Film maker Sir Peter Jackson is one of five of New Zealand’s most acclaimed artists honoured today for their extraordinary artistic achievements at the Arts Foundation’s prestigious Icon Awards…

Weta and HarperCollins Publishers have announced the upcoming release of the new book The Art of The Adventures of Tintin, with forewords by Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson…

Herge's boy detective comes to life in The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, directed by Steven Spielberg and produced by Peter Jackson, Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy…

The following is the text of the address that Minister of Broadcasting Jonathan Coleman made to the annual industry conference organised by producers’ organisation SPADA (Screen Production and Development Association) on 12 November.

Originally scheduled for late October, these meetings will be an opportunity to meet with NZFC Chair Patsy Reddy and CEO Graeme Mason to discuss the Jackson/Court Review and its influence on the direction of the NZFC. They will also be a chance to get together to celebrate the end of the year and look forward to 2011.
The new meeting times are…

The first two official images have been released for The Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn, which will in New Zealand cinemas on December 26 2011. Directed by Steven Spielberg and produced by Peter Jackson (they reverse their respective duties on the next installment of the Tintin trilogy), the film is a showcase for the design, motion capture and animation expertise of Weta Workshop and Weta Digital.

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

New Line, Warner Bros and MGM are pleased to have concluded successful discussions with the New Zealand government this past week. We’d like to thank Prime Minister Key, his Cabinet and the other dedicated New Zealand officials for their support and cooperation, which helped assuage our concerns and enabled us to keep The Hobbit in its proper home of New Zealand.

Filmmakers Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh stated today, “We are grateful to the Government for introducing legislation which shall give everyone in the film industry certainty as to their employment status. This clarification will provide much needed stability and reassurance for film workers as well as investors from within New Zealand and overseas.”

The clarification of the law relating to the contractor status of film workers will be a welcome move to give more certainty to production companies, said SPADA Chief Executive Penelope Borland. Most workers engaged by screen production companies in the New Zealand film industry had indicated they were reasonably happy with being engaged as contractors, with the advantages that brings in terms of expenses and taxation in New Zealand and it certainly makes sense for production companies who largely work on a project to project basis.

“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.”

On the day Warner Bros execs arrived in NZ to reportedly make the final decision about where the Lord Of The Rings prequels would be filmed, rallies organised in order to illustrate the desire of New Zealanders for the two Hobbit films to remain in this country were held in Wellington, Auckland, Christchurch, Hamilton, Queenstown, and Matamata.
At the Wellington event there were a number of speakers, including Richard Taylor, who read the following statement from Peter Jackson…

Martin Freeman (pictured), Richard Armitage, Rob Kazinsky, Aidan Turner, Graham McTavish, John Callen, Stephen Hunter, Mark Hadlow and Peter Hambleton have joined the ensemble cast of the The Hobbit, it was jointly announced today by Toby Emmerich, President and Chief Operating Officer, New Line Cinema; Alan Horn, President and Chief Operating Officer, Warner Bros.; Steve Cooper, co-Chief Executive Officer of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., and Peter Jackson.

All NZ filmmakers are invited to attend a meeting with NZFC Chair Patsy Reddy and CEO Graeme Mason to discuss the Jackson/Court Review and its influence on the direction of the NZFC.

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

Claims by Sir Peter Jackson that NZ Actors’ Equity is threatening the viability of The Hobbit in New Zealand are entirely within his hands to address, says President Jennifer Ward-Lealand.
“The Union is simply seeking an opportunity to sit down calmly with the producers to find a suitable solution,” she says.