The AFM Local 47 Executive Board has extended Emergency Relief for members who have lost revenue due to work stoppages resulting from the coronavirus COVID-19 emergency. Continue reading
The AFM Local 47 Executive Board has extended Emergency Relief for members who have lost revenue due to work stoppages resulting from the coronavirus COVID-19 emergency. Continue reading
by Max Weinstein
To say that stories about serial killers enjoy a permanent residency in popular imagination would be to state the obvious. The challenge, now, isn’t for stories about psychopaths to draw an audience, but to offer a fresh take on a subject done to death.
Composer Nathaniel Blume says that “Prodigal Son” — the Fox crime drama he recently scored—meets that challenge by putting family first. The series follows Malcolm Bright (Tom Payne), an ex-FBI profiler whose relationship with his father, serial killer Dr. Martin Whitly (Michael Sheen), gives him unique insight into murderers’ motives. Blume, whose credits include “Arrow” and “The Flash,” approached “Prodigal Son” by focusing more on its characters’ blood ties than on the blood itself. Continue reading

Dan Thomason, en route to Berlin. Winter, 1959
Life Member. Viola
6/27/1934 – 5/25/2020
by Anita Thomason
We made music together, both literally and metaphorically, from the day we met in an orchestra in 1955. We married in 1959, and across the years had many memorable musical adventures. We had two sons whom Dan loved deeply — Matthew and Peter, one a fine art printmaker and the other a pianist, guitarist and piano technician. Continue reading
Amid season cancelations, SoCal orchestras launch innovative new digital, artistic and learning initiatives
‘2 am at the Sands’ Concerts in Your Car series presented with Rubicon Theatre
Dave Grohl defends teachers amid politicized rush to unsafely reopen schools
and more!
Overture Online is optimized for reading via smartphone or tablet. For those without access to a smart device, issues may be viewed on a web browser here. Local 47 members may download archived pdf versions from the members section at afm47.org.
In the remote recording world that has arisen as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has come to our attention that many musicians may be receiving improper payment.
Musicians must receive separate session payments when asked to record and deliver separate, multiple parts, as provided in the Electronic Musical Devices provision of the Basic Theatrical, Television Motion Picture, and Sound Recording Labor Agreements.
If you have recently supplied multiple parts and believe you may have been underpaid, please contact the union. We will work to ensure that you are properly compensated for your work during these difficult times when it is needed most, and that the employer provide any additional session and fringe benefit payments, as well as pay any applicable late payments.
Pandemic unemployment benefits are about to expire!
The supplemental $600 unemployment benefit many musicians have relied on will end before August, reducing the max unemployment benefit in California to $450/week.
Please send a letter from your family to the U.S. Senate today. Tell them how the crisis has impacted your ability to work, and why these benefits are so important. Continue reading
Life Member. Organ
10/4/1939 – 6/28/2020
by Danny Tokusato
William (Bill) C. Field was born on October 4, 1939 in Los Angeles to William Thomas Field and Gertrude Sara Hopkins, both employees of the Los Angeles Unified School District. Continue reading
The updated Limited Pressing Agreement may now be found on the Sound Recording page of our website here.
The new video feature by Doug Cameron shares a truly inspiring story about world-class violinist Clayton Haslop’s struggle with focal dystonia which left him with the use of only two fingers on his left hand. Continue reading