But Council of Trade Unions president Helen Kelly said the crowd was "in a lynch-mob mood thanks to Richard Taylor, who has obviously wound them up like springs" and actors had to call the meeting off. "It was too dangerous."

That left throngs of film workers chanting "Save The Hobbit" to march down Willis St and Lambton Quay to the Cenotaph, where Taylor addressed them through a loudspeaker.

Marchers waved banners saying "Keep it Made in New Zealand" and "SOS Hobbits", and held large photographs of the Australian national director of the MEAA Simon Whipp with the words "Wanted for the murder of the New Zealand film industry".

"The spectacle of NZ Actors' Equity suddenly cancelling their Wellington meeting, because film workers wanted to express to them their concern at losing The Hobbit, exemplifies the pure gutlessness of this small, self-centred group," Sir Peter said.

"They don't appear to care about the repercussions of their actions on others, nor are they prepared to take responsibility for decisions made in their name.

"NZ Equity constantly refer to 'good faith' discussions but they have never acted in good faith towards our film."

Sir Richard said he felt a limited few, powered by an Australian union, were holding the New Zealand film industry to ransom. He could "only hope" that the film would stay in New Zealand.

"The reason we have come out tonight is because we just couldn't stand by it all ... "

Ms Kelly said union members would not be at fault if The Hobbit moved overseas. Instead, it was Warner Brothers seeking to gain greater tax breaks and lower wages.

Set designer Helen Strevens was at the Stone St Studios meeting, which was also attended by some actors.

"We just want them to realise there are hundreds and hundreds of people who work in the film industry in New Zealand who aren't members of Actors' Equity who ... are actually happy with the way we work here."

( 5 comments )

Being part of a studio audience is nothing like seeing a show fully edited together and complete. It seems to take forever, especially on the first day of shooting, before the crew is comfortable with the flow of moving props and people and cameras around. The set is quite a bit smaller than the British show, but several cars were on display inside, including a Dodge Viper ACR in a great white/black/red color combination, a Chevy Camaro SS, a Porsche Panamera Turbo, and the same Aston Martin V12 Vantage that I had the pleasure of piloting a few weeks back. These cars were there to start off the “power lap” board with a few preliminary times, which I won’t give away here. The “Celebrity Lap Times” board is being re-used from the defunct NBC pilot, and because the track at El Toro is the same for the new show as it was for the pilot, Adam Carolla and David Hasslehof’s times are still on there. We’ll ignore the fact that the Hoff’s time is completely made up because he was wasted on shoot day and couldn’t actually complete a lap in the car while drunk. True story. Despite its smaller size, the overall feel is the same as the British show, and yours truly, recognized by a bunch of the crew members, scored a sweet-ass viewpoint from the top of the bridge, a raised structure behind the main stage and facing out into the cameras.

Don’t start asking “Who’s James, Who’s Richard, and Who’s Jeremy” because this dynamic of hosts doesn’t really work that way. They haven’t set out to replicate individual characters from the British show, which was tried on the NBC pilot and would never work out. Instead, they have created a new ensemble with a new dynamic that works well when put into its own context. Rutledge is the friendly, funny southerner who’s always loved cars and racing, and self-deprecates frequently about his poor fashion sense and taste. Fortunately, in this episode at least, NASCAR has been left out of the equation entirely. Adam is endlessly witty, the high-strung New Yorker (accent included), and has way more confidence than he should with his ability to drive. And Tanner is the softer spoken, wheel-man pretty boy with the laid back California attitude.

( 3 comments )