The American Film Market 2004, The Sequel	By Paul T. Boghosian
A Competitive Move to November

The distribution game is a moving experience. A world-class distributor represents your film in all the key market territories, large ones like Germany, Japan and throughout Europe, and even smaller ones like Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Venezuela. Distributors are the toll takers of today's film business. If you are an independent filmmaker, and you have aspirations beyond shooting on digital video a drama based on your own twisted memories of youth, then you need to join the horde of producers, directors and screenwriters who flock to America's global marketplace of film: the American Film Market.

It is of critical importance to you to get to know these distributors and foreign sales agents and there is no better place to meet with them and see them - and see them in action at one time and in one place - than the exhibit spaces of the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel.

Vilmos Zsigmond:“Shoot in Hungary - we have all the new Western technologies, we have trained and motivated crews, we have unsurpassed locations, we have great food, we have wide open willing arms.”	“Women can direct action, sci-fi and horror,” said director Martha Coolidge during a panel on “chick flicks.” “Don't look at us and see only princesses.”	Cinematographers Don Burgess (at left) and Laszlo Kovacs spoke during an AFM panel session. All three photos courtesy of Paul T. Boghosian.

Not only will you learn the lay of the land, by meeting and greeting with the assorted characters who pedal film products, you will also learn how to position your own film for maximum visibility; and you will learn to do whatever is necessary to promote your film to enhance its sales prospects. Any producer worth his salt has to think from day one about how his product, unseen by all except him, will be perceived in the international marketplace.

The American Film Market celebrated its 25th birthday twice in 2004, following the traditional meeting in February with a new tradeshow in November. Holding two events in one calendar (though not fiscal) year meant a bold change for AFM producers, who called the switch to November - which will now be standard - a response to industry needs.

Of course, opening in November brought AFM into direct competition with the prominent European sales forum, the Milan-based MIFED. It appears that the date switch was a boon for AFM. "We're thrilled with the response to our first November market," said AFM Managing Director Jonathan Wolf.

That happy feeling came from the two-percent increase in the number of buyers and the increased international attendance. A total of 637 film distribution companies were represented at the industry festival, a market record. The event also featured the screening of a record-high 435 film.

If you are at all interested in the international marketing of your modest little project, or if you are conceiving what genre you should follow in order to capture the attention of the world marketplace, here's a little tidbit for you to think about. Seventy percent of the films being offered at AFM are action-adventure, thriller, or horror. Another 20 percent may be considered as romantic comedies. And then there remains the ten percent quirky little films that a studio may have passed on, but are star driven. Remember the emphasis in the foreign marketplace is on the visual and these visual extravaganzas normally evoke our most primitive emotions of fear and lust.

Here is another area that I track on a regular basis and that you can read about in the Hollywood Reporter and Variety. Let's assume that you are producing a $1-3 million film. What kind of return can you expect from the overseas markets? Here are recent estimated prices drawn from select markets as reported in the Hollywood Reporter (with figures listed in thousands): France, $100-150; Spain, $75-125; Indonesia, $20-30; Japan, $125-300; Brazil, $20-40; Russia, $75-150; China, $20-40; Israel, $10-15; and South Africa, $25-40.

You can learn so much at the AFM just by attending its panel discussions, which feature world-class cinematographers and directors and the world's top financing experts with decades of experience in financing independent film. The panel discussions provide wonderful contacts, both in the audience and from the panelists, with whom you can follow up when you are prepared to do so.

In the ten years that I've been attending AFM, I have found dozens of responsive "experts" who are willing to listen to you, hear your pitch and often times give you their card.

This year's panels were on the following subjects (and some of their panelists were):
· The importance of "chick flicks" (with writers Jack Amiel and Michael Begler and directors Martha Coolidge, Aiyana Elliott and Mark Rosman).
· How to create artful movies on a budget (with cinematographers Don Burgess, Curtis Clark, Roger Deakins, Michael Goi, Rob Mclachlan, David Mullen, Nancy Schreiber and Vilmos Zsigmond).
· Maintaining artistic freedom and producing films in the U.S. (with Kimberly Elise, Diane Ladd and Sandra Oh).
· The writer/producer collaboration (with producers Julia Chasman, Julie Lynn and Jay Shapiro, and writers Rodrigo Garcia, Michael Petroni and Jeff Stockwell).
· Incentives for producing your film in the states (with director Christopher Coppola and Louisiana film development director Mark Smith).

Regarding the all-important topic of film financing, Lions Gate vice chair Michael Burns discussed how financiers could write off investments. "I'm sure we will see some of the larger Wall Street firms forming syndicates," he said. New tax laws aimed at job creation should also soon make an impact.

"There is an excitement, an appetite to put a little money to play in something that is a little different, such as film, and that has not happened since the 1980s," said John Schmidt, president of ContentFilm.

Other sessions focused on exploiting ancillary markets, in particular the Internet. "Too many people are still looking back at the old ways of doing business," said Peter Broderick, president of Paradigm Consulting. "As a filmmaker you need to understand these new methods of distribution."

Soft money, financing through tax shelters and government subsidies, can have its ups and downs, conference attendees learned. "You can end up making a different movie than you had set out to make," said Howard Kaplan of Morgan Creek at a talk on the magic behind the deal. Using soft money can mean making budget compromises and struggling to fit into various requirements.

"There's a constant struggle between the financiers and filmmakers on what a film will look like and where it will be shot," said Steve Fayne, a partner in Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld.
It's the same old problem, the fight for film and glory; the battle between maintaining the creative vision and recognizing that the interests of investors, distributors and the selling of film also has merit and must be appreciated. These are necessary skirmishes if YOU as a writer, director, or producer want to have legs in the industry - and have the opportunity to fight again.