Women in Media (WIM) provides networking opportunities, professional development, and advocacy for women in above- and below-the-line positions on film productions. Few studies look at female representation in below-the-line positions, but across the top-grossing 100 films of 2017, women comprised 14% of editors, 2% of cinematographers, and 3% of composers, according to a report from San Diego State University professor Martha Lauzen. On April 27 WIM will hold a panel for union members and nonmembers on “navigating the unions.” Representatives from IATSE, the Motion Picture Editor’s Guild, Directors Guild of America, and other unions will be present.
Tag Archives: media
Media Talks Driven by Streaming Growth, Part 2
This is the second of two articles on the continued rise of streaming and its effect on Federation media industry negotiations. Read the first here.
Last month, we discussed the Federation’s January 2017 deal with the sound recording industry, where major record labels agreed to earmark a percentage of domestic and foreign streaming revenue toward the American Federation of Musicians & Employers’ Pension Fund (AFM-EPF), Music Performance Trust Fund (MPTF), and the Sound Recording Special Payments Fund (SPF). We also discussed the skyrocketing growth of streaming revenue from recorded music, which now accounts for 62% of total record industry income.
FIA Issues Declaration on Sexual Harassment
In October, the International Federation of Actors (FIA) Executive Committee approved a declaration on sexual harassment, discrimination, and retaliation in the entertainment and media industries. The declaration, authored and sponsored by SAG-AFTRA, recognizes the rights of all performers to a safe and harassment-free working environment and urges the industry to work in good faith with unions and performer organizations to develop a long-term strategy to achieve discrimination and harassment free workplaces.
“The scandal involving Harvey Weinstein revealed problems that were all to familiar to women—and men—in our industry. We know that sexism in our industry is real. We know that there are sexual harassers who use their power to intimidate. And we know that this needs to change. And as union leaders we are taking a stand—we seek nothing less than a major cultural shift,” says FIA President Ferne Downey.
Iran Raps Its Propaganda Message to Young People
Recently, Iran’s state controlled media has begun launching videos that feature rappers delivering their propaganda messages. In one such video, a well-known Iranian rapper sings on the deck of a navy frigate. Another raps about Iranian power; flags are waving in the background while soldiers sing along and stomp their feet. A sign of the times, Iran’s propaganda machine realizes that it must embrace the latest trends and technologies in order to reach the new generation of young adults.
AFM, Media Convergence and Performance Rights Part 2
In this five-part series, we look briefly at AFM’s origins, structure, media agreements, historical challenges from the rise of technology, disruption of established media business models, institutional stress from a new techno-economic paradigm, and opportunities for new money for musicians from performance rights. In part two below, we examine early efforts to organize and monetize media services, modern Federation media agreements, and the underlying pressures to lower standards.
The future of the Federation depends in part on its ability to bargain progressive media agreements despite global competitiveness and a burgeoning background of web-based, user-generated-content that has blurred the lines between broadcasting and other media across all elements of consumption. To understand what is happening now in music and media, we look to our past to remember who we are, where we came from, what we did, and to see where we go from here.