Our Capitol Studios at Risk

This past Tuesday afternoon found me in unfamiliar territory; Los Angeles City Council chambers. My job was to represent Local 47 members in a hearing that could impact our community of musicians deeply – the preservation of Capitol Studios recording facilities.

We have recently learned that our beloved Capitol Studios is at risk of being severely impacted by a developer’s plan for new construction. Apparently, developer David Jordan has plans underway to develop underground parking very close to Capitol’s underground echo chambers, designed by Legendary Guitarist and AFM member Les Paul. The echo chambers would be severely impacted by noise during construction, with increased potential for permanent damage. The risk of allowing this construction to proceed may lead to a SHUT DOWN OF CAPITOL STUDIOS for months, if not years. The closure of Capitol would have a significantly negative impact on hundreds if not thousands of AFM members.

Tuesday I attended the hearing by a subcommittee of the Los Angeles City Council on the permit required for the construction. The subcommittee decided to temporarily table the issue, and reschedule it. This gives us time to give the Council your input.

Your union, with the support of the rank and file members, is trying to stop the multimillion-dollar project from advancing without a plan that incorporates intensive mitigation of the negative impact to Capitol Studios and the famed echo chambers. Capitol Studios is vital to our community and we have a vested interest in keeping Capitol open without interruption. From historic sessions with Frank Sinatra, The Beach Boys, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Bette Midler, and Barbara Streisand (among a few) to present work being done by Prince, John Williams, Michael Buble, The Academy Awards, The Grammy’s, and hundreds of others, world-renowned and historic projects have taken place at the hollowed grounds of Capitol. If we lose Capitol, we lose a legacy, unequalled in the history of music.

I urge you all to write your City Council Representatives, demanding that our legacy will not be destroyed. Urge them to SAVE CAPITOL STUDIOS. City Council member addresses and e-mails can be found at: http://www.lacity.org/council.htm

Capitol Studios is located in Eric Garcetti’s District. He is also President of the LA City Council. He can be reached here:
City Hall Office (213)-473-7013
200 N. Spring Street, Rm 470
Los Angeles, CA 90012
councilmember.garcetti@lacity.org

April Report

Last month I had the opportunity to attend the Western Conference, which was hosted by Local 677 of Honolulu, Hawaii. Kudos to Local 677 for putting on a first class event! My only regret is not having any poi, a traditional Hawaiian side dish! Over 30 Locals had representatives in attendance, and in addition AFM staff and officers made presentations and reports to the delegates. President Lee and Secretary/Treasurer Folio reported on the financial condition of the AFM and their well-found belief that the AFM was gaining ground in the area of video games. There certainly is no question, we are gaining ground; however, there are significant improvements that need to be made to the AFM's Combined Use Agreement and the overall approach of doing "one-offs." The business of "one-offs" is awkward and cumbersome. Just imagine: an employer comes to the union and asks, "How much do you charge for a video game?" The union replies, "Well, how much are you willing to pay?" and then you go through a sort of "dating game" which hopefully results in a signed agreement. The whole approach to "one-offs" is undermining our collective approach to bargaining. If an employer can't get the deal he wants in one city, he can go to another, basically undermining the union's strength.

The AFM needs to limit its agreements in each industry to one, and set a National Scale for ALL to abide by. One last thing about the Western Conference: I would like to add that I thoroughly enjoyed meeting and talking with representatives from other Locals. It is apparent that the challenges we face in Los Angeles are challenges faced by AFM Locals throughout the U.S. and Canada. During the conference,

I had an opportunity to participate in a Diversity Committee meeting with Michael Smith, President, Local 581; Ron Sexton, Vice President, Local 581; Lovie Smith-Schenk, President, Local 65-699; and Eddy Bayans, President, Local 390. As chair of the AFM National Youth Diversity Subcommittee (YDS), I reported on some of the progress that YDS has made and has yet to make, and participated in the general discussion. The committee emphasized that diversity is not only an issue of race and gender, but an issue of musical styles and age. It was agreed that the AFM needs to continue to organize all facets of music, including musicians whose taste in music may not match our own.

Recently the AFM approved a Trailer Music Library Agreement for use in San Francisco. Apparently, the agreement allows the company to record unlimited amounts of music during the course of a three-hour session. The company may then use this music in any trailer, for an unlimited period of time, without any additional payments. The Basic Theatrical Motion Picture Agreement already allows companies to record library music for trailers. It would seem logical that the AFM would point employers to that agreement, instead of creating a whole new agreement. I am not opposed to increasing union density and expanding our grasp over an industry that currently is non-union, however I feel it is important that we proceed with caution. How can we, as a union, control an approach that allows employers to use and reuse music with no restrictions from eventually effecting our other agreements? As it stands – currently in jingles, for instance – we may see several million dollars in original session wages on a yearly basis; however, the reuse cycles can be four times that amount. If a library approach was applied to jingles the upfront monies would increase, but the loss in reuse payments would be devastating. Similarly, the library approach could result in increased upfront activity in other areas of recording work, but the potential loss in residuals and new uses would be untold.

I strongly urge our AFM leaders to research the impact that a music library agreement would have on jingles, motion picture, TV film, sound recording, videotape, etc., before going down a road of no return. There is no doubt the AFM and its Locals could use additional revenue, but it is of paramount importance that we study an industry before we dive in head first.