I.\tMEMBERSHIP MEETING JULY 23rd – 7PM
\nII.\tRMA STATEMENT RE: THE CONVENTION WRAP-UP
\nIII.\tTO THE MEMBERS, ALL THE MEMBERS, OF THE RMALA
\nIV.\tWHAT HAS TO HAPPEN
\nV.\tMORE ON THE SIMPSON VIDEO GAME SAGA:
\nThe Letters that have made the rounds.<\/p>\n
Colleagues,<\/p>\n
OUR SERVER IS UP AND RUNNING AGAIN!
\nOur server is up and running properly again, so we can once again
\nreceive your comments. Please send on all those comments you\u2019ve
\nbeen saving!<\/p>\n
I. MEMBERSHIP MEETING JULY 23rd – 7PM<\/p>\n
WE NEED YOU at the Monday, July 23rd general membership meeting!
\nWe will have plenty of issues to press:
\n1)\tThe PMG and NES
\n2)\tThe Simpsons video game mess.
\n3)\tThe takeover of the Pasadena Pops by the Pasadena Symphony
\n4)\tThe board\u2019s decision to bypass YOUR election board, hiring a
\noutside company to handle all voting, including resolutions.
\n5)The fact that President Espinosa has oked yet another $30,000 to yet
\nanother web designer. <\/p>\n
Come down, be involved, ask questions, demand answers!<\/p>\n
THE COMMITTEE<\/p>\n
II.\tRMA STATEMENT RE: THE CONVENTION WRAP-UP<\/p>\n
By now you should have seen the RMA convention wrap-up email,
\nand the attack on the committee and individual members. If not,
\nhere it is:<\/p>\n
——————<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
From the RMA:<\/p>\n
The recently-concluded AFM Convention attacked Los Angeles
\nin unprecedented words and actions. The Convention decided that
\nbeyond the 1.6 million dollars L.A. sends already, another 1.3 million
\ndollars should go to the Federation. At the same time, they decided
\nthat Los Angeles should have no AFM representatives.
\n A full third of AFM revenues from musicians will come from Los
\nAngeles alone.
\nNo elected officers will be from Los Angeles.
\n We were demonized.
\nThe contracts we work under were threatened.
\n And they had cheerleaders.
\n David Schubach, Charles Fernandez and their small band of buddies
\nled the cheerleader section, attacking anyone they could find who
\nopposed the plans to take and take and take from our community.
\nThe \u201ccommittee for a responsible 47\u201d has irrevocably harmed Local
\n47 and all its members.
\n Tom Lee presided with political savvy.
\n The AFM has been badly weakened as a result.
\n Of the financial package passed by the Convention, the projection
\nis that 180,000 dollars will come from a one-time 2 dollar raise in
\nannual membership dues. 980,000 dollars will come from dues on
\nour Funds, and another 400,000 will come from raised work dues
\nthat had been set to expire. Between the dues on the funds and the
\nraised work dues on film, jingles and live TV, the vast majority of
\nthe new money comes from Los Angeles players. This time round,
\nthere were no negotiations in a skybox, no shared commitment, no
\n compromise. This was imposed on all of Los Angeles by the AFM.
\n Our plan is to plan. In the coming months, we will schedule meetings
\nthat will provide a forum for our whole community to gather, speak,
\nshare and look to the future together. In the meantime, we need
\nto gather our resources, do our research, and prepare for the inevitable
\ncoming storm.
\n Stay tuned. We will keep you informed, and we will move forward together. <\/p>\n
—————-<\/p>\n
III. TO THE MEMBERS, ALL THE MEMBERS, OF THE RMALA<\/p>\n
Yes, you had a setback. Not the first lately, but certainly the biggest. You
\nwent to the convention expecting to install your strongest supporters as
\nFederation President and IEB members. Didn’t happen. You expected to
\nprevent any sort of assessment on your Secondary Markets Fund disbursements.
\nDidn’t work. You expected to forestall any discussion about new contracts that
\nmight lure work back to the Federation at the possible expense of your very
\nlucrative traditional contracts, contracts which make a minority of you extremely
\naffluent and the majority of you underemployed, uninsured, and forever hopeful.
\nBy the numbers, the majority of buyers for our services out there have found ways
\naround doing business with those contracts, those budgets, and the bookkeeping
\nhangover into perpetuity that goes with them. <\/p>\n
Sure, you are upset. Your leaders have led you to believe that all these things are
\nyour RMA-given right. You sat by for years as your leaders have lorded over,
\nbullied, and demanded the AFM to give back in accord with what you have paid
\nin with your work dues. You’ve told yourselves that the SMF checks were \u201cfree
\nmoney\u201d with no further obligation on your part for that windfall every July. You
\nagreed with your leaders that it was okay for them, on the previous assessment on
\nthat check, to turn it from a flat 2.5% assessment on all of you equally to a hugely
\nregressive assessment of 5% on the least of you down to a one-fourth of 1% on the
\nmost affluent. You did as you were told and went to the general membership meeting
\nand voted to stifle democracy for the rank-and-file, just because they are the
\nrank-and-file. You rationalized waiting until hell freezes for your share of the
\nrecording work by opposing any AFM attempts to create contracts that might bring
\nback work from Seattle and elsewhere and have it done by someone other than the
\nfortunate, connected few.<\/p>\n
And then you receive a letter from your leadership, blaming your setbacks on
\neveryone but themselves. You believe them when they tell you that this Committee
\nwas, first, a single individual and then, eventually, a small group of \u201cbuddies\u201d
\nwith the clout to turn a convention on its head and ruin all their plans by simply
\ntelling a few whoppers and attacking all of your supporters. You believe the
\nproposition that this tiny group somehow had the power to \u201cirrevocably harm
\nLocal 47 and all its \u2018members\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sound ridiculous? Of course it’s ridiculous. What really happened was that
\nthe AFM has simply had enough of too many years of being financially
\nand verbally bullied and condescended to by your leaders. If Local 47 was
\nsnubbed by the delegates, it’s because they no longer reflexively believe they
\nowe this local and this player conference anything. On the convention floor,
\nit was said and roundly applauded that it’s simply wrong for recording musicians
\nto get these yearly windfalls \u201ctax-free.\u201d It’s income, pure and simple, from a
\nunion contract and is worthy of work dues being assessed. One of your RMA
\nInternational officers openly complained about possibly paying $50,000 under
