{"id":369551,"date":"2025-11-10T16:32:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T16:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/369551\/"},"modified":"2025-11-10T16:32:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-10T16:32:12","slug":"afms-return-to-l-a-welcomed-as-attendees-face-down-indie-headwinds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/369551\/","title":{"rendered":"AFM’s Return to L.A. Welcomed as Attendees Face Down Indie Headwinds\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t\u201cLas Vegas is a cinematic city, but it\u2019s not cinema-friendly\u201d is one of the more diplomatic reviews of the American Film Market<\/a>\u2019s \u2014 thankfully brief \u2014 stint in Sin City last year. As if recalling a bad dream, sales agents and buyers practically shudder when describing having to navigate a maze of slot machines and roulette tables to get to their offices in the Palms Casino Resort. That is assuming they could get in an elevator \u2014 lengthy queues meant meetings were often late or cancelled. Screenings, too, were wracked by technical problems. And in the middle of all that \u2014 an election.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s such a tightly choreographed ballet that we do with these markets,\u201d says Scott Shooman, head of IFC Entertainment Group. \u201cSo the second you have an elevator line that\u2019s longer than a 10 to 15 minute walk, people go bananas.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBut AFM<\/a> \u2014 still a vital stop on the industry circuit \u2014 is now making a triumphant return to Los Angeles, with a new location at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Century City. Global attendees appear to have an extra spring in their step, extending stays to meet with agencies and studios. Essentially, visitors are looking forward to doing all the important things they used to when they came previously (and couldn\u2019t in Vegas).<\/p>\n

\n\tUltimately, the location misstep isn\u2019t the only issue the AFM has faced in recent years. The hurdle also reflects the fragile health of the independent film industry since the pandemic and double Hollywood strikes. It also reflects the increasing challenge of not just putting together packages, but ensuring they\u2019re the right package for an extremely cautious market. And like any good Hollywood script, there\u2019s optimism.<\/p>\n

