The Committee For A More Responsible Local 47

 

1/26/18

I. NO QUORUM FOR LOCAL 47 MEETING
II. NCCMP Tries to Undermine Butch Lewis Act
III. EVENTS

…Absolutely guaranteed anonymity – Former Musician’s Union officer
‘
…The one voice of reason in a sea of insanity – Nashville ‘first call’
scoring musician
…Allows us to speak our minds without fear of reprisal – L.A. Symphonic musician

…Reporting issues the Musicians Union doesn’t dare to mention – National touring musician

 

================================

 

I. NO QUOROM FOR LOCAL 47 MEETING

BIG take away from the “no quorum” meeting….Local 47/Club
is looking for funding from  the most wealthy members for
“naming rights” to our yet to be built auditorium.
(Names floated….Quincy Jones, Burt Bacharach , and as
one member opined …. “must consider John Williams”).

VP Baptist was very clear that the City of Burbank will
not let the project be called “an auditorium” …only to
be permitted and called a “multi-purpose room” during
construction.

A question from a member asked how much does
the Local…(speaker did not identify the Musician’s
Club) anticipate allocating for it…?  Ans: 1 million.

So much for the sales pitch that the 47/Club would
have 9-11 million for an endowment after offloading
Vine Street. Our long term investment dollars are
about 4.5 million.  It would be nice to know if the
investment income will close the gap between
what the Union can pay and the actual cost to
maintain the new property.

 

================================

 

II. NCCMP TRIES TO UNDERMINE BUTCH LEWIS ACT

MPS Signs on with Coalition of Unions
As many of you know, lawmakers in Washington
are responding to our pension crisis. In early
November 2017, the Butch Lewis Act was
introduced in Congress by Senator Sherrod
Brown. The proposed law would guarantee that
all plan participants receive 100% of their
promised pension benefit. It is the only plan
that preserves 100% of our hard-earned
pension benefits.

For the last few months MPS has been in
frequent contact with lawmakers across
the country asking for the “Butch Lewis
Act of 2017” to be a top legislative priority
and to be included as part of the upcoming
omnibus spending bill.

While we have made progress and gained
considerable support for this legislation,
other forces in Washington are currently
trying to undermine the Butch Lewis Act.
The main opposition is a proposal called the
Grow Act.  This proposal would deny AFM-
EPF access to the federal loan program
and instead would compel cuts to our
accrued pension benefits.

The main sponsor of the Grow Act is the
NCCMP (the National Coordinating Council
on Multiemployer Pension Plans), which
is a Washington lobbying group that in
2014 drafted MPRA, the law that allows
our pensions to be cut. MPS has previously
pointed out the strong ties between our
AFM-EPF trustees and the NCCMP.
(See prior post here.) Unfortunately, our
trustees continue to support the NCCMP
by paying dues, by serving on their board
and by being actively involved with that
organization.

Musicians for Pension Security has recently
joined AARP, the International Association
of Machinists and Aerospace Workers,
the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers,
the National United Committee to Protect
Pensions, the National Retirees Legislative
Network, the Pension Rights Center, the
United Steelworkers, and the Western
Conference of Teamsters to oppose the
NCCMP in its effort to subvert the Butch
Lewis Act. See the joint statement here.

We call on the trustees of AFM-EPF to
immediately show their support by joining
this coalition and publicly rejecting the
NCCMP’s Grow Act.

AFM-EPF trustees say they support the
Butch Lewis Act. However, it is impossible
to wholeheartedly support it without
disavowing the NCCMP’s proposal.  By
immediately joining MPS and many other
unions by signing onto the coalition
statement and rejecting NCCMP’s proposal,
our trustees have an opportunity to show
plan participants that they are 100% behind
the Butch Lewis Act. They will also show us
that they will no longer allow the NCCMP
to call the shots for the AFM-EPF.

 

====================================

 

III. EVENTS

DEAN AND RICHARD
are now at Culver City Elks the first 
Friday of 
every month.
7:30pm-10:30pm,
11160 Washington Pl.
Culver City, 90232
310-839-8891

——————————————

2/1/18

DeLuna, Marder & Kronstadt
Upstairs at Vitello’s
Thursday, February 1 at 8 PM – 11 PM
4349 Tujunga Ave, Studio City, California 91604

Three Singers, Songwriters, and Arrangers perform
their Original Music. Jazz/Brazilian/Groove/Pop…
backed by an All-Star Band.

Featuring

Rich Ruttenberg on piano,
Edwin Livingston on bass,
Joel Taylor on drums,
Brian Swartz on trumpet,
Bob Sheppard on sax,
Peter Kent and Rocio Marron on violin,
Rodney Wirtz on viola,
and Peggy Baldwin on cello.

