I. NOTICE FROM THE AFM ABOUT THE GUILD
II. NOTICE OF A SEMINAR WITH STU PHILLIPS FROM THE SCL
III. MORE MEMBER COMMENTS
Greetings Colleagues,
We read the notice below on page 2 of the APRIL, 2007 International
Musician. For those still professing that the RMA’s Guild is a legit
group, please read carefully. It seems the AFM agrees with us.
Then we share with you a notice from the SCL about an upcoming
seminar and end with more member comments.
THE COMMITTEE
I. STATEMENT FROM THE APRIL 07 INTERNATIONAL MUSICIAN
AN URGENT MESSAGE FOR AFM MEMBERS
This notice is to inform members of the American Federation of
Musicians that an entity calling itself the Professional Musicians
Guild is in no way affiliated with the AFM. If you are approached
and asked to join the Professional Musicians Guild, the AFM
would like to know the particulars of your case. Please e-mail this
information to AFM Secretary-Treasurer Sam Folio at [email protected].
II. NOTICE OF SEMINAR WITH STU PHILLIPS FROM THE SCL
THE SOCIETY OF COMPOSERS & LYRICISTS
SCL Seminar Series
http://www.TheSCL.com
Don’t miss out on an informative, insightful, and entertaining
afternoon of score analysis, creative advice, wit, wisdom and
expertise from one who has seen it all in the music business.
Be sure to RSVP as soon as possible in order to guarantee your
copy of the scores, handouts, and book.
THE SOCIETY OF COMPOSERS & LYRICISTS (SCL)
presents the Seminar
CAREER NAVIGATION & SCORE ANALYSIS WITH STU PHILLIPS
SUNDAY AFTERNOON, MAY 6, 2007
3:00 – 5:30 pm
American Film Institute – Mark Goodson Screening Room
2021 N. Western Avenue (at Los Feliz), Los Angeles, CA 90027
The Society of Composers & Lyricists (The SCL) is proud to present
CAREER NAVIGATION & SCORE ANALYSIS WITH STU PHILLIPS, an
afternoon with composer, musical director, conductor, arranger,
orchestrator, musician, A&R record producer, and SCL Board Member
Stu Phillips. One of the most productive and diverse figures in our
business, Stu’s career has covered every aspect of the entertainment
field over of the course of his long and illustrious career. Come
spend an informative afternoon with Stu as he shows clips and plays
examples taken from his personal archives, analyzing scores,
discussing how to navigate the rough seas of the film & television music
industry, and giving his insight on how to have a long and rewarding
career in our business. Stu will also be offering complementary copies
of his best selling book, STU WHO – FORTY YEARS OF NAVIGATING THE
MUSIC BUSINESS, to the attendees after the seminar.
STU PHILLIPS studied music at The High School of Music & Art in
New York City, and at The Eastman School of Music in Rochester,
NY. He was a talented A&R man in the early sixties not only
nurturing new talent, but producing one of the iconic records of
the era, BLUE MOON by the Marcels. He arranged and produced
the top selling JOHNNY ANGEL for a young Shelley Fabares. Beginning
the next phase of his career — as a film and television composer —
Stu was the busiest man in LA during an amazing run which included
the score to such television classics as the original BATTLESTAR
GALACTICA, KNIGHT RIDER, THE FALL GUY, QUINCY, THE MONKEES
and BUCK ROGERS. His film credits include BEYOND THE VALLEY
OF THE DOLLS, HELLS ANGELS ON WHEELS and MACON COUNTY
LINE. Numerous of these scores have been released on CD and
have been adapted for symphonic orchestra. Stu has been
nominated for four Grammy’s during his career, and his ring tone
of the KNIGHT RIDER theme was awarded special recognition by BMI.
http://www.stuwho.com
This SCL seminar is:
FREE (a membership benefit) for Members of the SCL
$25 – Non-members
$15 – Students with valid IDs
FREE PARKING
Seminar fee will be waived if joining the SCL before or at seminar check-in.