\nthe proposed financial package until another delegate explained, correctly, that
\n July checks resulting in that high an assessment had to be in the neighborhood
\nof 2.5 million dollars. Wrap your minds around that one for a moment. Imagine
\nyou are a delegate being told for years that a huge chunk of the Secondary Markets
\nFund annual disbursement goes to a relatively tiny minority of members, mostly
\nfrom L.A., and all of them wallowing in the woe is \u201cus\u201d mentality. Maybe they’ve
\ngot the most to lose, but that’s only because they’ve got the most. <\/p>\n
THE FUTURE<\/p>\n
Now you have a choice coming at you in the not-too-distant future. The AFM
\nhas shown it will no longer honor these emotional IOU’s to your leaders. The
\nPresident now has a sympathetic board and plans to be proactive in the retrieval
\nof our recording work from a world that will no longer do business under the old
\nway of doing things. As we see it, you can go one of three ways: <\/p>\n
(1) Continue to slavishly support the strategies of your leaders, including dues
\nand work stoppages and the illegal creation of an alternate union (PMG) in the
\nsame jurisdiction in the same industry, or continuing to sit idly by while the tiny
\nminority continues to rake it in while your non-RMA brethren go back to work
\nusing the new contracts, <\/p>\n
(2) Go fi-core and work for NES along with your ex-brethren who are really tired
\nof being denied the work they used to do, but which has fled from the very forces
\nthat make the favored few the favored few, or <\/p>\n
(3) Embrace the AFM’s plans to develop contracts which may not make the very
\nfew very rich, but will make the very many very employed, insured, and pensioned. <\/p>\n
For legal reasons, the AFM doesn’t seem too concerned about option 1. Under
\noption 2, any success of NES will inspire future NES-like clones to eventually
\ncarve the bottom out of the market you are waiting, perhaps in futility, to join.
\nIn all likelihood, you folks will someday regret your history of dumping on and
\nvilifying your less-connected brethren, because they will be the very ones who
\nwill, to survive, undercut your status quo and bring it crashing down.<\/p>\n
Like it or not, the AFM is going to do exactly what it is required to do: rebuild
\nthe membership by reclaiming all the work it can on behalf of the greatest number
\nof its members. When you read the angry letters from your leadership, you’ll now
\n have to do some heavy thinking and evaluation. If the RMA leadership doesn’t like
\nthese plans of the AFM, then maybe you should consider, objectively, why it has
\nhad to go down this path, and either convince your leaders to join this fight, replace
\nthem with ones who will, or join it yourselves.<\/p>\n
The Committee For A More Responsible Local 47<\/p>\n
—————-<\/p>\n
IV. WHAT HAS TO HAPPEN<\/p>\n
The very first thing that will have to happen if this Local is to get back on a
\nless contentious footing is that the attacks on the members\u2019 voice simply have
\nto go. Attempts to raise the quorum must stop.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, the above email from the RMA leadership makes it clear that
\nthey will redouble their efforts to control our Local. We must be prepared to
\nattend meetings and continue to protect the interests of the members, ALL the
\nmembers.<\/p>\n
The best thing the RMALA can do for itself is back off and get their own house in
\norder. The best thing Local 47 Officers can do is the job they were elected to do:
\nserve the entire membership.<\/p>\n
President Espinosa has a year and a half left in his term. He still has time to
\nsalvage at least something of a legacy, but only if he cuts the strings tying him
\nto the RMALA leadership. He has 7,500 other Local 47 members to consider, and
\nhe should start working for the entirety of the membership. We should all hope that
\nPresident Espinosa won\u2019t waste the time he has left.<\/p>\n
We anticipate being able to report more positive news about our Local.<\/p>\n
—————-<\/p>\n
V. LOS ANGELES LOSES SIMPSONS VIDEO GAME SCORE
\nTHE LETTERS THAT HAVE MADE THE ROUNDS<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve already told you about the Simpsons video game sessions
\ngoing to San Francisco. A member was kind enough to forward most if not all
\nthe letters from the principals in this situation. <\/p>\n
Enjoy:<\/p>\n
RE: SIMPSONS VIDEO GAME SESSIONS<\/p>\n
FROM CHRIS LENNERTZ<\/p>\n
6\/16\/07<\/p>\n
Dear Colleagues:<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, I have been forced to cancel my upcoming sessions for
\nThe Simpsons video game at Todd-AO. Over the past 13 years I have
\nbeen a strong supporter of keeping sessions in Los Angeles.
\nFrom my early years working with Basil Poledouris and Michael Kamen,
\nI learned of the amazing musical talent here in Los Angeles. I always
\npleaded with the producers of every project to stay in town to score, and
\nevery time it was up to me I chose to stay in LA. The Comebacks, Dr.
\nDolittle 3, Tortilla Heaven, Hysteria, A Diva’s Christmas Carol, Warning
\nParental Advisory and many others were all “package” deals where the
\ncomposer’s fee is whatever is left over after recording and producing
\nthe music. In every single one of these cases I personally chose to make
\nless money and record union in LA rather than save by going to Prague
\nor Seattle because I knew the quality would be great, I’d get to work with
\nfriends, and I thought that encouraging and supporting the local musicians
\nwas the right thing to do.<\/p>\n
I also convinced EA to record the first union video game score here about
\n5 years ago. Since then all of the video game companies have been requiring
\nme to go to London or elsewhere in Europe to record. Over and over again, I
\nalways recommend that they score here in LA, but they didn’t want to consider
\nthis. I was then told by EA that they had made a new agreement that would
\nenable me to stay here and record with all of you. It was an official sanctioned
\nunion contract with all benefits and health and welfare. I was thrilled until I
\nlearned that people who had played for me for years were being intimidated
\nand started to back out.<\/p>\n
Please, if there is an issue with a contract, then that is an issue for
\nthe union to be taken up with the leadership at a meeting or during
\nan election process. But by not playing the session, it punishes me
\nand my music after trying so hard to keep work here in the first place.
