The Hobbit "Act": Post Production Chapter

Penny Tucker is a former Diplomat, and former director of a prominent Washington DC lobbying and trade policy consultancy. She is a published novelist and currently runs a company called Advocacy Works, which helps people navigate the unintended consequences of regulation.

Normally, kiwi diplomats around the world have to work hard to develop the kind of relationships that will result in someone picking up the phone and engaging when we need them. It’s fair to say that kiwi tourism officials everywhere work very hard to pitch New Zealand as a place to go - despite the intimidating distances involved with actually getting here. Likewise, our wine, dairy, fruit and meat industries invest countless resources in developing brand New Zealand in a competitive and cutthroat global marketplace where choosing our goods over those of another country is far from a fait accompli.

One industry has, almost inadvertently, done more to advance New Zealand’s reputation, global status and sheer “cool” factor than any other sector. Take a bow New Zealand film industry! A by-product of the incredible creativity, technical prowess, production ethic and brilliance of the people working in the film sector is that New Zealand has achieved a profile and presence that is almost inconceivably out of proportion with our actual size. Countries around the world are studying this and trying to emulate it. Competitors try to develop strategies to undermine us.

From what I can see, no one in the industry takes our track-record for granted. Those exploring new technologies and developing new ways to do things are relentlessly focused. Those improving and transforming the facilities and film infrastructure are literally pushing out the boundaries. Those working in and around the sets are innovators who make imagination real. And those who support the activities of the sector are providing ever more professional world-class services.

There are ups and downs and there always will be but the general trajectory is admirable.

Yet, ironically, the closest we’ve come to compromising the potential of this vividly dynamic sector… was of our own making. Well, with a side of thoroughly disingenuous Australian union jealousy.

Whether the so-called Hobbit Act was too much of a blunt instrument will be argued ad infinitum by the commentariat for longer than the unedited version of Gone With the Wind. But the fact remains that the film industry presents unique challenges in terms of employment etiquette and protocols. There are few sectors where specialists might only be able to work when they are needed for a short period of time. Or might be needed intermittently for months. Or when it’s raining, snowing or when puppies and horses are involved. Or during the few minutes of a day when the light is perfectly right. While actors sometimes pitch themselves as the cornerstone of all things film (and clearly their role is important), it is the thousands of technicians and specialists who really constitute the backbone of the industry.

That was why the Labour Party’s undertaking during the last election to review the Hobbit Law if elected, was greeted with abject concern by most in the film industry here and nothing but gleeful anticipation on the part of our foreign competitors. Snide observations in the Hollywood Reporter conveyed the sense that New Zealand’s time in the sun was soon to be beset by bad weather. Predictably, what was obviously a union-backed initiative conveyed no sense of how the Hobbit Act would be changed or if indeed it would be changed at all. And if there’s one thing that studios hate, it is ambiguity and uncertainty.

This was clearly a perplexing dilemma for Barrie Osborne, Oscar-winning producer for Lord of the Rings and someone who truly deserves, in my opinion, a knighthood for the sheer tenacity he has shown over the past 20 years in bringing lucrative film projects to New Zealand. He is an extraordinary man and New Zealand is terribly lucky to have him batting on our team. At the time he was talking to a studio about filming a very large production in New Zealand and the studio executives were getting extremely nervous about any uncertainty in regards to New Zealand’s employment laws, as was Sioux Macdonald, the Guild’s vice president and owner of Filmcrews.

What I know about the film industry can be written on the back of a movie ticket but I have spent the best part of a lifetime working on New Zealand’s interests overseas and, latterly, with companies and groups to mitigate the unintended consequences of regulation. The fallout caused by often well-meaning officials who have never had a job outside of Government, let alone a highly specialised job in a very precarious sector.

Just like a movie plot, things are often a lot more complicated and challenging on the ground than they look on an excellently drafted piece of paper. When the media highlighted the Government's pre-election promise to review the ‘Hobbit Law’, I offered, alongside Barrie and Sioux, to help navigate the legislation as to how the Guild best approach the new government to ensure freelancers could continue to choose to work as contractors or become employees on a case-by-case basis.

While ambassador to NZ in Canada, my husband and I hosted the Canadian premiere of a couple of the Hobbit films and we were both impressed by the phenomenal reaction the movies received. We would be fools to jeopardise what we have.

With production of a couple of upcoming huge international feature films hanging in the balance and the dust from the election barely settled, we went off to Wellington to meet with the new Minister of Workplace Relations, Iain Lees-Galloway. Joining the group was Brendon Durey who owns Film Effects Ltd, Unit Production Manager Brigitte Yorke, and Tony Johnson, Sound Recordist extraordinaire. Each offering compelling real-world experience to add to the exchange.

Having read the election material and observed the very pro-union, pro one-size-fits-all rhetoric of some prominent actors, we were braced for a difficult discussion. But it was not the case at all. The Minister clearly appreciated that the potential loss of massive projects like Mulan and Avatar, for example, would not be an ideal first announcement regarding the sector. Importantly, he listened to the reasons why it is so important for crews to be able to work with flexibility and to be contractors instead of employees if they choose to be.

His concern was that the original Act had been pushed through without due consultation and in a manner that didn’t afford people who wanted to be organised the potential to do so. He wanted to understand better the perspectives across the range of players in the industry and get a sense of where everyone stood. He was also candid in acknowledging that abolishing a policy without having a satisfactory replacement could result in studios going elsewhere.

There has been much talk of the endless working groups established by this Government. But in watching from the outside the way that the one Lees-Galloway designed was managed, I became intrigued by how useful the process was. Sioux was able to explain why the crews she represents want to work in a particular way given the structure of their input into the industry. Similarly, the actors put their position on the table – as did directors, producers, stunt folk, and a number of other groups invested in the industry.

What started off as a group of people with fairly defensive positions, ended up being a constructive and collaborative group which has resulted in everyone having a far better understanding of respective positions and an appreciation of the fact that what works for some, could easily result in no work at all for others. This can, in large part, be attributed to facilitator Linda Clark whose thoughtful and methodical handling of everyone involved was utterly professional.

So where have things been left? With a policy result that is far from the blanket changes that were floated before the election. With a nuanced set of guidelines that offer choice while enabling key groups within the sector to provide the sort of assurances that are required by entities who may be sinking hundreds of millions of dollars into a project. But, most of all, with an industry whose related but separate components have a far greater understanding of the disparate parts of the whole. All in all, not a bad outcome.