The public response to yesterday's events has made it clear that this situation is as confusing to many as it is potentially disastrous. In response, I'd like to very quickly address what seem to be some of the most common misconceptions floating around out there in the comments, both here and around the blogosphere.
Q: Do the actors have a valid dispute?
A: Yes, but not with the production company 3' 7", or with Wingnut Films. Their claims regarding conditions lie in employment law and should have been taken up with SPADA and the Department of Labour. This could have been done long ago. An opportunity to do so was presented to Actors' Equity 18 months ago, but they chose not to at the insistence of the MEAA's Simon Whipp, who advised them to "wait until The Hobbit".
Q. Should Sir Peter Jackson have met with actors to discuss terms?
A. No. To do so under our current labour laws would have been illegal.
Q. Can't they just cast around the boycott?
A. I'm no casting director, but the answer to that is no. It's not that simple. The more important point is that the damage the boycott has done to this production in particular and also to New Zealand's reputation as a stable place to invest in film projects has been catastrophic.
Q: Does Sir Peter Jackson have a secret agenda to take the production offshore because it's cheaper?
A: Absolute nonsense. Anyone who has worked in Wellington over the past ten years or more knows that a tremendous amount of money has been re-invested by Wingnut Films into the services and infrastructure required for Wellington to offer world-class film studios, post-production facilities, and everything that goes with it, not to mention keeping hundreds of people employed both during filming of larger projects and in the downtime. Everything Jackson needs is here, and it won't come any cheaper taking it elsewhere.
Q. Do the studios have a secret agenda to take the production offshore?
A. The studios have every right to protect their investment. If the risk seems to high to spend their money here, then it makes business sense to take it elsewhere. That's the hard reality of multi-million dollar industries.
Q. Aren't the studios just trying to gouge a bigger tax cut from the Government?
A. Perhaps. According to Sir Peter, they have never asked for one. According to Gerry Brownlee, they have not asked for one. Remember, up until the industrial action was started four weeks ago, there was no discussion about this project going offshore. Not being a studio exec, I can't answer that.
Q. This is just about a rich greedy man getting richer and greedier. (Not exactly a question, but a blatant case of Tall Poppy syndrome that this country has suddenly developed for a man who was our hero not that long ago.)
A. First off, Sir Peter Jackson is anything but greedy, as anyone who knows him and has worked with him will agree. Secondly, yes, he is wealthy, and he has earned every cent of that money through years and years of hard work. If anyone else out there has built a film-making empire from the ground up out of practically nothing, has gone on to bring millions of dollars into our country to feed down into the pockets of ordinary New Zealanders, has created thousands of jobs, has generated billions of dollars in tourism income and created a cultural phenomenon whereby our country is now recognised as a mythical place where dreams can be made reality, then you have a right to criticise whether or not Peter has the right to spend money. If not, then keep it to yourself.
Q. Will losing The Hobbit really be that damaging to our film industry?
A. Yes. The reputation we have as a stable and safe country to bring large jobs to will be gone. Investors will not have confidence that their money is secure and will choose to take it elsewhere. Even the low-budget end of our market is cushioned by the influx of big-budget work - it allows suppliers and technicians to work for lower rates to see projects shot because they love working on them and want to see them made. Without the big-budget work, the low-budget industry will shrivel on the vine as well.
Q. What else can be done? What needs to happen now?
A. That is, of course, the multi-million dollar question. Robyn Malcolm's public renouncement of the boycott last night on TV3 and the assurances that there will be no industrial action taken during this job are good to hear, but just may be too little too late. The damage has been done. The one person who should be stepping forward to take responsibility for this fiasco is Simon Whipp, who refuses to answer questions or to face up the media or the people whose lives he is destroying. Whipp advised Actors' Equity to wait until The Hobbit before starting their dispute action, he has openly stated that he sees this film as an opportunity to unionise the entire NZ film industry, it is his influence that has precipitated this whole affair. This is not wild speculation, it is basic analysis of the MEAA's openly declared intentions and the actions Whipp has taken, regardless of the actual law in this country, to derail a project that represents the life or death of our industry. Whipp needs to face up and bear some responsibility for what he has done. Actors' Equity need to break their ties with the MEAA until that Australian union takes its nose out of our business.