\nSadly, perhaps my outspoken loyalty was misguided.<\/p>\n
For all of you who were still planning on playing, I thank you for your
\nconstant support and loyalty. I look forward to many more years of
\ncontinued musical collaborations. To those of you who had decided not
\nto play, I do understand the competitive nature of this industry. Please
\nconsider that often it is the composer who fights to keep projects here
\nin the first place. Why would we continue to do so if there is a chance
\nthat our projects could suffer by becoming the battleground of some
\npolitical tug of war?<\/p>\n
In closing, I will actually sign my letter as opposed to the anonymous
\nthreats you have all been receiving.<\/p>\n
Very Sincerely,<\/p>\n
Christopher Lennertz<\/p>\n
————–<\/p>\n
PETE ANTHONY LETTER<\/p>\n
An Open Response to Chris Lennertz:
\nThank you for all your efforts to support the local recording community.
\nYouve written an open letter to a group of people employed at your
\npleasure and they obviously are not in a position to respond. Since I
\nwas recording last week with many of the players you address, and since
\nthe wrong people are being blamed for the ruckus around your project, I
\nfelt it necessary to respond.
\nWhen you say that musicians should take up issues with AFM leadership
\nduring a meeting or during an election process, it is clear you have not been
\ngiven the facts of the problem that players have with their own union. As
\nodd as it sounds, the AFM leadership is actually hostile to the interests of
\nrecording musicians, and is actively undermining recording agreements.
\nThis is the crux of the matter: The critical details of your players employment
\nwere never disclosed to them. The contract for your project was negotiated
\nsecretly by AFM leaders without input from professionals working under that
\ncontract. It appears to be a buyout deal with no protection whatsoever for the
\nplayers from new use by the producer. As the details of this new EA contract
\nseeped out last week from AFM reps who would not divulge the actual
\ndocument, players found themselves stuck in the middle of a mess of the
\nAFMs making. It is not the musicians fault that they were held in the dark.
\nHow can anyone blame them for balking at terms that would undermine their
\nfuture?
\nThe concern in the community is that the AFM President is making it
\npossible for any production company to record under a Backroom
\nBuyout Agreement for a so-called video game and then to place those
\nrecordings directly into films, TV, records, etc., with no protection for
\nthe musicians no health care, no pension, no residuals in short, a complete
\nabandonment of the benefits musicians have fought for for generations.
\nThe AFM leadership actually benefits politically from this byzantine and
\ndysfunctional situation. The how and why are too complicated to cover
\nhere, but composer Bruce Babcock has written a treatise on the matter which
\nis attached. His extensive recording experience offers an intelligent historical
\nperspective.
\nIn closing, I am not suggesting you have done anything wrong youve tried to
\nsupport the community that remains loyal to you. I hope it is clear that the
\nproblem with your sessions has nothing to do with you, but rather everything
\nto do with the AFMs hostility towards its professional members. I can assure
\nyou that players appreciate your generous efforts on their behalf, that this
\nsituation is new and unusual, and that we all regret the disruption to your project.
\nSincerely,
\nPete Anthony
\ncomposer, conductor, orchestrator<\/p>\n
————<\/p>\n
BRUCE BABCOCK LETTER
\nJune 14, 2007 <\/p>\n
Hal Espinosa, President
\nProfessional Musicians Local 47
\n817 N. Vine St.
\nHollywood, CA 90038 <\/p>\n
Dear Hal; <\/p>\n
Imagine if AFM President Tom Lee and the IEB approached the management
\nof the Los Angeles Philharmonic and offered them a pathetically unprofessional
\ntwo-page contract that both superseded and undercut the carefully crafted
\nagreement that the Philharmonic players had spent months negotiating.
\nManagement would quickly sign the new agreement. Decades of hard work
\nand progress would be forfeited overnight. Musician income and working
\nconditions would plummet. This is what President Tom Lee and the IEB, with
\nits amateurish videogame agreement, is doing to freelance recording musicians.
\nWe are seeing a continued crisis of leadership at the highest levels of the AFM
\nand it must be stopped. <\/p>\n
I am very pleased that you are running against Tom Lee for the presidency
\nof the AFM.
\nAs a rank and file member of Local 47, I have no voice in this decision
\nbut I would like to give you my thoughts on the current AFM situation
\nin the hope that my perspective as a composer, orchestrator and conductor
\nin Los Angeles for the past 30 years may be useful in convincing convention
\ndelegates that Tom is not the man for the job. <\/p>\n
Certainly your ability to run the largest and busiest local in the Federation
\nin the black should be enough to win any AFM election, but Tom\u2019s noise
\nmachine could still turn things his way. When I came to town in 1977, I
\nwas awed to be in the same local as Dick Nash, Larry Bunker, Earle Hagen,
\nDon Christlieb and many others. They were all generous with their time and
\nexpertise and helped me tremendously in becoming successful. It never
\noccurred to me to anonymously attack their reputations and abilities
\nin the hope that doing so would advance my own career. <\/p>\n
1. HISTORY IS REPEATING ITSELF <\/p>\n
Petrillo\u2019s polices towards producers, essentially legalized blackmail
\nextorted from producers who wanted to use union musicians, led to
\nthe creation of large tracking libraries, which severely damaged recording
\nmusicians. This ultimately led to the formation of The Guild in the 1950s,
\nunder the leadership of the courageous Cecil Read. <\/p>\n
Fuentealba\u2019s insane 1980 strike, overlooking the simple fact that no
\nstrike in Hollywood has a chance of success unless the absence of the
\nstriking workers can stop production, plus the sweetheart deal with jingle
\nhouse Tuesday Productions, created intolerable conditions for working
\nmusicians which led to the incorporation of a nationwide RMA. <\/p>\n
Now Tom Lee\u2019s multiple \u201cparallel\u201d videogame agreements, which undercut
\nthe national agreement created by RMA, have created conditions so bleak that
\nonce again a new guild, PMG, has been born. If Tom succeeds in undermining
\nour best national contracts and unionizing the recording of library music, the
\nrecording of music by professional musicians will cease to be a viable profession. <\/p>\n
History is repeating itself, and the archaic and undemocratic nature of the
\nAFM bylaws allow it. As working musicians, the best we can typically hope
\nfor from our AFM president is a benign dictatorship. Unfortunately, we are
\nfrequently saddled with a tyrannical dictatorship, and Petrillo, Fuentealba
\nand Lee represent the worst of these.
