Hobbit Casting Call Chaos

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12:05pm - update - If you want to read how disappointed people were, read this report.
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11:53am - Update - an application form has now been posted on TradeMe. You still have to send it in by physical mail though.
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Complete chaos ensued after the studio totally underestimated how many Hobbit fans live in Wellington.

NZ Police closed the event, an hour and a half in.

What was advertised on TradeMe (NZ's auction and job seeker's site) as "The Hobbit Official Extras Casting Call 2012", ended up causing massive delays on Wellington's motorway, and according to NZ Police, at least two traffic accidents. The whole event, which was supposed to start at 1:00pm and finish at 4:00pm, was shut down by the NZ Police just after 2:30pm, when it became obvious that there was no crowd control or traffic control organised.

Hopefuls waiting in the park next to the hall

What happened? Originally, the advertisement was listed on January 19th (NB - this link may stop working, so I have saved the files, available for reference). By 7:00am, the next morning, close to 19,000 people had seen the advert. By the morning after the event, almost 150,000 people had seen it. Wellington only has a population of around 200,000 people, so the equivalent of 75% of the Wellington population saw the advertisement.


The casting call took place in the Belmont Hall, which is listed as a venue with a capacity of accommodating a mere 150 people, with carparks to match. The hall is located right next to NZ Highway 2, the second largest road out of Wellington.

Also using the Hutt Motorway on January 28th was large amounts of traffic for the annual Wellington Cup. This is one of New Zealand's most important horse races, and draws big crowds every year. This year was no exception. This event is well advertised, and has been going since 1874.


To make matters worse, Wellington was host to two large cruiseships (the Pacific Dawn and the Dawn Princess), with an estimated 4000-5000 tourists in the region as well. Although 74 cruiseships visits are expected this season, there are only seven days this season when two ships berth on the same day. Today was one of those days. This information is available online, and has been available since August 2011.

Production company Three Foot Seven told 3 News they had expected 1200 people to attend the casting call. TV 3 reported that "thousands more" showed up. NZ's news website stuff.co.nz estimated that at least 3000 people had turned up by 1:00pm (ie, before the traffic seriously began). One report I heard from an anonymous source at the studio was that at least 4500 people attended.

Early in the day, there were still orderly lines

Quit long lines, in fact

 
To cope with all these 1200 expected people, the production company 3foot7 had put a skeleton staff in charge. The hobbit hopefuls I spoke to all reported that only one or two studio people were desparately trying to manage the crowds outside. One report said this guy wasn't actually working for the studio but had taken it upon himself to sort things out. Well done, mate. Good on you for giving it a go.

This unsung hero WAS the crowd control

Some of the hopefuls had been free-camping in the park next to the hall overnight, although most showed up after 10:00am on the morning.

Most online reports agreed that roughly 800 people had made it through the doors before the Police turned up (www.stuff.co.nz incl video) (TV3 Video) (Hutt News). The most distant report I read came from Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad, so this fiasco is being reported worldwide.

The lucky 800 fans that did get in had their photos taken, their measurements recorded, and contact details entered.

The lucky few, before the Police showed up

Application forms were handed out to many people in line, but not to all. When it became clear that the event was being stopped by the Police, an announcement was made that all attendees would also be able to send in their details online that evening, something which at this stage (a day later) has not eventuated.

Filling out application forms outside

The disappointed, heading home again

And how necessary was it all? The lucky few who got inside only had their details taken. All this could have been done online. In fact, it HAD been done online, and through this blog. Just check through my blog in the last three years. At this stage I'm unsure what happened to the details of all the people who previously applied online, or actually printed out their CV's and sent them via mail. If anyone from the studio is reading this, please drop me a line! I'm more than happy to keep people informed.



All in all, a day that the studio could learn two important lessons from.

(1) The studio does not exist in a vaccuum. Other events may clash and interfere with badly organised studio plans. These other events are not hard to discover.

(2) There are MANY thousands of people in Wellington who want to be involved in The Hobbit. An event such as this will always be attended by people who are not even hopeful - large numbers of people were obviously too tall, too short, the wrong build, or had had no working visa. They just wanted to BE there. For any event related to The Hobbit, there will be more people present than expected (even if you take this statement into account). How many people attended the "Pro-Hobbit Rally" last year? How many were present at the ROTK Premiere in 2003? Take a look at these two photos from those events.

The Pro-Hobbit Rally in October 2010. We showed our support

This 2003 crowd (which continued from one end of the city to the other) was estimated by ABC News at 400,000. Ridiculous of course - Wellington hasn't got that many people.

At the end of this year, Wellington will be hosting the Premiere of the first of the Hobbit movies. Let's hope that goes a bit smoother than this weekend's fiasco. To begin with, it would be nice to know a date for the Premiere, so that the city can begin to plan around it already. We already know that both TORn and Middle-earth Network are planning Hobbit tours for the fans around the time of the premiere but are unable to confirm nbumbers until we know when the actual event takes place.