Tickets: $20 for General Admission// $40 for VIP Seating

A minimum of two items ($20.00) is required per person
while occupying a table. If the minimum is not met the
difference will be charged. – Free dessert with your
purchase of a VIP ticket. $10

TICKET PRICE INCREASE DAY OF SHOW.
GET YOUR TICKETS NOW!

 

——————————————-

2/6/19

Tuesday, February 6, 7:30 pm
USC Newman Recital Hall (AHF)
USC Thornton Faculty Recital with
bassoonist JUDITH FARMER and
cellist ANDREW SHULMAN

Program:
Gernot Wolfgang – ROAD SIGNS (world premiere)
Judith Farmer – bassoon
Nic Gerpe – piano

Frank Bridge – CELLO SONATA, H.125
Andrew Shulman – cello
Jeffrey Kahane – piano

INTERMISSION

Gernot Wolfgang – WINDOWS
Edgar Lopez – clarinet
Judith Farmer – bassoon
Nadia Shpachenko – piano

Benjamin Britten – CELLO SONATA, Op.65
Andrew Shulman – cello
Jeffrey Kahane – piano

FREE ADMISSION

——————————————-

2/7/18

Brendan White- Piano & Jacqueline Suzuki- Violin at Music@Mimoda
· Hosted by Maksim Velichkin and Jacqueline Suzuki

 

Wednesday, February 7 at 8 PM – 9:30 PM

MiMoDa Studio
5774 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, California 90019

 

——————————————-

 

2/10-11/18

RIVERSIDE PHILHARMONIC

“Animatus Eventus”
Saturday, February 10, 2018 @ 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, February 11, 2018 @ 2:00 p.m.
Music to entertain the young and the young
at heart, with a unique concert celebrating the
music of cartoons including “Alice’s Wonderland,”
“Felix goes to Hollywood,” and others, composed
by some of Hollywood’s top cartoon composers,
like Mark Watters and Charles Fernandez.

Plus: Animatus Eventus (Cartoon Suite), a three
movement symphonic work by Charles Fernandez
based on original material with nods to cartoons
from the last 80 years, including classic cartoon
footage shown on a large screen.
Email – [email protected]
Phone – 951-787-0251
——————————————-

2/11/18
LOS ANGELES SYMPHONIC WINDS
Steve Piazza, Director
Subscription Concert 4 – Valentine Concert
Sunday February 11, 2018 at 2:30 pm
Calabasas High School Performing Arts Education Center
22855 Mulholland Hwy, Calabasas, CA 91302

Valentines Concert featuring music of some of
history’s greatest pairs of lovers including
Romeo and Juliet and Tristan and Isolde.

 

——————————————-

 

The Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program at the Seattle Film Institute

is now accepting applications for the one-year

Master of Music in Film Composition

One of the Top 4 Film Music Programs in the World!

Recently rated as the #4 school in the world for film scoring education by Music School Central.

“in just one year, the school places students into a pressure cooker of intense learning resulting in a professional demo reel that can be used to obtain future paid commercial opportunities.”

 

Learn from Industry Professionals

All PNWFS faculty are active professional film and game composers, orchestrators, copyists, and engineers, including the program’s creator and lead instructor Dr. Hummie Mann.  Hummie is the two-time Emmy Award winning film composer of “Robin Hood: Men in Tights” and featured in Variety Magazine’s article “Leaders in Learning”.

Our Program Features:
• 9 live recording sessions with professional musicians at Studio X, Seattle’s premiere, world-class studio.
• Opportunities to work with student directors to score actual films from film programs all over the world.
• 
Training in all major software programs used in the industry.
• 
A state-of-the-art workstation assigned to each student fully installed with the latest versions of all software, sample libraries and plug-ins needed to complete the program.

 

Accelerated and Affordable

We are a one-year Master of Music in Film Composition program which not only gives our graduates the opportunity to enter the industry and start their careers a year sooner than other programs but saves them an entire year of living expenses. In addition to our accelerated format we also offer the most affordable tuition out of competing programs. Our students have access to FAFSA financial assistance, loans, and scholarships as well.

 

History of Success

We are very proud to have a high success rate for our graduates who have gone on to work on television shows such as Castle, Empire, and Once Upon a Time; video games such as World of Warcraft, Spate, and Destiny; and films such as The Revenant, Trolls, The Dark Tower, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Apply now and you could be joining their ranks!

Applications are being accepted for the Fall 2018 school year.
We offer rolling admissions – no deadline to apply.