\n 2
\nWhat all three have in common is an inexplicable personal animus towards
\nrecording musicians, and Los Angeles recording musicians in particular. Petrillo
\nused the phrase \u201cCommunist fiddle players.\u201d Fuentealba supporter and #802
\nNew York president Max Arons used the term \u201cjerks in LA\u201d during the
\n1980-81 strike. Recently, Tom Lee running mate and AFM Treasurer-
\nSecretary Sam Folio has referred to LA musicians as \u201crich pricks.\u201d <\/p>\n
2. INSULATED FROM ACCOUNTABILITY <\/p>\n
Now Tom has chosen to use his position as president, immediately before
\nthe convention, to \u201crespond\u201d to the April 22, 2007 \u201cVariety\u201d piece about
\nthe current AFM situation. What President Lee does not mention is that he
\nwas contacted by \u201cVariety\u201d and he refused to comment for the article.
\nHe also does not mention that his 1200 word screed of \u201cresponse\u201d was
\n not published. <\/p>\n
His refusal to speak with \u201cVariety\u201d is typical of Mr. Lee\u2019s consistent
\ninability to deal with professionals on a professional level. His rant is reminiscent
\nof his eight page vendetta against Brian O\u2019Connor and Jay Rosen a few years
\nago, as well as his insistence that he would only meet with Local 47 and RMA
\nmember Phil Ayling in the presence of a professional mediator. I wonder if the
\ndelegates are aware that Mr. Lee, midway through his sixth year in office, has
\nattended exactly one Local 47 general meeting, at which more than two dozen
\nmusicians spoke in opposition to his policies, and not one single person spoke
\non his behalf. <\/p>\n
There are so many problems with Tom\u2019s diatribe that one hardly knows
\nwhere to begin. <\/p>\n
Lee refers to \u201capparent dissatisfaction\u201d with the AFM by a \u201ctiny number\u201d of
\nLos Angeles musicians. The dissatisfaction is real, not apparent, and has
\nbeen brewing since shortly after Lee\u2019s election (with RMA backing) as AFM
\npresident in 2001. The dissatisfied group is hardly tiny, and not confined to LA.
\nWhen the AFM president controls the spin of the IM, the only Federation-
\nwide publication we have, he can call the current situation an \u201capparent\u201d
\nproblem coming from a \u201ctiny\u201d group but he knows that this is not the case.
\nUnfortunately, the majority of AFM members may well believe him. <\/p>\n
Since Tom controls IM, he can simply suppress any letters that dare to
\nchallenge his absurd contentions. In November of 2004 I wrote a letter to
\nboth IM & Overture, which stated that the financial crisis the Federation
\nfaced was far more a crisis of leadership than of finance. In August of 2005,
\nin his first IM column since his re-election, Tom Lee stated that the AFM is
\n“one of the most democratic unions in the history of the labor movement,\u201d
\ndespite the obvious fact that no union which denies its members the right
\nto directly elect their own representatives, and to authorize strikes, can
\nbe considered democratic. I wrote a second letter challenging this
\ndemonstrably false statement. Neither letter appeared in IM. Both appeared
\nin Overture. RMA, an AFM player conference, is virtually ignored by
\nIM as well. <\/p>\n
The IEB is also insulated from accountability by the AFM bylaws. In
\n2004, after Tom Lee cancelled an appearance at an RMALA meeting,
\nI wrote a detailed email with ten specific questions and sent it to seven
\nIEB members. I got a response from exactly one member, who categorized
\nmy concerns about the SRSPF, the pension fund, Seattle, the RMA VG
\nagreement health care component, the AFM financial crisis and other
\npertinent issues as a \u201cfruitless pissing match.\u201d The other six members
\nsimply ignored me. <\/p>\n
Lee claims that the AFM has 90,000 members. I don\u2019t think the AFM
\nknows how many members they have since they count so many of them
\nmultiple times. According to RMA figures, AFM membership totaled
\n103,000 in June of 2001 and had dropped to 70,000 by December, 2006.
\nThat is a 32% decline during Lee\u2019s watch. Yet expenses and salaries
\nhave increased. <\/p>\n
3. THE FEDERATION\u2019S INABILITY TO UNDERSTAND THE
\nRECORDING BUSINESS <\/p>\n
Tom Lee feels that \u201ctechnology\u201d and \u201cglobalization\u201d account for the
\nproblems recording musicians face today. The fact is that the globalization
\nof the American recording business was set in motion by the bad policies
\nof Fuentealba and Petrillo decades ago, long before American companies
\nbegan outsourcing customer service and technical support to India. But it is
\nalso true that globalization can work in our favor. A couple of years ago,
\nusing the RMA VG agreement, I conducted a MMORPG game score for
\na Korean company who employed a very fine composer from Austin, Texas.
