Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers
The American Federation of Musicians has reached a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers as of Friday.
The agreement, which concerns basic theatrical motion picture and basic television motion picture contracts, comes with “historic breakthroughs” on streaming residuals and protections against AI, according to AFM. The agreement is unanimously recommended by the bargaining committee.
While AFM leadership said they could not comment on the exact details in the contract, they confirmed that the tentative deal language includes streaming residuals for musicians for the first time.
“This agreement represents a major win for musicians who have long been under-compensated for their work in the digital age,” said AFM International President and Chief Negotiator Tino Gagliardi. “We have secured historic breakthroughs in streaming residuals, established critical guardrails against the misuse of AI, gained meaningful wage increases and other important gains. This agreement represents a watershed moment for the artists who create the soundtracks for countless film and TV productions.”
The tentative agreement must be approved by AFM International Executive Board and then will next be submitted for ratification by roughly 2,000 members working under the contracts.
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The deal came after a first round of negotiations from Jan. 22 through Jan. 31 and then a second round that began Feb. 21 and lasted until the early hours of Feb. 23. The negotiations took place at the Sherman Oaks offices of the AMPTP.
AFM held a rally outside the offices on the first day of negotiations, with members from several other entertainment unions attending to show their support. The tentative agreement comes just ahead of the March 4 start date for negotiations between the AMPTP and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and the Hollywood Teamsters.
“I want to congratulate our AFM Fair Share for Musicians bargaining unit members for their unwavering commitment to fighting for a contract that fairly compensates them for their invaluable contributions to film and TV and protects them in the ever-changing film and television industry,” Gagliardi concluded. “We were not alone in this negotiation, and we were proud to have the full backing of fellow unions: SAG-AFTRA, Writers Guild of America, IATSE, and the Teamsters. It was yet another powerful reminder that when we have solidarity in the labor movement, we can achieve great things. We also would like to thank Carol Lombardini, president of the AMPTP, as well as the AMPTP and its member companies, for helping bring these negotiations to a successful conclusion.”
This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.
After negotiating a new contract with film and TV producers for the last 10 days, the American Federation of Musicians (AFM), the 70,000-member union that represents musicians in orchestras and on-air performances, has “not resolved our core issues” and will continue negotiations later this month, according to a statement put out Monday (Feb. 5) by Tino Gagliardi, the union’s international president and chief negotiator.
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“The time is now,” Gagliardi tells Billboard over Zoom. “The business model has changed, and the way we are compensated needs to reflect that.”
Echoing the Hollywood writers and actors unions, which went on strike for months in 2023 before resolving their contracts with the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers (AMPTP), the AFM identified its top issues as higher compensation, improved streaming residual payments, better healthcare and protections against artificial intelligence (AI). To the latter issue, Gagliardi said in Monday’s statement that AI protections are necessary “so our sound and/or image cannot be captured or used without consent, credit, and compensation.”
Gagliardi adds to Billboard: “I’m going to continue to fight and we’re going to continue our argument for fair treatment for musicians until we actually come to a deal. Am I confident we’re going to get one? I’m never confident. It’s up to them to show me that they’re willing to make a deal.”
AMPTP reps did not respond to requests for comment.
Members of the Writers Guild of America, SAG-AFTRA, IATSE and other Hollywood unions have been supporting the AFM since contract negotiations began with a Jan. 22 rally at the offices of the AMPTP in Sherman Oaks, Calif.
The writers and actors unions’ 2023 agreements with the AMPTP make Gagliardi hopeful for a timely AFM deal. “The solidarity in the entertainment guilds is very solid this time around,” he says, “unlike some of the issues we’ve had in the past.”
At the January rally, Teamsters Local 399 secretary-treasurer Lindsay Dougherty told a crowd of union supporters: “We learned a hard, long lesson last year that we had to be together since day one. That’s going to be the difference going into this fight for the musicians, is that we’re all together in this industry.”
Negotiations will resume Feb. 21 and Feb. 22, according to Gagliardi.
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