My message to the studios - please get yourselves better organised. The fans deserve better than this.

Hobbit Trailer released - and I made it to TV News again

By now I'm sure everyone has seen the brand new Hobbit Trailer - just in case you haven't yet, check it out at Apple's Movie Trailer directory.


I got a call from TVNZ this morning, to see if I would be available to comment on the trailer later, for their evening news. I told them I'd be touring with a group of LOTR fans, so they invited the whole group along, to watch it at 4:00pm (local NZ time) on the satellite feed! Well, we didn't have to think about that too long, that's for sure!

They interviewed us all at length afterwards, although most of that was reduced to some very excited soundbites. We got a few words in towards the end though.

You can watch the whole reaction-interview at TVNZ's website.

Overall a great trailer - I had expected more of a teaser trailer - you know, fade in, one quick image, and fade out, and repeat. Instead we got one full of exciting content, and lots of mystery! Was the elf in white actually Galadriel or not (I don't think it was, personally)? Where were the ruins that Gandalf was walking through?

Also, some revealing moments - we now have a much better idea about how Frodo fits into the Hobbit movie (considering his character hasn't actually been born yet). That will put a few minds at ease, I'd say!

One little detail I loved was that Bilbo shows off his (newly found) sword Sting, and the markings on the blade are correctly incomplete - the elfish lettering which appear on it during LOTR refer to an incident that happens during the last half of the Hobbit book, and the writing doesn't get added to the sword until after he vists the Elves again in Rivendell. Well done, Weta Workshop!

All things considered, it was a great trailer. It gave lots of hints that The Hobbit would be part of LOTR's story line, but different as well. Get the old audience back onside, and add new ones as well.

By the way, if you want to keep the trailer, it's actually downloadable from the Apple site.

One more update on Manapouri rumours

I received one more update from my source down south (previous reports here, and here).

Apparently while he had some spare time in Te Anau he drove around to one of the lodges, where the Hobbit headquarters were rumoured to be.


He noticed a bunch of markers and roadsigns pointing the way - I've seen the same signs here in Wellington, pointing to various filming locations. They are designed to get a filmcrew, often unfamiliar with the local roads, effeciently to the set without getting lost.
 

If anyone knows what "LR" stands for, drop me a line? They are most likely the inital letters of the working title of The Hobbit project, whatever that happens to be. For instance, with King Kong the letters were "BPP" (Big Primate Productions).

Now before you all start following the signs to Hobbit paradise, keep in mind that just before you get to the good bits, you'll meet the security crew, who are paid to keep you out, and they're very good at it. I wouldn't suggest tangling with any of them - they are there to make sure the production doesn't get distracted by a thousand onlookers - so PLEASE stay out of their way!


My contact mentioned that the "hired goon" was friendly but looked like he meant business. When asked if all this was to do with "the movie" he replied "it's only a gate". They're happy to talk about the weather but you won't get any Hobbit details from them. I've tried for years here in Wellington - they're very good!

When the "spy mission" was completed, he drove off back home, but was unsure if the large white SUV suddenly behind him was the same white SUV that was parked at the security checkpoint. Quote :

I think I lost him just past the local Bar and Grill where I did a sudden right turn. Recon he might have stopped there as a safe place for a “steak out”.

I reported my story to some locals and heard of a local lady getting frisked at a check point near the Te Anau Helicopter Hanger [JM: presumably to avoid aerial photography of the sets].

All very exciting!

Update on yesterday's Te Anau spy report

I've had a small update on yesterday's report about Te Anau as a Hobbit location - additional material has come to hand that they're looking at Manapouri - several of the Hobbit crew members are reportedly staying there.

View Larger Map

My source informs me that "two non-local Jet Rangers Heading South a couple of days ago
in the Direction of Mt Titiroa (our most unique Peak)". Of course, just because they're "non-local" doesn't mean that they are Hobbit crewmembers, however, he went on to say that "There are some Hobbit Crew staying in Manapouri. Word is there are two locations mentioned.. the Mavora Lakes and Te Anau Downs".

I love this James Bond stuff.... Where's Q when you need him!

Brief spy report from Te Anau

I just got the briefest of reports from one of my spies down south:

Te Anau just has been over-run with PJs Film Crew. No word of any battle scenes or the like in the wind.

The information came from the same source as my earlier report, which turned out to be spot-on; the dates are completely accurate.

View Larger Map

Te Anau is located close to Queenstown, on the way to Manapouri. Large amounts of LOTR were filmed there, including the Dead Marshes, and parts of the great River Anduin.

He's trying to get some more details from whoever is talking, and hopefully some photos as well. I'll post them when they get here!

- Jack M.