\nCompanies and composers around the world know and appreciate the added
\nvalue of a score recorded in Hollywood. Both the producers and composer
\nhad the express desire to score their project in LA and were thrilled with
\nthe results. IEB-approved deals which contain no meal breaks or cancellation
\npolicy are not the answer to globalization. <\/p>\n
\u201cTechnology\u201d does not explain why in 19 years the AFM has done absolutely
\nnothing about the non-AFM situation in Seattle. This has cost the AFM and its
\nmembers millions of dollars of employment. It was technology, however,
\nthat made it possible for Local 47 musicians to score the film \u201cKing Kong\u201d in
\nLos Angeles in 2005 while the director finished his post production work in
\nNew Zealand. After Peter Jackson rejected an earlier score, recorded in New
\nZealand, James Newton Howard composed and rescored over three hours of
\nnew music for the film in six weeks, in Los Angeles, utilizing video
\nconferencing with Jackson in New Zealand via high-speed Internet hookup.
\nThey never met until the film premiered in New York. I was one of those
\nmusicians. We do this everyday. <\/p>\n
LA musicians do not claim \u201cthings have been just fine in the video game
\nworld.\u201d However, the $1,000,000 earned under the existing agreement is
\nthanks entirely to RMA because we created the agreement, adopted in 2003.
\nThe AFM had no viable VG agreement during the preceding decades, sitting
\nidly by while games became a bigger industry than films. <\/p>\n
As a result of Lee\u2019s false \u201creality,\u201d he has fostered the creation of multiple
\nVG agreements which violate the very essence of unionism and will quickly
\nlead to less employment for musicians. He claims that he is doing this at the
\nbehest of New York and San Francisco musicians. If this is true, what Lee
\nand these musicians don\u2019t understand is that the entertainment business is
\nbased on relationships. These musicians and any other AFM musicians
\nanywhere are welcome to cultivate business relationships with any
\nentertainment companies they wish. That is why we have national contracts.
\nThere have always been many wonderful musicians in cities throughout the
\nAFM but they have never before been allowed to undermine our national
\ncontracts to steal a share of the market. <\/p>\n
Tom Lee and the IEB have slapped together an amateurish 2 page anti-
\nunion agreement (compared to 32 pages of the carefully thought out RMA
\nVG) without consultation or ratification by the musicians who make up the
\naffected bargaining unit. This is exactly what Fuentealba did with Tuesday
\nProductions in the 1980s. How is this not a violation of labor law? <\/p>\n
Lee says his new VG agreement is \u201cworking fine.\u201d In fact, Lee is giving
\naway contract provisions which are not his to give away. Extra payment for
\ndoubling and provisions against multitracking exist to preserve jobs. Without
\nthese provisions, violin sections will quickly shrink from 24 to 12. Woodwind
\nsections will shrink from 12 to 4. And this will \u201ccapture\u201d work from non-
\nunion venues? In fact, fewer musicians will be employed and less work dues
\nincome for the AFM will be the result. Interestingly, neither the IM nor the
\nLocal 6 announcements touting the brilliance of the new IEB-approved VG
\nagreement mention any of the actual contract terms. <\/p>\n
Let\u2019s look at just one clause from Tom\u2019s new \u201cAFM new deal\u201d agreement
\n \u2013 cartage. \u201cThe employer shall pay reasonable cartage costs for heavy
\ninstruments.\u201d Who decides what is \u201creasonable\u201d? Who does the harpist negotiate
\nwith? The contractor? Composer? Producer? Rupert Murdoch? The RMA
\nagreement, created by professionals, specifically spells out the cartage costs
\nfor each instrument. Would Tom Lee sign a contract, which stated, \u201cThe AFM
\nshall pay its president a reasonable salary\u201d? <\/p>\n
4. LIBRARY MUSIC IS ANTI-UNION <\/p>\n
Tom apparently wants to turn the recording industry into a giant library music
\nfactory. If any recorded music can be used in any platform, at any time, we
\nare no longer collaborative artists in the film, television, game, jingle and
\nrecording industries. We will have become simply vendors of music by the
\npound, with the same professional stature as the guy who supplies the bagels
\nand coffee to actors on a set. What Lee either doesn\u2019t understand or doesn\u2019t
\ncare about is that every time a library session occurs, it makes it much less
\nlikely that a composer will be hired to create an original score using union
\nmusicians. Anyone aware of the history of television music in the 1950s
\nknows this. <\/p>\n
If the current structure of the recording business is dismantled by the AFM,
\nit will be the rank and file musicians, and younger musicians, who will be
\nhurt the most. If FMSMF payments are eliminated, payment for doubling
\nis eliminated, and unlimited multitracking and multiplatform uses are allowed,
\nthose at the top of the pyramid who have the direct connection to employers
\nand studios (orchestrators, librarians, conductors) will continue to thrive.
\nTheir upfront fees will certainly increase. Rank and file players, without the
\nsecurity of historic contract protections, and with no residual income down the
\nline, will be the losers. Locals which do not have the relationships and business
\ninfrastructure to function in the recording world will never get a significant share
\nof the market. While it may sound like a democratic idea to \u201cspread the work
\naround,\u201d there is nothing democratic about policies, which eliminate protections
\nand preclude economic security. Fewer jobs, less members per job, with lesser
\nbenefits, are not the hallmarks of progressive trade unionism. <\/p>\n
5. SUCCESS DOESN\u2019T JUST HAPPEN <\/p>\n
Lee states that the success of Los Angeles musicians is due to the fact that
\nwe \u201chappen\u201d to live here. This is an insult. We are here by design. We are
\nhere because we came from all over the United States and around the world to
\nHollywood, the center of the entertainment business, to work with the
\nmusicians of Professional Musicians Local 47.
