Forbes magazine have reported that MGM creditors have decided to move the company into chapter 11 bankruptcy, rather than let investor Karl Icahan move on in.
This means that MGM, who owns the rights to The Hobbit and the James Bond franchise
“will have about a month to get its house in order and all of the $4 billion in debt will be turned into equity.
The company will then come under the management of Spyglass Entertainment heads Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum.
Spyglass already has a long history in Hollywood. The company helped finance successful films like Star Trek, Wanted and Four Christmases.” Read more here
Berber and Birnbaum will become Chairmen and Chief Executives of MGM.
Earlier this month, if successful, the plan was set to
[freeze] out bidders like Lionsgate, Time Warner and India’s Reliance Entertainment. Offers for the studio were rumored to be in the $1.5 billion to $2 billion range. Buyers would have been getting a rich library of films that throws off an estimated $350 million per year, the rights to potentially lucrative franchises like James Bond and The Hobbit … and $4 billion in debt. Read more here
The UK’s Guardian newspaper said that the two new bosses intend to be ruthless with costs
Under the new management, MGM is expected to make just four to six movies a year, most with modest budgets of $50m. Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum… have said they aim to be ruthless about costs, outsource distributing films to theatres and focus on the TV business and online services . More here
It’s not clear yet how the decision will impact on the filming, or the financing, of the two Hobbit movies.
What is Chapter 11 Bankruptcy?
A case filed under chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code is frequently referred to as a “reorganization” bankruptcy.
It provides (generally) for reorganization, usually involving a corporation or partnership. (A chapter 11 debtor usually proposes a plan of reorganization to keep its business alive and pay creditors over time. People in business or individuals can also seek relief in chapter 11.) source
Recently crowned New Zealand’s next top model Danielle Hayes had, it would seem, a fairly typical Kiwi upbringing in small town NZ – including being bullied badly at school.
Winning the title is probably going to change in her life very much for the better, we wish her the very best of luck for a bright future.
She had said in an interview
“”It’s going to change my life so much. Like so much. I’m going to go from doing nothing at home, sleeping on mum and dad’s couch, to actually doing stuff every day,” she told the Sunday Star-Times.
The model said she had made one of the biggest journeys of all the girls on the show. She was bullied badly at school, but it made her determined to succeed.
“I used to get punched a lot by the other Maori kids. It was constant name-calling, like `you’re ugly, you’re never going to do anything in your entire life’.”
Hayes seems to have mixed feelings about her home town. On the first episode of Top Model she said that coming from Kawerau, her greatest achievements were not getting pregnant and avoiding jail.
“Growing up in Kawerau you’ve practically got those two options. I was speaking the truth where nobody else would. Growing up there, I wanted to be different. I wanted to get out,” she said.
“Kawerau’s my home. I can diss it because I’m from there, but anybody else diss it, no way.”…
…Hayes didn’t watch the show regularly because she didn’t want to see herself on television, but she said that, based on the finale, she thought she was portrayed accurately. She also refuses to read any comments on the internet about herself. “I’m sick of being bullied, so why read the negatives?” read more
What a pity other young Kiwi women like her don’t have the same future ahead of them, it’s a pity that their opportunities are limited, it’s a pity her words kicked up a storm in her hometown of Kawerau, in the eastern Bay of Plenty – but perhaps they needed to be said?
Perhaps New Zealand isn’t as Great a place for raising kids as it would like to believe? Perhaps speaking about these things may help to change them?
Some of our readers may remember the furore that ‘Ode to Whangarei‘ caused. It earned Peter Larson, the poet who conceived it, a bashing. In it was the phrase:
Whangarei your teenagers are pregnant with the next generation of criminals…read the full poem here
The Press has reported that an Irish couple has been held to ransom for the return of their flash drives, stolen during a robbery over the Labour weekend.
The couple lef t their Springfield, Christchurch residence for a holiday in Mount Cook and returned to find their laptop, an harmonica and flash drives containing 9 months of photos had been stolen.
Since the theft they’ve had texts asking for hundreds of dollars for the return of the drives. Read more about the story here.
It’s bad enough that their precious memories have been taken from them after all the trauma of the Canterbury earthquake, it’s reprehensible that the thieves have asked for money for their return.
