What Cost To Keep THE HOBBIT In New Zealand?
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key made a lot of noise insisting that New Zealand wasn't going to engage in a bidding war to convince Warner Brothers to keep production of the The Hobbit in the country. Apparently by this he meant that the nation intended to simply hand the keys to the entire Kiwi film industry over to the company instead.
So, yes, The Hobbit will shoot in New Zealand. But how are Peter Jackson and the protesting masses going to feel about the terms that were agreed to to keep it there.
First there is the money. The New Zealand government have agreed to 'broaden' the terms of the government support scheme for high budget films, a move that should put an extra fifteen million dollars into Warner Brothers pockets for shooting there. That's fifteen million above what the already generous existing program would pay. And, bizarrely, the government is refusing to say exactly what this 'broadening' entails, saying that the changes in criteria are a "commercial secret" apparently available only to Warner Brothers. Read: This is not actually a change to the subsidy program but a one time payoff.
In addition to the fifteen million dollar payment New Zealand is also paying ten million dollars towards Warner Brothers' marketing costs of the film, justifying the payment as part of a "long term strategic partnership" to promote New Zealand as a tourist destination. So in terms of cash out of pocket, the government is paying an additional twenty five million dollars on top of the previously existing subsidies.
But where things get flat out ugly is in the non-financial part of the deal. Key has agreed to introduce new legislation to the New Zealand parliament, legislation expected to effectively block the possibility of the film industry in New Zealand unionizing. Yes, Warner Brothers is now dictating New Zealand labor policy and the government is playing along. This, to put it mildly, is distasteful in the extreme - both that Warners would have the nerve to ask it and that the government would allow a foreign corporation to dictate internal policy for profit. In a string of ugly, ill advised moves surrounding The Hobbit, this strikes me as the worst.
So, yes, The Hobbit will shoot in New Zealand. But how are Peter Jackson and the protesting masses going to feel about the terms that were agreed to to keep it there.
First there is the money. The New Zealand government have agreed to 'broaden' the terms of the government support scheme for high budget films, a move that should put an extra fifteen million dollars into Warner Brothers pockets for shooting there. That's fifteen million above what the already generous existing program would pay. And, bizarrely, the government is refusing to say exactly what this 'broadening' entails, saying that the changes in criteria are a "commercial secret" apparently available only to Warner Brothers. Read: This is not actually a change to the subsidy program but a one time payoff.
In addition to the fifteen million dollar payment New Zealand is also paying ten million dollars towards Warner Brothers' marketing costs of the film, justifying the payment as part of a "long term strategic partnership" to promote New Zealand as a tourist destination. So in terms of cash out of pocket, the government is paying an additional twenty five million dollars on top of the previously existing subsidies.
But where things get flat out ugly is in the non-financial part of the deal. Key has agreed to introduce new legislation to the New Zealand parliament, legislation expected to effectively block the possibility of the film industry in New Zealand unionizing. Yes, Warner Brothers is now dictating New Zealand labor policy and the government is playing along. This, to put it mildly, is distasteful in the extreme - both that Warners would have the nerve to ask it and that the government would allow a foreign corporation to dictate internal policy for profit. In a string of ugly, ill advised moves surrounding The Hobbit, this strikes me as the worst.
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