Musicians implore Hollywood to stop scoring films overseas

Coverage Type: 

At a small community park in Santa Monica, a group of Los Angeles-area musicians wearing dark blue and orange T-shirts with the slogan "Listen Up!" gathered around a flatbed truck as union leaders, a minister and a local city councilman fired up the crowd.

"Make no mistake, music that we produce is a critical component in the artistic and financial success of any film that's produced here," said Neil Samples, a violinist. "We say to Lionsgate: Abandon the low road, stop offshoring jobs, do the right thing and bring the music home."

After his speech, a zydeco band took the stage, and Samples and his colleagues huddled into a van and drove a few blocks to the headquarters of Lionsgate, the independent studio behind the hit "Hunger Games" movies. They parked outside the studio and used a dolly to deliver four boxes containing a petition signed by 12,000 supporters urging Lionsgate to "stop sending musicians' jobs overseas."

The labor unrest is the latest sign of disharmony between local musicians and their employers. The American Federation of Musicians has previously organized rallies against Marvel Studios for hiring London musicians to work on such movies as "The Avengers" and "Iron Man 3" even though those films were shot in the United States. Now, with the backing of the AFL-CIO, the union has singled out Lionsgate. It says the studio is hiring foreign musicians to play music on movies that filmed in the US with the support of taxpayer subsidies.


Musicians implore Hollywood to stop scoring films overseas