We just concluded very successful and productive 2025 LCC-PCC meetings in Minneapolis. What, you might ask, is the LCC-PCC?
RMA is one of five AFM Player Conferences, and we join ICSOM, ROPA, TMA, and OCSM as the Players Conference Council, or PCC. Each AFM Local is a member of one or more AFM Local Conferences, so, for example, Local 47 is a member of the Western Conference of Locals. The leadership of all the Local Conferences comprise the Local Conferences Council, or LCC. This, the LCC-PCC
On June 7th and 8th we heard updates from President Gagliardi along with key AFM staff and officers. Electronic Media Services Director John Painting gave an informative report, and discussed a number of important improvements to media educational materials some of which are up and running, like the new EMSD Resource Center at afm.org, and some of which are on their way, like a toolkit for musicians about filing sound recording contracts.
We heard reports from Director of Governmental Affairs Ben Kessler, Director of Organizing Gabe Kristal, Director of Symphonic Services and Counsel Rochelle Skolnick and other key staff. One of the highlights was Kessler’s description of a week-long visit that Tino Gagliardi made to Washington D.C. to visit legislators and push our agendas.
Later on Saturday, our PCC met and shared our issues and concerns. I spoke about our tax credit for film/TV issues, and it was clear that all of us share an appreciation for the necessity of political engagements. For example, ICSOM orchestras are generally not deeply impacted by dramatic cuts to the National Endowment for the Arts, while many ROPA orchestras are. We discussed questions to pose the next day. including questions about reaching across the aisle in the current administration. (Spoiler alert, Ben Kessler responded the next day by describing the AFM’s engagements with those Republican electeds who support our issues). One outcome of our conversation was a shared understanding that the film/TV employment that is so important for recording musicians also has a profound effect on the financial health of the AFM as a whole. We are all stakeholders in a thriving and successful AFM no matter where our individual work and workplaces lie.
One of the great benefits of attending the LCC-PCC is the opportunity to talk with people face-to-face. I was able to speak at length with John Painting, Gabe Kristal, Dave Pomeroy, Ken Shirk and other officers and staff. It was a real benefit to spend a couple of hours privately with Tino Gagliardi and Ben Kessler brainstorming and sharing thoughts. Among other issues, we explored the beginning of a plan to address the survival of the LA scoring stages. It is amazing how much richer communication is in-person, rather than screen-to-screen!
On Sunday the Locals Council reported on their thoughts and concerns, and this was followed by separate reports from each player conference.
My report on behalf of RMA touched on the dramatic step forward that the AFM has taken by investing in full time research capacity, and RMA’s participation with key research on Netflix, other new signatories, and organizing opportunities. Good research is key to good planning, which in turn is key to effective organizing. Our RMA research committee is fully engaged, and we have high hopes for the work we are doing.
I discussed the key importance of film/TV tax credits as well as AM/FM radio legislation for recording musicians across the AFM.
It was important to share our sense that we need to find ways to organize in the film/TV space in unprecedented ways, and that RMA is committed to working with the AFM to plan effective approaches to bringing employment into AFM coverage. I pointed out there are 50 film and episodic projects in the 2024-2025 allocation of California tax credits, and we need to find a methodology for capturing much more of that work.
This was followed by a discussion of the need for an effective campaign for the Sound Recording Labor Agreement, which will expire early next year, and RMA will be assisting in trying to bring a modern, forward looking approach to that effort.
As we met in Minneapolis, federalized National Guard troops were rolling out across the streets of my home city of Los Angeles. Tino Gagliardi commented on this, and I addressed this horrific news by sharing my view that the value of the work we are doing to advance the interests of musicians and our union is all the more important in the face of current events, and congratulated every individual there for their participation and contribution.
– Marc Sazer, President Recording Musicians Association