Official Casting Call for Elves!

Wellington's official call for Elven extras has appeared on TORn and TradeMe (NZ's auction and jobsearch site).

Applicants have to be between 17 and 40 years old, and women have to be at least 175cm tall (5'9"), while men have to be slightly taller at 183cm (6').

To apply, just turn up to the address listed, and get in line - I'm sure most of Wellington will be there (at least those tall enough).

Alternatively, if you can't make it there on the day - there's an "Apply Online" button on the TradeMe site, they will send you an application form instead. Please though - they will have LOADS of applications to deal with - only apply if you actually pass the height test! There will be other calls later for different races (I'm hoping for open calls for Men and Dwarves later).

Note also, that this is just the Wellington call - there may be others later in NZ cities closer to you; at least if you're in New Zealand. If you're not - perhaps that working holiday visa is becoming a good idea? (NB - having a visa is not a guarantee of getting into The hobbit, obviously! But NOT having a visa is a guarantee of NOT getting into the movie).


On a personal note - annoyingly, my son can apply although I'm too short. I expect that it will be years before he'll let me forget that. Maybe I'll get in as an Orc or something later, and we'll fight on opposite sides of the Battle of Five Armies. Let's see his pointy little ears then! Kids! Pah!

The Hobbit WILL be filmed in New Zealand, after all!

On my browser right now are about two dozen links to websites and facebook pages that are reporting that The Hobbit will go ahead in New Zealand. There are some HUGE celebrations around NZ tonight!

If you want to see our Prime Minister John Key's full press conference, take a look at this page on TV3. They have a 5 minute clip including questions time.

TVNZ also has a page for it here. Their video is about 10 minutes long.

And of course, our newspaper collective, stuff.co.nz had a few words to say on the matter as well.


I understand that the Matterhorn restaurant is the location of an inpromptu party right now. Can't make it myself, but that's mainly because I've been celebrating too much to legally drive there at this stage. :)


Personally, I've avoided talking about the actor's boycott that has taken over this country's news media in the last few weeks, mainly because it was too close to my heart. If the Hobbit hadn't had the go-ahead to be filmed here in New Zealand, I may as well pack up my bags and decide on a new career. Sure, LOTR tourism would still exist, but pretty soon it would stagnate. Pretty much everyone has always assumed (rightly, it turns out) that taking The Hobbit away from New Zealand would amount to lunacy. Frankly, I would have wound down the blog, and gone on with something else less work intensive.

Some of the specific reasons I didn't report on any of it on this blog - it was well reported elsewhere. I usually had no personal angle to add to it. When I did have my own story, I was bound by loyalty to keep things confidential (like the non-unionised actors meeting I attended). If we'd lost the Hobbit, I wanted it to end on a high note ("green light for Hobbit" and "pro-Hobbit rally" for instance), while if we didn't lose it (as it turns out), I don't want three weeks of hatred and spitefulness messing up my blog forever. And let's face it, some pretty awful things were said, and lots of untruths as well.


I'm sure everyone has been reading The One Ring, and perhaps Kristin Thompson's excellent blog The Frodo Franchise as well. Kristin's accurate analysis of everything LOTR/Hobbit related, especially the financial and political side, is always fascinating to read. If you haven't subscribed to her posts, I can highly recommend them.



From here on in, expect the casting rumours, the location rumours, and general film news to be foremost on my mind. The awful uncertainties have finally gone (I hope!), and I can relax a bit and get on with the job of reporting some FUN rumours for a change!

Hope you'll join me!

  - Jack M.

GREEN LIGHT ON THE HOBBIT!!!

It's finally official - The Hobbit is going ahead! I've just this minute received a press release from Peter Jackson's office, confirming the details. Rather than summarise like other blogs have done, I'll just post the whole press release here so you can read the whole lot at once...:

For immediate release

OSCAR WINNER PETER JACKSON TO DIRECT “THE HOBBIT” IN TWO INSTALLMENTS

Peter Jackson Set to Direct J.R.R Tolkien’s “The Hobbit,” In a Two-Part 3D Production of Extraordinary Scope

 (Los Angeles, October 15, 2010) The two films based on “The Hobbit” are now greenlit and will begin principal photography in February 2011, under the direction of Peter Jackson, it was jointly announced today by Toby Emmerich, President and Chief Operating Officer, New Line Cinema, Alan Horn, President and Chief Operating Officer, Warner Bros. and Steve Cooper, co-Chief Executive Officer of  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.

“Exploring Tolkien’s Middle-earth goes way beyond a normal film-making experience” Jackson says, "It’s an all-immersive journey into a very special place of imagination, beauty and drama. We’re looking forward to re-entering this wondrous world with Gandalf and Bilbo - and our friends at New Line Cinema, Warner Brothers and MGM”.

