The Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance , also referred to as The Alliance, is the Australian trade union and professional organisation which covers the media, entertainment, sports and arts industries. Its members include people working in TV, radio, theatre, the film industry, cinemas, entertainment venues and recreation grounds, including journalists, actors, dancers, sportspeople, cartoonists, photographers, orchestral and opera performers, as well as people working in public relations, advertising, publishing and website production.
Creation
The Alliance was created in 1992 through the merging of the unions covering actors, journalists and entertainment industry employees:
Since amalgamation, the Symphony Orchestra Musicians Association & the NSW Artworkers Union have joined the Alliance, a Professional Sports Branch has been created & the Screen Technicians Association of Australia reconstituted itself under the Alliance banner. In 2005 New Zealand Actors Equity affiliated to MEAA.
Sections
The MEAA consists of four main sections:
MEDIA - This represents journalists and media staffers who were previously covered by the AJA
EQUITY - Actors Equity is home to Australia's professional performers including screen actors, theatre practitioners and dancers
ECS -. This consists of all non-performance employees including technicians, venue staff and ushers, and racing/sport staff
The Alliance is trustee of the Walkley Award for Excellence in Journalism annually divided into individual categories. There are awards for the best entrant in each category, as well as the winner of the "Press photographer of the year", "Journalism Leadership Award" and the "Gold Walkley". A foundation for performer members, the Equity Foundation was established to run professional development programs and a new series of Equity Awards for "Lifetime Achievement" and "Ensemble Casts".
Events
MEAA and The Hobbit production in New Zealand
In September 2010, NZAE objected to contracts for actors in The Hobbit series planned for filming in New Zealand. MEAA notified the International Federation of Actors, which on 24 September 2010 issued a Do Not Work order for members worldwide. Producer Peter Jackson and minister Chris Finlayson claimed that New Zealand'sCommerce Act 1986 made it illegal for the producers to engage in collective bargaining with NZAE on two grounds: first, that it represented independent contractors; and, second, that it was based outside New Zealand. The Screen Production and Development Association alleged that "MEAA/Equity has no legal status in New Zealand". The independent-contractor assertions were called into question by the 2005 courtcase Bryson v Three Foot Six Ltd. A. F. Tyson noted that critics "frequently focuse on the MEAA rather than the NZAE" On 20 October 2010, a Wellington meeting of NZAE was called off in the face of a protest planned by hundreds of film crew who feared The Hobbit production would relocate to Eastern Europe. On 26 October Simon Whipp of NZAE was quoted as saying that he would feel no guilt if it relocated. On 29 October the government rushed a bill amendmening the 1986 act through Parliament, overturning the 2005 decision by explicitly declaring all film workers to be independentcontractors. Emails released in December 2010 by way of the Official Information Act showed that Jackson told the Government he did not believe an international actors' boycott would force The Hobbit overseas. The message, sent to the office of Economic Development Minister Gerry Brownlee on 18 October, contrasts comments the film-maker made earlier in the month. A full list of the e-mails was released in February 2013 by the Ombudsman, at the request of Radio New Zealand and the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, despite resistance on the grounds of commercial sensitivity from the New Zealand Government and Wingnut Films.
