The Committee For A More Responsible Local 47

Greetings Local 47 Colleagues!,

Below you will find a letter from Serena Kay Williams,
Secretary-Treasurer of Local 47. Considering the contents
of the letter, we now consider the matter of being misrepresented
closed.

Freedom of communication prevails folks, congratulations!

THE COMMITTEE FOR A MORE RESPONSIBLE LOCAL 47

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Letter from Serena

To; Committee for a More Responsible 47
From: Serena Kay Williams, Secretary-Treasurer
Re: Your Email Correspondence of June 9, 2005
Date: June 9, 2005

Having read and re-read the collection of emails attributed to
your committee, I find I must alter my original belief that your
Committee was claiming to “represent Local 47”. Upon
re-reading your series of emails, it has become clear that
you never intended to represent the Local, but that you are,
instead, a group of members who are sharing their concerns
with one another.

Now that I have a clearer understanding of who you are, I want
to let you know that I have decided to refrain from directing
Local 47’s attorney to take any action regarding your
communications.

Your letter of June 9 makes clear an undeniable point:
all Local 47 members deserve the right to freely express
themselves. Please know that I will continue to respect this
right, and that I will continue to do the work that Local 47
members have elected me to do for two decades.

As stated in my previous message, I offer you an invitation
to meet with me, face-to-face. I have found that clear, open
communication is the best way to foster unity, clarify problems,
and craft solutions. Of course, if you choose to remain
anonymous, I will respect your wishes.

Thanks for your time and continued support!

Serena Kay Williams

Greetings Fellow Local 47 Colleagues!,

Here are performance announcements sent to us by Local 47 members Steve Carr and Chris Walden. If you can, come out and support your fellow Local 47 members!

Steve Carr Plays Jazz

Friday, July 15th the Trio including
Rick Fleishman, Gtr
Ryan Cross, Bass
at Reata 6:00-10:00PM
In the Topanga Promenade
above Barnes & Noble at
6100 Topanga Canyon Blvd.
Woodland Hills, CA 91367
818) 347-2090

Sunday, July 24th
The Quartet including
Rich Eames, Piano
Kendall Kay, Drums
at Spazio 7:30-11:30PM
14755 Ventura Blvd., Suite D
Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
(818) 728-8400
Corner of Ventura Blvd. & Willis

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I’m pleased to announce that the
CHRIS WALDEN BIG BAND
will be playing again at

Herb Alpert’s VIBRATO Grill & Jazz
2930 Beverly Glen Circle in Bel Air

on Thu, July 21 at 8:00 pm (cover $20)

For reservations please call
(310) 474-9400

We will be playing some brand new material as well as some highlights
from our recent album “Home of my Heart” which has been on the national
airplay charts now for 20 weeks.

Thanks for your continued support,

Chris Walden

GREETINGS Fellow Local 47 Colleagues!,

Following our printing of the letter of the Local’s Secretary
Treasurer Serena Kay Williams, we got a number of
responses we wanted to share with you.

To Recap, here is the letter Serena sent:

To; Committee for a More Responsible 47
From: Serena Kay Williams, Secretary-Treasurer
Re: Your Email Correspondence of June 9, 2005
Date: June 9, 2005

Having read and re-read the collection of emails attributed to
your committee, I find I must alter my original belief that your
Committee was claiming to “represent Local 47”. Upon
re-reading your series of emails, it has become clear that
you never intended to represent the Local, but that you are,
instead, a group of members who are sharing their concerns
with one another.

Read the rest of this entry »

Greetings Local 47 Colleagues,

In our last Bulletin we sent out an E-mail referring
to another member. This e-mail was sent to us directly from
the Secretary’s office at local 47 and we have saved the e-mail to prove it.
Either it was sent separately to us for intimidation purposes,
or it was sent by mistake.

Either way, it’s contents were disturbing. It contained falsehoods
and blatant misrepresentations of the committee and our intentions.