SCL Platinum Members are welcome to bring one non-member guest for free.
SCL Diamond Members are welcome to bring two non-member guest for free.
To RSVP:
Reply to: [email protected]) provide your first & last name and your daytime phone #
(in case we need to contact you), and if you are a member of the
SCL (or not).
– If additional people are coming with you, please provide their
name(s) and whether they are SCL members or not.
– Confirmation of your RSVP will be sent only if you request it at
the time of sending your RSVP.
The SCL gratefully acknowledges the continuing support of our
SCL Members, along with ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC.
***************************************************************
THE SOCIETY OF COMPOSERS & LYRICISTS (SCL) is the non-profit and primary organization for actively-working professional composers and lyricists, with a distinguished 60-year history in the fine art of creating music for motion pictures and television. The predecessor organization, the Screen Composers Association, began in 1945 with such legendary icons as Max Steiner, Bernard Herrmann, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Dimitri Tiomkin and David Raksin among others. Current SCL Members include the top creative professionals whose experience and expertise is focused on many of the creative, technological, legal, newsworthy and pressing issues of the film/television/game music industry today.
http://www.TheSCL.com
III. MORE MEMBER COMMENTS
Most of these comments were sent immediately before the April
23rd’s meeting…
—
You guys are my heroes! For a very long time I really had my
doubts about the Local 47 and the officers that were in charge.
When I tried to tell my friends about joining the AFM, they gave
me responses like; “They only take your money.” or “I’m afraid to
join because we won’t be able to play in clubs.” For me I am
fortunate to be in the Local 47 for the last 21 years. I have made
many great friends and played some wonderful gigs with the help
of the Local 47.
The union was there for me; for example I have one story that
happened to me when I was 17 years old. I was playing in a jazz
quartet (alto sax, piano, bass, and drums) and we were playing in
a club on the corner of Grand and Olympic in Downtown Los
Angeles. One side was a boom-boom disco room, and the other
side was the jazz cocktail lounge. The place was crowded and
everything seemed to go well. Mind you the cover charge to get
into the club was 10 dollars. That was a steep price in 1985. At
the end of the night when we were expecting our money; the
owner told us to come the next night and we’ll get paid because
they didn’t make enough money to clear their overhead. That was
Friday night so here comes Saturday night.
Well the place was even more crowded on Saturday night, and we
thought that we were going to really get some cash. The owner
tried to stiff us again by telling us the same story while having his
henchmen intimidate us by taking our gear outside. Thank God
we had a contract and we called 1-800- ROAD GIG from a pay
phone and left a message. To make a long story short, we received
payment for the 2 gigs; we were also covered for our work dues
and pension. If it weren’t for the AFM, we would have been stranded.
Since I discovered your Committee, I feel a new sense of pride
that I haven’t felt in years. Because of your efforts, I’m honored
to be a member of the Local 47.
God bless each and everyone of you,
————
Re: Hal for AFM Pres — It is my impression that about half of the
AFM delegates are star-struck by anyone from a big local and the
other half are disgusted by Sandy DeCresent’s minions lobbying
at the Convention. My info is that the anti-Tom Lee faction will be
running Moriarity for AFM pres, the only person they see who has
a chance of winning.
Perhaps worse for L47 than Hal being elected AFM pres would be
the line of succession to the presidency at L47. Yikes!
A quote I just heard may be useful to you: “… being nice to a bully
doesn’t work. You’ve got to fight back. You’ve got to stand up.” —
Laura Flanders on Democracy Now! 4/9/07
————
How do we represent our vote if we physically can not attend this
meeting. How come there was never a absent “t” vote represented.
I think there are a lot of us that can not attend this meeting so
our voice once again will not be heard. If you have any suggestions,
I would be more than happy to listen as I am upset that my voice
can not be heard or represented and there hasn’t been an alternative
presented.
