Good news for the bunch in the land of the Kiwi, bad news for us Irish as Peter Jackson and co will be staying in New Zealand for the 2 Hobbit movies, which more or less brought the country to a halt. Besides the on-going MGM debacle, the big problem for Peter Jackson and his crew was that the unions issued a “don’t work on the Hobbit” memo to their members and then it really kicked off when Peter Jackson uttered the words “shoot outside New Zealand” and even when the crazy union “memo” was lifted, Jackson and Fran Walsh released an incredibly powerful statement. One of the big problems was the question of distinction between employees and independent contractors which was apparently unclear in New Zealand law (not that I’m an expert or anything). So, from a government point of view, the plan is to introduce new legislation to sort out that issue and for their trouble, an additional tax rebate of $7.5 million per movie is also being handed out!
New Zealanders took to the streets in large numbers and now, it’s official. The Hobbit will stay put. New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said “I am delighted we have achieved this result. Making the two Hobbit movies here will not only safeguard work for thousands of New Zealanders, but it will also follow the success of the Lord Of The Rings trilogy in once again promoting NZ on the world stage."
So now, can the Hobbit finally get under way? Fingers crossed. But hats off to the New Zealand government for tackling this head on and getting a positive outcome. Not that we would have minded having Peter Jackson in this part of the world for a few months. I had a nice selection of Arran Jumpers lined up to sell to the cast and crew! Oh well….
Via THR
