What To Make Of This Year’s AFM?
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The first in-person AFM in three years was a relatively quiet affair.
Movies have been sold, projects were launched, but there few big-canvas theatrical features and no major deals have been announced to date. Cannes was busy, but this felt more sedate.
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Among significant projects launched for the market, which wrapped this week, were Guy Ritchie’s WWII pic The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare with Henry Cavill, Pawel Pawlikowski’s black and white drama The Island with Rooney Mara and Joaquin Phoenix, Ron Howard’s secretive project sold by CAA, and the Night Of The Living Dead sequel.
We heard good things from buyers about projects including Clown In A Cornfield, The Pack, The Return To Silent Hill, The Radleys and The Threesome. AGC closed a raft of deals on thriller The Silent Hour, as did Mossbank on post-apocalyptic thriller Elevation from A Quiet Place producer Brad Fuller.
Multiple distributors told us they were impressed by A24’s lineup. The company has developed one of the biggest sales slates in the market on its way to becoming a fully-fledged all-purpose mini studio. Projects on the roster include Zac Efron wrestling pic Iron Claw, Kristen Stewart crime-thriller Love Lies Bleeding, Eggers Brothers thriller Front Room, and Ari Aster’s Joaquin Phoenix film Disappointment Boulevard. It’s a classy lineup of idiosyncratic indie films that often come with lofty asking prices. The four movies noted above are all budgeted above $15M-$20M, buyers told us.
By now, most markets have spawned a big studio or streamer deal. Not this AFM. One studio we spoke to sent five acquisitions executives to the market for one week but the company left without picking up a single project. Streamers may be more picky at the moment given recent consolidation.
Anecdotally, and understandably, sellers told us that the number of Asian buyers was down compared to past editions. Covid continues to hamper Asian countries in particular, so this isn’t surprising. Footfall in general seemed quieter.
Many of the larger companies exhibit away from the Loews these days, but even then, this was a pared back event. Global economies are hurting due to war, inflation and cost of living crises. Some Euro buyers are hurting due to currency woes. It showed. There were fewer parties: no Unifrance drinks, no Wild Bunch shin dig, fewer cocktail receptions. There were no splashy talent presentations. In years past the likes of Ron Howard, Sacha Baron Cohen and Tate Taylor went to Santa Monica to woo buyers. Not this year.
Today, AFM organisers IFTA released bullish numbers about the event’s 43rd edition: total attendees were close to 6,000 and 400+ companies attended from 68 countries. Japan and Korea were the best-represented countries from Asia. IFTA made the smart decision to shorten this year’s market to six days and bring the industry panels into the Loews for convenience.
Russia remained a talking point (14 buyers were accredited). Some sellers still refuse to sell to the country, others remarked that prices from Russian buyers have never been higher due to increased demand for escapism from Russian audiences. There were rumours too of significant investments being dangled by new Saudi companies.
Teddy Schwarzman and John Friedberg’s Black Bear International made its market debut at the event, a welcome addition to the independent distribution fray.
For years we’ve heard that AFM is a market on its last legs. It’s often those based in LA who are most jaded about the event. There are always rumors of rival or alternative markets popping up, but as one veteran U.S. seller told me, “Until someone comes up with a better plan, AFM remains an important and very useful exercise for us”.
International executives still enjoy the winter sun, the beach-side location and the opportunity to get around town for other networking. Face to face meetings remain important.
Has AFM diminished as a hub for pure deal-making? Yes. Deals can be done throughout the year now and frustration has grown over the perceived expense of the Loews setting. All traditional markets have lost some of their selling power in the digital age (TIFF barely existed this year as a distribution pre-sales event) and companies are more business-diverse these days. Traditional film sales companies are also making TV, getting into production, exploring podcasts etc. The independent business as a whole is challenged (’twas ever thus) but vibrant.
And it’s still heart-warming for this AFM regular to see the lobby of the Loews bustling with independent producers on the make, suitcases full of laminated marketing materials and hawking letters of interest from former NFL players turned actors. That low-budget genre scene has always been part of the AFM’s DNA and a part of the fun.
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