AMERICAN FILM MARKET REVEALS GLOBAL INDUSTRY LEADERS FOR FIVE-DAY CONFERENCE SERIES

The 2012 American Film Market today announced its initial Conference speakers who encompass a broad cross-section of the industry’s global decision makers and experts who all converge annually at the AFM.

The initial list of speakers set for the Conference Series this year include:

Scilla Andreen, CEO & Co-Founder of IndieFlix; Tobin Armbrust, President of Worldwide Production and Acquisitions, Exclusive Media Group; Paul Bales, Partner, The Asylum; Robert Beaumont, President of Lightning Entertainment;Eamonn Bowles, Founder & President of Magnolia Pictures; P. John Burke, Partner, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP; Philippe Caland, Founder & Chairman of JuntoBox Films; Joseph Chianese, EVP of EP Financial Solutions, Entertainment Partners; Cassian Elwes, Independent Film Producer and Agent; Amy Friedlander, Founder of Priority Digital Media; Ann Glenn, Director of Social Media Marketing, Sony Pictures Interactive; Todd Green, General Manager of Tribeca Film; Dana Harris, Editor-In-Chief of Indiewire; Paul Hertzberg, President & CEO of CineTel Films;Lloyd Kaufman, President & Co-Founder of Troma Entertainment, who will also open the Micro-Budget Conference with a Keynote; Charlotte Mickie, EVP of International Sales, Entertainment One; Bahman Naraghi, Independent Producer and former COO of GK Films; Stephanie Palmer, Good in a Room’s Founder; Mark Pogachefsky, President of MPRM Communications; David Spiegelman, President of Domestic Television & Digital Distribution, Relativity Media; Graham Taylor, Head of Global Finance and Distribution Group, WME; Alison Thompson, Co- President, Focus Features International; Nigel Sinclair, Co-Chairman & CEO, Exclusive Media; Andy Weltman, EVP, Pinewood Shepperton; Michael J. Werner, Chairman of Fortissimo Film Sales.

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP and Entertainment Partners Financial Solutions will serve as the presenting sponsors of the AFM Conference Series, which gives attendees tremendous knowledge, insight, access, and a rare opportunity to hear from the industry’s global thought leaders, prominent filmmakers, financiers and industry executives on topics spanning from treatment to screen.

Covering a range of timely and valuable topics comprised of a Finance Conference, Pitch Conference, Marketing Conference, Video-on-Demand Conference and Micro-Budget Conference, the panels will take place 9:15 am – 12:45 pm daily from Friday, Nov. 2 – Tuesday, Nov. 6 at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel (101 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica).  The inaugural AFM Conference Series launched in 2011 and sold out in its first year with more than 700 attendees at each event.

The 2012 AFM Conference Series panels include:

Finance Conference, Friday, November 2

• First Session – Current Issues in Film Finance
  Leading CEOs, filmmakers, financiers and executives converge to explore the state of independent film financing, emerging trends, where the money is and what the future holds.

• Second Session – Building Your Global Film Financing Strategy
  Where’s the money and how quickly can you get it?  All you need to know about U.S. and international incentives and subsidies and how to monetize them.  Plus private equity and additional sources of financing from the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China) and other emerging markets.

Pitch Conference, Saturday, November 3sponsored by JuntoBox Films

• A good pitch can get a bad film made and a bad pitch can leave a terrific project languishing on the shelf.  Pitching is part art (it’s creative), part science (needs to follow a tight script) and part salesmanship.  Conference attendees will first learn the essential rules and tools of pitching from the experts.  Then, volunteers from the audience (you?) will pitch a panel of Hollywood decision makers.  They will give unvarnished feedback on each pitch – saying what worked, what didn’t, and why. Warning: This session is not for the weak.

Marketing Conference, Sunday, November 4 sponsored by Mexican Film Commission

• First Session – Social Media: Making Friends for Your Film
  Connecting with and engaging your core audience in authentic, creative and ongoing ways is critical.  The social media and marketing gurus behind successful and innovative campaigns discuss the essentials of creating a digital content strategy, why timing is critical, and how the consumer can be the most effective marketing tool in winning over the broadest possible audience.
• Second Session – Film Festivals Demystified
  Once considered the Holy Grail, getting a film into one of the world’s 4,000+ festivals is now common.  The challenge for today’s filmmakers is matching their film with the right festival.  Festival programmers, PR specialists, sales agents, and acquisition executives share insights on where, when and why to submit and how to make the most out of your festival experience.

Video-On-Demand Conference, Monday, November 5sponsored by ROSKINO

• First Session – Navigating the VOD Landscape: What Every Producer Needs to Know
  Video-On-Demand is a growing revenue stream for filmmakers and content providers.  Like the excitement of a gold rush, many hope for a future when all films are available worldwide and every film finds an audience.  Producers, distributors and platforms will come together to disclose who is making money, how they are doing it and what the future holds – separating fact from fiction.

• Second Session – VOD Release Strategies: Finding Your Film’s Digital Clique
  Independent films can get lost on large platforms like iTunes and cable.  The best results frequently come from VOD platforms that target a specific audience.  Distributors and filmmakers discuss how to find and select the digital platforms that will deliver the most enthusiastic audience for each film.

Micro-Budget Conference, Tuesday, November 6

• First Session – The Micro-Budget Marketplace: It’s a Business!
  New and unconventional financing, marketing and distribution resources are proving very successful for Micro-Budget films.  Producers and distributors will reveal where the money is, making the most of budgets, what distributors are looking for, reaching your audience and how these new tools are redefining the film business.

• Second Session – Journeys to Micro-Budget Success: The Filmmakers
  Successful Micro-Budget filmmakers share their insights, experiences and advice.

For additional information on the AFM Conference Series, visit: www.AmericanFilmMarket.com/conferences. For the latest information and to resister, please visit www.AmericanFilmMarket.com or call 1-310-446-1095.  Additional opportunities to connect: Like AFM on Facebook at  www.facebook.com/AmericanFilmMarket, and follow @AFMOFFICIAL on Twitter.