Marc Sazer for President

Marc Sazer

President

I am deeply committed to the future of our union of musicians, and I’m ready for the job. Throughout my career as a violinist, I have spent my time and energy volunteering on all our behalf. I’ve been there, supporting musician initiatives in City Hall, Sacramento and Washington D.C. I’ve sat with AFM and 47 leadership at the front of negotiating tables with the film and TV industry, the record labels, the TV networks, advertising agencies and others. I’ve helped campaign for improved contracts and wider coverage, learning and evolving over years of experience. I’ve attended workshops and reports at innumerable ROPA, ICSOM and TMA Conferences,, enriching my understanding as a tenured member of the Pasadena Symphony, and my playing experience in theater, ballet and area orchestras. I feel uniquely qualified to help our leadership team navigate these complicated challenges. And I know that we need our union, and our union needs us, now more than ever.

Making a living as a musician is hard in normal times, but now all of our lives have now been turned upside down. The coronavirus pandemic has led to massive unemployment, which has  dramatically impacted our financial health as musicians, but also imperiled our Local 47. At the same time, streaming has become the primary, and in many cases only way for our music to be heard. For  the LAPhil and our rich constellation of per-service orchestras, for the Pantages, the Ahmanson, the Hollywood Bowl, for Coachella and other festival venues, we’re either completely out of work or playing for streaming distribution, not for live audiences. Our recording studios are beginning to revive, but the new normal looks and feels different. 

We have so many major issues right in front of us.

  • The coming year will see us negotiating contracts with the film and TV industry for the contracts that cover what streams on Disney+, Netflix, Amazon, CBS All Access, and the other streaming services. We will face contract negotiations for the LA Opera and other major Local 47 collective bargaining agreements, even as the pandemic makes live performance unlikely.
  • We are living through an historic obligation – and opportunity – to communicate with each other and come together on critical issues of inclusion and diversity.
  • A generation of young musicians is increasingly disconnected from and left out of union coverage.

We have assembled a stellar leadership team that combines the best of experience with the excitement of new voices. We are committed as a team to values of unity and outreach, building a future-facing Local, valuing and implementing inclusion and diversity, and leading with knowledge, experience and expertise.We have to survive, but we can do better!

My background and qualifications

  • Performer
    • Was a scholarship student at Stanford University, studying with David Abel. Studied violin with Charles Libove, and chamber music with Raphael Druian, Oscar Shumsky, and others at Suny Purchase, and is a graduate of the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, having studied violin with Charles Libove, as well as chamber music with Berl Senofsky and Karen Tuttle.
    • Pasadena Symphony tenured member of the first violin section.
    • Performed with the Glendale Symphony, the LA Master Chorale, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Pacific Symphony, Long Beach Symphony, Glendale Chamber Orchestra, and many others.
    • Performed at the Ahmanson Theater, and other theater venues
    • Performed for innumerable film, television, recording and other media projects, from TV shows like Animaniacs and Pinky & the Brain to the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Empire, films from My Big Fat Greek Wedding to the Star Wars Episode IX, the Academy Awards, the Grammys, the American Music Awards and other awards shows, records for Shirley Horn, Frank Sinatra, Randy Newman and more. 
    • Teaching, Volunteer teacher with Sweet Strings/Harmony Project, private teaching.
  • Local 47/AFM service
    • Officer of the Hearing Board since 2002
    • Local 47 Rank and File representative to Sound Recording Labor Agreement, Commercials and other national contracts negotiations.
    • Assisted both AFM and Local 47 with critical data research, including corporate campaign research, wage analysis, and bargaining unit analysis.
    • Key participant in the Local 47 working groups on COVID Health and Safety for both Live Performance and Recording.
    • Key  organizer for the COVID Employment Health and Safety Town Hall
    • Key participant in years-long campaign for California FIlm & TV tax credits for music scoring, including multiple visits to Sacramento, LA County Board of Supervisors and Los Angeles City Hall.
    • Helped organize the LA City Hall rally for tax credits for musicians in August 2017.
    • Represented Local 47 musicians at key labor events including with the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, the Jewish Labor Brunch, as well as fundraisers for California and Los Angeles legislators.
    • Key participant in campaigns for streaming residuals and new union signatories.
    • Key participant in successful campaign to bring “Mad Men” onto AFM contract.
    • Represented the AFM at the annual “Beyond the Red Carpet” event for the Creative Rights Caucus (Rep. Judy Chu, co-chair) of the House of Representatives in Washington D.C.
    • Created and edited many flyers, brochures and other educational materials for musicians, employers and other AFM Officers.
    • Designer of the first Local 47 website,and served on the Local 47 website committee.
    • Created the first mobile-ready online resource for AFM media contracts, afmrecording.org on behalf of the AFM
    • Successful, mature relationships with AFM Officers and staff, Officers and staff from other AFM Locals around North America, legislators at the Federal, State, County and City level, labor leaders throughout Southern California, representatives and labor relations attorneys from a wide variety of employers.
  • Player Conference service 
    • Member of the core bargaining team for multiple AFM media negotiations, including film/TV/streaming, Sound Recordings, Commercials and Live TV.
    • Played a key role in helping support our AFM Pension Fund for all participants across the union with residuals from film and TV, and record label streaming revenue.
    • Spearheaded the founding of a new RMALA Diversity Caucus to help guide us through necessary change.
    • Attended and was a featured speaker at multiple AFM Conventions, Western Conferences, ICSOM, ROPA, OCSM and TMA Conferences, the annual LCC-PCC, and more
    • Participated in AFM organizer training, AFL-CIO training.
    • Key organizer of Player Conference meetings  in Nashville, New York and Los Angeles.
    • Organized a 3 day summit on AFM Uses of Music, bringing AFM Officers, staff and musicians from New York, Nashville and Los Angeles together at the Film Musicians Secondary Markets Fund in 2011.
    • Organized a panel open to all Local 47 members on “Organizing in the Entertainment Industry” with top-level participants from the AFM, SAG-AFTRA, the Writers Guild and the Teamsters in Hollywood.
    • Ongoing work with the administrators of the Film Musicians Secondary Markets Fund, the Sound Recording Special Payments Fund and the AFM & SAG-AFTRA Intellectual Property Rights Distribution Fund on behalf of participants.