We don't need a unionised industry in this country. We have managed quite well for plenty long enough, thank you very much, and barring that one rogue case of a disgruntled contractor who disputed his employment status with Wingnut a couple of years back, I don't know a single technician who would rather be an employee than a contractor in this industry. Yes, there are some incongruities in the current law that need to be addressed, but the proper place for that is in a review committee with public consultation, the way we handle all issues of law in this country, not in this untenable game of brinksmanship that does nothing but play into the hands of our nearest competitor.
And, of course, this country needs to show Warners and the world that we want this film here. We already know we have the talent and the motivation. Apparently there are going to be public demonstrations in all the major centres next week, though details on that are still murky. Check out this Facebook page.
Keep spreading the word, keep making a noise.We won't go quietly.
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Showing posts with label Film Industry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Film Industry. Show all posts
Friday, October 22, 2010
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Best EVER Mashed Potato
Back in the day I used to work on film sets. No, not nearly as much fun as it might sound. No, I can't get a job with Peter Jackson, so don't ask.
Getting back to the topic, there is one thing that I will always remember fondly about working in film, and that is the catering. Well, not always. Certain jobs spring to mind and make me shudder, but for the most part, I remember being pretty well fed on most jobs.
The thing that amazed me most, however, was how excited people got when there was mashed potato on the menu.
People! I would say. It's mashed potato, for crying out loud! I would say.
It was only then that I realised how lucky I had been to have a mum who dished us up mashed potato on a fairly regular basis. As it turns out, a good old ladelful of mashed spud was a right royal treat for most people who weren't me.
Of course, as you can imagine, there are varying degrees of deliciousness to mashed spud. And over the years I've picked up a few little extras that tip the humble mashed spud over into the divine.
What a few film techs wouldn't give to eat dinner at my house one night!
World's Best Ever Mashed Potato
(Serves 4)
200g Boiling Potatoes, peeled and cut into 2cm cubes
1 large Kumera, peeled and diced as above
1/2 an onion, chopped
1/4 C Colby Cheese, grated
Freshly Ground Pepper and Salt
Milk
Butter
Rinse the potatoes and kumera, then add fresh water and salt and place on a high heat to boil.
Meanwhile, fry up your onion and set aside (I did this first, as I then used the pan to cook some lovely lamb sausages - but I digress).
When the potatoes are cooked, and simply fall apart when you poke them with a fork, remove from the heat and drain the water off. If you want to keep a gluten-free thickener on hand, I recommend reserving this water and freezing it to add to soups or stocks later.
Add a knob of butter and a dash of milk to the potato, about 3T. Mix in.
Add the cooked onion and go wild with the fork. No flash equipment is required here, not even a potato masher. A humble old fork and a speedy wrist are all that's required to whip your spuds up to a creamy lather.
If it seems a bit dry, add a bit more milk until it flows freely through the tines.
Add the grated cheese and a little seasoning of pepper, and whip the cheese in.
Dish up in a ragged swirl in the centre of the plate. You will find there is no better accompaniment for gravy in the whole wide world.
Getting back to the topic, there is one thing that I will always remember fondly about working in film, and that is the catering. Well, not always. Certain jobs spring to mind and make me shudder, but for the most part, I remember being pretty well fed on most jobs.
The thing that amazed me most, however, was how excited people got when there was mashed potato on the menu.
People! I would say. It's mashed potato, for crying out loud! I would say.
It was only then that I realised how lucky I had been to have a mum who dished us up mashed potato on a fairly regular basis. As it turns out, a good old ladelful of mashed spud was a right royal treat for most people who weren't me.
Of course, as you can imagine, there are varying degrees of deliciousness to mashed spud. And over the years I've picked up a few little extras that tip the humble mashed spud over into the divine.
What a few film techs wouldn't give to eat dinner at my house one night!
World's Best Ever Mashed Potato
(Serves 4)
200g Boiling Potatoes, peeled and cut into 2cm cubes1 large Kumera, peeled and diced as above
1/2 an onion, chopped
1/4 C Colby Cheese, grated
Freshly Ground Pepper and Salt
Milk
Butter
Rinse the potatoes and kumera, then add fresh water and salt and place on a high heat to boil.
Meanwhile, fry up your onion and set aside (I did this first, as I then used the pan to cook some lovely lamb sausages - but I digress).
When the potatoes are cooked, and simply fall apart when you poke them with a fork, remove from the heat and drain the water off. If you want to keep a gluten-free thickener on hand, I recommend reserving this water and freezing it to add to soups or stocks later. 
Add a knob of butter and a dash of milk to the potato, about 3T. Mix in. 