\nThis was our business plan. Unlike some of Tom\u2019s supporters, we know that
\npeople skills are as important as talent, and we do not expect the AFM to
\nact as an employment agency on our behalf. <\/p>\n
We don\u2019t \u201chappen\u201d to enjoy high pay. The wages and benefits we receive are
\ndue to the efforts of the many rank and file colleagues who preceded us. This
\nprocess took decades and was successful despite the opposition, ignorance
\nand intransigence of \u201cleaders\u201d such as Petrillo, Fuentealba and Lee. We do not
\nappreciate having these hard- won gains given away. <\/p>\n
6. THE CONCEPT OF VALUE ADDED <\/p>\n
The Seattle orchestra is a \u201cbuyout\u201d orchestra, created almost 20 years ago
\nspecifically to take work from Local 47 musicians. Lee thinks that AFM
\nrecording orchestras in other cities should give \u201cbuyouts\u201d as well. <\/p>\n
Unions do not allow their members to be bought out. We are professionals.
\nAll professionals in the film business receive health and pension coverage.
\nAll participate in backend earnings in one form or another, many from the
\nfirst box office dollar. Our FMSMF earnings are derived only from films
\nthat make a profit. Our salaries are paid with borrowed funds, after the film
\nis already over budget and behind schedule.
\nApparently the IEB and President Lee don\u2019t understand the nature of these
\ntwo income streams, and why it is increases in salaries, not potential
\nFMSMF payments, that discourage union employment in the current
\nmarketplace. <\/p>\n
This is why RMA has proactively created a variety of low budget agreements
\nand adjusted many of our former new use and reuse provisions so that payment
\nis not triggered until certain sales plateaus are reached. It is one thing to work
\nwith our business partners in the film world and make contract adjustments
\nbased on changing times. It is quite another to voluntarily promote the forfeiture
\nof professional business practices. <\/p>\n
What the AFM should be focusing on is not the cost of recording per musician
\nper hour but rather the value added created by employing the most
\nexperienced musicians. I once scored a film with a $1000 music budget with a
\nsigned assumption agreement.
\nThe filmmakers understood the concept of value added. The concept applies
\nno matter what the budget may be. This is also what the producers of \u201cKing
\nKong\u201d understood and our elected leaders do not. \u201cKing Kong,\u201d for me, was
\nthe most remarkable chapter in my years in the recording industry due to the
\nextreme amount of music recorded, the short schedule, and the extraordinary
\nquality of the results. And not a word of this story appeared in IM. <\/p>\n
7. SHILLING A BAD CONTRACT <\/p>\n
Interestingly, what did appear in IM, in the June 2007 issue, was a piece by
\ncomposer Lennie Moore designed to shill the new IEB-approved VG agreements.
\nWhen Mr. Moore was featured at an ASMAC workshop in 2004, his bio highlighted
\nhis work in Seattle and Salt Lake. <\/p>\n
LENNIE MOORE — Lennie has developed a career over the last decade in
\nLos Angeles as an accomplished composer, orchestrator and arranger of music
\nfor film, television and multimedia with a wide range of writing music in many
\nstyles, from jazz to pop to symphonic orchestra. He has composed music for ten
\nfilms, orchestrated for other composers on dozens of feature films and television
\nmovies, over 100 commercials, and has composed a breathtaking 60-minute
\nsymphonic score for orchestra and choir for the hit CD-ROM game \u201cOutcast\u201d which
\nwas nominated for Best Music by the AIAS (Academy of Interactive Arts
\nand Sciences). Currently, Lennie has just finished completing the music
\nfor \u201cDragonshard,\u201d a PC Real-Time Strategy game for Atari which combines
\nlive orchestral musicians along with electronics and samples. He has worked
\nwith many orchestras around the world as a composer\/conductor, including the
\nMoscow and Munich Symphony Orchestras, San Francisco Opera, as well as
\norchestras in Los Angeles, Toronto, Seattle, and Salt Lake City. <\/p>\n
How nice of the AFM to provide a forum to a person who proudly advertises
\nhis non- union credits. <\/p>\n
Mr. Moore complains about the \u201cpublic vitriol\u201d from the PMG as reported by
\nthe press. Since, to my knowledge, there has been a total of one article in the
\nmainstream press about the PMG, in which one member is quoted for a
\ncouple of sentences, with no evidence of vitriol, I\u2019m not sure what Mr. Moore is
\ntalking about. <\/p>\n
What Mr. Moore and Mr. Lee do not mention are the anonymous emails
\nand mailings being sent all over the Federation in which RMA members are
\npersonally attacked. We have seen emails that ridicule the playing ability and
\ndiscuss the religion of members.
\nWe have seen Serena Williams, a bereaved widow in her 80s, currently on
\nmedical leave from her position as Local 47 secretary, accused of conspiracy.
\nWe have seen stories that state that the success of RMA musicians is, like the
\nresults of World Wrestling Federation matches, fake. We have been treated to
\nstories about a mysterious cabal of 150 \u201celite\u201d musicians who \u201ccontrol\u201d the work
\nin town. We have seen the uninformed demonization of contractors, when in fact
\nit is composers, most specifically the composers who the AFM has failed to
\nrecruit for the past generation, who hire musicians. The fact is that the real
\nvitriol is coming from the supporters of Tom Lee in the form of wild allegations
\nand ALL CAPS rants, all of which reflect an immaturity and lack of
\nprofessionalism unprecedented in my experience as a union member. <\/p>\n
Tom\u2019s cheerleaders would have the delegates believe that we are \u201cgreedy\u201d
\nand \u201celite.\u201d It was RMA who spearheaded the campaign to raise Local 47
\nwork dues in January of 2004. We want and need a strong Local 47. RMA
\nmembers are not advocating opting for financial core status, which hurts
\nboth the AFM and the local. It is Tom\u2019s cheerleaders who are educating their
\nemail list subscribers about \u201ccore\u201d status. RMA officers, board members and
\nrank & file have spent countless unpaid hours at AFM conferences, negotiations
\nand meetings contributing their expertise and experience on behalf of all
\nmusicians. <\/p>\n
And if, as Mr. Moore claims, the AFM \u201cseems more suited to deal with the
\nneeds of emerging industries such as video games\u201d than the PMG, why
\ndid the Federation have no viable VG agreement in place until the RMA
\ncreated one in 2002? The video game industry began \u201cemerging,\u201d as Moore
\npoints out, in 1984. <\/p>\n
Apparently Mr. Moore and the IEB feel that trade unionism is optional.
