Fighting to keep runaway productions from running away....

So The Hobbit films are staying in New Zealand.... Without knowing the inside details of how this all played out, this was still a very interesting journey.

Set aside, for now at least, the long saga of how Peter Jackson ended up as the eventual (and logical!) helmsman for these films.  And even set aside the guilds' boycott of the project that was only recently called off.  What is really interesting to me here are the events that transpired to keep New Zealand as the location of these films.

The thumbnail of the story is that New Line and its parent, Warner Bros., threatened to move the production of the films as a result of fracas surrounding the labor issues.  Then, people rallied around the cause (check out the promotional trailer for the demonstrations), and protested in the streets when WB execs were in the country for meetings to convince the New Zealand government and the producers to keep the films in New Zealand.

Now, it's pretty clear that the studio was just doing what studios do: negotiating the best deal for the production of what promise to be huge films for them.  So, what can we take away from this?  A few things:

1.  Productions of major motion pictures are major economic events, and around the world, they inspire public and political action to attract and retain them.

2.  Studios are always going to work for the best deal on physical production to maximize returns on investment.

3.  Labor issues are a critically important factor in steering production work.

4.  Currency fluctuations and government incentives/subsidies are (still) critically important factors in steering production work.

As things settling down with the planning of these films, we can now look forward to them taking shape as Jackson and his team work to dazzle the world with their movie magic.

more shrinking windows

Netflix is closing another deal that continues the trend of shrinking windows between theatrical, DVD and streaming releases.

Read about the deal HERE and HERE.

There are shades of re-invention of the film distribution models in this story, and it's pretty clear that the process is in full swing at this point.  The movement to faster arrival of films on streaming platforms has been predicted for a while, so this is likely another step along the road towards a theatrical/non-theatrical universe where the non-theatrical world is mostly just streaming.  Slumping DVD sales supports the idea, but just like in the music industry, it's really hard to say where things will be a year from now....

industry internships

 The summer is in full swing, and that means internships are as well.  The entertainment industry is one of the heavier users of unpaid student labor.  Record labels (both independent and major) are doing everything they can to stay afloat as the business of selling recorded music changes every hour, including upping their use of interns.  Independent film productions have always used interns when they can get them, and that hasn't changed a bit.  Both film and music distributors and marketing companies are trying new things all the time, and there are several unique business plans that have become reality in part because of strategic use of internship programs.  You can find students plugging away at Twitter feeds and Facebook pages at music venues and indie cinemas all over the world right now (look left for an awesome intern-attracting ad from the Brooklyn Bowl).

As news abounds that internships are getting harder and harder to find (and land), there continues to be an emphasis on enforcement of the technical legal requirements of using interns.  See the link to the Clark Hill Employment Law Alert below for some nuts-and-bolts details--we just want to flag the issues for execs and producers, as well as for those of you that are in internships this summer.  The bottom line on using interns is that you have to comply with the U.S. Department of Labor's regulations regarding compensation of interns working in the for-profit sector.  If you are not in compliance with the Department of Labor Standards, you interns will be considered employees that are entitled to at least minimum wage, plus overtime (which is a painful "plus" for those of you who know that the 8-hour work day is rare for the ranks of entertainment industry interns).

There are six criteria that are evaluated in determining whether or not your interns are, in fact, employees entitled to pay:

1.  The internship must provide training similar to what the intern would receive in an educational environment;

2.  The internship must be for the benefit of the intern (not the employer);

3.  The intern cannot displace regular employees;

4.  The employer cannot derive immediate benefits from the interns work;

5.  The intern cannot be promised a job when the internship ends; and

6.  There is a clear understanding between the employer and the intern that the intern is not entitled to pay for her work.

The best way to get these things covered is to have an internship agreement--and we can help with that.

For more on entertainment industry internships, see our April 3, 2010 post.  And check out the Clark Hill Employment Law Alert from April 27, 2010 for more details on this issue as well.

documentary film and fair use

The questions regarding what constitutes "fair use" never seem to get answered with certainty, and that is consistent with the evolutionary nature of copyright law.  The use of music owned by Phil Spector in a film about the man is today's entry in the evolutionary cycle.  There's a good piece in this morning's NYTimes HERE.  

mgm going to spyglass?

As the film world waits, it looks like there may be a deal on the horizon for MGM-- check it HERE.