“Peter is a filmmaker of incomparable ability; having him return to Middle-earth to produce and direct is a dream come true. A true original, Peter is a gifted story-teller, visionary director and pioneer in film technology,” said Emmerich. “Reuniting with Peter, Fran and Philippa truly makes it feel like we are going ‘there and back again.’”

“There is no human being on the planet as qualified as Peter Jackson to direct these films,” said Horn. “Peter is incredibly talented and has the creative vision and experience to bring this beloved property to life in a way that no other filmmaker could.  And the team of Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens has proven through their work on the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy that no one is more skilled at transforming Tolkien's written words into a vibrant, living language that makes the audience believe they are not merely visiting Middle-earth, but actually living in it. We couldn’t be more thrilled and look forward to seeing ‘The Hobbit’ take shape under Peter’s stewardship and the team he is putting together.”

"MGM is excited to move forward and add to the successful 'Lord of the Rings' franchise," said Cooper.  "Under Peter's direction, the films will undoubtedly appeal to fans of the original 'LOTR' trilogy and also bring the stories to a new generation of fans."

Jackson, who directed all three “Lord of the Rings” films, will helm the two films back-to-back, telling the story of “The Hobbit” in two parts. Jackson will utilize groundbreaking visual effects and his incomparable story-telling to bring J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel to the big screen. Both Hobbit movies will be filmed in Digital 3-D, using the latest camera and stereo technology to create a high quality, comfortable viewing experience. Jackson also co-wrote the screenplays with Fran Walsh, Phillipa Boyens and Guillermo del Toro.

“The Hobbit” is being co-produced by New Line Cinema and MGM, with New Line managing production, Warner Bros Pictures handling domestic distribution and MGM distributing internationally. Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Carolynne Cunningham are producing the films, with Phillipa Boyens as co-producer and Ken Kamins as executive producer.

The Oscar-winning, critically acclaimed LOTR trilogy grossed nearly $3 billion worldwide at the box office. In 2003, “Return of the King” swept the Academy Awards, winning all of the 11 categories in which it was nominated, including Best Picture – the first ever Best Picture win for a fantasy film. The trilogy’s production was also unprecedented at the time.

-wbp-

That is the best news possible! The original dream-team is reassembling from the top down - apart  from Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Phillipa Boyens as script-writers and (co/exec) producers, Carolynne Cunningham and Ken Kamins are also back at the top.

At this stage I'm not going to quibble about the 3D thing - I'm just so happy it's actually going ahead!
I'm sure there will be a 2D version for those of us who prefer storytelling over gimmicks.

Now all we need is the actors unions to strike a deal, and we can begin! Let's hope it'll still be in NZ...

Update on preliminary casting call - it's official!

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Further Update 24/9/2010, 7:00am: The prelim casting call has also now been listed on TradeMe's job section.
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Update 23/9/2010, 12:21pm : Also check today's article in the DomPost, also posted on stuff.co.nz.
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Moments ago I received this email from Matthew Dravitzki, who is Peter Jackson's spokesperson:

The advertisement is official and came from our production.  A preliminary casting call means:  We don't have a green light, but we do need to be prepared in the event that we get one!  That means having a little look around Wellington for scale doubles as advertised.  This is NOT an extras casting call and anyone who doesn't meet the advertised height requirements will be turned away.


When cast, actors playing Hobbits and Dwarves will be normal adult size.  The characters in the books are sized differently, as you know.  Scale doubles appear in some wide/reverse shots in place of our actors, and with other adult actors when we need people to look smaller - or taller.  A visit to the behind the scenes content on the LOTR movies might jog your memory.


I don't have any news for you on greenlight, director or cast.  There's no update from LA at this time.  


The NZ Dance and Drama Centre is simply being used as a venue for this casting call, and is not the home of our casting department.


I hope this answers your questions.

It certainly answered mine!

Update on Noldor Blog

After an extended blogging sabbatical, it's probably high time I started updating this thing again. :)  Truth be told, I just  haven't heard anything newsworthy recently, or at least nothing that wasn't already widely reported by other sources. I think we all know by now that Guillermo del Toro has walked away from The Hobbit production. I have very little else to add on that matter except to say I'm genuinely sorry to see him leave the project. I had the pleasure of meeting the man on several occasions, and he struck me as perfect for the job, also given his previous movies. Alas, it was not meant to be.


On a personal note, I've "pulled a Del Toro" myself (as a friend of mine phrased it so delicately). After working for only three and a half days over the last two months,  I've decided to resign from Flat Earth Tours. I still think they have a lot to offer people - they also run Wine Tours, Cultural Tours, Wellington Historical Tours, etc, but anyone who knows me will realise I need more Tolkien in my life than they were offering me. It wasn't a decision I took lightly, but a necessary one. I have rent to pay and cats to feed!

