AFM won MIFED battle. markets' war still raging.

As the 26th annual AFM convened November 2-9 in Santa Monica, California, it unexpectedly found itself facing increased competition. When the venerable market decided a few years back to move from its longstanding February timeslot to November, the idea was to make MIFED superfluous in order to shrink the number of important markets down to two.

It hasn't quite worked out that way.

The move opened a window of opportunity for the Berlin Festival, Toronto and even MIPCOM. Even though Toronto didn't start out as a market per se, producers and buyers are using it to wheel and deal. In particular, of the estimated 800-plus buyers, a surprising number of them were from Latin America and Australia, and more distributors than normal attended from Japan and Europe.

Kirk D'Amico, CEO of Myriad Pictures, noted, "Toronto has never been this focused before--we were averaging seven to eight meetings a day. It's not exactly the AFM, but it's a market."

Traditionally, only producers who were part of Toronto's festival selection attended. But now, if there's a picture ready to be sold, more producers and distribution companies attend, if only to spread the word about their product. That is a reflection of the resurgent film business--with ever expanding cable and satellite platforms available globally and increasing number of channels, there are simply more buyers looking for product year-round, which means that at the moment, there is enough business to support multiple markets.

In addition, the short 12-day separation from MIPCOM to AFM caused some grumbling from both sellers and buyers of film and DVD content in Cannes and Santa Monica (see MIP-COM story on pg. 12).

Another aspect--perhaps overlooked by AFM organizers--is that by November, many companies have already spent the lion's share of their yearly acquisition budgets, so some producers prefer to hit earlier markets when buyers may be more financially flush.

However, budgets aside, AFM--which is produced by the Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA), a trade association representing producers and distributors of independent motion pictures and television programs--remains the world's largest film trade market, with a reported $500 million in feature film and television production and distribution deals closed last year. IFTA recorded a banner year for this AFM, with more than 7,000 participants from over 70 countries in attendance. A record 529 films representing 35 languages screened over the course of the week; of those, 382 were market premieres, the most ever. AFI FEST screened 45 of those films as Official Selections.

In addition, there were 410 exhibitors--another record--from 33 countries. That's a 15 percent increase from November 2004.

IFTA board member Mark Lindsay noted that 2005 was "the earliest we've ever sold out the market. The new date seems to be working for people. You also see a record number of buyers at the market."

Jonathan Wolf, executive vice president of IFTA and managing director at AFM, concurred: "It's clear that the global independent film industry is healthy and growing. This record-breaking market is a testament to the strength of the independent film business around the world. The 45 films at both the AFM and AFI FEST show that the industry sees tremendous value in our festival-market alliance."

To accommodate the increased business, for the first time ever, the market expanded beyond its Lowes Santa Monica Beach Hotel home with a a floor of suites next door at the Le Merigot. Organizers offered free badges for the Public Previews of 44 films, attracting Santa Monica residents as well as individuals working in the entertainment industry.

While AFM's size and reputation draws participants, one of the advantages of going to a smaller market like Berlin or Toronto is that buyers from smaller territories can often bypass international sales agents and deal directly with film producers. That saves money and makes budgets go farther. Plus, there is the added advantage of being able to see the reaction of a real audience and not a room full of professional buyers.

The ideal for many buyers would be to see festival and markets team up for a one-stop shopping experience. And in fact, one of the reasons for AFM's move to November was to take advantage of AFI's film festival. In Europe now, there's talk of a Berlin Festival-Cannes Market merge, taking a page from AFM. But the problem for AFM is that Los Angeles is so spread out that traveling between AFM at the beach and Hollywood, where AFI is held, becomes problematic. And frustrated buyers are not good for any market.

AFM's Wolf acknowledged the problem, but there was not much that could be done to control traffic. Still, AFM provided shuttles that ran on the hour between AFM and AFI and set up information booths to help attendees navigate.

This year, AFM also increased the number of industry panels it presented, which focused on financial, creative and legal issues facing independent filmmakers.

NOTABLE TITLES AT AFM 2005

American Gun, Pathe Pictures International (U.S.), starring Donald Sutherland and Marcia Gay Harden.

Ask the Dust, Capitol Films (U.K.), starring Colin Farrell and Salma Hayek.

Asterix and the Vikings, M6 D.A. (France), animation.

Brooklyn Rules, KMI (U.S.), starring Freddie Prinze Jr. and Mena Suvari.

Casper's Scare School, Classic Media (U.S.), animation.

Duelist, The Core Studio (Korea), starring Jiwon Ha and Sungki Ahn.

Entre Ses Mains, Pathe Distribution (France), starring Benoit Poelvoorde and Isabelle Carre.

Familia, Christal Films Distribution (Canada), starring Sylvie Moreau and Macha Grenon.

I Giorni DelrAbbandono, Adriana Chiesa Enterprises (Italy), starring Margherita Buy and Luca Zingaretti.

Jack-Fruit Thorn Kiss, Vietnam Media Corp. (Vietnam), starring Tran Hoi Anh Nguyen and Yen Ngoc Duong.

La Seconda Notre di Nozze, RAI Trade (Italy), by Pupi Avati. Lone Ranger" Way of the Mask, Classic Media (U.S.), animation.

October 17, 1961, BAC Films (France), starring Clotilde Courau and Jean-Michel Portal.

Perhaps Love, Celestial Pictures (Hong Kong), starring Takeshi Kaneshiro and Xun Zhou.

Saint Martyrs of the Damned, Max Films International (Canada), starring Francois Chenier and Isabelle Blais.

Sud Express, Sogepaq (Spain), starring Gerald Morales and Tino Guimaras.

Tsotsi, The Little Film Company (South Africa), starring Presley Chweneyagae and Terry Pheto.

Twelve and Holding, Fortissimo Films (the Netherlands), starring Conor Donovan and Jeremy Renner.

The White Masai, Beta Cinema (Germany), starring Nina Hoss and Jacky Ido.