The Film Musicians Secondary Markets Fund works to serve the film, television and music communities. To this end, the fund is pleased to provide ongoing updates to Allegro for the benefit of Local 802 members. If you perform on music for film and TV and don’t know about us, check us out at www.fmsmf.org. You may have residuals waiting for you! See the yellow box at the end of the article.

“New” Films: The final count is in for 2015: the fund received residuals for 274 “new” titles! Most of these newly reported titles were films and TV shows first released in 2012, 2013 or 2014, although some were older films and series that generated secondary market receipts and residuals for the first time.

The “new” titles for 2015 included feature films such as “Earth to Echo,” “The Fault in Our Stars,” “The Maze Runner,” “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” “Million Dollar Arm,” “Jersey Boys” and “X-Men: Days of Future Past.” Among the “new” TV titles reporting for the first time during 2015 were “Arrow” (2013-14), “The Normal Heart” and “Red Band Society,” to name just a few. We will post the “new” titles for 2016 at www.fmsmf.org/filmtitles/new-films.php as we get closer to the end of this calendar year.

New Musicians: There’s an urban myth about the fund that suggests only a small handful of musicians participate in the residuals collected and that it’s the same small group that participates. Not true! Each year, “new” musicians are enrolled for the first time into the fund because they were credited with secondary market residuals for the first time. For example, in 2015, there were 751 new musicians added to the rolls for the first time: 670 musicians earned residuals and were added for the first time through their work in original scoring, sideline or music prep, and another 81 musicians earned residuals for the first time because of new use of their sound recording in a film or TV program.

Money for musicians: Over 15,600 payments were issued to musicians and their beneficiaries on July 1, and over 830 payments were issued on Sept. 15.

More musicians are enrolling in direct deposit and “Go-Paperless.” Almost 4,000 musicians now participate in the services, and more enroll each month. Go-Paperless saves money and is good for the environment. So, if you haven’t signed up yet for Go-Paperless, come on board at www.fmsmf.org/gopaperless and join your fellow musicians who are helping us go green!

Web Upgrade: Upgrades to the fund web site went live on July 1, with a new look, better organization of pages and some new features to make access to services easier. We will continue to upgrade the site on an ongoing basis in the months and years to come. Check out the new look at www.fmsmf.org.

Tax time is just around the corner! A reminder that the fund will send out W-2s and related tax forms in January, so please make sure we have your correct address! To report an address change, go to www.fmsmf.org/musicianresources/address-change-form.php. Also a reminder for next year: if you intend to change your withholdings for the next distribution in July 2016, you must provide an updated W-4 to the fund on or before June 1, 2016. No changes will be accepted after June 1, 2016 for the July 1, 2016 distribution. For more information, see www.fmsmf.org/musicianresources/fund-dates.php

Best wishes from all of us at the fund for a happy and healthy holiday season, and a prosperous 2016!