Film Musicians Secondary Markets Fund End of Year Round-Up

February 23, 2017

by Kim Roberts Hedgpeth, Executive Director Film Musicians Secondary Markets Fund

The Film Musicians Secondary Markets Fund (FMSMF) works to serve the film, television, and music communities and meet the needs of film musicians whose talents fuel the industry. To this end, the FMSMF is pleased to provide ongoing updates to the International Musician for the benefit of AFM members.

“New” Films

With the first six months of the FMSMF’s 2017 fiscal year now ended as of September 30, at the time of this writing, more than 150 new titles had reported residuals into the fund for the first time. Among the titles reporting for the first time this year are films such as The Peanuts Movie, Ride Along 2, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Chi-Raq, Joy, and Deadpool, and television series such as Minority Report, 24: Live Another Day, The Catch, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2015/2016), and Wicked City. The list of “new” titles for fiscal year 2017 is now posted on the fund’s website, www.fmsmf.org, and will be updated as new titles report into the FMSMF for the first time during the remainder of the 2017 fiscal year.

As a reminder, when the FMSMF refers to “a title,” it refers to an individual motion picture, documentary, or television movie, or a single season of a television series.

2016 Distributions

The FMSMF distributed more than 15,600 payments to musicians and beneficiaries as part of its regular distribution on July 1, 2016. Another 545 payments were distributed in mid-September as part of the fund’s annual “omissions” distribution.

Learn More About FMSMF

The FMSMF was honored to conduct a workshop, entitled “FMSMF 101” for AFM Local 47 (Los Angeles, CA) members. This workshop is for the benefit of musicians who would like to learn more about the fund, how residuals work, and what the fund does to collect and distribute residuals to working musicians. FMSMF staff is always happy to provide such workshops for the benefit of working and aspiring musicians, and is available to travel to AFM locals outside of the Los Angeles area to conduct workshops at the local’s request.

Spreading the Word

FMSMF was proud to be an exhibitor at the American Film Market, November 2-9, 2016, in Santa Monica, California. This is one of several efforts the fund makes annually to reach independent producers and provide information, answer questions about film scoring, and about how the FMSMF works. These are also critical opportunities to remind new and aspiring filmmakers about the integral role that music plays to successful filmmaking, and the importance of planning ahead when budgeting. The FMSMF also attended the Toronto Film Festival in September, and plans to attend South by Southwest 2017 in March.

Visit Us on Facebook

Stay current with fund developments by visiting the FMSMF Facebook page and the website www.fmsmf.org. There you will find updates on fund policies, information on new titles, and new user features. 

From everyone at the Film Musicians Secondary Markets Fund—nest wishes for a healthy and prosperous 2017!