\nUnion contracts may be used when convenient but if you like, please go
\nright ahead and work non- union. And be proud of it. Seattle recording?
\nGo right ahead. Rest assured that the IEB will do nothing. <\/p>\n
I guess I\u2019m old school. I thought joining a labor union meant working
\nunion \u2013 period. I was taught that any union member working non-union
\nhurts all of us. I was taught that labor unions protect their members and
\ntheir contracts. <\/p>\n
8. SOME QUESTIONS FOR DELEGATES TO CONSIDER <\/p>\n
It is also very interesting to see Sam Folio\u2019s June IM column entitled \u201cThe
\nConvention Must Decide the Federation\u2019s Fate.\u201d How nice it would be if
\nprofessional musicians \u2013 all of them – decided the Federation\u2019s fate. <\/p>\n
I wonder how many of the 300+ delegates will consider the \u201cno taxation
\nwithout representation\u201d implications of any new FMSMF and SRSPF taxes
\non recording musicians across the AFM? <\/p>\n
I would like to know if Mr. Folio\u2019s reference to Jimmy Hoffa is intended as
\na threat of violence towards those \u201crich pricks\u201d that he dislikes. <\/p>\n
I would like to know how Mr. Folio could be surprised when recording
\nmusicians react negatively to the undemocratic and tyrannical actions of
\nan AFM president. Has he never read \u201cFor the Record,\u201d the history of Cecil
\nRead and The Guild? Has he never read the famous Readers Digest article
\n“The Union That Fights its Workers?\u201d Have the delegates never read these
\neither? I\u2019ve met and learned a great deal from dozens of Guild members over
\nthe years. How is it possible that our leaders have learned nothing from
\nour history? <\/p>\n
Interestingly, none of this history appears on the AFM website at:
\nhttp:\/\/www.afm.org\/public\/about\/history.php <\/p>\n
I would like to know why Local 47 musicians need not be consulted by the
\nIEB when a new VG agreement is crafted, but become very necessary
\nwhen a huge tax on their FMSMF & SRSPF income is needed to bail out
\nthe AFM. Mr. Lee and his administration are the first in our history, due
\nto their own unsound financial polices, to tax the SRSPF and the FMSMF,
\nand now plan to do it again. <\/p>\n
I would like the delegates to ask Tom Lee why the AFM made a deal with
\nMTV for the 2006 MTV Music Video Awards show that undercuts our
\nexisting AFM Videotape Agreement. <\/p>\n
I would like the delegates to ask Tom Lee why he allowed recordings by
\nthe Los Angeles Philharmonic to be licensed into a non-union Paramount
\nfilm entitled \u201cThere Will be Blood,\u201d exempt from FMSMF obligations. <\/p>\n
I would like the delegates to ask Tom Lee why music I orchestrated for
\n the film \u201cSweet November,\u201d plus music from seven other major films was used,
\nwith AFM permission, with no payment made to any AFM musicians in the
\nfilm \u201cMiss Congeniality 2.\u201d <\/p>\n
I would like to know why the AFM sanctions the use of music recorded under
\nthe Phono Agreement to be used in films, costing musicians huge amounts
\nof lost FMSMF income. <\/p>\n
9. THE BUCK STOPS IN THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT <\/p>\n
I would like the delegates to ask Tom Lee why, as Lennie Moore correctly
\nclaims, it can \u201ctake months to get one of these promulgated (VG) agreements
\napproved\u201d by the AFM, and yet Tom says this agreement is \u201cworking fine\u201d?
\nWhy should any employer have to wait more than one business day for project
\napproval? How many games have we lost, not because of the cost of the
\nmusicians, but because of the inability of the AFM to function competently? <\/p>\n
I would like the delegates to ask Tom Lee why AFM musicians formerly enjoyed
\nthe benefits of 100% live scoring in network television, after years of hard
\nfought negotiations, and today the AFM, charged with enforcing the TV\/Film
\ncontract, has no idea who is providing music for these shows and what percentage
\nof them are using the contract. By the way, the most expensive one-hour
\ntelevision series I scored had a weekly budget of $1.75 million with a music
\nbudget of about 2% of that total, within the historical TV\/Film norm of 2-4%.
\nWith top tier VG budgets now ranging from $20-30 million, up from only $4-5
\nmillion a few years ago, it is difficult to see how musician costs are crippling
\nthe game industry. <\/p>\n
I would like the delegates to ask Tom Lee why he claimed that he had no
\nresponsibility to oversee SRSPF administrator Enex Steele, who stole $200,000
\nfrom the Phono fund, but has repeatedly copied AFM correspondence filled
\nwith baseless attacks on FMSMF administrator Dennis Dreith to Nick Counter
\nat the AMPTP. Dennis, a man of true integrity, has been a staunch trade unionist
\nand advocate for recording musicians for decades, and has both cut expenses
\nand recovered huge sums of money for musicians as administrator of the Fund. <\/p>\n
I would like the delegates to ask Tom Lee why the AFM pension fund has added
\nfour trustees (and their associated expenses) since 2003 while the pension
\nmultiplier of current workers has been devalued twice during Tom\u2019s presidency,
\neven though stock indexes have regained the losses experienced in recent years
\nand are now at or near record highs. <\/p>\n
I could continue with these questions indefinitely. The fact is that the AFM
\nis considered an embarrassment by its fulltime professional members, and
\nfunctions as an international music club for those who are not. There is a reason
\nwe are known as \u201cthe Costco of entertainment unions\u201d among labor professionals.