 

 

(800) 882-4734 | www.pnwfilmmusic.com
——————————————–

UNTIL NEXT TIME,

THE COMMITTEE FOR A MORE RESPONSIBLE LOCAL 47

1/16/18

I. MERGER PRESENTS PROBLEM WITH ACCESS
II. SAN ANTONIO SYMPHONY
III. CHINA IS THE NEW HOLLYWOOD
IV. COMMENT
V. EVENTS

…Absolutely guaranteed anonymity – Former Musician’s Union officer
‘
…The one voice of reason in a sea of insanity – Nashville ‘first call’
scoring musician
…Allows us to speak our minds without fear of reprisal – L.A. Symphonic musician

…Reporting issues the Musicians Union doesn’t dare to mention – National touring musician

================================

I. MERGER PRESENTS PROBLEM WITH ACCESS

MEMBER COMMENT

I have a question about the MICU (Musicians’
Interguild Credit Union) merger with SAG-AFTRA
FCU — I was just informed that former MICU members
will not have access to their transaction data
prior to the merger — that if you want info prior
to the end of last year, you have to contact them
to ask for info.

This is contrary to what I was initially told —
that ALL records would transfer and we would
have access from the time of opening the MICU
account.

[Colleagues, any thoughts?]

================================

II. SAN ANTONIO SYMPHONY

SAN ANTONIO SYMPHONY

[MEMBER COMMENT: An example on how
important a Orchestra is to a city and also an
example of how management let the orchestra fall
short of pension payments to AFM if what has been
presented is factual.]

San Antonio leaders throw support behind symphony
By David Hendricks

Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Bexar County Judge Nelson
Wolff appeared Saturday night with the San Antonio
Symphony in a show of unity behind the beleaguered
orchestra that is struggling to stay onstage.

Nirenberg and Wolff spoke to a near-capacity audience
of almost 1,450 people at the Tobin Center for the
Performing Arts before the symphony’s performance
of its first Tricentennial program.

“We believe in a world-class symphony for San Antonio.
We believe in a long-term sustainable plan for the
orchestra,” Nirenberg told the audience.

City leaders talk about how important the San Antonio
Symphony is to the city.

“I wish I could say the work is completed, but it’s
not,” Nirenberg said in reference to this week’s
developments in which the Symphony Society of
San Antonio first said the rest of the 2017-18
season would be canceled then reversed the
decision, under new Chairwoman Kathleen Vale,
in favor of a modified concert schedule that will
be announced soon.

Initially, symphony officials said $2.5 million
would be needed to complete the entire season,
then announced Wednesday it would be
cancelled altogether for lack of funds.

After that announcement, Vale said, about $400,000
in donations was verbally pledged, allowing for the
presentation of at least some of the remaining concerts.
She declined to name the donors.

Also available to the symphony is part of the city’s
allocation of more than $600,000 for the current season,
said bassoonist Brian Petkovich, the orchestra musicians
union representative.

About $300,000 already has been spent by the Symphonic
Music for San Antonio nonprofit, Petkovich said. SMSA
operated the orchestra during the fall but last month pulled
out its deal to take over the orchestra’s management,
citing a possible pension liability that was disputed by
the musicians.

The city still holds about $350,000 that would be available
to the orchestra for concerts this winter and spring. But
the city “will want to see a plan from the symphony before
they release the funds,” Petkovich said. “I’m confident
we’ll develop something, and we’ll have an orchestra on
the stage,” he added.

Wolff told the audience that local leaders and symphony
supporters will begin this summer, if not earlier, to “sit
down and start planning a viable way to operate the
symphony. We have a great orchestra. We want to
keep that orchestra,” Wolff said, before the musicians
took the stage to perform a program focused on the
music from and about Spain in recognition of the city’s
early history.

While a complete list of what concerts will be performed
hasn’t been released, the Jan. 12, 13 and 14 classical
series concerts featuring a program led by Ludwig van
Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, “Eroica,” will be performed
at the Tobin Center, according to Friday’s announcements
from symphony Music Director Sebastian Lang-Lessing.

Contributions are coming in steadily to help keep the
orchestra together and performing, Vale said.

“It’s exploding. We’re receiving contributions in spades.
We have enquiries about where to contribute. Contributions
can be made to the Symphony Society of San Antonio,”
Vale said.

“This is a critical moment in the destiny of the symphony.
It’s our treasure. We appreciate the outpouring of support.
We need financial support and everyone’s attendance at
concerts. This organization belongs to the city of San
Antonio and the area. It will take the whole city and the
area to support the symphony,” Vale said.

Holders of presold season and ticket holders can seek
refunds if some concerts aren’t included in the modified
season to be announced soon, said Vale and violinist
Craig Sorgi, negotiating chairman of the Musicians of
the San Antonio Symphony.

