Now is the right time to become an American Federation of Musicians member. From ragtime to rap, from the early phonograph to today's digital recordings, the AFM has been there for its members. And now there are more benefits available to AFM members than ever before, including a multi-million dollar pension fund, excellent contract protection, instrument and travelers insurance, work referral programs and access to licensed booking agents to keep you working.
As an AFM member, you are part of a membership of more than 80,000 musicians. Experience has proven that collective activity on behalf of individuals with similar interests is the most effective way to achieve a goal. The AFM can negotiate agreements and administer contracts, procure valuable benefits and achieve legislative goals. A single musician has no such power.
The AFM has a proud history of managing change rather than being victimized by it. We find strength in adversity, and when the going gets tough, we get creative - all on your behalf.
Like the industry, the AFM is also changing and evolving, and its policies and programs will move in new directions dictated by its members. As a member, you will determine these directions through your interest and involvement. Your membership card will be your key to participation in governing your union, keeping it responsive to your needs and enabling it to serve you better. To become a member now, visit www.afm.org/join.
Inspired by the film noir genre of 1940s cinema, Noir Vignettes for cello and piano consists of four movements, each depicting a different aspect of film noir: Murder at Midnight, Loaded Gun, Femme Fatale, and Last Cigarette.
Noir Vignettes (for cello and piano),
by Stacy Garrop, Theodore Presser Company, www.presser.com.
On October 4, the Boston Musicians’ Association, Local 9-535 (Boston, MA), is co-sponsoring a three-hour Hollywood Orchestration Master Class by Norm Ludwin of Local 47 (Los Angeles, CA). Ludwin is a well-respected orchestrator from Hollywood, who recently worked on the films Jurassic World, Inside Out, Star Trek: Into Darkness, and Mission Impossible-Ghost Protocol, and is also an instructor in the UCLA Extension Film Music Department. The event is being held in conjunction with Northeastern University, October 4, from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm at Northeastern University’s Fenway Center (corner of Gainsborough and St. Stephens St). This master class is free but space is limited so arrive early.
This week the AFM filed suit against Paramount Pictures, Inc. for recording the score to the film Same Kind of Different As Me in Slovakia. The complaint claims the film studio breached its collective bargaining agreement with musicians that required Paramount films produced in the US or Canada to be scored in the US or Canada.
“Only weeks after we filed suit against Paramount for offshoring jobs in other films, they did it again. This total disrespect for musicians is shameful. It is nothing more than corporate greed,” says AFM President Ray Hair. In May the Federation sued six studios, including Paramount, for offshoring jobs for other films. The AFM is seeking breach of contract damages, including wages and benefits that should have been paid to musicians.
Same Kind of Different As Me, directed by Michael Carney and starring Renée Zellweger, Greg Kinnear, and Jon Voight, was filmed in Mississippi, but scored in Bratislava, Sovakia, last month. It is scheduled for release in April 2016. According to Hair, such offshoring of scores allows film producers to drive profits up at the expense of North American musicians.
You can read the full complaint at: www.afm.org/uploads/file/public_pdf/SKODAM_Complaint-Court-Stamped.pdf.