————
whoever you are, good luck…i can’t make the meeting because i
would have to shut down the library where i work 1 nite a week, and my student helper isn’t here cuz he’s sick…so i hope you get the votes necessary!!!!!!!!!!!! please put out an email as soon as you can about what happened at the meeting!
————
THIS GUY IS THE S*** MAN _ COME FORWARD AND BE KNOWN
————
That was a nice bit of writing by the person who wrote to “Dear
Weekend Warrior.” It will be interesting to see what happens
tomorrow at the meeting.
There are things to learn from this situation, and things to ponder.
We can state the truth a number of different ways, yet when the
rubber hits the road it often becomes clear that people don’t care
about the truth–even while they flatter themselves by declaring
that they do. Human corruptibility is nothing new; Augustine talked
about it at length 1600 years ago.
The tradition of Western Enlightenment has taught us, among
other things, that remedies for corruption include individual
liberties, free-market economics and decentralization of power.
I didn’t read the email but I can’t imagine how the the RMA could
use “its the marketplace” as part of its rationale without completely
perverting the meaning of marketplace.
The most important characteristic of a marketplace is its MOBILITY,
exactly what the powers that be want to thwart. But, as I said, I
doubt they honestly care about the marketplace in the abstract or
in theory, just their bank accounts and homes in the Hollywood Hills.
Bottom line: it is obvious that the only principles (we’ll call them that)
involved here are the quest of money and control. It is probably safe to
assume that no one will change their practices unless forced to. The
situation is a travesty. I have no doubt it will change but it remains to
be seen whether those changes happen sooner or later.
Meantime those Hollywood “egos to the moon” will continue in their
vanity and greed, while promulgating their contrived reality to whoever
will listen–students, Kool-Aid drinkers, fellow travelers, sycophants,
provincial thinkers and the intellectually challenged. They’ll ride the
ride until the power is turned off, at which point there might be some
hope of restoring some measure of self-respect to our community.
————
I have three issues:
(1) You wrote: “The COMMITTEE FOR A MORE RESPONSIBLE LOCAL
47 is a collection of Local 47 Members dedicated to the rank and
file. We exist to provide information. . .”
So, who are you guys? Do you intend to remain anonymous?
(2) Re: Raising the quorum to 100? How did this happen? Was
it a bylaw change? Was it a typo? Did an extra zero merely get put
accidentally at the end? How stupid is this? I don’t remember seeing
this issue anywhere. Two years without a membership meeting?
You gotta be kidding.
(3) I have been complaining to the officers for years about our
sitting still and watching the musician’s union die on the vine.
There is so much they could do to indoctrinate youngsters in school
and they have let whole generations grow up ignorant. I guess
with the local’s officers, the old saying is alive and well, you can’t
teach a pig to fly.
————
(Referring to the April 2rd meeting)
Oh, I wouldn’t miss this. Thanks for keeping we peons informed,
I personally appreciate it very much. =)
————
General response to some of the last comments:
I think there is an inherent misunderstanding by some of the
members’ comments regarding a few key points. First of all, in
regard to “the Committee’s” anonymity, those who are suspicious
as to why identities have been kept hidden is in my opinion a bit
irrelevant to the open discussion we are all reading insofar as
opposing viewpoints ARE displayed and while there may be biased
accusations or even truths expressed, they are certainly open to
discovering the facts of the situation. I also understand that there
are good political reasons for keeping individual names from
being published here – just look at the daily mudslinging e-mails
that came from Hal’s office during the last election, not to mention
the actual proposals we will be voting on. There is a great deal to
be concerned about when it comes to the health and welfare of
our union and its members.