So I'm considering all my options, of which I'm sure to write about at length, at a later date. In the meantime, I know some of you were planning to come to New Zealand on one of my tours with Flat Earth - if you're already booked in with them, I'd say stick with that booking (ask for Todd, he's a fantastic guide as well). If you were hoping to have me as your guide, I can run a private tour instead, but please get in touch with me as soon as possible so I can arrange dates etc.


I'm not sure what the future holds, but it's pretty bright. There's lots of excitement on the horizon - apart from anything else, The Hobbit will surely start at some point. If you been following me on Facebook or Twitter, you'll know that I like to drop obscure hints about rumours I am not allowed to speak openly about - I've been hearing from almost all my studio contacts that the mood is very hopeful, closer to the sources. Surely the MGM creditors must by now realise that the longer they wait, the less money this project will make since all the good people are leaving (no, not me, I meant GDT, dummy!). Time is of the essence. If the first Hobbit movie is rubbish, there will be less audience for the second one, so the stakes are high to do it right. Perhaps Peter Jackson will direct after all (or should I say "Derek"?) ...


Few other things have happened here in Wellington of late. Richard Taylor has turned into Sir Richard Taylor, although Tanya Rodger was passed over for a Queen's honour (this time). Sir Ian McKellen arrived here today for a week to perform a play. And we're expecting there will finally be a "Wellywood" sign in our hills, but that seems to be dragging its feet. I'll be amongst the first to post photos when it happens, I hope!


One small but significant event on the horizon - the Weta Cave has announced that they will be closing for a few days in August (from the 9th to the 13th), for their now annual makeover. No word on what the new displays will be, I couldn't get anything useful from Anna, although Steve mentioned that some of it may be from "one of the movies he's in" - I didn't actually realise he was in anything, so that didn't help me at all - thanks Steve! :)

If you haven't been to the Weta Cave since before July last year, get there quickly before they change everything again - and then revisit after August the 13th for the new stuff!



Hopefully I'll have more news for you again soon. Keep watching!


  - Jack M.

Wellington NZ casting update - finally!?!

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UPDATE  Thu 2010-07-01 - 10:09 - ...and Star Now has now also closed applications. False alarm, folks - The Hobbit has not started yet, no agency should be taking your money just yet.

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UPDATE  Tue 2010-06-29 - 18:41 - it looks like the Hobbit references have been wiped off their site again. Hold on while they stabilise...

The information is still listed here on this "talent-supplier-to-other-agencies", Star Now Ltd. Let's see how long till they fold as well.

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UPDATE  Tue 2010-06-29 - 17:21 - the information has also just appeared on Kam Talent's own website. Apply through their site if you live in Wellington!

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I've just been alerted to some exciting news (thanks Heike!) - Auckland based Talent agency called Kam Talent is setting up an office in Wellington, and is looking for Hobbit Extras and Featured Extras! Peter Jackson's office is NOT yet involved though - so I 'd be a little cautious about getting over-excited just yet.

My source at 3'7" Limited, the company who will eventually be shooting The Hobbit, has indicated that there is no green light yet - and "WHEN and IF we have a greenlight and shoot start date, we will set up our own extras team who will sort through the mountain of applications we already have, whether they are with an agent or not. People should look out for official casting calls in local newspapers, or join a local Wellington agency" (my bolding and emphasis).


My suspicion is that perhaps Kam Talent is jumping the gun a little, so that when 3'7" Ltd actually has their real casting calls, they will be able to supply the studios with a ready-made list of potentials. So before you read the rest of this entry - be aware this is STILL NOT and official casting call. That WILL still come, and you'll hear it from the studio, most likely either through this blog, or through The One Ring blog.

That said, read on! This information came from Kam Talent themselves. Kam Talent was also involved with The Lord Of The Rings casting, as well as a host of other productions, so it probably is all on the level. At the time of writing, this information does not yet appear on their own website, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time. A quick call to their Auckland office confirmed that they are definitely looking for people.

The information I've received suggests they are looking for people of any gender, aged 5 to 70, physically fit and natural looking men, woman and children of all nationalities and shapes and sizes. Also, men, woman and children with natural long hair - men with beards/mustache and character faces would be an advantage. I guess I will start growing my moustache again!

Furthermore, and this is the news we're all waiting for - "We are looking for small adults that are five (5) foot and under". Um, three foot seven, perhaps?

If you have children who are interested (or you are a child!), make sure you know that they need to be self-confident, and are able to listen to directions, and follow orders. All children should of course be accompanied by their parents or guardians.


So if the studio is saying they'll hire both directly as well as through agencies - so why would you join an agency? Are there advantages? As far as I can tell, there are some, but you pay a (small) price for it as well. For one thing you can relax about missing the official casting call, since the agency will handle all that. They will also be able to put your photo and CV through in the correct format so you don't have to worry about that either. Essentially, you're buying piece of mind. According to the Kam Talent website, they charge up to nz$150 per person, which is only deducted from your first fee - so no work, no fee. If all you're looking for is a chance to appear in your favourite movie, and aren't that actively involved in keeping an eye out, than an agency might be the perfect thing.