“Our message to ticketholders is do not go and refund
tickets,” Sorgi said. “You’ll need them. If there is a concert
or two that is not performed, refunds can be made, but I
believe it would be better to hang on to them. I believe
you’re going to use them.”

“Ticketholders can seek refunds or they may donate
unused tickets (by not seeking refunds), which would
be gratefully received,” Vale said.

[email protected]

=====================================

III. China Is the New Hollywood, Director Says

12/28/2017 10:49AM

Big-budget director Renny Harlin, known
for films such as “Die Hard 2” and “Cliffhanger,”
has left Hollywood behind to work in China,
the world’s fastest-growing movie market.

In this video, he talks to the WSJ’s Daniel Epstein
about his experience.
https://tinyurl.com/y94t6jjh

====================================

IV. COMMENTS

interesting story & comments at
https://www.facebook.com/scoringsessions/
about Local 47 falsely accusing a company
of doing a non-union session. Thoughts?

====================================

V. EVENTS
DEAN AND RICHARD
are now at Culver City Elks the first 
Friday of 
every month.
7:30pm-10:30pm,
11160 Washington Pl.
Culver City, 90232
310-839-8891

——————————————-

1/19/18

LOS ANGELES FLUTE ORCHESTRA

The 9 piece flute orchestra that I perform with will be
having a concert at the Miles Playhouse on Jan. 19th.

I hope you can make it. In addition to the large ensemble
I will be playing in a quartet!

Tickets are limited, so I suggest that if you are interested
you purchase them through the eventbrite website.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/los-angeles-flute-orchestra-fireside-at-the-miles-tickets-41146543419
Here’s to a fabulous 2018!

Ellen Burr

————————————————–

1/19/18

Tuesday, January 19th, 2018 / 8:00 pm
Pete Christlieb & Linda Small
with the Ray Ohls Trio
Ray Ohls on piano Derick Polke on bass Tim Malland on drums
Brother Don’s
4200 Kitsap Way
Bremerton, WA 98312
Reservations: (360) 377.8442
Directions.

——————————————-

1/20/18

The Kim Richmond/Kimberly Ford Band, featuring Will Brahm,
A Tribute to the Music of Herbie Hancock and Joni Mitchell
WHEN: Saturday, January 20, 8 PM, 2 sets
WHERE: Bar Fedora, 710 W. 1st Street, downtown Los Angeles
WHO: Kimberly Ford, vocals
Kim Richmond, saxophones/flute
Will Brahm, guitar
Daniel Szabo, piano
Jordan Richards, bass
James Yoshizawa, percussion
FOOD: Excellent cuisine

Hope you can make it.

——————————————-

1/21/18

MUSICIANS of the METROPOLITAN OPERA ORCHESTRA
at
M  A  H  M  A
Sunday, January 21, 2018 at 7:30 pm
Wine and Cheese Gathering at 7:00 pm

L A U R A   H A M I L T O N, C O N C E R T M A S T E R
M E T R O P O L I T A N O P E R A  O R C H E S T R A

L A N N Y   P A Y K I N  – C E L L I S T

E L L E N   S O M M E R  – P I A N I S T

F E A T U R I N G   R E S I D E N T   A R T I S T S
M A R I A   N E W M A N,  v i o l i n i s t  &  c o m p o s e r
S C O T T   H O S F E L D,  v i o l i s t

P E R F O R M I N G   M U S I C   O F
A n t o n i n  D v o r a k,  M a u r i c e  R a v e l
and  M a r i a  N e w m a n

J a n u a r y   21,  2018
P  R  O  G  R  A  M

Piano Quintet No. 2 in A Major, Op. 81
…Antonin Dvorak (1841- 1904)
For Piano, Two Violins, Viola, and Violoncello

String Quartet No. 2 (“Lauds”)
…Maria Newman  (comp. 1999)
Commissioned by Pacific Serenades (Los Angeles)
And the Icicle Creek Music Center (Washington)

Sonata for Violin and Violoncello  (1920/21)
…Maurice Ravel  (1875 – 1937)

Selected performances featuring
MAHMA artists below:

—————————————–

1/23/18

CHAMBER MUSIC PALISAIDES
21st Annual Season

Featuring

Jon Lee Keenan, Tenor
Susan Greenberg, Flute
Kenton Youngstrom, Guitar
Delores Stevens, Piano

with commentary by Alan Chapman

Music by
Piazolla, Tarrega, Gershwin, Bellini, Copland,
Ahlert/Young and Mike Mower

Tuesday Jan. 23. 8 pm.

