ok, awkward try at the "i am spartacus" reference... but here's the reference point...
for four years and five mos., i have been putting together a union with the composers/lyricists... and teamsters local 399.
say it with me:
"composers... lyricists... teamsters."
"Composers are the only creative group in the radio, television, motion picture, recording and other entertainment fields without the protection and guidance of a guild. All other creative groups in these fields, without exception, enjoy the right of collective bargaining in their relations with employers. This standing separately, rather than together as a guild, is one of the primary reasons why fees for composition (as separate from orchestration or arranging) have practically disappeared in radio. Further, the practice of no fee for composition is being carried into television in a frightening percentage of cases. This is only one of many abuses common in these fields, and the composer without an organization to back him up can only accept the situation."
this was the opening paragraph of a five-page paper declaring the need for a composers' guild—drafted in November 1953 and read at the meeting—could just as easily have been written today... and now...
now... we are getting close.
my friends steve dayan, alf clausen, bruce broughton and jim dipasquale and i negotiated a potentially game changing agreement with the wga... ratified march 2, 2010- UNANIMOUSLY- by the wga exec. board... and which you can read about here or here.
it is, in some pre-hindsight... awesome.
with continued diligence, we will have started the first new creative union in hollywood in more than 50 years (click here for some history). for more on the union, go here.
