I am Sorry New Zealanders but . . .

[Todd-'o'-Vision]

. . . your independant film circuit is pretty seriously fucked in the head.

Seriously, I went to the Video store for a weekend of horror and fright flicks and picked up a little dity i thought would be nice "Dark Stories: Tales From Beyond The Grave"

Its a serious of short indy "horror" flicks and its pretty fucked up shit, I can't even begin to describe it, its that fucked up.

Seriously though what kind of drugs do you guys/gals have going on over there, cause yoiur indy producers put out some really whcaked shit. and I think I need what they are taking in order to get what they are trying to give out here.

 

[Debbie]

Todd, dahlink it's the fresh air here that does it. Purely intoxicating. And the grass mon, the grass is so green.

Come visit us, it's contagious.

 

[callableborg]

film

Whole point of alternate film is that it is different-soft spoken, like some new language.

Fact re. NZ is that if the end of the world ever rolls around NZ will probably be spared. i.e. wipe out NZ? Too much hassle.

Best course of action - avoid video stores and be nice to NZ types on the net.

 

[Debbie]

Re: film

Whole point of alternate film is that it is different-soft spoken, like some new language.

Fact re. NZ is that if the end of the world ever rolls around NZ will probably be spared. i.e. wipe out NZ? Too much hassle.

Best course of action - avoid video stores and be nice to NZ types on the net.

Yeah, I hear them kiwi's be a crazy bunch. Nutters the whole lot of 'em. And living at the end of the world?

Careful where you wander. I hear them New Zealanders are lurking all over the damn world.

http://www.plokta.com/plokta/issue17/crazy.htm

 

[callableborg]

film etc.

Point. If you live outside NY/LA/LON you are delegated as provincial/backward. NZ is the extreme case of this due to its geographical isolation.

I live in Canada and get what it means to be 'out of the loop'.
I'm quite happy to be out of the loop but when I see local culture being degraded I get a little upset.

No idea really what NZ film makers are up to but I don't like to see them brushed off as loonie- cases. Technology defers creative expression away from the cultural centres and should be respected as such.

Aologies to debbiexxx. Thanks.

 

[kiwiwolf]

Most Kiwi film makers are a sandwhich or two short of as picnic. Take Peter Jackson for example. He actually thought he might have a hit movie with Lord of the Rings. Damned fool.

 

[T.H. Oughts]

Seriously though what kind of drugs do you guys/gals have going on over there,

All kinds of groveyyyy shit man. Don't come close right now I got that munchies real bad..... Hell that stallion down in the back paddock even looks real good right now.......

 

[Draco]

Jealousy will get you no-where Toddo...we really do live like Once Were Warrior's and most of us are Brain-Dead. And wookie thinks he is The Lord Of The Ring....

 

[nzwookie]

Jealousy will get you no-where Toddo...we really do live like Once Were Warrior's and most of us are Brain-Dead. And wookie thinks he is The Lord Of The Ring....

I am the Lord of Everyring and dont you forget it.

 

[nzwookie]

Lest we forget.....MEET THE FEEBLES !!!

Truely a classic.....

 

[Debbie]

Re: film etc.

Point. If you live outside NY/LA/LON you are delegated as provincial/backward. NZ is the extreme case of this due to its geographical isolation.

I live in Canada and get what it means to be 'out of the loop'.
I'm quite happy to be out of the loop but when I see local culture being degraded I get a little upset.

No idea really what NZ film makers are up to but I don't like to see them brushed off as loonie- cases. Technology defers creative expression away from the cultural centres and should be respected as such.

Aologies to debbiexxx. Thanks.

No apologies necessary. But thank you, I appreciate it.
Us, kiwi's? None of us claim normality, in fact we embrace our
crazy mentality. *grin*

Todd was yanking our chains, no harm meant on his behalf.
He's pretty cool, just don't tell him I said so. *grin*

We do ourselves proud for a small country. Not just in the film industry but in so many other ways.