St Mathews Parish
1031 Bienveneda Ave.
Pacific Palisades

Ticket Price – $30

—————————————–

1/24/18

Pete Christlieb and Linda Small
The Tall and Small 11 Piece Band NW
Wednesday, January 24, 8:00 pm
featuring: Pete Christlieb saxophones and Linda Small trombone
saxophones: Tracy Knoop, Travis Ranney, Jeff Kashiwa, Bill Ramsay
trumpets: Morris Northcutt, Jared Hall
piano: Bill Anschell, bass: Nate Omdal drums: Tim Malland
Cover: at door: $12  Online: $10
TICKETS
Directions

——————————————

2/1/18

DeLuna, Marder & Kronstadt
Upstairs at Vitello’s
Thursday, February 1 at 8 PM – 11 PM
4349 Tujunga Ave, Studio City, California 91604

Three Singers, Songwriters, and Arrangers perform
their Original Music. Jazz/Brazilian/Groove/Pop…
backed by an All-Star Band.

Featuring

Rich Ruttenberg on piano,
Edwin Livingston on bass,
Joel Taylor on drums,
Brian Swartz on trumpet,
Bob Sheppard on sax,
Peter Kent and Rocio Marron on violin,
Rodney Wirtz on viola,
and Peggy Baldwin on cello.

Tickets: $20 for General Admission// $40 for VIP Seating

A minimum of two items ($20.00) is required per person
while occupying a table. If the minimum is not met the
difference will be charged. – Free dessert with your
purchase of a VIP ticket. $10

TICKET PRICE INCREASE DAY OF SHOW.
GET YOUR TICKETS NOW!

——————————————-

2/7/18

Brendan White- Piano & Jacqueline Suzuki- Violin at Music@Mimoda
· Hosted by Maksim Velichkin and Jacqueline Suzuki

Wednesday, February 7 at 8 PM – 9:30 PM

MiMoDa Studio
5774 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, California 90019

——————————————-

2/10-11/18

RIVERSIDE PHILHARMONIC

“Animatus Eventus”
Saturday, February 10, 2018 @ 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, February 11, 2018 @ 2:00 p.m.
Music to entertain the young and the young
at heart, with a unique concert celebrating the
music of cartoons including “Alice’s Wonderland,”
“Felix goes to Hollywood,” and others, composed
by some of Hollywood’s top cartoon composers,
like Mark Watters and Charles Fernandez.

Plus: Animatus Eventus (Cartoon Suite), a three
movement symphonic work by Charles Fernandez
based on original material with nods to cartoons
from the last 80 years, including classic cartoon
footage shown on a large screen.
Email – [email protected]
Phone – 951-787-0251
——————————————-

2/11/18
LOS ANGELES SYMPHONIC WINDS
Steve Piazza, Director
Subscription Concert 4 – Valentine Concert
Sunday February 11, 2018 at 2:30 pm
Calabasas High School Performing Arts Education Center
22855 Mulholland Hwy, Calabasas, CA 91302

Valentines Concert featuring music of some of
history’s greatest pairs of lovers including
Romeo and Juliet and Tristan and Isolde.

——————————————-

The Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program at the Seattle Film Institute

is now accepting applications for the one-year

Master of Music in Film Composition

One of the Top 4 Film Music Programs in the World!

Recently rated as the #4 school in the world for film scoring education by Music School Central.

“in just one year, the school places students into a pressure cooker of intense learning resulting in a professional demo reel that can be used to obtain future paid commercial opportunities.”

Learn from Industry Professionals

All PNWFS faculty are active professional film and game composers, orchestrators, copyists, and engineers, including the program’s creator and lead instructor Dr. Hummie Mann.  Hummie is the two-time Emmy Award winning film composer of “Robin Hood: Men in Tights” and featured in Variety Magazine’s article “Leaders in Learning”.

Our Program Features:
• 9 live recording sessions with professional musicians at Studio X, Seattle’s premiere, world-class studio.
• Opportunities to work with student directors to score actual films from film programs all over the world.
• 
Training in all major software programs used in the industry.
• 
A state-of-the-art workstation assigned to each student fully installed with the latest versions of all software, sample libraries and plug-ins needed to complete the program.

Accelerated and Affordable

We are a one-year Master of Music in Film Composition program which not only gives our graduates the opportunity to enter the industry and start their careers a year sooner than other programs but saves them an entire year of living expenses. In addition to our accelerated format we also offer the most affordable tuition out of competing programs. Our students have access to FAFSA financial assistance, loans, and scholarships as well.

History of Success

We are very proud to have a high success rate for our graduates who have gone on to work on television shows such as Castle, Empire, and Once Upon a Time; video games such as World of Warcraft, Spate, and Destiny; and films such as The Revenant, Trolls, The Dark Tower, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Apply now and you could be joining their ranks!