Add the cooked onion and go wild with the fork. No flash equipment is required here, not even a potato masher. A humble old fork and a speedy wrist are all that's required to whip your spuds up to a creamy lather. 
If it seems a bit dry, add a bit more milk until it flows freely through the tines. 
Add the grated cheese and a little seasoning of pepper, and whip the cheese in. 
Dish up in a ragged swirl in the centre of the plate. You will find there is no better accompaniment for gravy in the whole wide world.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Ultimate Home-Made Beef Burgers
Things seem to have been a bit slow around here lately, and if you suspected that was because I had been abducted by aliens, you'd be wrong. *Phew!*
I've had my hands pretty full over the past few weeks, particularly with prepping and shooting another two days of The Winding City (which I've previously posted about here). We shot over the last two Sundays, and that doesn't leave much time on the weekend for the important stuff like hanging out with the family or posting to my blog.
I've also been making more of an effort to spend time writing fiction, which has meant that I haven't been allocating so much time to Freshly Ground. But the camera keeps coming out in both our kitchen and in the kitchens of unsuspecting friends and relatives. I have PILES of photos and recipes to get through, so hang in there.
We're also going to be away for a couple of weeks very soon, but I'll future-post a few items to cover that time, just for you.
Moving right along, we often have the discussion that it's just not worth buying takeout burgers because even the Big Guys (Like BK, McDs, and even Burger Fuel) can't make as good a burger as the ones we make at home. Then we sometimes have the discussion that even though we make great burgers at home, occasionally we don't have three hours to bake bread and half an hour to make fresh meat patties, fry them and grill them. But when we do, Oh Boy!!
World's Best Homemade Burgers
Firstly, put on some bread dough, using the same failsafe recipe that I use for my pizza bases and loaves of bread (it looks like I might've added some dried herbs to these ones too). Shape these into buns about half the size of your fist, set to rise for an hour and bake at 200C for 18 minutes.
For the patties, mix up the following:
200g Beef Mince
Freshly Ground Salt and Pepper
1 Large Free Range Egg
1 T Worcester Sauce
1/2 t Paprika
1/2 t Dried Mixed Herbs
1 t Mustard Powder
2 T Potato Starch
(To make these Gluten Free, just leave out the Worcester Sauce)
Shape into patties using a couple of spoons drenched in flour, and lay on a floured plate until you're ready to start cooking (for Gluten Free, use a GF baking mix for this step).
Fry the patties for about 10 mins on each side in hot rice bran oil, with a chopped onion cooking around the sides of the pan.
Place a slice of cheese on top of each patty for the last 8 mins of cooking, to melt.
Slice the buns, butter and dress with mayonnaise, sauce, relish, sour cream, aioli, or whatever you prefer, and layer in lettuce, tomato slices, a beef patty, cucumber slices, and beetroot. And when you're done with that lot, ask yourself why you would ever want a Big Mac again.
I've had my hands pretty full over the past few weeks, particularly with prepping and shooting another two days of The Winding City (which I've previously posted about here). We shot over the last two Sundays, and that doesn't leave much time on the weekend for the important stuff like hanging out with the family or posting to my blog.
I've also been making more of an effort to spend time writing fiction, which has meant that I haven't been allocating so much time to Freshly Ground. But the camera keeps coming out in both our kitchen and in the kitchens of unsuspecting friends and relatives. I have PILES of photos and recipes to get through, so hang in there.
We're also going to be away for a couple of weeks very soon, but I'll future-post a few items to cover that time, just for you.
Moving right along, we often have the discussion that it's just not worth buying takeout burgers because even the Big Guys (Like BK, McDs, and even Burger Fuel) can't make as good a burger as the ones we make at home. Then we sometimes have the discussion that even though we make great burgers at home, occasionally we don't have three hours to bake bread and half an hour to make fresh meat patties, fry them and grill them. But when we do, Oh Boy!!
World's Best Homemade Burgers
Firstly, put on some bread dough, using the same failsafe recipe that I use for my pizza bases and loaves of bread (it looks like I might've added some dried herbs to these ones too). Shape these into buns about half the size of your fist, set to rise for an hour and bake at 200C for 18 minutes. 
For the patties, mix up the following:200g Beef Mince
Freshly Ground Salt and Pepper
1 Large Free Range Egg
1 T Worcester Sauce
1/2 t Paprika
1/2 t Dried Mixed Herbs
1 t Mustard Powder
2 T Potato Starch
(To make these Gluten Free, just leave out the Worcester Sauce)
Shape into patties using a couple of spoons drenched in flour, and lay on a floured plate until you're ready to start cooking (for Gluten Free, use a GF baking mix for this step).