\n\tShooman is hopeful that this year\u2019s AFM will bring out some solid packages on the back of a \u201cvery healthy Toronto Film Festival,\u201d where he says he saw a \u201cshift from a buyer\u2019s market to a seller\u2019s market, with a lot of robust MGs [minimum guarantees] paid for a lot of different movies.\u201d He also notes that sales agents have a \u201cslightly more competitive marketplace\u201d with \u201cnew domestic distributors in the mix.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe issue for the indie film business now lies in the need for a \u201cconstant recalibration\u201d on \u201chow stuff is made and how much it\u2019s made for,\u201d he says. Case in point: IFC Films just scored big with Ben Leonberg\u2019s directorial debut, \u201cGood Boy,\u201d a micro-budgeted horror pic \u2014\u00a0told from the perspective of a dog \u2014 that\u2019s now grossed over $6 million at the box office. Shooman says it\u2019s on track to become one of the year\u2019s most profitable films.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tBen Leonberg\u2019s \u2018Good Boy\u2019 has grossed over $6 million at the box office.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201c\u2018Good Boy\u2019 is a story that you root for and it\u2019s how you want the independent business to come together,\u201d Shooman says. \u201cThis film is going make us a lot of money, and it\u2019s going to make him [Leonberg] a lot of money, and it\u2019s got the right margins. And when you think about it, \u2018Good Boy\u2019 is going to make a lot more money than many movies out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe film wags a tail towards a trend echoed across the board of sales execs \u2014\u00a0that more risk-averse buyers want packages that have a clearly defined audience. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe feel that distributors want movies where they know exactly who it\u2019s for so they know what to do with it,\u201d says Janina Vilsmaier, senior VP of sales and distribution at Protagonist Pictures, which is launching sales on the Chloe Grace Moretz rom-com \u201cLove Language\u201d in LA. \u201cIs it a genre? Is it an awards movie? Whatever it is, it needs to know what it is so distributors know exactly who to target. And for anything that sits in between, it\u2019s much more difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tA recent film many critics suggested did sit in between, unsure of its precise crowd, was A24\u2019s Dwayne Johnson-led wrestling drama \u201cThe Smashing Machine,\u201d which came with a hefty $50 million price tag and buzzy noise out of Venice yet flopped at the box office. Then there\u2019s romantic fantasy \u201cA Big Bold Beautiful Journey\u201d \u2014\u00a0a major $45 million package launched out of Berlin in 2024 thanks to its two leads, Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell \u2014\u00a0which also crashed out after poor reviews cited its uneven tone. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s a tough time out there,\u201d says Nick Shumaker, head of AC Independent, the sales and finance arm\u00a0of Anonymous Content. \u201cIt\u2019s the age-old question of marrying budget with market value. I think that the conversation is going to be more prominent now than it\u2019s ever been.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWith budgets often weighed down by top-tier talent wages, the woes faced by \u201cMachine\u201d and \u201cJourney\u201d point to another growing realization \u2014\u00a0that star wattage simply isn\u2019t enough. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cPeople won\u2019t go and see and see a movie anymore because of the star in the movie,\u201d says Mister Smith CEO David Garrett, who suggests that the value in a Hollywood A-lister is now their ability to create awareness, to hit the chat-show circuit and land magazine covers. \u201cBut they only have pulling power if the movie is good. If it\u2019s no good, it still won\u2019t work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tEven with an emphasis on the script and filmmaking team, putting together a package has become a labyrinthine puzzle. Garrett describes is as \u201clike alchemy, turning lead into gold.\u201d The alchemy recently worked with shark-meets-serial killer survival horror \u201cDangerous Animals,\u201d which launched at the Marche du Cannes in 2024, premiered in the festival\u2019s Directors\u2019 Fortnight competition this year and became a box office success for Independent Film Company. Then there\u2019s \u201cChasing Red,\u201d a YA teen romance that began life as one of the most-read novels on writing platform Wattpad and is now heading into production having almost sold out via pre-sales.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cBoth of these films were ones that had a very, very clear demographic,\u201d says Garrett, who this year has the animated fantasy \u201cThe Turning Door,\u201d whose starring voice cast is led by Alivia Vikander and Jamie Dornan.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut going into markets relying solely on territory pre-sales alone \u2014\u00a0once the norm at AFM \u2014 is today a rarity, with most packages having some financing already in place to mitigate risk \u2014\u00a0and jitters. There are also egos to consider, notes one sales exec, who claims agencies are now reluctant for projects featuring their bigger names to launch without some money committed to paper beforehand. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tIndependent Film Company saw success with \u2018Dangerous Animals.\u2019<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s embarrassing for them to take a project to market starring one of their clients and then come back saying they haven\u2019t done any pre-sales so the film won\u2019t work,\u201d the exec says. (As a financier claims, it\u2019s \u201cmore embarrassing\u201d for the movie to be made, premiere at a festival and still fail to find a domestic distributor).<\/p>\n

\n\tHence why \u201cthe role of equity is super important,\u201d claims Delphine Perrier of Highland Film Group. \u201cSo are tax incentives and where you\u2019re going to shoot. You\u2019ve got to be crafty to make it all happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tKristen Figeroid, who heads up Neon\u2019s international sales and distribution, contends that \u201cthe target to pre-sell scripts has become smaller and smaller for buyers in order to make money, and so they have become more discerning at the script stage.\u201d Figeroid will be bringing to Steven Soderberg\u2019s next film, \u201cThe Christophers,\u201d which they picked up at Toronto for worldwide rights, to the AFM.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile the being in the auteur business is more challenging than it used to, Figeroid says the \u201cdesire to make these passion projects for directors and actors is still very prevalent, and it\u2019s the thing that studios have shied away from.\u201d As such, \u201ca lot of those projects fall into the independent market because of that,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\n\tDylan Leiner, Sony Pictures Classics\u2019 executive VP of acquisitions, production and business affairs, says the reason why buyers are still attracted to auteur-driven movies is because the younger audience cares about name directors.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile some assume that the younger generation \u2014 mostly fed on social media \u2014 could care less about auteurs, Leiner says they are in fact pickier with the precious hours at their disposal. \u201cThey have grown up in a time where everything happens faster and there\u2019s less patience, and there\u2019s more competition for their time and attention, so they are looking for entertainment that they already know going in will have some bona-fide success level or a guaranteed satisfaction,\u201d he claims. \u201cSo the auteur films, just like with certain classic movies, they know them by reputation, and so it gives them more assurance that their time is going to be used satisfactorily.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tThe longtime SPC executive says the company\u2019s acquisition strategy underscores the shake-up in moviegoing since the pandemic, skewing slightly younger demos. While the older audience hasn\u2019t fully returned to theaters since COVID, \u201ca younger audience is moving into that space and developing a new culture for theatrical films,\u201d Leiner says.<\/p>\n

