Politically Labour had to ensure the LOTR TV series was filmed here. Allowing National to paint Labour has Hobbit Haters was too politically damaging so David Parker was sent in to negotiate.
And what a deal David has cut.
$300million in corporate welfare to the richest man on the planet.
Yay?
Surely we could just spend $100million and divide it all amongst every actor in NZ to get the same type of economic benefit?
We may as well, as Matt Nippert has highlighted, much of the supposed economic benefits from this corporate welfare are mostly bullshit.
So a $300million subsidy to the richest man on the planet to film an Anglo-Saxon Aryan fantasy with dubious economic benefits? Sounds like a documentary of NZ artistic culture rather than a TV series detailing the trials and tribulations of a magical kingdom.
This outrageous corporate welfare really shouldn’t be happening but NZers self esteem is sadly woven into the LOTR mythology so much so that we see ourselves as the sleepy hobbits of muddle Nu Zilind with pride not self-reflection.
Let’s just hope it’s not as awful the Hobbit Trilogy.
LOTR is a series of books widely available for many years.
Jackson sets out to make money and a name for himself on the back of LOTR popularity.
John key is owned by the people who run the Hollywood propaganda machine
Dot Com found that out with illegal raids, stealing of equipment by off shore agencies under the PM’s protection. Nothing legal will be addressed under NZ law jk has seen to that.
Jackson gets into bed with these crooks and we pay.
Boycott LOTR and Jackson.
I thought I was living in a fantasy series the last couple weeks, an ultra nationalist cricket fantasy complete with super heroes, the forces of good over evil, media marketing bombardment and hype, and culminating today with TV breakfast hosts actually dancing in the studio in anticipation of the big win. It didn’t come, like a dropped catch, a dark book chapter, or worse taxpayers losing out to rich white guys, Williamson and Guptil aren’t superheroes or geniuses, cricket isn’t going to unite the universe, and NZ lost a cricket match. NZers would probably have the same feeling today after this most tragic cricket loss as they would if they lost hosting the LOTR world cup, except they would still have $300 million in their back pockets. Domestic violence will probably spike though, like after a lost rugby test, but it’s only sport, we’ll be fine. We loss the cricket battle but we will win the movie war.
Entertainment and spectacle at all costs. Like a dying Roman Empire
Sad but true–the Govt. did need to grease up the producers of LOTR TV series if they want to be re elected in 2020. ‘Hobbit Hater’ is a bad epithet indeed for politicians to attract in some sections of the NZ populace.
I still remember that reactionary rally of ‘his’ staff, which Lord Richard Taylor organised on a Labour Day! and the signs–“NZ IS Middle Earth” etc.
Treasured books from my youth–Hobbit, and LOTR– have been well trashed forever by Sir Jackson and the spinoff industry, maybe the pre history serious will be dead boring, lose money spectacularly, and kill the franchise for good.
Even Treasury has questioned the so called econimic benefits of the movie subsidies https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/370151/treasury-questions-subsidies-to-overseas-film-industry
Can i have a subsidy if i set up a lawn mowing business?? ( i come cheap , $500,000 will be enough)
Well if Catpain Picard was negotiating he would have solved it in a 2 part episode.
The Other Side wouldve capitulated after enduring a battering with one of his half hour long monolugue speeches
Personally, I think, as someone who works in the film industry at a ‘creative’ level sees [it] I see it as being this simple . ‘Production’ has hijacked the creative process. ‘Production’ has seen an opportunity to capitalise on, and exploit, that which is financially indefinable about any creative process. ( Art? To paraphrase. At once worthless yet essential. Was that Oscar Wilde? )
An example might be;
The Artist says: “Oh!? Look? I just painted a picture of a beautiful women with the hint of a smile while allowing the image to remain confident yet alluring! I’m very proud of that. ”
The producer says: “ What can we get for it? How much can we flog it off for? What’s my percentage? “
It would be my guess that peter jackson was surrounded by brilliant and creative people and he saw, in them, an opportunity to exploit that in them.
Raw human talent versus raw greed.
The terrifying thing for the creative us is that we see greed overwhelming us and our biosphere.
peter jackson is just another greedy exploiter. And that’s his talent. And who’s to say that’s wrong? We all need to survive. We all like to be paid for what we do best. The problems become apparent when imbalance becomes a dangerous wheel. The wheel that lacks balance will, ultimately, throw the cart from the road.
That’s why unions, that’s why democracy, that’s why we must vote.
Otherwise? ‘Production’ will dictate that art, per se, is more costly than it is profitable therefore art most never be encouraged because it’ll initially be a cost.
What’s put our wheel out of balance is our corrupt politic. Our politic is acting for and in accordance with a ‘production’ at the expense of the rest of us.
That’s why I think labour and the natzo’s are tag-teaming us.
In times of financial turmoil? Democracies always turn to the tax payer for bail outs. Funny that. The big, badass democracies are big all profit and aggression an’ shit for the big dollars but when trouble starts brewing ? Someone always says “ But how about a leg up from the private sector. ? “
Don’t know why you keep banging this drum because it is quite obvious that if a big production shoots here, we REBATE, not subsidise, a certain amount of the budget. Otherwise the $Billion-plus dollars get spent in some other country. Pretty simple maths.
Comes as no suprise. What does surprise me is much of the MSM painting the current Labour led govenment as Socialist and somehow caring……..
Still wont stop public from trotting out and voting for them come 2020.
Comments are closed.