Market flexes its muscles and warns digital media.

The message from the Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA) was clear: Buyers from the new technology sector have to assume some risks. This was the gist of the press conference held at the start of the IFTA-organized American Film Market (AFM), which takes place annually at the Loews Hotel in Santa Monica, California.

Explained IFTA'S executive vp and managing director of the AFM, Jonathan Wolf: "It's not going to be like 'just give us your content and we'll run it.'"

To "assume some risks" is the code word for either giving a minimum guarantee or pre-buying. Lloyd Kaufman, the newly elected IFTA chairman, pointed out that when buyers from new media don't assume some risks, they don't have respect for content and tend to put the product acquired in the "back of the bus."

Jean M. Prewitt, IFTA's president, focused on illegal downloads and pirated DVDs, stressing the fact that piracy also translates into the inability to buy, and therefore it is harmful not only to producers and distributors, but to buyers, as well.

Even though the AFM has somewhat changed its DVD focus, and gets more of a Japanese presence, as well as larger contingents from the TV buying and indie distribution communities, one thing that, according to Wolf, won't ever change, is the current market date. Despite the fact that the AFM follows a strong MIPCOM event in Cannes, France (see related story on page 10), there is no chance, in Wolf's mind, that the AFM would ever return to its original February-early March dates.

But while the IFTA won't change the AFM's dates, with Kaufman as its chairman, the event will surely change its tone, becoming livelier, more entertaining and more attuned to the needs of smaller independent producers and distributors. As they say in the industry, he has restored the "show" in show business. In his real life, Kaufman serves as president of New York-based Troma Entertainment, a 33-year-old production and distribution company that he co-founded right after graduating from Yale University.

[ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED]

For the AFM, the strong MIPCOM showing meant the loss of some major European players, such as RaiTrade and M6DA. The reduced Italian presence in Santa Monica was also attributed to the Rome Film Fest, which ended three days before the AFM began on October 31, and included a market (called Business Street). Turkey's Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival and Eurasia Film Market, which focused on Asia and Europe and which concluded just a few days prior to the start of the AFM, did not affect the Santa Monica showcase much. Other festivals that surrounded the AFM were the New York Film Fest, which ended October 14, and the BFI London Film Fest, which went down October 17-November 1.

Nonetheless, the AFM posted record numbers of exhibitors with 430 production/distribution companies from 30 countries and 1,628 buyers from 65 nations.

This AFM also revealed the market as a good source for new films, as well as a venue in which to spot trends--such as the one currently emerging around the life of Medellin drug ringleader Pablo Escobar. Ever since U.S. Special Military Forces gunned him down in Colombia in 1993, Hollywood has been trying to make a movie out of his life. Indeed, the difficulty in producing a movie about Escobar inspired a recurring plot line for HBO series Entourage. This year's AFM saw three Escobar projects: Killing Pablo (Bob Yari producer, Joe Carnahan director) based on the book by Mark Bowden; Mi Hermano Pablo (Oliver Stone, producer, with J2 Pictures), written by Escobar's brother, Roberto; and Escobar (Hanibal Pictures). However, the Yari Film Group cancelled a planned press conference for Killing Pablo reportedly because no talent was available for a film in which principal photography is scheduled to begin in January 2008.

Coincidentally, at the Florida Media Market in Miami, a filmmaker who was personally affected by Escobar's murderous streak was peddling another, similar Escobar-themed project (see front cover story).

[ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED]

In any case, in the view of Italian film executives Jef Nuyts of Intra Movies and Roberto Di Girolamo of Film Export, who were exhibiting at AFM, an Escobar movie would only work in Italy if a big name were attached.

The AFM opened on Halloween, a time when U.S. children celebrate spookiness. Halloween was also the day that the Hollywood scriptwriters' contract expired. Writers had been threatening to strike if not awarded better residuals from DVD and new technology sales, which are also called electronic sell-throughs (downloads and VoD). The fact that the AFM opened the same day that the contract between writers and producers expired wasn't lost on observers who noted that, while the writers were threatening to strike over digital rights, the IFTA was warning the digital media industry to cough up more dough for content.

Because of the looming strike (somehow not felt by the industry at MIPCOM), some international buyers rushed to the AFM with the intent of stockpiling product--even when prices were raised, the devaluation of the U.S. dollar made for good bargains. It remains to be seen if international buyers preferred their bargains at the Loews or at the nearby malls. In addition, this AFM showcased a good number of new distribution companies, such as the Woodland Hills-based Unistar, which offered an added attraction to buyers. Even though the newcomers were relegated below the lobby area of the Loews or the adjacent Le Merigot Hotel--which was opened in 2004 to accommodate the overflow--they still received good visibility.

Wolf's warnings to the new media sector about assuming risks, reflected the fact that DVD sales--the traditional bread-and-butter of the AFM--are dwindling due to the popularity of downloads (indeed, as reflected by this Issue's front cover story about the studios' digital strategies, the younger generation barely knows DVDs). It seems that digital media will be the next big thing for the independents.

In the U.S. alone, online movies have become a part of everyday life with 73 percent of the online population (or 120 million users) watching online movies/video streams monthly.

However, if digital media represents a big business, as well as big potential for the studios (Disney's Bob Iger, for example, estimated that his company's digital revenues will be about $750 million this year), traditional business for the indies is still running in analog time, in the sense that from the moment a movie is acquired to the time it appears on international screens takes at least one year.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

As far as the aforementioned large Asian buying contingent, Tad Omiya of Japan's TWA estimated the number of his competitors as being similar to last year. In addition, Omiya stated that, for his type of buying, MIPCOM is becoming more important. Indeed, according to Regent's Gene George, a lot of AFM time is spent following up on MIPCOM sales. And even though the "A" titles are sold before production begins, the fact that the AFM has many premieres, in the opinion of George, still makes it a theatrical market.

According to Screen Media Venture's Almira Malyshev, this AFM was slow because of a strong MIPCOM. Gavin Reardon of ... and Action! concurred, saying that "this AFM is very quiet, but I have no understanding of why, except that MIPCOM is getting stronger. And many attendees said that the AFM is driven by a large quantity of micro-budget product, but the buyers show a lack of urgency--they all say they're coming [to the AFM] but don't commit to meetings."

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

In addition to the buying and selling, the movie premieres, scattered parties and general screenings in theaters around Santa Monica, the AFM is known for its seminars (a total of 16) and, recently, for its association with the American Film Institute's AFI Fest, an international film competition.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The eight-day AFM, which ended November 7, attracted 8,343 participants from 65 countries (compared to 8,208 last year), especially from Japan, the U.S. and France.

Next year's market dates are November 5-12, which means it will once again take place 18 days after the end of MIPCOM, just like this year.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

AFM 2007 Figures at a Glance

* 8,343 attendees

* 1,628 buyers from 65 countries

* 430 companies from 30 countries exhibited

* 900 screenings of over 537 films in 34 languages

* 104 industry world film premieres

* 371 market premieres

* 16 seminars

* Top Ten Buying Contingents: U.S. (316), Japan (230), France (93), Germany (82), U.K. (68), Korea (67), Italy (57), Brazil (52), Turkey (45), Canada and Australia (42 each)

* Largest number of buying companies outside the U.S.: Japan (54), France (37), Germany (35), U.K. (30)