Tag Archives: Lionsgate

Listen Up! Campaign Gains International Support

At an advance screening for Lionsgate-released film “Step Up All In,” Hong Kong campaign supporters distributed leaflets to moviegoers in both English and Cantonese that described how the company is offshoring music jobs on U.S. taxpayers’ dime by accepting millions in tax subsidies. Photos & images: Courtesy Listen Up!

Activist and labor groups in Hong Kong show support for American musicians calling for Lionsgate to stop offshoring film scoring jobs on U.S. taxpayers’ dime

Hong Kong-based Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) and several other Chinese activist groups have announced support of the American Federation of Musician’s Listen Up! campaign calling to end offshoring film scoring jobs.

At an advance screening for “Step Up All In,” the fifth release in the motion picture franchise, Hong Kong campaign supporters distributed leaflets to moviegoers in both English and Cantonese that described how Lionsgate Entertainment is offshoring music jobs on U.S. taxpayers’ dime by accepting millions in tax subsidies. Continue reading →

Musicians’ Listen Up! Campaign Delivers Petition Signed by 12,000 Supporters to Lionsgate HQ

Courtesy of Listen Up! “Listen up, Lionsgate!” — The Listen Up! campaign hand-delivered more than 12,000 petition signatures to Lionsgate Entertainment’s Santa Monica headquarters May 13 calling on the company to uphold industry standards for musicians and end its practice of offshoring film scoring work. Helping with the delivery were L.A. County Federation of Labor Executive Secretary Maria Elena Durazo, Santa Monica City Councilman Kevin McKeown, and Pastor Bridie Roberts of Clergy and Laity for Economic Justice. Lionsgate executives accepted the petitions but refused to meet with the musicians.

“Listen up, Lionsgate!” — The Listen Up! campaign hand-delivered more than 12,000 petition signatures to Lionsgate Entertainment’s Santa Monica headquarters May 13 calling on the company to uphold industry standards for musicians and end its practice of offshoring film scoring work. Helping with the delivery were L.A. County Federation of Labor Executive Secretary Maria Elena Durazo, Santa Monica City Councilman Kevin McKeown, and Pastor Bridie Roberts of Clergy and Laity for Economic Justice. Lionsgate executives accepted the petitions but refused to meet with the musicians.

Petition calls on Lionsgate to uphold industry standards and end practice of offshoring film scoring work

SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA (May 13, 2014) — Today members of the American Federation of Musicians made a special delivery at Lionsgate corporate headquarters in Santa Monica of a petition signed by over 12,000 supporters of their Listen Up! campaign. Los Angeles County Federation of Labor Executive Secretary-Treasurer Maria Elena Durazo, Santa Monica City Councilman Kevin McKeown, and Pastor Bridie Roberts of Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice were present to support the musicians and be part of the delivery delegation.

“L.A. is the entertainment capital of the world,” says Durazo. “Working women and men in our communities demand that working musicians get treated with the same level of professional respect as other workers. Today, we are asking Lionsgate to listen up and do the right thing.” Continue reading →

Listen Up! – Musicians Call for Fairness

National campaign seeks to bring motion picture and TV film music work back home

by Linda A. Rapka

Musicians in Los Angeles, Atlanta and New York kicked off the nationwide Listen Up! campaign April 10 seeking fairness for musicians working in the motion picture and TV film industry.

AFM President Ray Hair speaks out against film-music offshoring at the Listen Up! campaign launch in Los Angeles.

Led by rank-and-file members of the American Federation of Musicians, the campaign calls upon the entertainment industry to stop the offshoring of film and television music scoring and to ensure musicians’ work is valued by all companies at the same professional standard as other cast and crew. Continue reading →

Musicians Kick Off Listen Up! Campaign Today

AFM President Ray Hair speaks out against film-music offshoring at the Listen Up! campaign launch in Los Angeles.

WESTWOOD (April 11, 2014) — Yesterday Los Angeles-area musicians held a press conference and rally across from the Regency Theatre in Westwood as part of a nationwide kickoff for Listen Up! – a campaign for fairness for musicians working in the motion picture and TV film industry.

The campaign calls out the motion picture-TV film industry for treating U.S. musicians unfairly by offshoring movie soundtrack recordings. Many offshored soundtrack recordings are made for films funded in part by U.S. taxpayers. At the Listen Up! kickoff event, musicians who are members of the American Federation of Musicians and its affiliated Los Angeles Local 47 were joined by representatives from the AFL-CIO, and other labor, faith, and community leaders to call on the film industry to stop offshoring film scoring work. Continue reading →