The shire is built, the Hobbits have arrived, and production of one of the biggest films ever to be made in New Zealand is set to begin tomorrow.
After a torrid few weeks at the end of last year when a spat between director Sir Peter Jackson and the New Zealand actors’ union threatened to drive the film overseas, filming will now start on The Hobbit – the two-part prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
The stoush last year resulted in Prime Minister John Key announcing that the government would make concessions to filmmakers Warner Bros, including a change to labour laws clarifying the status of film workers as contractors.