On the negative side - the studio may already have enough extras applications ("...the mountain of applications we already have..."), and may not use the agency.

Exciting, isn't it? :)

As always, I hope to see you on the set!


  - Jack

Roundup of lesser things

Another two weeks have passed since the last entry, and not a lot of official stuff has happened. The green light on The Hobbit still hasn't been lit, and although there's some movement in some of the actors (notable Sir Ian McKellen), nothing official has been announced. Frankly, from a news perspective, there's nothing going on at the moment - but at least I'm honest and up-front about that.

The local newspapers, both Wellington's as well as Auckland's, have been busy sensationalising things even more than usual. I can't believe people buy papers anymore, when the truth is so easy to find these days, online.


The announced Wellywood sign

The first botched newsreport of course was the announcement by the Wellington Airport that they are in the final stages of putting up a big "Wellywood" sign in the Miramar hills. The required Resource Consent has already been granted by the Wellington City Council, so apart from a high court appeal (fairly unlikely), it looks like it's all going ahead, and around June we will have ourselves something to actually photograph with pride. The airport's lawyers seem quite certain that all the legal requirements have been met as well, so I can't see anything else in the way.

I think they're planning on "Wellywood" but this has appeal, no?

The Dominion Post however, decided to make it a huge public spectacle, with online surveys and by opening comments on their website (through stuff.co.nz). Of course, there was a lot of backlash from the Great Unwashed, but that's always going to be the case. The Beehive (NZ's government building) was treated in the same way when it was first announced (well, similar anyway; that was pre-blogging), and now nobody talks about it anymore, but tourists come daily to photograph it. The national Museum Te Papa caught a lot of flack at the time of construction, but that's quitened down. Hell, I'm sure the Eiffel Tower got a lot of complaints when it was first announced/built, and now look at it. Hard to imagine Paris without it.

My personal pie-in-the-face award goes to local yokel (and mayoral candidate, no less) Jack Yan, who decided the best way to run for Wellington mayor would be to alert the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce about it, so they can sue the current Council. Nice going, mate - that's one less vote for you. You're costing the city money and tourism before you're even elected.

There are a number of anti-wellywood pages on Facebook by the uninformed, but here's a "pro Wellywood" page instead.



The Hobbit in 3D

Probably not going to happen. At least, nothing has been decided but the local rag (DomPost) decided it was a slow news day and stirred things up again using old quotes from TheOneRing.net forums, where Guillermo del Toro earlier this month mentioned that a conversation has been started about whether 3D would be considered or not. He didn't give any answers to anyone, but that didn't stop the local newspaper (and virally, the rest of the world) from waiting for two weeks before coming up with their own "source", an insider! Possibly as high up as either the cleaning staff or the courier who dropped some parcels off that morning, I reckon! Their article adds nothing but more confusion to the already tumultuous grapevine. I expect truth from newspapers, and actual researched articles.

Matthew Dravitski (Peter Jackson's spokesperson) denied that any new information was known, and he's likely to know, I'd think. If he says there's no decision made on 3D, I'll believe that. Matt's track record on keeping us fans informed is pretty solid.



Props Collector
 
Next, there was the matter of the "fraudulent" Lord Of The Rings props. The Auckland Herald reported that a collector had probably been sold shoddy goods when he paid his us$50,000 for an original Sting sword, and promptly got the studios to quote on half of the information as well. A few days later, the whole sorry mess was debunked by the people who should know the facts better than anyone - OriginalProp.com - who did a throrough investigation into the actual story. Turns out, the collector in question (Troika Brodsky) had actually bought the genuine props off the legal owners who won them in a contest.

The contest was well described in Peter Jackson's biography - apparently NewLine was giving away swords and various other props without telling the NZ makers about it. PJ put a stop to this when he reminded them that the ROTK's extended cut hadn't actually been completed yet, and they might not want to get rid of the props just yet. If I recall correctly, he ended up accepting the remaining props as payment for the extended cuts.

So, another pie-in-the-face award to "reporter" Joseph Barratt from the NZ Herald.



Lies, damn lies, and newspaper articles

From a personal perspective, I was involved in the story about the sinking of the Venture (as I blogged about earlier). I was called by Radio NZ, who interviewed me for about 4 minutes. I asked beforehand if I could hear the story before it went out but apparently that's not the "done thing", so I requested that he use positive soundclips, however, by the time it was on the air, all he'd managed to retain was the most negative and out-of-contexts statements possible. That's the last time I'll trust the traditional press.



  - Jack M.

