38th Edition of the American Film Market Sees Significant Increase in Exhibitor Participation
Number of Sellers, Films Screening and Overall Attendance Surges from 2016
LOS ANGELES, CA – November 5, 2017: The American Film Market (AFM®), which opened its doors on Wednesday and runs until November 8 in Santa Monica, has seen a significant surge in participants this year with 445 exhibiting companies attending, an 18% increase over 2016. Notable growth comes from around the world, including South Korea (+13), Italy (+9), Romania (+9) France (+5) and Russia (+5). Exhibitors from India (3) participated after a three-year absence for the country.
AFM is seeing a strong contingent of first-time buying companies, highlighting the continued growth and prevalence of the market. The new companies, at least 76 so far, are coming from China (13), South Korea (11), India (3) and 30 other countries. Total attendance is forecast at more than 7,400, a 6% increase from 2016. Final attendance numbers will be available at the end of the market.
“The uptick in participation signals that the Independents are adapting to changing marketplace and can now confidently forecast future values,” said Jonathan Wolf, Managing Director of the American Film Market.
Attendees are benefiting from a number of new events and initiatives this year, including the debut of LocationEXPO® which has welcomed more than 60 Film Commissions from around the world. The full list of participating commissions and agencies is at AmericanFilmMarket.com/LocationEXPO.
This year the AFM also launched AFM Screenings On Demand, an online screenings platform that allows sales companies to screen their films privately for Buyers before, during and/or after the Market. AFM Screenings On Demand concludes on March 31st, one week after Hong Kong FILMART.
AFM Conferences, Roundtables and Special Events are presenting over 130 speakers including Lionsgate’s Thomas Hughes, OddLot Entertainment’s Adrian Alperovich, Independent Producer/Agent Cassian Elwes, Skydance Media’s Jesse Sisgold, Sidney Kimmel Entertainment’s John Penotti, Black Bear Pictures’ Ben Stillman and STX Films’ Sam Brown. The full program is available at: AmericanFilmMarket.com/programs-events.
337 films are screening at the AFM – 40 more than last year – including 264 Market Premieres and 61 World Premieres, plus 76 films screening on demand. Visit www.TheFilmCatalogue.com to view the full screening schedule including casts and synopses.
The American Film Market is produced by the Independent Film & Television Alliance, www.IFTA-online.org.
More information on the AFM can be found at: AmericanFilmMarket.com.
About the American Film Market
The American Film Market is the world’s largest motion picture business event. Over 7,000 industry leaders converge in Santa Monica for eight days of deal-making, screenings, conferences, networking and parties. Participants come from more than 80 countries and include acquisition and development executives, agents, attorneys, directors, distributors, festival directors, financiers, film commissioners, producers, writers, the world’s press and all those who provide services to the motion picture industry.
Unlike a film festival, the AFM is a marketplace – with over 200,000 square feet of exhibition space – where production and distribution deals are closed. In just eight days, more than US$1 billion in deals will be sealed – on both completed films and those in every stage of development and production.
Participants may view more than 500 screenings of 300+ films – 29 new films every two hours – the majority world or U.S. premieres. Titles range from big budget blockbusters that will be released by the major studios to lower budget art and genre films recognized at international film festivals.
With 7,000 attendees, 500 screenings, 300 exhibiting distributors, and the industry’s largest Conference series, AFM is the pivotal destination for independent filmmakers and business people from all over the world.
Media Contacts
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