A New Zealand actor who featured in The Lord of the Rings says there is no way actors can be expected to work on The Hobbit without union-negotiated contracts, as was the case in Sir Peter Jackson's epic trilogy.
The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) said makers of The Hobbit had refused to enter into a union-negotiated agreement and advised members not to accept work on the project because actors may be employed on inferior non-union contracts.
Sir Peter, who is executive producer of The Hobbit, has accused the actors' union of a power grab and warned that production of the two films could be moved from New Zealand to Eastern Europe.
But actor Bruce Hopkins, who featured as Gamling in two of The Lord Of The Rings films, said the current contract guidelines in New Zealand were "ludicrous".
It had been acceptable for actors to have non-union contracts for The Lord Of The Rings because making the films was a gamble, but it was obvious how well The Hobbit would do.
"Peter Jackson and the rest of them were stepping into completely unknown territory with The Lord Of The Rings, but it's in a completely different universe to The Hobbit -- what applied then can't apply now."
Although working on The Lord of the Rings had been a "superb experience", contractual conditions for New Zealand actors and crew were among the worst in world.
"There are people making hundreds of millions of dollars through the industry here so why can't we have a sustainable living for actors and crews in this country?"
Hopkins said he failed to understand why Sir Peter and the Screen Production and Development Association of New Zealand (SPADA) would not even meet with the actors' union, when it was entirely possible to reach an agreement that was acceptable to all.
"I don't know if it's that Peter feels he's getting crapped on by people that he's helped, and that's why it feels really weird for me to be speaking up because I have a massive amount of gratitude for Peter," he said.
"But we can't keep treating the local industry as if we have to be grateful for the job and like we have to compete against eastern European countries by trying to be the lowest bidder. We can't do that anymore."
NZPA