NZ parliament passes legislation, Lions Gate sues Icahn over his MGM-related meddling
http://www.kristinthompson.net/blog/?p=1869
Parliament passes legislation to assure Hobbit stays in New Zealand
The law designed to change labor practice so as to keep the Hobbit production in New Zealand has passed, 66 to 50. TVNZ has an account here. Stuff.co.nz reported:
The Employment Relations (Film Production Work) Amendment Bill was moved under urgency yesterday afternoon and has passed its third and final reading this afternoon.
National, ACT, the Maori Party and UnitedFuture supported the bill. Labour and the Green Party voted against it.
It is designed to stop film contractors switching over to an employee, claiming extra rights.
However, Labour MP Charles Chauvel said the bill would create more litigation, not less.
The New Zealand Herald has a column on the fallout from the actors’ dispute:
Alongside the taxpayer handout and changing laws to appease Warner Bros there has been talk from actors opposing Actors’ Equity about the formation of a new union.
The union would compete with the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA), which backs Actors’ Equity.
MEAA insists it will carry on in the industry.
Presumably a new union of people who did not like Equity would adopt a less antagonistic relationship to Jackson’s business interests and the producers body the Screen Production and Development Association.
What is not clear is how such a union would be treated by actors’ unions worldwide, with the potential for similar boycott threats.
http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2010/10/28/39906-lions-gate-sues-icahn-alleging-double-game/
Lions Gate sues Icahn, alleging `double game’
October 28th, 2010 by Altaira | Source: bloomberg.com | Discuss | 0 Comments and 0 Reactions
The MGM, Lions Gate drama continues. The latest from Bloomberg.com: Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. is suing billionaire Carl Ichan over the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. studio deal in federal court in New York, alleging the financier was “secretly plotting” to merge the studios. In the lawsuit, Vancouver-based Lions Gate, the studio whose films include “Crash” and “Precious,” alleges that Icahn realized by June that Lions Gate was in advanced negotiations with two unidentified studios. Aware that the deals might dilute his stake in Lions Gate, Icahn “took drastic and improper action,” the studio said.
Icahn, 74, the studio’s largest shareholder, undermined any proposed transactions by making false and misleading statements, Lions Gate said. He told the investing public that such a deal would be a “financial debacle” and issued press releases vowing to challenge any transaction and sue any entity that interfered with his tender offer, the studio said.
“Icahn opposed a merger with MGM not because it was bad for Lions Gate shareholders, but because it was good - so good, in fact, that he wanted to postpone it until he could buy as much of both companies as he could and thus extract for himself as much of the value stemming from the merger as possible,” Lions Gate said in the complaint, filed today in U.S. District Court in New York. Thanks to message board member Owain for the link. Read More…
Parliament passes legislation to assure Hobbit stays in New Zealand
The law designed to change labor practice so as to keep the Hobbit production in New Zealand has passed, 66 to 50. TVNZ has an account here. Stuff.co.nz reported:
The Employment Relations (Film Production Work) Amendment Bill was moved under urgency yesterday afternoon and has passed its third and final reading this afternoon.
National, ACT, the Maori Party and UnitedFuture supported the bill. Labour and the Green Party voted against it.
It is designed to stop film contractors switching over to an employee, claiming extra rights.
However, Labour MP Charles Chauvel said the bill would create more litigation, not less.
The New Zealand Herald has a column on the fallout from the actors’ dispute:
Alongside the taxpayer handout and changing laws to appease Warner Bros there has been talk from actors opposing Actors’ Equity about the formation of a new union.
The union would compete with the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA), which backs Actors’ Equity.
MEAA insists it will carry on in the industry.
Presumably a new union of people who did not like Equity would adopt a less antagonistic relationship to Jackson’s business interests and the producers body the Screen Production and Development Association.
What is not clear is how such a union would be treated by actors’ unions worldwide, with the potential for similar boycott threats.
http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2010/10/28/39906-lions-gate-sues-icahn-alleging-double-game/
Lions Gate sues Icahn, alleging `double game’
October 28th, 2010 by Altaira | Source: bloomberg.com | Discuss | 0 Comments and 0 Reactions
The MGM, Lions Gate drama continues. The latest from Bloomberg.com: Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. is suing billionaire Carl Ichan over the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. studio deal in federal court in New York, alleging the financier was “secretly plotting” to merge the studios. In the lawsuit, Vancouver-based Lions Gate, the studio whose films include “Crash” and “Precious,” alleges that Icahn realized by June that Lions Gate was in advanced negotiations with two unidentified studios. Aware that the deals might dilute his stake in Lions Gate, Icahn “took drastic and improper action,” the studio said.
Icahn, 74, the studio’s largest shareholder, undermined any proposed transactions by making false and misleading statements, Lions Gate said. He told the investing public that such a deal would be a “financial debacle” and issued press releases vowing to challenge any transaction and sue any entity that interfered with his tender offer, the studio said.
“Icahn opposed a merger with MGM not because it was bad for Lions Gate shareholders, but because it was good - so good, in fact, that he wanted to postpone it until he could buy as much of both companies as he could and thus extract for himself as much of the value stemming from the merger as possible,” Lions Gate said in the complaint, filed today in U.S. District Court in New York. Thanks to message board member Owain for the link. Read More…