Film and TV composers and lyricists seeking to unionize have gotten the backing of the Writers Guild of America, as well as a handful of Hollywood heavyweights.
The Assn. of Media Composers and Lyricists, as the group is now calling itself - and which hopes to become part of Teamsters Local 399 - will hold its next organizing meeting at 7:30 on April 19 at the Writers Guild Theater.
WGA West president John Wells confirmed that the guild will support the unionization effort. “We think it's a worthy cause," he told Daily Variety. “These people are our peers and collaborators, and they certainly deserve to have fair representation, pension and health benefits, as well as standardized working conditions. We will be supportive in any way that we can."
Organizing committee chairman Bruce Broughton called the WGA endorsement “extremely important" and said the AMCL is seeking support from other guilds in its effort.
Approximately 300 composers and songwriters attended the initial “informational" meeting Nov. 16, with an estimated 200 signing union cards at its conclusion. Since then, several Emmy-winning composers have joined the effort, including Mike Post ("Law & Order"), Sean Callery ("24"), Alf Clausen ("The Simpsons"), James DiPasquale ("The Shell Seekers") and W.G. Snuffy Walden ("The West Wing").
“We're the only people on the set, including the caterers and the secretaries, who don't have health and welfare," said Walden. “There are guys coming up, in their 20s and 30s, who are going to be forced out if they can't even take care of their families."
Oscar winners Randy Newman and Marilyn and Alan Bergman, and producer- composer Quincy Jones, have also attached their names to the cause.
“I'm for it," Newman said. “The TV guys are making what they made in the 1960s. They do these all-in deals," he said, referring to “package" contracts where the composer absorbs all music-related costs and is often left with little compensation for themselves. “That is not right, and it's gone on," he said.
The Assn. of Media Composers and Lyricists, as the group is now calling itself - and which hopes to become part of Teamsters Local 399 - will hold its next organizing meeting at 7:30 on April 19 at the Writers Guild Theater.
WGA West president John Wells confirmed that the guild will support the unionization effort. “We think it's a worthy cause," he told Daily Variety. “These people are our peers and collaborators, and they certainly deserve to have fair representation, pension and health benefits, as well as standardized working conditions. We will be supportive in any way that we can."
Organizing committee chairman Bruce Broughton called the WGA endorsement “extremely important" and said the AMCL is seeking support from other guilds in its effort.
Approximately 300 composers and songwriters attended the initial “informational" meeting Nov. 16, with an estimated 200 signing union cards at its conclusion. Since then, several Emmy-winning composers have joined the effort, including Mike Post ("Law & Order"), Sean Callery ("24"), Alf Clausen ("The Simpsons"), James DiPasquale ("The Shell Seekers") and W.G. Snuffy Walden ("The West Wing").
“We're the only people on the set, including the caterers and the secretaries, who don't have health and welfare," said Walden. “There are guys coming up, in their 20s and 30s, who are going to be forced out if they can't even take care of their families."
Oscar winners Randy Newman and Marilyn and Alan Bergman, and producer- composer Quincy Jones, have also attached their names to the cause.
“I'm for it," Newman said. “The TV guys are making what they made in the 1960s. They do these all-in deals," he said, referring to “package" contracts where the composer absorbs all music-related costs and is often left with little compensation for themselves. “That is not right, and it's gone on," he said.
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