[Fmpro] Composers joing the AFM

[Christopher Alpiar]

Great stuff Jeff!

I might argue that many musicians improvise, and while they don't get  
paid as composers they should; and a whole discussion where I could  
prove that the improvisations of John Coltrane or any number of the  
master Jazz improvisors are of equal intellect, poignancy and value as  
creators as Mozart or Bach or Stravinsky or any of the great composers

But I have no energy for such a rebuttal as I am focused right now on  
trying to understand why composers have no society, union or guild  
that creates a collective power and provides the basic fundamentals of  
life for us. AFM in my mind seemed the logical choice since its all  
about music and already has in place much of the structure that would  
be great to have access to as a composer. But I know they are kind of  
tired and not on the up and up.

I was more interested in the historic reasons as to why we have no  
representation at all as a group, a lot of which I have learned about  
today. I totally agree about the even footing part and I think there  
must be a way to take strides towards such a goal. I know most of this  
list are either cynics or focused on negativity to actually find hope,  
for many reasons we could chat for hours about, some pragmatic, others  
psychological ;-) But I think there must be a way to find the justice  
and quality of life we all deserve without ruining the great American  
dream of being financially successful, and to do it in a way that  
forces the powers-that-be to reckon with it and provides a path of  
mutual benefit for such a league and the organizations that would have  
to make acceptance of it.

Thanks for the reply Jeff, your posts are always very informative!

Chris

Christopher Kennedy Alpiar
Cinematic Composer
937.294.0900 (Dayton Studio)
310.339.9603 (Los Angeles)
877.294.0912 (Toll Free)
www.alpiar.com








On May 28, 2008, at 1:36 AM, Jeff Kaufman wrote:

> The next topic was concerning why the AFM should have composers as  
> part of their union. Let us look at the facts and I mean no  
> disrespect to musicians. Here are the negatives of the AFM idea. The  
> AFM is not vested in any health plan due to it’s compromise years  
> ago, it has allowed work to depart the Los Angeles area because of  
> lack of compromise, they are not a forward thinking organization but  
> are letting a chosen few dictate the terms for all and the entire  
> membership suffers and finally its membership is made up of talented  
> performers but not creators.
> Why would a creator not want to align themselves with a fellow  
> creator? The footing and respect would be equal as would the level  
> of bargaining. Lest we forget that musicians have no means of  
> performance without the creative composition of a composer. Is the  
> stenographer or typist as creative as the writer with the idea? I  
> think not.
> Since the advent of sound, Film has several important elements that  
> it cannot exist without. The elements are script, director, actor,  
> cinematographer, editor, designer, and composer. These are the  
> elements that require newly created imagination and all have unions  
> with the exception of the composer. If there is a future for a union  
> it must be on even footing. The idea that performance royalties  
> would be on the table is not out of the question but can be easily  
> part of the basic bylaws of the union and taken off the table. There  
> needs to be minimums on creative fees and the extinction of  
> packages. Perhaps the single most detrimental aspect of any deal is  
> the package. Producers do not hire cinematographers and editors and  
> expect them to bring film, cameras, editing, equipment, assistants  
> etc. with them on a job as part of their pay and the same applied  
> vision should be given to the composer. If the composer is to do the  
> best possible job their mind has to
> be free to concentrate on the creation and work within a budget but  
> not be castrated by the budget. These are creative decisions made by  
> creators of music not musicians. Align with the writers. They are  
> the closest of the creative groups to understand your plight if a  
> union cannot be formed separate then the writers are your closest  
> ally. If you add another important element to the writer’s guild  
> union in the making of a film then the bargaining power of that  
> guild becomes stronger. They are the 300 pound elephant. You cannot  
> continue to make films sans script or music. You cannot start one  
> without a script or finish a film without music. Welcome to my ideas  
> and thoughts.