\n\tBesides prestige projects that continue to boast some appeal, such market stalwarts as genre and animation are expected to continue to drive dealmaking at the AFM.<\/p>\n

\n\tShumaker will be showing footage of \u201cVictorian Psycho,\u201d which AC Independent began pre-selling at last year\u2019s AFM and will also be launching \u201cBuzzkill,\u201d Joe Lynch\u2019s horror comedy starring Billy Magnussen\u00a0and\u00a0Lulu Wilson.<\/p>\n

\n\tGenre and animation is also heading up Paris-based Charades\u2019 AFM slate following a year illuminated by the phenomenal success \u2014\u00a0at the box office and Oscars \u2014\u00a0of \u201cFlow,\u201d which it sold worldwide in early 2024. \u201cIt\u2019s a safe bet when it comes to the type of film you want to launch at the AFM,\u201d says CEO Yohann Comte, who does note that a flood of mid-budget CGI family animation has made that area a \u201clittle tougher.\u201d In its place \u2014\u00a0the rise and rise of Japanese animation, as marked by the recent box office smash \u201cDemon Slayer: Infinity Castle,\u201d currently resting on a global haul in excess of $660 million (on a two-digit budget). \u201cObviously it\u2019s better when it\u2019s IP-driven, but the market is really growing and is super appealing,\u201d Comte notes. Thanks to \u201cSlayer\u201d and Netflix\u2019s \u201cKPop Demon Hunters,\u201d expect the word \u201cDemon\u201d to feature heavily across the promo posters on the walls of the AFM.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe\u2019ve definitely seen an uptick in quality over the last 10 years because there are more high-end animation studios around the world,\u201d says Leiner, noting the company is currently handling \u201cScarlet\u201d by Mamoru Hosoda and \u201cA Magnificent Life\u201d by Sylvain Chomet. In fact, SPC has been \u201cconsidering adult animation to be as relevant as any other genre for well over 20 years,\u201d he says, citing a handful of Oscar-nominated SPC releases, such as \u201cPersepolis,\u201d \u201cWaltz With Bashir\u201d and \u201cRed Turtle.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tGenre, however, is starting to get over-supplied, with Shooman suggesting the quality has been pushed down. \u201cThe marketplace last year was saturated with mediocre genre products because everyone on the independent side and the studios had jumped into that space \u2014 if you look at the release calendar there\u2019s an inundation of genre.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBut the continued ability of genre to every now and then make an absolute fortune from a small budget will undoubtedly maintain its status as flavor of the day, especially at the AFM. Action-comedies and horror-comedies are also having a sustained moment, notes Perrier at Highland, which is selling 1980s throwback horror \u201cLice,\u201d starring Emile Hirsch, Justin Long and Kevin Connolly. \u201cWeapons\u201d \u2014\u00a0which blended supernatural horror and dark comedy and scared up $268 million \u2014\u00a0is a film that nearly every sales exec cites.<\/p>\n

\n\tAgain, it\u2019s about finding the quality packages with that clear, defined target audience, like \u201cWeapons\u201d and, indeed, \u201cGood Boy.\u201d This year\u2019s AFM will, as ever, be all about matching the latest crop of \u201cGood Boys\u201d with their perfect owners \u2014\u00a0owners who, hopefully, won\u2019t be too busy waiting in line for an elevator or cursing the din from a floor of slot machines.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs Vilsmaier notes on the markets return to L.A.: \u201cSometimes you need go somewhere else to realize what you\u2019ve got.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cLas Vegas is a cinematic city, but it\u2019s not cinema-friendly\u201d is one of the more diplomatic reviews of…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":369552,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[172716,162701,77805,1582,276,2961,224,5337],"class_list":{"0":"post-369551","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-afm","9":"tag-afm-2025","10":"tag-american-film-market","11":"tag-ca","12":"tag-california","13":"tag-la","14":"tag-los-angeles","15":"tag-losangeles"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115526366004615557","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=369551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369551\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/369552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=369551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=369551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=369551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}