Contracts being signed in Hobbit's costumes dept?

Fresh rumour :
 I've just heard a tiny scrap of information that I thought was interesting enough to share - apparently people are being signed up (by 3'7" Ltd?) to work on The Hobbit costumes. The rumoured length of the contracts would see them through to at least release of the first movie, and then some!

I've not heard any names yet, but I'll share them when (or if!) I hear more. Personally, I'm waiting to hear the name "Ngila Dickson"...

In any case, that sounds like quite a bunch of costumes!

  - Jack M.

The Hobbit - Official Casting Call and Plot Details

The Hobbit - Official Casting Call and Plot Details

I don't often link to other people's blogs but this one looks very interesting. Apparently here is a list of the actual cast members they are still looking for. According to TORn, the list is legitimate, and came through official channels.

According to SpoilerTV.com they're looking for Bilbo, Thorin Oakenshield, Fili, Kili, Bard, Gloin, Radagast the Brown, a female elf called "Itaril", an unnamed warrior Elf-Lord from Rivendell, the Mayor of Laketown, Primula and Drogo (Frodo's mum and dad), a civil servant for Laketown called Alfrid, and the voice of Smaug.

There are some notable ommisions as well as unexpected additions. For instance, they've not mentioned the other dwarves Dwalin, Balin, Oin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Dori, Nori and Ori, and also missing are Beorn and King Thranduil, who are surely major characters.

There could be two reasons for the ommisions - either they've been written out of the stories, which I hope is not the case - if Tolkien put them into the story I'm sure he had good reason to do so. Way back when, before NewLine Cinema got involved in LOTR, Peter and Fran were faced with making a single, two hour version of LOTR, and were asked by Miramax executives to shorten the book, and shorten the list of main characters by "killing off a hobbit or two in the first 20 minutes" among other attrocities. Luckily, they didn't do that then, and it gives me great hope that we'll still see all 13 of the dwarves. After all, without 13 dwarves, Bilbo would have been unnecessary as the "lucky number" in the adventure!


The other, and much more likely reason I can see for the ommisions is that the characters have already been cast, and in secret. Previously, my vote for the most likely candidate for Beorn was Ron Perlman, while my personal guess for Thranduil would be Doug Jones.

<bitchmode> I'm not sure which dwarf role would be best for Tom Cruise though. Still pondering on that one. He seems much too short for any of them. Maybe he could be the voice of Smaug, exuding arrogance as he goes? </bitchmode> Sorry about that, I just watched Mission Impossible 2 again last night. I'll try to stay on-topic again.

Primula and Drogo don't make it into the book, but it would leave a lovely opening for the eventual link to the 3rd movie (ie, The Fellowship of The Ring!) - Primula and Drogo are Frodo's mother and father who both die in a boating accident (if memory serves me right), after which Bilbo takes over the guardianship over young Frodo.

The even more mysterious addition of the new female elf named Itaril will no doubt provide the apparently necessary romantic addition to the story. I personally have absolutely no problem with that - it's worked extremely well previously (Arwen barely makes it into the LOTR books, and is confined to a few footnotes in the appendices) and if anything gives the children's version of The Hobbit (as in, the book) a more adult, mature angle. Go Itaril! You have my vote! Finally a FEMALE hottie elf. :)


One other piece of missing information is the address to send your acting resume and application to. This confirms my earlier assertion that Actors applications won't be held publicly (like extras are), but will be done through casting agencies. If you don't have an agent and want a main part in The Hobbit, now would be an excellent time to get yourself one! Your agent will (or should) know the correct address already.


All in all, very exciting news! If the link is legitimate, it gives us more insight into the plot of the upcoming movies than any one other piece of news over the last few years! What do you all think?

  - Jack M

Call for Hobbit Extras - for real this time!

After all that excitement a few weeks ago about the "official" Hobbit casting call that turned out to be mostly  bogus, I've done a little hunting around talking to people here in Wellington, New Zealand.

Here are the issues:

• The personal blog (ie, not official studio site) where the bogus casting call was posted on mentions that "principal photography is tentatively scheduled to begin in New Zealand around May or June, 2011". As we've already found out from fairly official channels (eg, Peter Jackson himself), principal photography is scheduled to begin as early as March or April 2010. Why would they be asking for extras 18 months before they need them?
  

• The  address given for the Principle Acting Casting Director, Liz Mullane, is not the correct address to send CV's to. It appears to be some sort of street address in an Wellington suburb, where as far as I can tell, the only businesses are the local fish'n'chips shop and the pub. I would not recommend sending any CV's to this address if you want to hear back from Liz Mullane Casting. Generally, actors are expected to go through their agents anyway, so principle actors wouldn't personally apply for roles in any case.

•  The address given for the Extras Casting Director, Miranda Rivers, may well be right but it's also not official. I've not chased this one up at all, because I have the correct address (see later on this page).

