THE INNER CIRCLE SPEAKS / BUTCH LEWIS UPDATE / EVENTS

2/23/18

 

I. THE INNER CIRCLE SPEAKS
II. UPDATE ON THE BUTCH LEWIES ACT
III. EVENTS

…Absolutely guaranteed anonymity – Former Musician’s Union officer

…The one voice of reason in a sea of insanity – Nashville ‘first call’
scoring musician
…Allows us to speak our minds without fear of reprisal – L.A. Symphonic musician

…Reporting issues the Musicians Union doesn’t dare to mention – National touring musician

 

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I. THE INNER CIRCLE SPEAKS

KARMA’S A BITCH

It has now been confirmed by multiple sources
that an well-known officer of the RMA, sued a
major contractor last year because the contractor
stopped hiring them. They lost, of course. Said
contractor stopped hiring them because, according
to the contractor, their lack of “musical contribution”.
Whether they are used by the contractor at this point
is unknown.

It’s called FREE-LANCING, Mr/Ms 2nd fiddle and
contractors can hire (Or not hire) who they like!
How Ironic that after all the careers you’ve affected
for good or ill (far more for ill), you should find yourself
affected by the same practices. You’ll have to suffer
along with the 1000’s of sessions you’ve played
on and the six figure July check you get.

THERE’S ALWAYS ANOTHER

It certainly seems that once the system had
almost gotten rid of one person there’s another
ready to take their place. The below should
prove to the kool-aide drinkers that, yes,
people are still blacklisted and targeted.
And that the RMA is still the most disruptive
entity in our business. Indeed, the RMA
leadership’s conduct and AFM’s conduct has
made the AFM brand absolutely toxic to a
majority of studios and producers of content,
not to mention the composers.

Looking at the below shows why no one
wants to work with the AFM if they have a
choice.

This has ALSO been verified by multiple
sources…. (Some identities are protected
here, though figuring out who is being
referred to should be a simple matter
inside the recording industry.)

-A local union contractor was busted in
the fall of last year for a non-union
recording date at “The Bridge” in
Glendale, CA

-A list of the musicians involved was
leaked to contractors before the musicians
accused were charged. This resulted in
several established musicians becoming
blacklisted from A list contractors.

-An RMALA officer orchestrated this
operation in an attempt to target specific
contractors who are in opposition to his
own personal interests. Coincidentally,
those who also refuse to hire him.

– This RMA Officer, who has also stopped
working for this contractor, is on the war
path having used former Local 47 employee
Gordon Grayson as his henchman to spy
on selected contractors. (Mr. Grayson was
at one point spotted taking photos outside
of Warner Brothers) Gordon’s associate Erick
Cruz took photos outside of the Bridge
Recording to bust said contractor’s session.
Only some of the musicians present were
charged.

-The RMA Officer who himself is on the
A-list, will deny any and all accusations,
and hides behind Grayson’s actions, so
that he may remain in good graces with
his colleagues – the very same people
who he spies on and incriminates.

– The RMA Officer maintains friendships
with musicians and then uses personal
information to bust these select contractors.

– The RMA Officer has also gained preferential
treatment from a certain contractor for
eliminating this contractor’s competition.

– The RMA Officer has held a grudge towards
this particular “busted” contractor and his
partner for many years.

-What is the advantage to this RMA Officer
in attacking musicians who are barely scraping
by to make a living, while he sits comfortably
in an A-list chair helping the one contractor
who still hires him?

-He addresses the only contractor who hires
him as “fat fi-core idiot”,  and he will do anything
he can to manipulate him into returning to the
union while he busts actual union contractors.

-He has no allegiance to anyone who will not
help him professionally.

We hope this provides you with some insight to
the inner workings of the RMA and their henchman
working on their own accord outside of Local 47’s
jurisdiction. Please help us by informing the
community via the blog.

Enjoy,

-The Inner Circle

 

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II. UPDATE on the Butch Lewis Act

Bi-Partisan Committee Created to Solve Pension Crisis by Year’s End

Unfortunately, the Butch Lewis Act did not make it
into the bipartisan budget deal the U.S. Senate passed
last week. However, this is no reason to give up hope.
As a compromise, a bipartisan House and Senate Joint
Select Committee, led by Senator Sherrod Brown, will be
tasked with coming up with a solution to the pension
crisis by the last week of November 2018. You can read
the details about the committee on his website here.