Peter Jackson
(Lord of the Rings/The Frighteners/Bad Taste/Heavenly Creatures/Dead Alive/ Meet the Feebles/ Forgotten Silver)

Lee Tamahori
(Once were Warriors/Die Another Day- latest Bond movie-/Along Came a Spider/Mulholland Falls/The Edge)

Roger Donaldson
(Sleeping Dogs/ No way out/Cocktail/Cadillac Man/The Getaway)


I love living in Middle Earth.

 

[Todd-'o'-Vision]

I apologize to all New Zealanders, I did not mean any harm to your country, I just could not make sense of any of these short films/

I hold no aninimity toward your country, Canada has put out some pretty disturbung shit as well.

Ever hear of Anne of Greene Gables? what was Lucy thinking when she wrote that thing. Our indy films are even worse.

 

[T.H. Oughts]

I apologize to all New Zealanders, I did not mean any harm to your country, I just could not make sense of any of these short films/

You are cool Todd, every country puts out rubbish from time to time.

Now where did I put my stash.. damn i left it out back in the long drop next to the generator....

 

[badasschick]

Re: film etc.

Point. If you live outside NY/LA/LON you are delegated as provincial/backward. NZ is the extreme case of this due to its geographical isolation.

I live in Canada and get what it means to be 'out of the loop'.
I'm quite happy to be out of the loop but when I see local culture being degraded I get a little upset.

two words.
runaway production

Main culprits: AUS. NZ and oh yes, CAN


It happens to be a constant threat to my livelyhood.

Hijacking the loop, yes. Out of the loop, no.



Flame away at will.

 

[T.H. Oughts]

Re: Re: film etc.

two words.
runaway production
Main culprits: AUS. NZ and oh yes, CAN
It happens to be a constant threat to my livelyhood.
Hijacking the loop, yes. Out of the loop, no.
Flame away at will.

Not quite sure what you were trying to say then. Can you re-word that please.

 

[callableborg]

badasschick

Not employed in the business myself, work in an auto parts plant.

As far as hijacking goes there is a factor of that here. I know that in Toronto and Vancouver there are production facilities on the feature film/TV series level. These were funded originally by the Federal government as a counterweight to 'domination of American culture' but I'm not sure exactly what they are doing now or who even owns them.

As far as I know if the Canadian $ is low some hollywood type production moves north as production here becomes cheaper. This certainly does look like hijacking although I am unaware of the persons or mechanics involved.

 

[badasschick]

Re: Re: Re: film etc.

Not quite sure what you were trying to say then. Can you re-word that please.

Some fine films come from these places but, it has gotten to the point where your governments make it so attractive to make a movie there i.e. tax breaks, cheaper labor, amnesty from union policy etc. that persons like myself have to either go to these countries to work, and get our asses taxed to all kinds of hell to the point where we take a loss just to be employed. Or not be employed at all. This reality isn't so true for those Aussies, Kiwis or Canadians who work here.

In the current climate of motion picture production, I would never say that these countries are out of the loop. Considering about 1/3 of the biggest grossers of last year excluding animation were produced in these 3 countries.

The growing list of projects being filmed in either AUS, NZ or CAN is enough to make me do what some of my colleagues have done, which is to move to the aforementioned countries and become citizens, just to have work.

e.g.
Scooby Doo
Matrix Reloaded
SW ep 2
X2
...all sure to be or are high B.O. grossing films with crews and talent other than principals native to those countries. Seriously, check the overdubbs on some of the featured extras with lines. During that last strike threat, I was seriously contemplating moving to Canada.



I have nothing against the fine people of these countries, but c'mon fair is fair. Why can't your govenments conform to the same standards that are here in the US? Level the playing field, so to speak?

That's why I say hijacking the loop. Such countries have no place to say that they are disrespected as players in the industry.

Flame on!

 

[T.H. Oughts]

Re: Re: Re: Re: film etc.