Applications are being accepted for the Fall 2018 school year.
We offer rolling admissions – no deadline to apply.

(800) 882-4734 | www.pnwfilmmusic.com
——————————————–

UNTIL NEXT TIME,

THE COMMITTEE FOR A MORE RESPONSIBLE LOCAL 47

1/6/18

I. NEW COURT FILING
II. HELP THE MPS (Musicians for Pension Security)
III. EVENTS

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THE COMMITTEE!!

…Absolutely guaranteed anonymity – Former Musician’s Union officer

…The one voice of reason in a sea of insanity – Nashville ‘first call’
scoring musician
…Allows us to speak our minds without fear of reprisal – L.A. Symphonic musician

…Reporting issues the Musicians Union doesn’t dare to mention – National touring musician

 

================================

 

I. New Court Filing Offers Play by Play Account of Trustees’ Decision Making
[Colleagues: Get a load of Ray Hair’s and Tino Gagliardi’s role in this.]

 

On December 1, 2017, an amended complaint in
the lawsuit filed by AFM Local 802 members Andy
Snitzer and Paul Livant was filed in Federal District
Court, Southern District of New York. For those
interested in understanding what happened to
our pensions, this court filing provides a play by
play account, from 2009-2016, of the decision
making by our trustees and fund administrator
that led to the current state of our pension fund.
It tells a story of poor investment decision making,
attempts to time the stock market, and payments
to multiple investment managers, in millions of
dollars, for little return.

This account was sourced from internal meeting
minutes and communications within the AFM-EPF
obtained through the court-supervised discovery
process. Much of this is information that plan
participants have until now been denied access to.

The trustees have made it clear that they don’t
agree with MPS’ analysis of the fund, even though
virtually all of our information has come directly
from the AFM-EPF’s own files. This court filing
offers a third view of the AFM-EPF, one that
MPS had no hand in.  It also offers an opportunity
for plan participants to make up their own mind
with important new information. Read and decide
for yourself. Click here for the full document.

No one knows whether the lawsuit will succeed
in court. Whatever happens there, the plaintiffs
have done us all a service by bringing to light
important facts concerning our fund.

One area that this court filing sheds new light
on concerns the AFM-EPF Communications
Committee. In early 2016, the trustees formed
a so-called Communication Committee, which
includes trustees Ray Hair and Tino Gagliardi.
The committee made the decision in March
2017 to post only partial versions of the investment
reports to the AFM-EPF website. They also made
it policy that any document requested by a plan
participant would have to be copied, on paper,
at significant expense, rather than sent
electronically to the requester.

According to the court filing, while communicating
about plan participant’s access to information to
which they are legally entitled, Maureen Kilkelly
told Communication Committee members Ray
Hair and Tino Gagliardi that “I would love to
think of a way to curtail it” even though she
recognized “it is efficient and time-saving
to send items electronically as opposed to
copying, addressing and mailing a hard
copy.”  This quote is taken from page 47
end of paragraph 102 of the complaint.

Read it here.

As recently as December 9, 2017, plan
participants received an email blast from
our trustees stating that they “are committed
to ensuring that all participants have access
to timely and accurate information about the
fund and its financial status.” Clearly, the
policies set internally by the Communications
Committee are in stark contrast to what the
trustees have been publicly communicating
to plan participants.

Below we set forth two other important
examples where the trustee’s statement
that they are “committed to ensuring that
all participants have access to timely and
accurate information” is easily proven to
be false.

First, the most recent Form 5500 that is
available to plan participants covers the
plan year ended March 31, 2016 – information
that is now 21 months old. Form 5500 is
the legally mandated disclosure document
concerning the assets, liabilities, income,
and expenses of our plan. The Form 5500
for the plan’s fiscal year ended March 31,
2017, was due on October 31, 2017, but it
has not been filed. The AFM- EPF does this
by filing for an extension with the IRS. The
extension allows them to file their form 5500
as late as January 15 of the following year.

In other words, the trustees take the longest
allowable time in which to file this important
disclosure form. This is not the behavior of
an organization seeking to be transparent.
With their extensive staff, outside accounting,
actuarial and legal resources, there is no
reason why our trustees could not have
filed the Form 5500 months ago.

And second, because the trustees’ Roadshow
Presentation in February 2017 included
some questionable facts, MPS sought
relevant information from the trustees
concerning investment fees, expenses
and the finances of our plan. All these
requests were denied. The only documents
the trustees would disclose are those required
under the law and many are heavily redacted.
(See our prior article here.)

