In addition to the learning that the Presale Market is Alive and Well at AFM and observing 4 industry trends from AFM 2014, I gained some practical knowledge that all producers should know. While there’s plenty more you will need to know to attend your first AFM, here are some things that really popped out this year.
1. While more filmmakers are exhibiting at the show, Sales Agents are
Despite the growing trend towards self-distribution, AFM is still a hugely important event in the industry, and something to which we should all pay attention. I spoke with AFM’s Managing Director Jonathan Wolf on Wednesday about his opinions about the show and the general state of the industry. Here’s what you need to know as a producer
1. Asia’s importance as a territory is growing.
This should come as a surprise to precisely no one; at least no one who has been paying attention to industry trends. However by the numbers, buyers from Asia represented 30.7% of total buyers, and 28.3% of total buyer companies attending AFM.
Surprising, right? Everything you read is that presales are a dying business, but according to Jonathan Wolf, AFM’s Managing Director, about 60% of the business done at this year’s AFM was in presales. This means more than half a billion USD in presales alone.
According to Mr. Wolf, the market for foreign presales came back by 2010 or 2011.
This week I am presenting a new talk “How To Produce In The Emerging New Film Ecosystem”. This is not part of my “book tour” but really back to my gospel on the pulpit — my push to help drive us forward. I launched this new talk on Monday at AFM (sans any slides), and will follow it up today (Wednesday) in Napa (in an abbreviated format) and then off to Vancouver for Merging Media to really kick it home. I should have it down pretty well come end of the week I hope. I spoke a bit about this new rant to PlaybackDaily/StreamDaily and you can read about it here.
As both artist and entrepreneurs, we filmmaking types are stuck in legacy practices that have little applicability to the way the world is. We are holding back both the advancement of our craft and our culture, the cash and the capital. It is time to
I would like to go to the site of one of the many organizations dedicated to supporting filmmakers and easily find links to a list of foreign sales agents.
For that matter, I would like to be able to find such links to US Distributors, Worldwide Distributors, Distribution Case Studies, Funders, Agents, Crew, Platforms, Legal Documents, Production Forms, Tech & Equipment Recommendations, Recommended Best Practices, Expert Opinions, Ideas & Inspiration, Recommended Reading — and that’s just off the top of my head. You know, I would like it to be clear that that these organizations were driven to help filmmakers, and not just “furthering their brand”.
What do Filmmakers want from film markets and what they can realistically get?
“Discerning the difference between a film that can actually sell well enough to justify having a third party sales agent and going to markets vs a film that is best served by DIY methods that should be planned and employed BEFORE the film’s first exhibition”
Guest post from Orly Ravid, Founder of The Film Collaborative (TFC)
We get questioned all the time by members and others about which markets should filmmakers attend and which sales agents should they go with. Having unrealistic expectations is dangerous. It sets people up to do nothing on their own but wait for some third party to make their dreams come true.
Troma’s own Lloyd Kaufman, the man who brought us not just THE TOXIC AVENGER, but also POULTRYGEIST and many, many more, is also head of IFTA, the Independent FIlm and Television Alliance, the organization that runs the AFM (American Film Market).