Some fine films come from these places but, it has gotten to the point where your governments make it so attractive to make a movie there i.e. tax breaks, cheaper labor, amnesty from union policy etc. that persons like myself have to either go to these countries to work, and get our asses taxed to all kinds of hell to the point where we take a loss just to be employed.

Why can't your govenments conform to the same standards that are here in the US? Level the playing field, so to speak?

That's why I say hijacking the loop. Such countries have no place to say that they are disrespected as players in the industry.

Flame on!

Yes we do make it attractive for the USA industry to come here and make movies. Maybe the USA industry has to look also at some of the rediculous prices it charges for allowing locations to be used there etc. I know many Kiwis in the industry are still making mega money and still not charging what their oppisites do in the USA. We are not selling ourselves short or selling our souls to have the industry start using our country.

Many Kiwis have to move to the USA to make a living from acting.

Think of the Xena TV series, it would not of been the same made in the Hollywood hills.

Think of the senery you saw in LOR. You could not find all that within a few miles of each other in the USA. New Zealand has a weath of country side that has not been flogged to death like the lands of the USA have. Keeping things fresh is also what it is all about.

P.S. When the USA starts playing on a level playing field then I'm sure the rest of the world will in all apsects of economy.

 

[callableborg]

film/Canada

O.K. one third of biggest grossers sounds pretty serious.

The government of Canada has a very long track record for deliberately tilting the playing field in Canada's favor. In the 50's it set up the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. {CBC} to provide a national TV/radio system to offset the intrusion of US commercial networks i.e. ABC/NBC/CBS. Was supposed to be non-commercial but soon got co-opted as can recall seeing US programmes as a kid with commercials intact.

Canadian radio stations are required by law to have a certain percentage of air time as 'Canadian content'.

When the government issues licences for new TV or radio stations Canadian ownership and content are primary considerations.

The federal government actually has a whole ministry, called the 'Heritage' ministry, whose job is to protect canadian culture and dole out money to worthy parties.

The government may not be exactly what you would call 'activist' but it has one fetish on 'culture'.

Probably what has happened here is that production has been set up to create a canadian film industry but the facilities have been co-opted to provide an artificial, low cost, alternative to other production areas. I'm sure, as I said in my first post, that productions here decline as the Can$ goes up. Really crazy situation as the value of currency has nothing whatever to do with films.

 

[badasschick]

Location is one thing, but hiring production staff is a totally different ball of wax.

AUS, NZ, and CAN do not and refuse to conform to certain labor standards that are set up here in the US, such as having to pay workman's comp if a US crew member gets hurt working, or paying a living wage set by US unions for actors and crew, or even safety standards (the widow of Mr O'Connor can attest to that). Kiwis who come here to work have the protection of those standards here in the US, plus the advantage of the currency exchange rate, and the fact that they aren't doubly taxed.The US and the UK are the only countries which have these mutual standards.

The worst thing is, the governments have set it up that way.

Canada overrided NAFTA in respect to motion picture production for this purpose. To basically deny US production crew opportunity to work there without penalty. Australia and New Zealand have followed Canada's lead in the past 6 years. There is no equal playing field.


Now to locations.....again, to film anything here, you must have a permit...this entails hiring real police officers, fire/rescue, and other required peripherals. That costs money, but is needed for the location community's safety as well as the talent and crew's safety. Such standards aren't required in NZ, private security can be hired regardless of qualifications, and no emergency personnel is required on set. (that's pretty jacked up if you ask me). Plus overseas you aren't made to clean up what you mess up....places such as AUS and NZ throw the clean up in with the deal.


Most of Zena was done on a soundstage, as was LOTR many of the exteriors were matted in for LOTR. (PM me for the explaination)

There are plenty of American landscapes to be filmed, but government kickbacks from overseas keep them from being seen. I pray for the generations who grow up thinking the Australian Outback is really the Arizona desert, or Quebec is really Long Island.

 

[T.H. Oughts]

Well if you wanna work in NZ then you take out extra insurance.

