44 About a month from today, some 8,000 film and TV executives from around the world (many of whom are in Cannes for MIPCOM) will converge on the west coast of the U.S. in Santa Monica, California for the American Film Market (AFM). It will be held November 6-13 at the usual venue, the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel. The AFM, organized by the Los Angeles-based Independent Film and Television Alliance (IFTA), is evolving from a theatrical-focused market into a digital video trade show with movie rights sold to subscription-based sales and transactional platforms, perhapswithembeddedentertainment as the newDulcinea. To anticipate what to expect at AFM ’13, VideoAge caught up with exhibitors and the organizer to find out what they’re hoping to see in Santa Monica. In early September, attendance figures were shaping up to be comparable to last year, with registration pacing “about the same...maybe up one to three percent,” according to Jonathan Wolf, EVP andmanaging director of the American Film Market. As far as territories at the forefront of registration, Wolf noted that he is continuing to see increases from China as the “number of theaters being built around the country is growing, as is their GDP.” One quality that makes AFM unique as compared to film festivals such as those in Cannes and Berlin, said ImaginationWorldwide’s president and CEO Larry Goebel, is that “there aren’t a lot of distractions. It’s very focused on the business side of the industry.” He added that IFTA is always on the cutting edge of changes: “AFM will evolve as the market evolves, so it’ll remain an attractive spot for buyers and sellers to get together.” That’s one thing everyone is hoping won’t change. “We expect AFM 2013 to be a very exciting turning point for the Movies division of Breakthrough Entertainment,” said Marina Cordoni, VP of Movies. The company is enthusiastic about launching the premiere of its two biggest movies to date, Cas and Dylanand I’ll Follow You Down. Vanessa Shapiro, EVP of Sales for MarVista Entertainment, said AFM has been “pretty consistent in delivering the same level of buyers, but of course we always hope more people will attend, especiallytheEuropeans.”And, sheadded, “It’s a good market for acquisitions and potential co-productions with the many producers that attend.” Starz Media’s EVP of Worldwide Distribution, Gene George, finds that “AFM is a valuable opportunity to meet distributors and buyers for the DVD/home video portion of our business.” He explained that his company’s “presence at the AFM continues to be primarily geared to licensing TV content. We have long recognized that the AFM is generally targeted to all-rights distributors of theatricals.” However, he added, “There is no question that more TV and digital sales are being done at the AFM, but this market [still] gives content suppliers the opportunity to screen new product and also pre-sell upcoming major theatrical movies.” Similarly, Cordoni of Breakthrough has “always experienced it as an ‘all-rights’ market, withmany broadcasters in attendance,” she said. MarVista’s Shapiro concurred, saying that her company in particular meets with a good number of all-rights buyers, “more so than at MIP or MIPCOM. To date, we haven’t seen it as a digital market, and while we acknowledge that there may be more digital companies attending, for us it is still more of a TV and DVD market,” she said. Yet, Imagination Worldwide’s Goebel pointed out that there is a “continued movement toward digital distribution — we’ve seen it coming for a long time — but parts of the world outside North America haven’t grown as fast, and so far the digital market hasn’t been able to make up for the decline of DVD sales,” Goebel said. “Television is different. A lot of the spots that broadcasters used to have on their schedules for feature films have been replaced by reality shows and low-cost nonscripted shows. So the indie filmmakers, investors and sales companies are facing a new world out there that we are all trying to figure out how to approach.” He added, “The movement toward mobile devices and away from the original source of TV is exciting.” Multicom’s Irv Holender agreed that the AFM is becoming “more and more digital…since most of the content is exposed earlier in the year with all of the other markets” He is hoping the upcoming event will be even more successful than last year “with the increase in digital outlets.” Although the dates of the AFM have moved out of October and into November to be spaced further away fromMIPCOM, the markets may still be too close on the calendar for comfort, with the 2014 event scheduled to begin November 5, the 2015 event starting on November 4, the 2016 event on November 2 and the 2017 event on November 1. Yet, the close proximity of the two markets on the calendar doesn’t seem to be a concern for most participants because, as Multicom’s Holender said, “Many MIPCOM attendees do not attend AFM.” Breakthrough’s Cordoni noted that, “Although there is some crossover, I do believe there are diverse buyers at these markets as well, with specific budgets for movie acquisitions.” Likewise, Shapiro of MarVista said the overlap is small and doesn’t have a negative impact on business accomplished at AFM. “There are a lot of new clients that come to AFM, especially Asian clients who don’t typically attend MIPCOM. We also meet with the U.S. DVD and digital companies that don’t attend MIPCOM due to the distance,” she said. Shapiro also pointed out some advantages for exhibitors who attend both the AFM and MIPCOM: “One big positive for us is that between the two markets, we cover the whole spectrum of buyers. Plus, we have the potential to close deals with buyers who we met at MIPCOM.” Imagination Worldwide’s Goebel agreed that overlapping buyers are not a problem: “The marketplace is populatedwith savvy, experienced buyers; this isn’t their first trip down the road. They’ve learned to work within whatever financial parameters they’ve been given. I’m not concerned that people have run out of money with MIPCOM in October and AFM in November. It’s not really a calendar concern,” he said. Wolf offered a clearer idea of just how much MIPCOMandAFMoverlap. “Ifwe lookatMIPCOM exhibitors, probably 20-25 percent are also at AFM,” he said. “In terms of buyers the number is around that, or slightly less.” As far as general attendees, including producers, financiers and film commissioners, Wolf explained that less than five percent of those who attend AFM also attend MIPCOM because AFM focuses on longform, and producers and writers of long-form MovieMarketMoves toDigital Sales inMature Territories, Theatrical inEmergingOnes October 2013 AFM Preview Gene George of Starz Media Breakthrough Entertainment’s Marina Cordini (Continued on Page 54)
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