And healthy discussion such as this is in my opinion desperately
needed amongst our membership. Our low quorums for union
meetings should serve as an example of the complacency of the
majority voice of the union. While our union is made up of a range
of honest, good people – some doing very well and some not,
there are also those who have a different agenda. Regardless of
which side of an issue you are on, I think it’s safe to say our union
can do more for its members and better represent the majority of
them – and we need to stand up and demand that or as the saying
goes, “bad things happen when good people do nothing”. While
nobody expects the union to find us work, we would hope that
with equal experience, effort, talent, business sense and positive
attitude, our union won’t stack the deck against any of us. I will
be the first to say that those who do very well generally deserve it
and have paid their dues. But we cannot allow our union to effectively
say to the rest, “sorry, those jobs are full now and we’re not accepting
any more applications”.
Yes opportunities arise and the tides change; new members join and
there are new musicians coming into the fold all the time; but ask
yourself this question, “is your union doing all it can to help this
happen, or prevent it?”. See you Monday (I hope).
(anonymous)
————
Dear Anonymous,
First of all, use proper spelling, grammar, punctuation, and logic, if you
want to be understood, and if you want to win people over to your way of
thinking. Your message below, which makes no reference to the facts and
arguments of the RMA newsletter, has one particularly atrocious sentence
which says: ” If you know the ins and outs their arguments and assinine and
insult the intelligence of anyone who knows the score (no pun intended).”
Second, after reading the RMA article, I’d prefer a larger quorum, to avoid
tyrrany of any vocal minority (whether it’s FMA, RMA, or, yes, even The
Committee). If your committee’s positions on every union matter are so
much better than those of the board and of other musicians, certainly you
should be able to convince at least 170 musicians to push your positions
through at general membership meetings.
———–
Thank you for the heads up. I will make every effort to attend the
4/23 meeting. Is there something that can be done to insure
adequate parking for Members attending this meeting?
BTW: I have a little “horror” story of my own concerning on-line
recording sessions and 47/AFM inaction, non-replies, etc.
You may know that it’s possible to use file transfers over the web
to record music tracks. There’s a website (www.sessionplayers.com)
that has a list of “name” musicians available to record tracks for
anyone, world-wide. This is a great use of the technology, because
it enables a musician/artist from (let’s say Hungary) to have the
talents of a Luis Conte play on their (mostly) independent recording.
Other players use their own websites (i.e. russmiller.com) to do
the same thing. Industry mags like “Mix” and “Recording” have had
ads for online sessions for quite a while, and evidently this is working
for many musicians/artists worldwide.
Months ago, I emailed 47 and AFM/NYC to ask that they consider
setting up an AFM site for online recording. Sam Folio did reply,
saying they were going to look into this and get back to me. I also
received a reply from the 47 office saying the same thing.
That was in December, and even though I did follow up emails there’s
been no response to my inquiries.
Why “the powers that be” won’t set up an AFM sponsored/backed
site for members to use the web to record and make some $$$
(along w/dues payments) is beyond me.
What the (fill in expletive) is going on with these folks? We can’t
use things like Craig’s List because they’re warning their users to
go local only. Besides, an AFM-backed site would add credibility
to any Member offering his/her services because of Union contracts.
But noooooo…….I haven’t heard a peep from anyone and I have
to ask myself “why?”. Is it because there’s some “deal” to keep as
much work as possible in recording studios? Is RMA influencing
them against such a move? What’s the logic behind not seeing/doing
this on their own initiative? Especially since that’s what we’re paying
them (by our dues) to do? I’m at a loss to explain this.
I can really see the AFM “imploding on itself”, and I have to ask
why am I paying dues when nothing’s being done for me. This is
REALLY jacked-up!
Isn’t there some sort of gov’t oversight (NLRB, etc.) entity that
can help us get things straight here?
One other thing i have to question is why doesn’t the AFM have
agreements w/ foreign orchestras and music associations? Every
month in Int’l Musician there are ads for foreign orchestras, and
there is always a disclaimer that AFM can’t vouch for working
standards, etc.
What kind of bovine feces is this?
————-
Local 47 Colleagues,
The next mailing will include more member comments and some
of what’s going on behind closed doors at the Local.
Until next time,
THE COMMITTEE FOR A MORE RESPONSIBLE LOCAL 47