WHY should NZ and Canada conform to USA labour laws, we are our own countries. Why do you think I still live in NZ, for the freedom of the place, we don't go around sueing the ass off someone for picking their nose by mistake. If you wanna play in our ball park then you play by our rules.

It is not unfair that you have to come to NZ to get acting work. Films are made all over the world. The option of where to work is yours. If you don't like the options or conditions then get another job.

As for pay, when I go to the USA for my tutoring my Art I get paid US$500 an hour, airfares, accomadation, food and a limo laid on, I get about paid 1/4 that here in NZ and no limo. But I don't complain, if I want the big bucks I have to live in the USA, but I don't wanna live there so I make less money and live here. Also if I worked full time there the insurances I would have to take out would be stupid.

That's life, we all have options.

 

[badasschick]

For the record I'm not an actor.


I'm talking about crew and production staff, i.e. riggers, stunt coodinators, gaffers, grips etc. ya know the working stiffs.

Despite the false glamour, its a dangerous job.

No matter where you go.

Cutting corners leads to accidents, even death sometimes. Government condoning this practice to shave a few bucks off the price, isn't right.



If you worked here, you'd be taken care of if you were to get hurt, because it is your employer's resposibility when you're on the job. Not the case in NZ for an American.


Close to $15 billion US has gone to both CAN, AUS, and NZ in the motion picture industry in the past 6 years, it hurts the working stiff the most.

 

[kiwiwolf]

For the record I'm not an actor.


I'm talking about crew and production staff, i.e. riggers, stunt coodinators, gaffers, grips etc. ya know the working stiffs.

Despite the false glamour, its a dangerous job.

No matter where you go.

Cutting corners leads to accidents, even death sometimes. Government condoning this practice to shave a few bucks off the price, isn't right.



If you worked here, you'd be taken care of if you were to get hurt, because it is your employer's resposibility when you're on the job. Not the case in NZ for an American.


Close to $15 billion US has gone to both CAN, AUS, and NZ in the motion picture industry in the past 6 years, it hurts the working stiff the most.

Okay time for me to jump in and get my feet wet here.

Safety standards here in NZ for the film and television industry are second to none... including the US. We are very strictly regulated as to what can and can't happen during a shoot, and also who can and can't do things.

If an American working on a NZ production or a production shot in NZ was to get injured they would be taken care of. First by ACC (the government run workers compensation organisation) and also by their employer. It is a thing that is built into any employment contract in NZ. That is fact. I don't know where you are getting your info from but I do respectfully suggest you check your source.

New Zealand is becoming an attractive place to shoot movies not just for the wealth of new and fresh scenery but also because the costs of doing so here are not ridiculously prohibitive. Location and accomodation costs here in NZ are at least 1/4 of what they would be in the States according to Peter Jackson. Why should film makers pay exhorbitant prices?

 

[badasschick]

Okay time for me to jump in and get my feet wet here.

Safety standards here in NZ for the film and television industry are second to none... including the US. We are very strictly regulated as to what can and can't happen during a shoot, and also who can and can't do things.

If an American working on a NZ production or a production shot in NZ was to get injured they would be taken care of. First by ACC (the government run workers compensation organisation) and also by their employer. It is a thing that is built into any employment contract in NZ. That is fact. I don't know where you are getting your info from but I do respectfully suggest you check your source.

New Zealand is becoming an attractive place to shoot movies not just for the wealth of new and fresh scenery but also because the costs of doing so here are not ridiculously prohibitive. Location and accomodation costs here in NZ are at least 1/4 of what they would be in the States according to Peter Jackson. Why should film makers pay exhorbitant prices?

Kiwiwolf I'm forwarding the PM I sent to T.H.

 

[kiwiwolf]

Kiwiwolf I'm forwarding the PM I sent to T.H.

You have some good points in your arguements but the one thing I really get stuck on is when you ask why we here can't conform to US standards.

Why should we when ours are as stringent if not more so than those in the US. Sorry I just can't swallow that part of the whole thing.

I look forward to receiving your PM.