Cutting off their noses

Chalk up a victory to the Australian-based union Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance. There will be no non-union labour involved in the shooting of the Sir Peter Jackson movie The Hobbit when it starts production whenever it starts production.

That's because it's now almost inevitable that The Hobbit will not be filmed in New Zealand as the Herald reports:

The producers of The Hobbit movie say they are considering filming the J R R Tolkien adaptation elsewhere after an actors' union called for a boycott of the film.

The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) said makers of The Hobbit had refused to enter into a union-negotiated agreement and advised members not to accept work on the project because actors may be employed on inferior non-union contracts.

New Line, Warner Bros Pictures and MGM, said in a statement today their general policy was to avoid filming in locations where "there is a potential for work force uncertainty or other forms of instability".

"As such, we are exploring all alternative options in order to protect our business interests."

Well done MEAA. By adopting the hard-line approach that you have taken, you've cost dozens of actors the chance to work of a hugely significant movie, and possibly dealt a fatal blow to the New Zealand film industry. We can only surmise that MEAA's head honchos have been to the same classes in How Not To Win Friends And Influence People as the executive of NZEI.

Ah well; they probably didn't like their noses anyway ...