“Washington bailed out Wall Street, and Wall Street
turned around and stole the pensions Ohioans worked
for. Now Congress has a responsibility to protect the
pensions workers earned before it is too late,” Senator
Brown said. “While it is not the immediate solution we
hoped for, this Committee will force Congress to finally
treat the pension crisis with the seriousness and
urgency American workers deserve.”

Even without the bill passing, there are some encouraging
things that have happened. In supporting the Butch Lewis
Act we, the AFM membership, pushed the trustees to finally
look beyond MPRA as a legislative solution to our pension
crisis. Six months ago, they were totally disengaged from the
legislative process claiming that there is no pension-related
legislation that could help the AFM-EPF. Flash forward to
December 2017, after immense pressure from AFM
membership the trustees are writing to us in full support of
the Butch Lewis Act. That is progress which only came
thanks to your calls and emails.

While the Butch Lewis Act did not get added to the budget
deal, this new Committee could develop something better.
There are some good components to the Committees’ mandate.
There is a hard deadline, the last week of November 2018,
to report on a bill to solve the pension crisis. Also, if there are
10 committee members in agreement they are guaranteed
an expedited vote on Senate floor with no amendments.

The Committee is also required hold at least 5 public hearings,
including the option for another outside of D.C. These meetings
will be held to hear directly from retirees, workers, and businesses
affected by the pension crisis. Now, this is the challenge to the
AFM and the AFM-EPF trustees. While call-in campaigns are
useful, they pale in comparison to a physical presence. Our
trustees need to be at those meetings. Not only that, but they
should monitor and interface with the members of the Committee,
throughout the year, to make sure our needs are heard. MPS has
long been in contact with Senator Brown’s staff (see our previous
article here). There is no obstacle to our trustees having the same
access.

While our trustees seemingly continue to pursue making cuts
to benefits through MPRA as an option, it should never be the
first and only option.  With the creation of the House and Senate
Joint Select Committee tasked with coming up with a solution to
the pension crisis, there is a new opportunity to move in a direction
away from MPRA and cuts to benefits. Our trustees should be
planning to take full advantage of this and there is no excuse
for them to not be fully engaged in this process.

 

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III. EVENTS
DEAN AND RICHARD
are now at Culver City Elks the first 
Friday of 
every month.
7:30pm-10:30pm,
11160 Washington Pl.
Culver City, 90232
310-839-8891

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2/24/18

ASMAC WORKSHOP WITH LADD MACINTOSH!
Saturday, February 24th  from 11am -2pm
Valley College Recital Hall
5800 Fulton Ave
Valley Glen, CA 91401

“Problem Solving in Film Orchestration.”

Ladd will share solutions he has encountered in his
film orchestration career: such as dealing with
sustained low brass in Hans Zimmer’s “Crimson
Tide,” to alternating low winds in Harry
Gregson-Williams’ “Live By Night,” to creating
the desired sound for the villain in Heitor Pereira’s
“The Smurfs,” as well as other situations. Other
topics include too much information in the midi
file versus not enough; unusual instruments and
instrumentation; and insights into writing for live players.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0570667/

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2/25/18

SONG OF THE ANGELS FLUTE ORCHESTRA
Sunday, February 25th at 4pm.
La Crescenta Presbyterian Church,
2902 Montrose Avenue, La Crescenta, CA  91214
Website for directions:   www.lcpc.net
Concert starts:  4 pm
Charles Fernandez, Conductor

Ever seen a Double contrabass Flute?… or a Contrabass
Flute in F? (Only one in the world) Well come out, see
these amazing instruments and hear a widely diverse
concert including:

-Vivaldi 2 flute concerto – Soloists Deborah MacMurray and Lisa Norton
-Handel Harp Concerto – Soloist Naomi Alter (arr. Fernandez)
-Puccini Arias (La Boheme and Turandot) – Tenor Egan Connor Carroll (arr. Fernandez)
-Francine Pancost’s new arrangement of Gabriel’s Oboe featuring Frederick Staff soloist.
– Faure’s Marceau De Concours – Francine Pancost, alto flute soloist.
– Chicako Iverson’s premiere work – Days with a Daughter.

