Doors of White Houses open to Key

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John Key will make two visits to the White House on his trip to the United States - the real one and the set of the political drama The West Wing.

This afternoon, he is scheduled to visit Warner Bros' studios in Los Angeles where he will see the White House of the fictional President Josiah Bartlet.

The real White House visit takes place on Friday in Washington DC, when the Prime Minister will meet President Barack Obama in the Oval Office.

But perhaps sensitive to suggestions that Mr Key has too many photo opportunities, neither his officials nor Warner Bros has offered one at the fake Oval office.

Mr Key's tour today will be followed by a dinner with executives of Warner Bros and its associate New Line Cinema, including some who were in New Zealand last year during the crisis over filming of The Hobbit.

The executives held direct negotiations with the Government after threatening to take the films elsewhere. The Prime Minister said that the day after The Hobbit deal was signed, director Sir Peter Jackson held a dinner for the executives and invited him.

"I dropped in as a bit of a surprise," he said. They told him that the next time he was in the US, they would host a dinner for him.

Mr Key said that on his trip to India's film headquarters Bollywood, a producer had told him his company had moved two films from Australia to New Zealand as a result of the changes under The Hobbit deal.

The stakes were high: the two Hobbit films together were estimated to be worth $670 million to the New Zealand economy, involving 3000 jobs over the four years of production.

The deal drew criticism from some who thought the Government simply kow-towed to the Americans, and one critic redesigned the New Zealand flag, with the Warner Bros logo replacing the Union Jack.

The crisis ended with a deal involving an extra $34 million in tax breaks and concessions on top of the $50 million to $60 million Warner Bros could expect if the films were a success; a new law stating those working on films as contractors could not later be classed as employees; and an agreement for the Government and Warner Bros to work together in what they termed a "long-term strategic partnership" to promote New Zealand as a film production and tourism destination.

Mr Key said he would talk about the strategic partnership with the film executives.