say ‘All we ever wanted was a meeting,’ because it’s disingenuous – they fail to add that from the outset, they had a gun to our head.”

Seeking a meeting with an employer to discuss employees’ contracts is a fair and reasonable request. This is all that was asked on the producers of The Hobbit. Their refusal to do so was unfortunate but Equity thanks all NZ members for staying strong and campaigning for the same types of terms and conditions enjoyed by performers around the world.

Helen Kelly, CTU President, said today that the industrial issues concerning the film industry were resolved at a meeting with SPADA last week.
“This established a path that guaranteed films commencing before 31st March next year would use the existing Pink Book and in that period a revised Pink Book would be agreed for subsequent films.”

Recent reports that the boycott of The Hobbit was lifted by unions a number of days ago and that Warner Bros asked to delay this announcement are false.
It was not until last night that we received confirmation of the retractions from SAG, NZ Equity and AFTRA through press reports. We are still awaiting retractions from the other guilds.

“These films can be made here”, said the Council of Trade Unions’ Helen Kelly. “Following a meeting last week, which included Hon Gerry Brownlee, good progress is being made on developing an industry standard through improving the content and form of the current ‘Pink Book’.
“NZ Performers want the movie made here as much as anyone, but let’s get all the facts on the table about taxes, subsidies, and other issues – rather than just blaming the union for asking to meet on basic terms and conditions.”

NZ Equity has called on the makers of the feature film The Hobbit to resolve the industrial issues surrounding the film through private good faith discussions.
“We have chosen, in a deliberate decision, to avoid the media fray on this. Negative comments don’t serve the primary objective of seeing the production made in New Zealand,” said Actors’ Equity New Zealand President Jennifer Ward-Lealand.

For your convenience, a chronology of the official press releases issued by the parties involved in The Hobbit dispute, as well as various industry onlookers. As of the morning of 4 October, there were apparently hopeful signs of an impending resolution. Fingers and all other appendages crossed, eh? – Editor

“The Hobbit is being punished with a boycott which is endangering thousands of NZ jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars of foreign income, for no good reason,” says Sir Peter Jackson.
“The MEAA’s campaign against The Hobbit has nothing to do with the way Wingnut Films has treated actors and everything to do with using The Hobbit to bring publicity to the MEAA’s cause.”

Dear Actors,
We have been Casting Directors in NZ for 22 years and are shocked and dismayed at the tactics being used by Australian Equity (MEAA) to jeopardize the production of The Hobbit. The idea that they are doing this for the benefit of actors is ignorant – this will only hurt NZ actors, the NZ film community and the NZ economy.

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, saying they 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 that they believe that in this case the allegations are baseless and unfair to Peter Jackson and his team in Wellington.

The action that MEAA/Equity is taking against The Hobbit is of major concern to the New Zealand film industry and potentially very damaging to New Zealand’s international reputation.
Here are the facts…

The Australian Labour Union, the MEAA is using our production The Hobbit in an attempt to widen it’s membership, and power within the New Zealand film industry. As a New Zealand filmmaker, who has nothing to hide or be ashamed about, I’m not going to see this threatening behaviour continue without some form of sensible discussion about the “facts” and “truth” behind their various allegations.