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Remote Recording Leader Pay

In consideration of the governmental orders permitting the resumption of in-person recordings, the American Federation of Musicians announced that effective June 22, 2020, its temporary waiving of leader scale for remote recording under the Sound Recording Labor Agreement, the Basic Theatrical Motion Picture Agreement and Basic Television Motion Picture Agreement is hereby lifted and all contract terms shall resume as usual.

If you are called for a remote recording session, you should expect to be paid leader pay, which means that you will be paid double scale for your work. Continue reading →

Non-Union Engagement Alert: ‘Soundtrack of Our Lives’

AFM members are advised that “Soundtrack of Our Lives: A Celebration for the Film and TV Music Community” to be presented by MusiCares on Thursday, June 25, 2020 is a non-union engagement, with no protections for fair wages, health & welfare, pension, or other benefits that come with union contracts.

The AFM has been in discussions with management to try and secure an appropriate agreement. Unfortunately they have not agreed to sign a union contract. We recommend that AFM members not participate until such a contract is in place.

If you are contacted to participate in this concert, please alert the President’s Office at 323.993.3181 or email pres_sec@afm47.org. We want to make sure you are paid correctly and receive the proper benefits. Musicians standing together have the power.

Free COVID-19 Testing

The County of Los Angeles is offering free COVID-19 testing. For more information and to schedule a test please visit: lacovidprod.service-now.com/rrs

Additionally, our friends at the LA Fed are also offering free testing at their headquarters near the Westlake District of Los Angeles. St. John’s Well Child & Family Center will be doing testing by appointment only at the LA Fed office.

When: Every other Thursday starting June 11, from 8:30 am to 2 pm
Where: Los Angeles County Federation of Labor (2130 James M Wood Blvd. Los Angeles CA 90006)

By Appointment Only!

Appointments in English: Alicia Vargas (213-400-0552)
Appointments in Spanish: Antonia Esparza (213-706-1740)

For more information, contact Rosemarie Molina at rosemarie@thelafed.org

AFM Local 47 President John Acosta’s statement on George Floyd

American Federation of Musicians Local 47 President John Acosta today released the following statement on the murder of George Floyd:

“We stand with the people in our nation and around the world in condemnation of the murder of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Philando Castile, Michael Brown, and too many others who have fallen victim to police violence. It is not enough to speak out over the racial inequality in our nation; we need to fight back against the attitudes and actions that have become so pervasive in our society.

“Now more than ever each and every one of us must do more, say more, and be more. We must be better than who we are if we are to make the lasting change our country needs so desperately.

“AFM Local 47 condemns racism of any kind and strengthens our resolve to work toward achieving meaningful, lasting change that brings equality and justice to everyone in our society.”

June 2020 Overture Online: Safer At Work

Inside This Issue:

Safer At Work

What we’re doing to ensure musicians return to work safely and soon

Music Employment Town Hall

Friday, June 5th – Open to all Local 47 members

Member Spotlight

Jay Cohen first Local 47 live performer to return to work

and more!

Download the FREE App:

Overture Online is optimized for reading via smartphone or tablet. For those without access to a smart device, issues may be viewed on a web browser here. Local 47 members may download archived pdf versions from the members section at afm47.org. Continue reading →

#AFM47 Spring playlist

Sound clips below. To hear the full playlist, click here to listen on Spotify.

Town Hall: Music Employment in the Age of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated our musical community. We have lost friends and colleagues, and almost all of us have lost our work. Yet our future will arrive, and we need to do everything we can to ensure our health and safety when the opportunity to return to work together arrives.

Please join our distinguished panel on Friday, June 5, at 7 p.m. featuring guest speakers. We will cover a variety of topics including:

Whose job is it to keep us safe at work?
Who are the stakeholders and gatekeepers for deciding when we can go back?
What is our Local 47 doing?
And more…

Prepare your questions; we will be dedicating a substantial portion of the Town Hall to Q&A.

This Town Hall is open to all AFM Local 47 members. Registration is required. Link and password will be emailed upon membership verification.

Continue reading →

Safer at Work Update: Recommendations Adopted for Film/Television Music Scoring

Helping all of our musicians get back to work while protecting your health and safety continues to be our number one priority. AFM Local 47 has been working with adjacent unions, management, both the City and County of Los Angeles, infectious disease specialists, rank-and-file musicians and scoring stage crew, as well as gathering the growing body of scientific studies of safety for orchestral musicians being gathered both here and in Germany and Austria.

The Local 47 Executive Board has adopted a series of recommendations created by the Post Covid-19 Work Rules Working Group to ensure safe work environments for post-production music that can allow millions of dollars of wages to return to the thousands of musicians who provide the world-class scores for the projects that California and Hollywood depend upon. Continue reading →

Election Board and Salary Review Board 2020 election results

Congratulations to the newly elected members of our Election Board and Salary Review Board, nominated at our April 27, 2020 General Membership Meeting held via Zoom video conference. The Local 47 Election Board announces the following results of electronic voting held via ElectionBuddy: Continue reading →

Bugler Jay Cohen returns to work at Santa Anita Park

LA Times Sports Column by Bill Plaschke: “He plays alone to empty seats, but L.A.’s only working live musician has song of hope”

“Call to the Post” never sounded so sweet: Last week bugler Jay Cohen returned to work at the Santa Anita Park racetrack, the first AFM Local 47 member to file a live performance contract with the union amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.

We spoke with Jay after his first day back to work on Friday, May 15 about his experience returning to work with the new safety procedures in place. Continue reading →