Being independent at AFM is a matter of opinion. (Film Market).

Though 2002 turned out to be a rather grim year for film and TV conferences, the American Film Marker (AFM), which will be held February 19-26 in Santa Monica, California, is said to be primed and ready to reverse the trend.

"The AEM has two assets that make it unique," said Jonathan Wolf, managing director of the American Film Market and executive vice president of AFMA, the market's organizer. "First, it's the only motion picture trade event permanently based in Hollywood. Second, AFM is the only international trade show in film, television and music that is operated by the exhibitors. It makes the show extremely responsive to the needs of content providers.

Melissa Wohl, vice president of sales and acquisitions for Harmony Gold, feels that, for her, the AFM is a very necessary market. "We did not attend MIFED and [will not be in] Cannes because we don't have films big enough to warrant going over there." Hearst's Tom Devlin said: "[We] don't go to Cannes because it's ridiculously expensive. We're trying to save money these days." For Devlin, the AEM's local locale makes attending a breeze.

The market takes over Santa Monica each year by converting the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel into a bustling marketplace and renting all 23 cinema screens on the Santa Monica Promenade for its own use. AFMA (formerly the American Film Marketing Association), the market's -- organizer, was founded in 1980 by a group of independent U.S. film distributors looking to save money at international markets. Today, AFMA represents some 170 member companies, including Miramax, Lions Gate and New Line Cinema, which produce more than 350 films a year and generate over $4 billion annually in distribution revenues.

Many feel that member companies such as Miramax -- which is owned by the Walt Disney Company -- should not be allowed to tout their product as "independent," but Wolf disagrees. "Independent films are those where more than half the risk is taken by companies other than the seven major studios. They follow an independent business model which is different from Fox Searchlight, an arthouse division (or specialty division) that is fully financed by parent company 20th Century Fox. Miramax, New Line -- they subdistribute most of their films. When [AOL-Time Warner's] New Line did Lard of the Rings, they had to go country by country and resell the film. Therefore, the risk was not taken by a patent company but by a consortium of international buyers. . . . [Companies like Fox Searchlight] who falsely refer to themselves as independent companies utilize the parent company globally and do nor support the local distribution industry."

While most of the screenings are limited to buyers and distributors, the market opens the AFM Premiere Screenings to the public at large -- even providing complimentary badges to Santa Monica residents. "Being responsive to sellers," said Wolf, "we wanted to add a little more energy and a sense of a festive environment. And 15-20 percent of the films' [distributors] request public screenings. . . . We wanted to make the AFM more accessible not just for the Harvey Weinsteinsz, but for the film students with backpacks." The Premiere Screenings are open to anyone who works in the film industry, any student who attends a university in Southern California and anyone living in Santa Monica, "as a way of us giving back to the community and the industry," said Wolf. The only criterion for a film to be included in the Screenings is that it premiere at the AFM and nor be theatrically released prior to the market. This year's Premiere Screenings will give viewers a sneak peek at over 60 independent films. Last year's at tracted an audience of more than 3,000 local residents.

As of press time, 234 exhibitors had registered for the 23rd edition of the AFM. Last year's conference drew a total of 6,714 attendees, a six percent decrease from the 7,127 who attended in 2001. Buyers numbered 1,327, down from 1,447 the previous year. A record 338 exhibitors (which included both AFMA members and non-members) screened some 408 films, up from 398 in 2001.

As usual, the MM will offer a number of seminars for attendees to take part in, including the perennially popular annual Finance Conference -- which this year focuses on financing feature films -- in which financiers and CEOs proffer their predictions for the coming fiscal year. Six other seminars will be held throughout the market, but nothing was known of their content at press rime.