We hope their possessions are returned to them as soon as possible and those responsible face the consequences of their actions.
Yesterday a middle aged man was shot in the back as he filled-up at a service station in Wairoa, what makes the crime particularly disturbing is that it happened during a busy time of day and other people could’ve been hurt or killed in the attack.
A RadioNZ report said it was only a matter of time before someone got killed and that
“Mayor Les Probert said a shooting in such a public place has connotations. He says its bad enough when gangs are fighting amongst themselves, but at least in that circumstance members of the public aren’t in danger.
On Tuesday, a 17-year-old man was shot in the chest outside the Mongrel Mob headquarters. There have been four shootings in the town this year.
“”We have got these two gangs, one of each side of the river and of course it doesn’t matter what agreement you come to with one of them, if another drives past and fires a gun then there’s retaliation.”
Although no mention of drugs/gang involvement was made in the original police reports (it seldom is these days in New Zealand) the intimation was there if you read between the lines – note a police report on the incident on infonews stated “members of the public going about their normal activities” and not “other members of the public”:
A 48 year old man received gunshot wounds after an incident on the forecourt of a service station in WAIROA. The man had stopped to fuel his vehicle when he was approached by another person who fired two shots which struck the victim in the side and back. The offender then ran off.
AOS and CIB staff from GISBORNE were in WAIROA overnight and will return to continue the enquiry this morning. The victim of the shooting has come out of surgery and is in a stable condition in HASTINGS Hospital.
Police are concerned that the shooting took place at a busy time of the day when the service station forecourt had members of the public going about their normal activities, and seek their assistance to identify the offender. Source
The two gangs mostly likely to be involved are probably Black Power and the Mongrel Mob, following Tuesday’s clash between the two outside a mob house on Kaimoana St, in which a 17 year old male was shot.
Understandably this latest shooting has caused some consternation among ‘the public’ and soon became the topic of conversation on the Trademe message boards among Kiwis.
Conversation rapidly turned to how gang activity is spoiling the area and suggestion that high unemployment was resulting in increased crime/gang activity:
Morning ***, how horrible, its such a shame ,as Wairoa is a lovely town, But one i wouldnt like to be living in now.
Wow! I must be thinking of a different Wairoa. The one I know is on the way to the worst town in NZ, Gisborne. Now both those places are real shitholes.
No i dont think you are thinking of a different Wairoa ,nor for that fact Gisborne, not all parts are the same, its just a shame they are moving the violence into the township its self.
i have to agree with **** on this,what a shithole of a place,full of gangs.
Gisborne is a very nice place to live, there’s just certain places you don’t go like any city. I have to go down to Wairoa for work and there’s some very lovely people. The gangs are the problem, not the town.
Its a town in the middle of no where and high unemployment. Of course the gangs will set up residence there …… plenty of bush for their lucrative horticulture business
In Gisborne in 1968, I was spat at and called a Pakeha (one reason why I loathe that name). I had a similar experience in Whangarei 3 years later. These experiences have forever coloured my opinion of both towns. Last year I returned to Gisborne and although no-one spat at me, I still felt uneasy there, so filled up with petrol and moved on to Tauranga quick smart.
I’ve lived in Gisborne for 31 years and have never had an experience like that, racism is ugly but it’s not confined to a couple of places.
I agree. However, that can be all it takes to colour one’s opinion. Its hard to overlook what to some are trivial things, but its stuck in my mind all these years.
AND Look at the houses for sale in Wairoa. lovely too some of them.. what a shame. I could live there.Plenty fishing and Hunting and all the facilities that you NEED not Want…Shame shame..has the Works not started back up there yet…gee BMWNZ 1968!!! they have moved on.. Just fight you in the courts now!!! “let it go”
We moved there in 2001 due to hubbys work and moved away again in 2004 I was glad to be out of there as it is a very stressful town , very negative feeling but we did meet some lovely people there. It will never change as most people there dont want to accept change. They hate out of towners coming to their town and suggesting new ideas , the residents are too set in their ways what a shame.
what i can never understand is why the gangs are held in such high regard and education which could free so many of them isnt same as when i saw that feature on that terry guy in huntly the other night all those little wannabes and yet they have so much choice in the world being so young yet they are already limiting themselves
As the day progressed the press finally managed to get their teeth into the incident, with the NZ Herald running a report with the headline - “Police out as Wairoa gangs clash.”