\nKnowledgeable musicians also know that Local 47 has been well run by Hal
\nEspinosa and his team, in spite of the negativity and lack of cooperation coming
\nfrom the Federation. <\/p>\n
10. WHAT HAPPENS NOW? <\/p>\n
The reality is that none of the current AFM officers would currently hold office
\nif the fulltime working musicians across the Federation who pay the bills were
\nallowed the basic democratic right to elect their own representatives. The core
\nmotivation of these officers is to keep their salaries and benefits. This is best
\nachieved by creating class warfare between the \u201celite\u201d and the convention
\ndelegates. The parallels between the Bush administration and the Lee administration
\nare striking. The stifling of dissent. Personal attacks. Financial recklessness.
\nIncompetence. Secrecy. Willful ignorance. A failure to acknowledge reality. <\/p>\n
We need an AFM administration that understands that their responsibility
\nis one of service, not sovereignty. A labor union, to thrive in the 21st century,
\nneeds a grassroots-up organization, not a top-downward militaristic structure. <\/p>\n
A race to the bottom, in the interest of unionizing the entertainment companies
\nwho value music the least, at the expense of the musicians who are most committed
\nto trade unionism, is a losing strategy. My sincere hope, Hal, is that this year\u2019s
\ndelegates will recognize the gravity of our current situation and will not repeat
\nthe mistakes of the past. I wish you all the best in your campaign. <\/p>\n
Sincerely, <\/p>\n
Bruce Babcock
\nProfessional Musicians Local 47 <\/p>\n
————-<\/p>\n
Letter I:<\/p>\n
Dear Colleagues: <\/p>\n
The video game sessions for \u201cThe Simpsons\u201d are scheduled for next week at
\nTodd AO under a brand-new agreement created quietly by AFM leadership
\nwith the video game production company, \u201cElectronic Arts\u201d (\u201cE.A.\u201d). <\/p>\n
The contract for these sessions is neither the familiar RMA-generated agreement
\nnor the dumbed-down competing agreement adopted in parallel by the IEB some
\nmonths ago.
\nYour contract next week is yet a THIRD agreement created secretly by
\nFederation leadership, without input from anyone actually working on this job.
\nIt is a de facto LIBRARY DEAL, a \u201cBUYOUT.\u201d Please see for yourself \u2013 call
\nCarol Sato at the Federation 213-251-4510, or call our AFM President Tom Lee
\n800-762-3444 and request to see the very brief contract you have accepted by
\ntaking the call. <\/p>\n
What was disclosed in the Dateline email is that the new agreement does not
\nprotect you from multi-tracking, or provide extra pay for doubling. What you
\ndo NOT know is that after the sessions, the producers will own and administer
\nthe recordings free and clear, without any new-use protection. The producers
\nwill be able to license the recordings into movies, TV, records, or other video
\ngames without any further payment, pension contribution, MP health contribution,
\nor FMSMF participation. <\/p>\n
In short, this new VG agreement undermines all existing recording contracts.
\nThe next film score or record you work on could very well be called a \u201cvideo
\ngame,\u201d and you will have been cashed out \u2013 no pension, no health care, no
\nsecondary markets, no re-use… NOTHING. In the long term this library
\nagreement won\u2019t create more work, it will create less work – simply put, it will
\nhurt the people who can afford it the least. <\/p>\n
Yes, these sessions are \u2018legal\u2019 because they were sanctioned by the AFM \u2013
\nthe greater question is whether they are \u2018right.\u2019 This backroom deal will
\nallow motion picture and record producers to create product using this library
\nagreement and bypass ALL the benefits fought for and enjoyed by working
\nmusicians for decades. <\/p>\n
Please ask the hard questions and demand to know what you are being
\nasked to do. Don\u2019t become an unwitting participant in a political campaign
\nthat will undermine your working conditions. Let\u2019s pull together and be
\ninformed \u2013 please pass the word. <\/p>\n
————<\/p>\n
Letter 2:<\/p>\n
There is a video game project that many of us were called for at the
\nend of the month. There was some undisclosed information concerning
\nconditions for this job. After speaking with the AFM office, it was
\nexplained that the job is considered an “all inclusive” package, where
\nby the music recorded belongs to the video game company. <\/p>\n
Basically, this means we would be recording for library use. The
\nmusic can be used for other games, movies, tv, ring tones, and
\ncommercials without any new use payment to us. <\/p>\n
This is a very serious problem because it decreases the need for this
\ncompany to hire us in the future and it weakens our bargaining position
\nfor the upcoming motion picture\/tv agreements. If we give away our skills
\nand talents for video games, other media will soon follow. <\/p>\n
Each of us need to evaluate whether it is worth the $1,000 dollars
\nwe can make now to lose future earnings, and more importantly, to
\nundermine our bargaining position in upcoming negotiations. <\/p>\n
Please consider this in making your decision to take this work and
\nfeel free to forward this e-mail to anyone you think might be interested. <\/p>\n
——————–<\/p>\n
Local 47 Colleagues,<\/p>\n
The tenure of the letters speak for themselves, and as members who
\nlive and work in Los Angeles we can tell you that the inaccuracies
\nin the above letters are plentiful. We could go into detail but we
\nsuspect you well understand them. <\/p>\n
Also, there are members of the COMMITTEE who know both Lennie Moore
\nand Chris Lennertz. Both are composers of the highest caliber and integrity.
\nComposers must contend with the desires of the producers, if they do not,
\nthey don\u2019t work. Anyone who composes for a living knows this.<\/p>\n
OUR SYSTEM IS BACK!, SO PLEASE SEND US YOUR COMMENTS!<\/p>\n
Until next time,<\/p>\n
THE COMMITTEE FOR A MORE RESPONSIBLE LOCAL 47<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I. MEMBERSHIP MEETING JULY 23rd – 7PM II. RMA STATEMENT RE: THE CONVENTION WRAP-UP III. TO THE MEMBERS, ALL THE MEMBERS, OF THE RMALA IV. WHAT HAS TO HAPPEN V. MORE ON THE SIMPSON VIDEO GAME SAGA: The Letters that have made the rounds. Colleagues, OUR SERVER IS UP AND RUNNING AGAIN! Our server is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-committee-newsletters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=49"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=49"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=49"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=49"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}