Helen Kelly, CTU President has met with Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh and we are hopeful that a meaningful dialogue between Equity, SPADA, and Three Foot Seven can be established.

Ends.

To view a copy of the standard Actors Feature Film Agreement which covers our colleagues in Australia, click here:

September 28, 2010

Jennifer Ward Lealand

President

New Zealand Actors Equity

195 Ponsonby Road

Ponsonby, Auckland

1011

New Zealand

Dear President Lealand:

On behalf of the 70,000 members of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA, AFL-CIO), I am very pleased to pledge our support for New Zealand Actors Equity in your efforts to secure union protections for performers engaged to work on “The Hobbit.”

We commend your courage in the face of tremendous resistance from the studios and employers who refuse to extend the basic benefits of a union contract to performers working in New Zealand. It is unjust and unfair, and we will stand beside you in your struggle against this injustice.

We promise that no matter where employers may threaten to move production of “The Hobbit” to avoid signing a union contract for performers, we will follow them. Union standards and protections should not, and must not, be limited by borders or geography. The leadership of AFTRA believes that union standards are basic human rights, so we are very proud to join with you, and our brothers and sisters in the international House of Labor, in this important endeavor.

In solidarity,

Roberta Reardon

National President, AFTRA

Vice President, AFL-CIO

Equity_Hobbit.pdf 

Click here

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.

“Advice we have received today from Miriam Dean QC, a senior barrister specialising in competition law, confirms our views that: 

• “There’s no legal impediment to negotiating fair wages and terms for actors taken on as employees.
• “Nothing in the Act prohibits us from having some meaningful engagement with the producers on non-price terms for actors taken on as independent contractors, such as rolling credits to acknowledge New Zealand actors' input into the movie.
• "Nor does the Act prohibit us from discussing pricing in general terms with the producers to enable us to help our independent contractor members in their individual negotiations with producers.  The Union accepts that these could only be recommended prices - nothing more.   

“Our members are simply seeking fair and equitable engagement terms for NZ actors, more in line with those that protect actors from Australia, the US or the UK who will be working on the production,” she says.

“I can assure the producers that our requirements are entirely reasonable. Many relate to basic conditions of engagement with no cost implications at all, and the overall impact of our demands is likely to be miniscule for a production of this scale.

“As we’ve been unable to secure a meeting with the production, Sir Peter does not yet have any idea of what we’re seeking.

“We urge him to meet with us as soon as possible to resolve this.

“With goodwill on both sides, we are confident the issue can be resolved quickly in the best interests of New Zealand and local performers.”

ENDS