The Herald confirmed that it was a Mongrel Mob member who’d been shot and it appeared to be in retaliation for the shooting of the 17 year old earlier in the week, the youth is alleged to be a Black Power member.
Police and the AOS (armed offenders squad) will be out in force in the town tonight in an effort to prevent any further violence.
There seems to be some tolerance for inter gang warfare in the area, with authorities only getting twitchy when it spills out onto the streets and presents a risk to innocent people.
Restrictions on the reporting of crime in NZ
If you recall back in July of this year we blogged about the Gisborne Herald running a piece called Crime, What Crime? in which the paper said that police in the area had decided to restrict the information on crime they provide to media in a move to “make the community feel safer“
At that time we asked the question “isn’t it preferable to create a safer, low crime community rather than mislead people into thinking that it is?” Raising public awareness of crime could be a valuable tool in combating lawless behaviour and raising the public’s intolerance of law breaking and gang activities.
Read “no notice from police” in the Gisborne Herald for example of how restrictions on reporting of crime may have already adversely impacted on people in Gisborne
Their coverage was much the same as in other publications but they did publish a rather interesting list of crime figures under the heading:
SPOTLIGHT ON OFFENDED
NZ Police figures for offences per 10,000 people:
which showed that for Eastern District: Gisborne, Napier and Hastings, the figures for serious assaults, alcohol offences, cannabis offences and sexual attacks were well above the national rates, which made it even more odd that crime information given to the media was restricted.
Napier Gang Attack
Nearby Napier was also in the news today for a gang related attack on an innocent member of the public by a mob wannabe out on bail for murder:
A teenager involved in a near-fatal daylight gang attack on a stranger walking through a Napier alley was on bail awaiting trial for murder, it was revealed in court yesterday.
Hemi Winitana was one of four Mongrel Mob wannabes alleged to have been involved in the attack between Latham St and Riverbend Rd on the afternoon of January 29, when Winitana was 17…more here
You may also be interested in: Always Blow on the Pie – community policing and safer communities together in New Zealand, a legendary video.
New Zealand’s Green party have spoken out against the recently hastily passed legislation that was introduced as a knee jerk reaction in a desperate effort to keep the Hobbit Films in New Zealand.
In a press release issued today the Greens said:
National’s legislation makes NZ look Braindead
National’s legislation to appease Warner Brothers is braindead and will send all workers in the film industry back to the days of the Employment Contracts Act, Green Party Co-leader Russel Norman said today.
The Green Party is opposing National’s Employment Relations (Film Production Work) Amendment Bill. The legislation is being debated in Parliament under urgency after meetings between Prime Minister John Key and representatives of Warner Brothers regarding filming the Hobbit movie franchise in New Zealand.
“The Green Party is delighted that the Hobbit will be filmed in New Zealand,” said Dr Norman.
“It is however unacceptable that the Key Government is introducing legislation that means all New Zealand workers in the film industry could soon be ‘independent contractors‘.
“This legislation has been thrown together in a matter of days to placate the executives of Warner Brothers.
“The Key Government has taken this action despite assurances from the NZ Council of Trade Unions that there would be no industrial action on the Hobbit movies.
“By attacking the CTU and not accepting its assurances John Key has effectively undermined New Zealand’s negotiating position prior to his discussions with Warner Brothers,” said Dr Norman.
“The actions taken by John Key have threatened New Zealand’s economic and parliamentary sovereignty.
“For these reasons the Green Party will be opposing this legislation all the way.”
A Nelson man who "bombarded" two 14-year-old girls with text messages, some of which were sexually explicit and predatory, has been jailed for 18 months.
A Palmerston North man shocked to find titillating toys among the tiaras in the children's section of a discount store was trespassed by police after he confronted the shop's owner.
A self-confessed pyromaniac who set a fire at Spotswood College has apologised, saying his time in prison has made him realise how stupid his actions were.
A former New Plymouth evangelist used his position as a man of God to hide pistol parts among Bibles to sneak them into the country, a judge said in the New Plymouth District Court yesterday
The study suggested significant adventure tourism and adventure sport injury problem in NZ. ACC paid >18,500 domestic adventure injury cases 3 weeks ago
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