[Fmpro] The Composer Uprising on L.A.'s Craigslist

Mon Apr 7 20:44:36 GMT 2008

Very nice - thanks

Brian Wilbur Grundstrom
Composer
1453 S Street NW
Washington DC  20009
hm 202-232-3316
cell 917-952-7957
brian at brianwilbur.com
www.brianwilbur.com

-----Original Message-----
From: fmpro-bounces+brian=brianwilbur.com at nxport.com
[mailto:fmpro-bounces+brian=brianwilbur.com at nxport.com] On Behalf Of Ted
Peterson
Sent: Monday, April 07, 2008 4:15 PM
To: fmpro at nxport.com
Subject: Re: [Fmpro] The Composer Uprising on L.A.'s Craigslist

Look, if you guys want to get paid for what you do, include a price  
when you respond to anything. There are sincere small film makers who  
want to use original music. It's up to the composer to decide if it  
is practical. So when you respond to a query, simply state what your  
working rate is and if the film maker cannot pay, ask them to contact  
you to see if something can be worked out.

As to whether or not a composer produces his/her best work is a  
matter of judgement. I have composed really stellar stuff only to  
have it rejected because the director wanted a more traditional  
score. So I took the score I produced, used FCP to create a demo and  
sent it out to get paying gigs. On one gig I did for free, I got four  
paying gigs. Interestingly, the free gig turned out to be a nightmare  
and I finally dropped the project.

Here's a rule: If you do it for free, you get complete artistic  
freedom. If they don't want to agree to that, forget it. You will  
write, write, write until you finally quit. If a film maker says they  
have never worked with a composer before, set the limits of what you  
will do and how much rewriting you will do.

I did a free gig and wrote a great score. The music has been bought  
by a lot of other interests. But this person kept saying it was too  
profound for the movie. Go figure. So I still had the music and used  
it for other things. Some people can write without a deadline and  
form their own impetus. Others need something to write to. If you  
need something to write to, use anything until you can get skilled  
enough to earn money from your efforts.

Remember that everything you write can be used somewhere. If it is  
craftless and unmusical, you need to hone your chops; can't blame a  
film maker for your inefficiencies. But if your craft is good, you're  
dealing with whim and sensitivity. But my basic rule is to get into  
the habit of applying for everything. It's a numbers game and you  
will get 1 hit out of 100 sent. It doesn't matter. As you build  
pieces, you can build a reel and if your craft is good, you will get  
work. Take the example of Michael Patterson and work, work, work  
while finding a way to live until you get some bigger paychecks. It  
doesn't matter how old you are or the style of music you write. You  
have to apply to as many gigs as you can.

So build a cover letter that states what you will do for what price  
and what you will do for free under what circumstances and just plug  
that into everything.

A note of interest. I was watching IFC on cable and here comes a  
movie I submitted for some four years ago. The theme ends and bang,  
there's my music. So I searched around for another airing and found  
one at 3AM two weeks later. I recorded it and noted where my music  
was in the film and sent it to my lawyer. He has contacted the film  
distribution company and the film maker and is suing them for  
copyright violation, theft and a plethora of other high crimes and  
misdemeanors.  it isn't the first time this has happened. I'm not  
represented by ASCAP or BMI and have lost some gigs because of that  
but I find it much easier to use a lawyer. At least I know he's in it  
for me only.

Ted Peterson

On Apr 7, 2008, at 11:37 AM, JJB wrote:

> I'm glad to see someone is actually doing this. This is awesome. We
> should create a campaign with a website and accurate documentation  
> that
> we can include when we post these types of notices on Craigslist and
> other sites.
>
>  - Joel
> \
> Bob Safir wrote:
>> Has the revolution begun?  Note the following postings on L.A.'s  
>> Craigslist
>> since yesterday (As discussed previously on this board, the actual  
>> URL's are
>> going to be stripped out, so look under the "Gigs" section to find  
>> the
>> originals):
>>
>> Apr 6 - Music Composers, Your Attention Please - (USA) <<talent gigs
>> Apr 6 - RE: Regarding Music Composers Working for COPY and CREDIT: -
>> <<talent gigs
>> Apr 7 - RE: Composers working for copy and credit - (LA)  
>> <<creative gigs
>>
>> Now, we haven't seen any backlash yet from those who would like to  
>> see this
>> practice continue, but I'm sure we'll hear from them too ("it's for

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