In Tuesday’s (5/27) Los Angeles Times, Richard Verrier reports, “A group of Los Angeles-area musicians … gathered around a flatbed truck as union leaders, a minister and a local city councilman fired up the crowd. ‘Make no mistake, music that we produce is a critical component in the artistic and financial success of any film that’s produced here,’ said Neil Samples, a violinist. ‘Stop offshoring jobs, do the right thing and bring the music home.’ … The American Federation of Musicians has previously organized rallies against Marvel Studios for hiring London musicians to work on such movies as The Avengers and Iron Man 3 even though those films were shot in the United States. Now, with the backing of the AFL-CIO, the union has singled out Lionsgate. It says the studio is hiring foreign musicians to play music on movies that filmed in the U.S. with the support of taxpayer subsidies. … The unrest comes at a time of growing anxiety in the local music industry, where film and television work have been a key source of income for hundreds of local violinists, cellists, trombonists and other professional musicians.… But as more work in film and TV production has moved overseas, local musicians are having a tougher time making a living.”
Posted June 2, 2014
