pbalsdon Posted February 13, 2004 Report Share Posted February 13, 2004 Peter Pan, a story set in Neverland. Shot in Queensland, Australia. Post production in the USA. I don't think I can see anything inappropriate. :D Phil Balsdon Sydney, Australia www.steadi-onfilms.com.au Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pbalsdon Posted February 13, 2004 Report Share Posted February 13, 2004 So is the problem with "Cold Mountain" the fact that it's an American story shot in Roumania or that it's American money being spent in Roumania, or both. I can recall many films made in the US about foreign places. I can recall stories that make Americans heroes in stories they have no place to be, eg. Last Samurai, some Japanese people might be a little insulted at this story (some might be amused by it too). Like Levis, General Motors, Nike, Carbide Union and many other businesses the people financing movies take there films elsewhere to use and frequently abuse the economic situations in other places. Read a book called "No Logo" by Naomi Klein (published by Flamingo) and it'll enlighten you as to what goes on in the world when a business exists purely to make money and take advantage others without a moral conscience. The situation with US movie production lies purely in the hands of US producers who take their movies elsewhere. The effect isn't entirely beneficial to the other countries either. The government in Australia continually tells us what a great benefit foreign films (mostly American) have been to the economy quoting improvements in dollar terms. The trouble is when they say $400 million dollars spent on feature film production in Sydney, up $150 million on 4 years ago they don't tell you that that $400 million produced 3 films and employed about three or four crews. The $250 million spent a few years ago made 20 or 30 local films and distributed the work among many crews. It's also the loss of our culture, when we find it difficult to produce our stories. Last year was one of the worst years ever, if not the worst ever, in terms of work for technicians in Australia, but one of the best in terms of budgets spent on films. Many very experienced people here can no longer make a living in the film industry. When this situation started here a few years ago many people in LA were having protests and holding up placards demanding US producers bring their films back to LA. A local DP I was working with suggested we all go to big Sydney park and hold up banners demanding the US takes them back! At the time it was funny, it's not anymore. The sports shoes you are wearing could well have been made by a young child living in poverty in the third world, who earnt less than 1% the price you eventually paid for them for their efforts. The company took it's footwear factory off shore for the same reason a film company takes it's production offshore. Sorry for rambling on but you aren't the only people suffering in the world. Phil Balsdon Sydney, Australia www.steadi-onfilms.com.au "Greed is Good" - Michael Douglas in "Wall Street" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericoh Posted February 13, 2004 Report Share Posted February 13, 2004 Like Levis, General Motors, Nike, Carbide Union and many other businesses the people financing movies take there films elsewhere to use and frequently abuse the economic situations in other places. Read a book called "No Logo" by Naomi Klein (published by Flamingo) and it'll enlighten you as to what goes on in the world when a business exists purely to make money and take advantage others without a moral conscience. There's a good documentary called "The Corporation" that talks about the corporate sector and how corporations can be defined as "psychopaths" using the WHO definition of what a psychopath is. An interesting watch. Looks into the mind of the Beast. No, it does not talk about runaway productions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members David Allen Grove Posted February 13, 2004 Author Premium Members Report Share Posted February 13, 2004 The situation with US movie production lies purely in the hands of US producers who take their movies elsewhere.... The sports shoes you are wearing could well have been made by a young child living in poverty in the third world, who earnt less than 1% the price you eventually paid for them for their efforts. The company took it's footwear factory off shore for the same reason a film company takes it's production offshore. Sorry for rambling on but you aren't the only people suffering in the world. Phil Balsdon Sydney, Australia www.steadi-onfilms.com.au "Greed is Good" - Michael Douglas in "Wall Street" Hi Phil Baldson, You are absolutely right. We aren't the only ones and you are also right in that it is the Producers and the CEO's of major companies that are at fault..and our governments that allow it. If anyone is interested in the subject of downsizing and runaway jobs you should rent Michael Moores Documentary "The Big One" Moore actaully confronts the CEO of NIKE. It was very interesting. Also, Check out this article... ----------------------------------------- Tax blow hits British film industry By Luke Leitch, Evening Standard, Arts Reporter 12 February 2004 Britain's booming film industry is braced for a potentially crippling crisis and hundreds of job losses today after a shock move in which the Inland Revenue scrapped a tax loophole. For the first time more than £1billion was spent on making films in Britain last year. That figure could be halved this year if the Inland Revenue does not find a compromise after meeting the Film Council this week. It is understood 25 films poised to begin shooting could be cancelled unless they are refinanced. They include Tulip Fever, starring Jude Law. The first victim is likely to be The Libertine, starring Johnny Depp, Samantha Morton and John Malkovich, which was due to start shooting next week. It is claimed that the new tax move has removed at a stroke 30 per cent of the funding assumed to be available. But Paymaster General Dawn Primarolo said it was necessary to stop abuse. "These schemes are intended for people who risk their own money in running genuine businesses," she said. Monty Python's The Holy Grail has been voted Britain's best film. The 1975 comedy topped a poll by Amazon and The Internet Movie Database. The Clockwork Orange was second and Trainspotting third. ------------------------------- David "Fair and Balanced" Grove Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Erwin Landau Posted February 14, 2004 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 14, 2004 This one is for Michael Stumpf... I just finished this week, working on two commercials here in Santa Clarita... for what do you know... Canada. They will only been shown there... Chris Ivins worked on a couple of Commercials destined for Mexico... shot here at El Mirage... Just FYI.... It goes both ways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members RonBaldwin Posted February 14, 2004 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 14, 2004 those pesky Canadians...they should shoot commercials in their own damn deserts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members JamieSilverstein Posted February 15, 2004 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 15, 2004 Phil; Runaway is not about where a film is shot, its about the fact that a film can be shot anywhere in the universe at this point. If not the US, then Australia, then South Africa, then China, then, then,then. This discussion is so valuable because it allows us to understand that we are all pawns. Producers will move to the cheapest port and force all of us to cut our lowering rates even lower. And yes they are lowering. In the US real wages for film technicians have not risen in many years, and conditions have diminished as well. Consider the concept of Runaway Production as a harbinger of things to come for all people working in film all over the world if we don't do something collectively. I think that the first step is to stop arguing about who should be doing the work and where, and agree that all of us should be working to make wages and conditions uniform for all of us. Jamie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pbalsdon Posted February 18, 2004 Report Share Posted February 18, 2004 Thing is Jamie in a country like Australia and many other countries that don't have the huge budgets of US films the cost of hiring a steadicam and op for the day (and many other "luxuries") at the rates you guys get in the states is prohibitive. I have many film credits for doing only one major shot (normally opening or closing) on local productions because that's all the film could afford. It is because of our local supply demand and budget situations and small population that we have to set a rate realistic to local situations. Then along comes some enterprising US producer who gets together with a local entrepreneur and figures hey these guys can supply a crew and the rest of the stuff for really great rates ( and hey what a great place to work for a couple of months at the productions expense). So what do we do set a rate for working on American films and another for Australian films and maybe another for Bangladeshi films. As I said in my previous post this situation has also affected the production of Australian films and currently we are further concerned about the US free trade agreement which will allow the US to dump as much Film and television programming as they like down here at low prices making it difficult for producers of local programmes to compete. The result of this is the death of our local culture. Down here we make films like 'Rabbit Proof Fence', 'Beneath Clouds' and in New Zealand 'Whale Rider', these films have a greater important message for the world than 'Spiderman' and 'The Hulk' but they're getting harder to make. This is not your fault or my fault but the result of production companies using the rates to their benefit. If we do set a rate whose rate do we use as the mean yours or someone elses? (there's guys in Thailand working for much lower rates than me) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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