AFM and AFI – Oh, My!
By Staci Layne Wilson
It’s November sweeps for movies in L.A. Two of the most high-profile and important events took place simultaneously over the past week.
AFM (American Film Market) is all about the pitch, the sell and buy, and is expensive to attend; while AFI Fest (American Film Institute Festival) is all about a cornucopia of finished but as-yet unreleased films from around the world, and the screenings are completely free to anyone lucky and persistent enough to score tickets online.
AFM
The business of independent motion picture production and distribution – a truly collaborative process – reached its peak as more than 8,000 industry leaders converged in Santa Monica for eight days of deal-making, screenings, seminars, networking and parties. Participants from over 70 countries including acquisition and development executives, agents, attorneys, directors, distributors, festival directors, financiers, film commissioners, producers, writers, and the world’s press, all wined, dined, schmoozed and signed on the dotted line.
It was my first time attending this fast-paced, jam-packed industry event, and it was quite a sight to see. Unlike a film-showing festival, the AFM is a marketplace where production and distribution deals are closed. In just over a week, more than $800 million in deals were sealed — it was amazing to me to see all the high profile movies still looking for distribution (with producers like Martin Scorsese, and stars like Jonathan Rhys Meyers). Of course, a lot of the films may have release slots in the U.S., but not yet in the U.K., or Indonesia or Spain for example. World premiere screenings included How to Make Love Like an Englishman (starring Pierce Brosnan, Salma Hayek and Jessica Alba), and Robot Overlords (starring Sir Ben Kingsley and Gillian Anderson).
Roundtable and Conversation Topics, open to all attendees, included intel on subjects ranging from How To Deal With the Hong Kong Trade Development Council to setting up a Twitter account for your film, and The Passion of the Film: Reaching the Faith Community. One of the best things I saw was A Comedian’s Journey from Crowdfunding to Distribution, which took place at the AFM Studio. Comedian, author and crowd-funding front-runner, Adam Carolla sat down with actor, director and comedian, Jay Chandrasekhar, to discuss their experiences of the film industry. It was not only funny, but very informative.
AFI
Since I’m not buying or selling anything, and I love to watch movies, AFI is more my speed. This is my third year in a row as a member-of-the-press attendee, and I must say – it just keeps getting better and better. (Thanks mainly to big-time sponsors like Audi, we film fans can see all for free.) Mostly self-contained in the Chinese 6 complex at Hollywood and Highland (with a little spill-over to the historic Egyptian Theater a couple of blocks away), it’s a great way to spend eight days. From noon till midnight, audiences can choose between gala events, shorts, world cinema, everything from horror to comedy, documentaries and more.
Many times, the filmmakers are in attendance for Q&A’s or at least an intro (this year’s hit for me was the hilarious intro by New Zealand comedians Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi talking about how their vampire mockumenary What We Do in the Shadows came about). Clint Eastwood’s much-anticipated American Sniper was the ‘secret screening’ and Oprah Winfrey was in attendance to talk about and preview her MLK biopic, Selma. The critically acclaimed Foxcatcher, starring Steve Carrell (who appeared on the red carpet), was the big closer.
Every year, someone special is honored. Typically it’s someone imported; someone we don’t usually see standing in line at the local Hollywood Starbuck’s. Last year’s icon honoree was Agnes Varda a director widely known as “the Godmother of the French New Wave.” This year, it’s living legend Sophia Loren, whose beauty graced not only the stage, but also the screen with revival showings of a few of her classics: Human Voice, Marriage Italian Style, and Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow.
That’s a wrap! If you’d like to attend either event next year, be sure and put them on your radar now by bookmarking their excellent and informative websites.