Fry the patties for about 10 mins on each side in hot rice bran oil, with a chopped onion cooking around the sides of the pan. Place a slice of cheese on top of each patty for the last 8 mins of cooking, to melt.
Slice the buns, butter and dress with mayonnaise, sauce, relish, sour cream, aioli, or whatever you prefer, and layer in lettuce, tomato slices, a beef patty, cucumber slices, and beetroot. And when you're done with that lot, ask yourself why you would ever want a Big Mac again.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Half-Life Indie Short gets my big Thumbs-Up!
Whether you're a fan of sci-fi movies or TV shows, or just great shoot-em-up computer games, or want to see just how great a no-budget indie film can really be if you work at it hard enough, you really have to check out this video.
On a budget of just $500 Canadian, the Purchase Brothers have stormed the scene with an unlicensed - but subsequently wholly embraced - short flick set in the Half-Life Computer game world. Great fun, and leaves us hanging for more.
May these guys go on to bigger and brighter things!
Also, check out this interview with the co-creator, David Purchase.
On a budget of just $500 Canadian, the Purchase Brothers have stormed the scene with an unlicensed - but subsequently wholly embraced - short flick set in the Half-Life Computer game world. Great fun, and leaves us hanging for more.
May these guys go on to bigger and brighter things!
Also, check out this interview with the co-creator, David Purchase.
Monday, December 1, 2008
So It Goes
Have you ever walked into the bank and had to wait at the back of a long line for what seems like an interminably long time, and then when you're done at the teller and you turn around to leave, there's not another body to be seen? It's like you were the end of the rush, and with your departure, the staff will all lapse into relaxation and levity that the customers just never see. I dunno.
That's how I felt today when I popped into the bank to deposit a cheque and put a PIN on my card, both of which were the results of actions which prove that people are about as fallible as they are thoughtless: The cheque was from the SPCA, who refunded us the money we paid to adopt Lucy, except that they overpaid us by $150.00. So to save them the $25.00 fee for cancelling the cheque and issuing a new one, I'll take the difference back to them once the cheque clears. Someone apparently sent the accountant an email telling her that was how much she was meant to refund, and we are not the sort of people to unjustly keep funds from a charitable organisation due to a clerical error.
So I found myself at the bank, where I got to right an error of my own; a while ago, they sent me out a brand new card with the PIN loaded on it already. Ever the paragon of efficiency, I duly took my old card and chopped it in half. Then I realised that I had not in fact cut up the old card, but the new card. Er... So I had a new card issued, and it arrived without a PIN in it, so it's been floating around in my wallet for two months; absolutely useless. Until now. This is all quite fascinating, I'm sure, and you're asking, is there a deep and sobering point to be made about all this? Being left behind, maybe, or the gradual demise of the brain that clearly occurs when something starts to happen...
Yes, it has started. On Saturday I was brushing my teeth (this story just keeps getting better, doesn't it?) when I spied an anomoly on my lush scalp of dark brown hair. While I wept gently, my lovely Dessert Chef reassured me with the solemn platitude of "it's not grey, honey, its just a hair that's lost its pigmentation."
So it has begun. Will my sharpness be replaced by the pigment-less silver of aged wisdom? Will I finally stop getting asked for ID when I pick up a bottle of wine at the supermarket? Will people stop mistaking me for a fresh-faced teenager out of his depth in his field, and instead recognise a greying master of his craft, fully deserving of the accolades heaped upon him (mostly by himself, but heaped nonetheless).
Sometimes, then, you have to do things that make you feel young again. Some people enter triathlons, others find a new girlfriend. Me, I got back into something I haven't done since I could seriously say I was young. It's been almost 2 years since I actually worked onset (as a Film Lighting Technician), and probably 6 years since I worked for free on a job with no money in it.
Before I started working professionally as a Lighting Tech towards the end of LOTR, I had been a prolific writer/producer/director of short films, all of the no-budget variety. I had thought that when I got into the real world of film work I would develop a network that would help me take my no-budget projects to another level. As it turned out, it wasn't long before I was too tired to work on my own things, and then I was too jaded to work for free. Eight years passed.
