SCL Backs Composers Union Effort

It took them a year, but the Society of Composers and Lyricists have come out in support of the proposed Composers Union, spearheaded by the Association of Music Composers and Lyricists (AMCL) and the Teamsters Union Local 399. Read more…

Composers Unionization: New Goals, New Focus

Tuesday night, April 19, 2010, the Association of Media Composers and Lyricists’ (AMCL) presented their second public meeting concerning the effort to unionize composers and lyricists under the umbrella of the Teamsters Local 399.

Composer Unionization: AMCL Announces Organizing Meeting in Los Angeles

The Association of Media Composers and Lyricists (AMCL) has announced its next organizing meeting on April 19, 2010, to update composers and lyricists on its progress in regards to unionizing the group under the Teamsters 399 banner. The message, sent via email to its mailing list members, also reflects last week’s resignation of the group’s founder, Alan Elliott (his name is now absent from the list of participating committee members), and indicates that three new members have joined the committee—composers Richard Marvin, Sean Callery, and Snuffy Walden. The announcement reads as follows: You are invited to attend an important event: an organizing meeting of the Association of Media Composers and Lyricists, hosted by Teamsters Local 399 on…

Alan Elliott Resigns from AMCL Union Organizing Committee

This morning, a mass email went out to the mailing list of the Association of Composers and Lyricists announcing that the group’s founder, Alan Elliott, would be resigning from their organizing committee effective April 1. The email also denotes that a few more participants have joined the Organizing Committee, namely composers Ray Colcord (a past president of the SCL), Richard Gibbs, Mike Post, Vivek Maddala, and orchestrator Christopher Klatman. The following is the exact text of the memo: On April 1, Alan Elliott is resigning from the Organizing Committee of the Association of Media Composers and Lyricists after four years of dedicated service in advancing our unionization efforts with Teamsters Local 399. The Organizing Committee,…

Composers to Unionize?

Hello SCOREcasters! I want to engage you in a conversation about an issue that is percolating around our film music community today, and frankly, one that is vital to the future of our profession as composers. If you are one that has been waiting for the right time to join your fellow SCOREcasters in the ongoing conversations happening in the COMMENTS below, there has never been a better time than now. If you followed today’s news, you are probably already aware of last night’s announcement at the Society of Composers and Lyricists annual membership meeting (of which I was in attendance) that for the last three years, a small ad hoc group of composers has…

Deane Ogden: John Hughes (1950-2009)

John Hughes, probably one of the most recognized and regarded filmmakers to represent my generation, died of a heart attack at age 59 in New York this morning. In case you aren’t familiar with his work, Hughes was responsible for writing and directing some of the greatest staple teen dramedy films of the 1980′s including “Sixteen Candles“, “The Breakfast Club“, and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off“. He also wrote and directed several cinematic classics like “Trains, Planes, and Automobiles”, “Uncle Buck“, and “Weird Science“. Hughes’ films often contained eclectic scores by Ira Newborn mixed with excellent while obscure source material, the most memorable probably being the synth-poppy “Bueller”, which combined Newborn’s synth prowess with the then…

Deane Ogden: Michael Jackson, R.I.P.

As I’m sure you’ve heard, Michael Jackson died today in Los Angeles. If film composers are musicians that put music to film, then Michael Jackson was a musician who put film to music. In addition to his obvious contributions to the world of pop music, Michael Jackson produced some of the most innovative pieces of visual imagery in the form of the world’s first long-play music videos. As a child of the 80′s, I was fascinated to see what Michael Jackson would do next. I would just as eagerly anticipate the MTV countdown of a Michael Jackson World Premiere video as I would the next installment of the Indiana Jones series or the next Jim…