Plus more!

Have a flute? Come, bring your students and play a concert
ending work with us! All are welcome!
Reception to Follow.

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2/25/18

COMPOSER’S ENSEMBLE LOS ANGELES

3 PM
2050 Main Street
Santa Ana, CA

Series Premiere!
FREE!

This exciting new concert series features
a new genre of music each month!

From Jazz to Opera, Chamber Music to R&B,
Each concert will re-invent itself in sound as
well as opportunities to participate! Get ready
to listen and bring your horn to play.

Come join the members of CELA:
Laura Halladay – Flute
Phil Feather – Oboe
Kim Richmond – Clarinet
John Mitchell – Bassoon
Josh Aguiar – Trumpet
Melissa Hendrickson – Horn
Ron Minor – Trombone
Marcy Vaj – Violin
Crystal Alforque – Violin
Robin Ross – Viola
Derek Stein – Cello
Larry Tuttle – Bass

in a concert of new music written
by the members!

MORE INFO AT:
music360presents.wixsite.com/connect

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3/7/18

NACUSA concert

Three’s Company featuring Trio Accento,
with
Limor-Toren-Immerman, violin;
Maksim Velichkin, cello and
Nora Chiang Wrobel, piano,

at Mimoda Studio,
5774 W. Pico Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90019.

Admission is free.

Works include:
Gernot Wolfgang: Jazz and Cocktails
Kenneth Froelich: Polarize
Russell Steinberg:  Paleface
Deon Nielsen Price: Angel Trio
Richard Derby: Introspection
William Toutant: Homage a Debussy.

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The Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program at the Seattle Film Institute

is now accepting applications for the one-year

Master of Music in Film Composition

One of the Top 4 Film Music Programs in the World!

Recently rated as the #4 school in the world for film scoring education by Music School Central.

“in just one year, the school places students into a pressure cooker of intense learning resulting in a professional demo reel that can be used to obtain future paid commercial opportunities.”

 

Learn from Industry Professionals

All PNWFS faculty are active professional film and game composers, orchestrators, copyists, and engineers, including the program’s creator and lead instructor Dr. Hummie Mann.  Hummie is the two-time Emmy Award winning film composer of “Robin Hood: Men in Tights” and featured in Variety Magazine’s article “Leaders in Learning”.

Our Program Features:
• 9 live recording sessions with professional musicians at Studio X, Seattle’s premiere, world-class studio.
• Opportunities to work with student directors to score actual films from film programs all over the world.
• 
Training in all major software programs used in the industry.
• 
A state-of-the-art workstation assigned to each student fully installed with the latest versions of all software, sample libraries and plug-ins needed to complete the program.

 

Accelerated and Affordable

We are a one-year Master of Music in Film Composition program which not only gives our graduates the opportunity to enter the industry and start their careers a year sooner than other programs but saves them an entire year of living expenses. In addition to our accelerated format we also offer the most affordable tuition out of competing programs. Our students have access to FAFSA financial assistance, loans, and scholarships as well.

 

History of Success

We are very proud to have a high success rate for our graduates who have gone on to work on television shows such as Castle, Empire, and Once Upon a Time; video games such as World of Warcraft, Spate, and Destiny; and films such as The Revenant, Trolls, The Dark Tower, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Apply now and you could be joining their ranks!

Applications are being accepted for the Fall 2018 school year.
We offer rolling admissions – no deadline to apply.

 

 

(800) 882-4734 | www.pnwfilmmusic.com
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UNTIL NEXT TIME,

THE COMMITTEE FOR A MORE RESPONSIBLE LOCAL 47

2 Responses to “THE INNER CIRCLE SPEAKS / BUTCH LEWIS UPDATE / EVENTS”

  1. SazerCantPlay says:

    The name of the RMA official that sued was Sazer. What a pathetic tool.

  2. Brown Stain says:

    AFM goes to bat for Sazer….and only Sazer. Here is the case: https://www.nlrb.gov/case/31-CA-179630

    The name of the other officer of the RMA: Steve “Brown Stain” Dress.

Leave a Reply for Brown Stain