Then someone I don't know, but who knows someone I know, asked me to look over a script he was working on. In a fairly short space of time I went from Script Consultant to Consulting Producer to First Assistant Director, as well as Gaffer. On Sunday we shot the first day of what will be a few sporadic shooting days over the next couple of months. It was a pretty full-on day, but it came together well. Truth be told, I was dreading having to work with a largely inexperienced crew on what seemed like an overly ambitious script, but I guess too many years of playing the professional game had diminished for me the memory of just how well a bunch of people who are really keen can actually be more productive than a handful of cynical, jaded professional film techs, especially when guided by someone who knows what they're doing.
It surprises me to say it, but I had fun. The crew and cast gave the day thier all, and not only did we shoot the schedule, we got an extra 2 pages shot and we were wrapped out almost an hour before my scheduled wrap time. Nice work, all of you. It's refreshing to have one's faith in the bottom end of the market restored. If all goes well, this keen and talented band won't be at the bottom end of the market for long.
Was I meant to tie this in with those bank stories and the tragedy of finding a grey hair? Oh well. I have a letter to write (And so should you).
That's how I felt today when I popped into the bank to deposit a cheque and put a PIN on my card, both of which were the results of actions which prove that people are about as fallible as they are thoughtless: The cheque was from the SPCA, who refunded us the money we paid to adopt Lucy, except that they overpaid us by $150.00. So to save them the $25.00 fee for cancelling the cheque and issuing a new one, I'll take the difference back to them once the cheque clears. Someone apparently sent the accountant an email telling her that was how much she was meant to refund, and we are not the sort of people to unjustly keep funds from a charitable organisation due to a clerical error.
So I found myself at the bank, where I got to right an error of my own; a while ago, they sent me out a brand new card with the PIN loaded on it already. Ever the paragon of efficiency, I duly took my old card and chopped it in half. Then I realised that I had not in fact cut up the old card, but the new card. Er... So I had a new card issued, and it arrived without a PIN in it, so it's been floating around in my wallet for two months; absolutely useless. Until now. This is all quite fascinating, I'm sure, and you're asking, is there a deep and sobering point to be made about all this? Being left behind, maybe, or the gradual demise of the brain that clearly occurs when something starts to happen...
Yes, it has started. On Saturday I was brushing my teeth (this story just keeps getting better, doesn't it?) when I spied an anomoly on my lush scalp of dark brown hair. While I wept gently, my lovely Dessert Chef reassured me with the solemn platitude of "it's not grey, honey, its just a hair that's lost its pigmentation."
So it has begun. Will my sharpness be replaced by the pigment-less silver of aged wisdom? Will I finally stop getting asked for ID when I pick up a bottle of wine at the supermarket? Will people stop mistaking me for a fresh-faced teenager out of his depth in his field, and instead recognise a greying master of his craft, fully deserving of the accolades heaped upon him (mostly by himself, but heaped nonetheless).
Sometimes, then, you have to do things that make you feel young again. Some people enter triathlons, others find a new girlfriend. Me, I got back into something I haven't done since I could seriously say I was young. It's been almost 2 years since I actually worked onset (as a Film Lighting Technician), and probably 6 years since I worked for free on a job with no money in it.
Before I started working professionally as a Lighting Tech towards the end of LOTR, I had been a prolific writer/producer/director of short films, all of the no-budget variety. I had thought that when I got into the real world of film work I would develop a network that would help me take my no-budget projects to another level. As it turned out, it wasn't long before I was too tired to work on my own things, and then I was too jaded to work for free. Eight years passed.
Then someone I don't know, but who knows someone I know, asked me to look over a script he was working on. In a fairly short space of time I went from Script Consultant to Consulting Producer to First Assistant Director, as well as Gaffer. On Sunday we shot the first day of what will be a few sporadic shooting days over the next couple of months. It was a pretty full-on day, but it came together well. Truth be told, I was dreading having to work with a largely inexperienced crew on what seemed like an overly ambitious script, but I guess too many years of playing the professional game had diminished for me the memory of just how well a bunch of people who are really keen can actually be more productive than a handful of cynical, jaded professional film techs, especially when guided by someone who knows what they're doing.
It surprises me to say it, but I had fun. The crew and cast gave the day thier all, and not only did we shoot the schedule, we got an extra 2 pages shot and we were wrapped out almost an hour before my scheduled wrap time. Nice work, all of you. It's refreshing to have one's faith in the bottom end of the market restored. If all goes well, this keen and talented band won't be at the bottom end of the market for long.
Was I meant to tie this in with those bank stories and the tragedy of finding a grey hair? Oh well. I have a letter to write (And so should you).
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