To sum it up: The trustees are not giving us
timely communications and what they provide
is difficult to get, expensive and incomplete.
And just when the trustees let us know we
could be facing cuts to existing benefits,
those same trustees decided to curtail
participants’ access to information, making
it harder for plan participants to figure out
what happened.

Read the court case and share your
thoughts on our Facebook page here
or email us at [email protected]

[Colleagues: At every point where they could have chosen
either transparency or obfuscation, they
chose the latter. We deserve infinitely better]

=====================================

II. WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP THE MUSICIANS
FOR PENSION SECURITY (MPS)

MPS Community,

Since we started our work on the behalf of AFM
members around the country we have received
many emails asking, “How can we help?” Today,
we’d like to ask all AFM members for assistance
in the coming year. Most of what we need won’t
take much of your time at all:

VOLUNTEER AN HOUR

MPS has grown into a national volunteer organization.
As we continue to grow, the day to day administrative
duties grow as well. There are simple tasks like data
entry and communications that could be covered by
anyone willing to give up an hour or two per week.
This is a simple job but enormously helpful. Those
with special skills like copywriting, online marketing,
public relations or anything else that you think might
be valuable to MPS in the fight to protect our pension
fund, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Email us here: [email protected]
Important: Put MPS VOLUNTEER in the subject line
and let us know how you would like to help.

MPS MEETING COMMITTEE

MPS will soon be announcing a date for another
open meeting to discuss the state of the AFM-EPF
for all plan participants. That meeting will be held in
New York City and will most likely take place
sometime in the next few months. Our inaugural
meeting last spring drew hundreds of people.
Now that we are a nationwide organization we
expect the attendance to be even larger. For
that reason, we are forming the MPS Meeting
Committee and need volunteers to help with the
logistics! The tasks that are involved with this
meeting can be as simple as showing up early
on the day of the meeting to help set up chairs
or greeting people at the door with handouts. For
anyone willing to give a little more time, we will
need help with communications and the audio/
visual equipment setup for our presentation.

To volunteer for MPS Meeting Committee
email us at:
[email protected]
Important: Put MPS Meeting Committee in the
subject line and let us know how you would like to help.

DONATE

If you can’t donate your time, please consider
making a donation to MPS. We are an all-volunteer
organization made up of fellow musicians across
the country that donate their time to help in the
fight to protect our pension fund. Many of us
continue to cover some expenses out of pocket,
but as the organization grows, this will not be
feasible in the long term. Fortunately, now
that we have a large following across the country,
small donations from our many members
can have a huge impact. Please consider
making a donation here.

 

SUPPORT THE BUTCH LEWIS ACT

The Teamsters are frankly carrying a lot of our
water on this. We can do more by way of
pressuring our representatives In Washington
DC. Call them this week! You can find links to
your rep’s contact info and suggested script
here. (Read about the Butch Lewis Act here.)

CONTINUE TO SHOW UP IN 2018!

All our important accomplishments in the last
year happened when AFM members came
together and took action. Whether it was coming
to a meeting to learn more about the problems
at the AFM-EPF or the thousands of calls and
emails to AFM President Ray Hair, those actions
made a huge difference in the fight to protect our
pensions in 2017. In 2018 we must continue to
organize and speak with one collective voice.
We cannot be just an online community. We
must continue to turn out and show up for
important meetings and presentations when
they occur. Your presence alone shows support.
Let us continue to bring our community together
and work towards protecting our pension fund in 2018.

Happy New Year from MPS!

 

====================================

 

III. EVENTS
DEAN AND RICHARD
are now at Culver City Elks the first 
Friday of 
every month.
7:30pm-10:30pm,
11160 Washington Pl.
Culver City, 90232
310-839-8891

——————————————-

1/10/17

Multiplying Cellos – Villa-Lobos Festival at Music@Mimoda
Hosted by Maksim Velichkin and Lars Hoefs

Wednesday, January 10 at 8 PM – 9:30 PM

MiMoDa Studio
5774 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, California 90019

 

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1/19/18

LOS ANGELES FLUTE ORCHESTRA

The 9 piece flute orchestra that I perform with will be
having a concert at the Miles Playhouse on Jan. 19th.

I hope you can make it. In addition to the large ensemble
I will be playing in a quartet!

Tickets are limited, so I suggest that if you are interested
you purchase them through the eventbrite website.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/los-angeles-flute-orchestra-fireside-at-the-miles-tickets-41146543419
Here’s to a fabulous 2018!

Ellen Burr

 

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1/19/18

Tuesday, January 19th, 2018 / 8:00 pm
Pete Christlieb & Linda Small
with the Ray Ohls Trio
Ray Ohls on piano Derick Polke on bass Tim Malland on drums
Brother Don’s
4200 Kitsap Way
Bremerton, WA 98312
Reservations: (360) 377.8442
Directions.