Read the rest of this entry »

To whom it may concern

In case you’ve not heard of us before, The Committee for a More Responsible 47 is a group of Local 47 members. Players, Composers, Arrangers, Copyists who are concerned about the run away film recording work and the generally dismal performance of our Local to look out for the interests of ALL the members and not just the select few. Below you will find a buyout proposal from a colleague here in LA, this is just another option to compare to the RMA SAN FRAN proposal. Following that we thought you might like to see some of the feedback we’ve been getting.

The membership is pretty well fed up here and it’s time for change.

Enjoy!, and we would like to place you on the official Mail list. Please let us know if you have any interest in becoming a part of our list so you can keep tabs on what we’re doing out here!

Thanks,

The Committee for a More Responsible Local 47

Greetings Local 47 Colleagues,

We recently sent you a buyout proposal from RMASF. As we pointed
out, the INTERNATIONAL RMA and RMALA dismissed it in
less that two hours.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dear Colleagues,

NOW you have the chance to get your voice heard and perhaps not feel like your speaking only to yourself.

This weekend is the weekend for the caucuses before formal negotiations next week.

Though someone from the national said anyone wishing to attend must be APPROVED by the Local (Rather rich, wouldn’t you say?),
one of our local officers confirmed that any Local 47 member can indeed attend. If anyone tells you you cannot attend the INFORMAL caucuses lodge an immediate complaint and let us know as well.

It’s time folks. Take this opportunity to get a true lay of the land by coming, listening and perhaps participating. Composers in particular should come and let our union know that changes need to be made before it’s too late. Package deals are a reality and are NOT going away.

Read the rest of this entry »

Greetings Colleagues!,

The membership is starting to really heat up about the recording
situation now that the have a place to vent. More ideas are coming forward,
more suggestions of stratagies. Please note the number
of composers with their own realities of the business of working
as a composer. Truth can be said to be like a rope, the more similar
strands of information that make up the rope, the more likely
they add up to the truth.

In other words, if you have a dozen talking of having to leave
to record versus one or two who say they never have a problem
recording here, the more pervasive reailty is most likely the more
reported one.

Here are more comments from your union brothers and sisters,
some rather explosive, or seemingly so, until you realize how often
you or your close colleagues have said the same thing.

Comments, complaints and ideas are always welcome.
Your privacy will always be protected.

And now the comments……

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Are you a group of Local 47 members?

(Editors Note: ‘The Committee’ is made up of ALL Local 47
Members. In fact, most are members of the RMA.)

Read the rest of this entry »

Greetings Colleagues!,

Here are a series of buyout comments we’ve received.

THE COMMITTEE

NO BUYOUT!!

The RMASF proposal makes Sense to me. Let’s do it,. No Back end!

I am in favor of a film buyout. It is unfortunate to have to face;
however, it is simple economics… supply and demand. I hope it is
not too late.

Music is not a large budget item in film. We are not what makes a film cost a lot of money. Tastes and attitudes continue to shift. Nothing is set in stone in the freelance field. One must simply adjust and take work where it comes and at fair prices. Don’t discount yourselves.

Read the rest of this entry »

COLLEAGUES,
THIS STUDY WAS SENT TO US, we thought you should know what it says.

THE COMMITTEE

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RUNAWAY SCORING STUDY

There were not enough recording sessions due to technology before Runaway Scoring began with sessions in Seattle and Salt Lake City and around the world well over ten years ago.

Scoring for episodic TV using live musicians is almost a thing of the past. Digital sampling and the introduction of Giga Studio have replaced many live instruments for lower budget TV, film and all recordings. Home studios are the norm now, and every composer in LA has one with all the black boxes to record and deliver scores without live players.

Read the rest of this entry »

A motion picture buyout for Los Angeles? Please read and reply!

Greetings fellow local 47 colleagues!,

Everyone we talk to has said their recording work is drying up, there is less and less work and fewer and fewer musicians playing it.

Either something will be done to stem the outflow of work soon, or the little recording work that is left may not be here long. TV isn’t going anywhere (though very few shows use live orchestras), nor are jingles, since the turn around is typically too short, but film work is leaving and has no reason to stay.

Read the rest of this entry »