So, the lesson, as Peter Jackson reminded us in the latest video clip, is "never believe anything you read on the internet (apart from this site, which is 100% accurate, all the time)". Ok, he wasn't talking about my site but it still applies, I think.


Now for the good news - I've been talking to my contact at Three Foot Seven Limited, the company here in Wellington who is actually making The Hobbit, and I have received permission to publish the ACTUAL address to send your Hobbit Extras application to.

First though, some helpful advice for applying:

1. They will only consider you for a role if you can actually work in New Zealand. That is, you MUST have NZ Tax number. If you do not have one, do not bother to apply, you'll only be wasting their time (and yours). So, you must be either a NZ Citizen or Permanent Resident or have a temporary working visa that would see you through the entire filming schedule. NZ law says we must hire locals before we can even consider bringing in overseas people, unless they perform a task that can not be performed by locals (eg, principle actors). Extras are totally replacable. Think of extras as glorified props.
   
2. It appears they will only accept physical mail, not email or fax.
3. They will be looking for clear photographs of your head, straight on and profile, and also a full bodyshot (clothed, please!) face on as well as profile. It helps if they can see how many limbs you still have, for instance.
4. Once you have sent them the photos and a return address, they will in all likelihood send you a proper application form with a bunch of relevant questions - other skills, measurements for clothing sizes, shoe sizes, that sort of thing. So, make sure you send them your return address.
   
5. Do not bother to tell them what you think you'd be most suitable at (hobbit, elf, human, orc, whatever). They will decide that on viewing the photos. Generally, most people will want to be a hobbit or an elf anyway, but will end up being an orc or a dead dwarf, and in the background. Still sound like fun? Read on! :)

The address to send your photos to :

Hobbit Extras Application
3 Foot 7 Limited
PO Box 15104
Miramar
Wellington 6243


After that, just wait. If they like your face, I'm sure they'll be in touch. If you don't hear from them, obviously you're just too ugly. Or, not ugly enough. I'm not quite sure how that works. :)


  - Jack M.

Stone Street Studios renovating?

I've been hanging onto this story for a little while, to see if I find some more details about it but I've got nothing so far.

In short, I was up on top of a certain hill last week on the 18th of September, and couldn't help noticing that one of the large sheds on Peter Jackson's Stone Street Studios (where LOTR was filmed) has been pulled down, and the concrete floor seemed to be being repoured or something. I took a quick photo of it at the time, and was looking for information about what was going on there, but I've been drawing a blank so far.

This photo faces East, for reference to the Google Map, which faces North

As you can see from the Google Maps satellite photos taken earlier this year, the big white shed was still intact not so long ago.


View Larger Map

It's getting a little hard to ignore though. I was driving towards Miramar today, and saw a rather large crane, parked on what I assumed must be the top of the hills surrounding Miramar but which turned out to be actually at ground level behind the hill, making for a rather large crane indeed. So I drove around the front of the studios again, and here's what I found:

As you can see, one enormous crane, apparently (according to one source) the largest currently in New Zealand. The four struts on the right are large concrete pillars, and look like they will be the support pillars for a huge new sound stage perhaps.

The large concrete building behind the pillars is Stage "K", at one time the third largest sound stage in the world, fully soundproof, and custom built for "King Kong" (which is what the "K" stands for - a smaller one not in this picture is called stage "R" for "Rings").

I don't have any solid facts yet - it looks like vast sums of money are being spent in preparation for a big movie - I'm assuming it's for The hobbit obviously. Perhaps it will be called Stage "H".

Let me know your thoughts - or better yet, if you have the facts, let's have those!

  - Jack M.

Exclusive! Name of The Hobbit production company revealed!

A very interesting piece of news I heard a few days ago, and had confirmed by at least two people tonight at the Guillermo del Toro book signing event at the Weta Cave - the name of the production company that has been set up by Peter Jackson in order to create the new movie.

To explain that a bit better - as I understand it, production companies typically make one movie and then disappear. If the movie is a bomb, the film maker can go on to make other movies, while the company that made it goes under. It's essentially an accounting trick - the company owns nothing, as everything is rented to them; and nobody works permanently for them, as everyone is contracted to them.

Usually, the company name is a slightly frivolous one, often only obscurely significant. King Kong was filmed by "Big Primate Pictures", Harry Potter was filmed by "1492 Ltd" (1492 being the year that Columbus sailed the oceans blue, and the movie directed by Chris Columbus), while Lord of the Rings was made by 3'6" Ltd, being the average height of a hobbit.

Film canister from Lord Of The Rings.
Sometimes you get lucky in local second hand shops.

And the new name for the production company that will make The Hobbit? Drum roll please...

3'7" Ltd.

Ok, a bit boring perhaps, but at least you heard it here first. :)

- Jack M.