 

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2/1/18

DeLuna, Marder & Kronstadt
Upstairs at Vitello’s
Thursday, February 1 at 8 PM – 11 PM
4349 Tujunga Ave, Studio City, California 91604

Three Singers, Songwriters, and Arrangers perform
their Original Music. Jazz/Brazilian/Groove/Pop…
backed by an All-Star Band.

Featuring

Rich Ruttenberg on piano,
Edwin Livingston on bass,
Joel Taylor on drums,
Brian Swartz on trumpet,
Bob Sheppard on sax,
Peter Kent and Rocio Marron on violin,
Rodney Wirtz on viola,
and Peggy Baldwin on cello.

Tickets: $20 for General Admission// $40 for VIP Seating

A minimum of two items ($20.00) is required per person
while occupying a table. If the minimum is not met the
difference will be charged. – Free dessert with your
purchase of a VIP ticket. $10

TICKET PRICE INCREASE DAY OF SHOW.
GET YOUR TICKETS NOW!

 

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2/7/18

Brendan White- Piano & Jacqueline Suzuki- Violin at Music@Mimoda
· Hosted by Maksim Velichkin and Jacqueline Suzuki

 

Wednesday, February 7 at 8 PM – 9:30 PM

MiMoDa Studio
5774 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, California 90019

 

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2/10-11/18

RIVERSIDE PHILHARMONIC

“Animatus Eventus”
Saturday, February 10, 2018 @ 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, February 11, 2018 @ 2:00 p.m.
Music to entertain the young and the young
at heart, with a unique concert celebrating the
music of cartoons including “Alice’s Wonderland,”
“Felix goes to Hollywood,” and others, composed
by some of Hollywood’s top cartoon composers,
like Mark Watters and Charles Fernandez.

Plus: Animatus Eventus (Cartoon Suite), a three
movement symphonic work by Charles Fernandez
based on original material with nods to cartoons
from the last 80 years, including classic cartoon
footage shown on a large screen.
Email – [email protected]
Phone – 951-787-0251
——————————————-

2/11/18
LOS ANGELES SYMPHONIC WINDS
Steve Piazza, Director
Subscription Concert 4 – Valentine Concert
Sunday February 11, 2018 at 2:30 pm
Calabasas High School Performing Arts Education Center
22855 Mulholland Hwy, Calabasas, CA 91302

Valentines Concert featuring music of some of
history’s greatest pairs of lovers including
Romeo and Juliet and Tristan and Isolde.

 

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The Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program at the Seattle Film Institute

is now accepting applications for the one-year

Master of Music in Film Composition

One of the Top 4 Film Music Programs in the World!

Recently rated as the #4 school in the world for film scoring education by Music School Central.

“in just one year, the school places students into a pressure cooker of intense learning resulting in a professional demo reel that can be used to obtain future paid commercial opportunities.”

 

Learn from Industry Professionals

All PNWFS faculty are active professional film and game composers, orchestrators, copyists, and engineers, including the program’s creator and lead instructor Dr. Hummie Mann.  Hummie is the two-time Emmy Award winning film composer of “Robin Hood: Men in Tights” and featured in Variety Magazine’s article “Leaders in Learning”.

Our Program Features:
• 9 live recording sessions with professional musicians at Studio X, Seattle’s premiere, world-class studio.
• Opportunities to work with student directors to score actual films from film programs all over the world.
• 
Training in all major software programs used in the industry.
• 
A state-of-the-art workstation assigned to each student fully installed with the latest versions of all software, sample libraries and plug-ins needed to complete the program.

 

Accelerated and Affordable

We are a one-year Master of Music in Film Composition program which not only gives our graduates the opportunity to enter the industry and start their careers a year sooner than other programs but saves them an entire year of living expenses. In addition to our accelerated format we also offer the most affordable tuition out of competing programs. Our students have access to FAFSA financial assistance, loans, and scholarships as well.

 

History of Success

We are very proud to have a high success rate for our graduates who have gone on to work on television shows such as Castle, Empire, and Once Upon a Time; video games such as World of Warcraft, Spate, and Destiny; and films such as The Revenant, Trolls, The Dark Tower, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Apply now and you could be joining their ranks!

Applications are being accepted for the Fall 2018 school year.
We offer rolling admissions – no deadline to apply.

 

 

(800) 882-4734 | www.pnwfilmmusic.com
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UNTIL NEXT TIME,

THE COMMITTEE FOR A MORE RESPONSIBLE LOCAL 47