DISTRIBUTION CONFERENCE WORKING WITH SALES AGENTS (9.15am) Clay Epstein, Moderator President, Film Mode Entertainment “Film models are not built on exceptions but rather built on norms and standards. The reason you’re reading about Netflix and multi-million dollar sales out of a festival is because it’s news, it’s not the norm.” “Sales agents have changed their responsibility. They have become producing partners, co-financiers ...
THE FUTURE OF VIDEO ON DEMAND (11.15am) Andy Bohn Founder & Partner, The Film Arcade “Some of the irony of VOD is that it was originally a promise of unlimited shelf space. However, when you are talking about the user interface on Netflix, iTunes, etc., I find that it’s actually less shelf space versus when you could walk into a Blockbuster 15 years ago and skim the aisles for 10 minutes and see a lot of box art really quickly. No...
WORKING WITH THE U.S. GUILDS (3pm) Kay S. Wolf Senior Representative/Member Organizing Department, Writers Guild of America West “You want to get all the protection and benefits of joining the union […] We really are plugged into the industry standards.” “Don’t guess, just call. Some producers, they fear calling. We’re here as a resource, we really do want to protect the talent.” &nb...
November 6, 2017: Los Angeles: Today the AFM hosted: Production Conference, featuring the following two sessions: Producing for the Pre-Sales Marketplace What They Want: Inside the Major Studios How to Get the Best Music for Your Project and Save Time & Money Distributing & Monetizing Feature Documentaries Romania Welcomes Hollywood ROMANIA WELCOMES HOLLYWOOD (11.30am) Andrei Zinca Moderator Director/Pro...
November 6, 2017: Los Angeles: the AFM hosted: Production Conference, featuring the following two sessions: Producing for the Pre-Sales Marketplace What They Want: Inside the Major Studios How to Get the Best Music for Your Project and Save Time & Money Distributing & Monetizing Feature Documentaries Romania Welcomes Hollywood HOW TO GET THE BEST MUSIC FOR YOUR PROJECT AND SAVE TIME & MONEY (3pm) Dennis...
November 6, 2017, Los Angeles: the AFM hosted the Production Conference, featuring the following session on feature documentaries Anna Godas CEO, Dogwoof “Over the past couple years, there’s quite a few [narrative] funds that have started doing documentaries. We’ve been approached by quite a few. There is money that 10 years ago wasn’t there.” “If you want to work with people, then work with people.” [on collab...
November 6, 2017: Los Angeles: the AFM hosted: Production Conference, featuring the following two sessions: Producing for the Pre-Sales Marketplace What They Want: Inside the Major Studios How to Get the Best Music for Your Project and Save Time & Money Distributing & Monetizing Feature Documentaries Romania Welcomes Hollywood WHAT THEY WANT: INSIDE THE MAJOR STUDIOS (11.15am) Sam Brown ...
PRODUCTION CONFERENCE PRODUCING FOR THE PRE-SALES MARKETPLACE (9.15am) Mark Damon CEO & Chairman, Foresight Unlimited “The pre-sale market is not exactly a guarantee of getting a picture funded.” “The problem today is that you need to get a deal with an American distributor that will guarantees you a wide release – without that, it’s difficult to make pre-sales.” “There’s not an actor in the world today...
THE FUTURE IS FEMALE (5:00PM) Jennifer Warren Chairperson & Founder, Alliance of Women Directors “This is the 20th anniversary of the Alliance of Women Directors, and only in the last two years have we had a response. It is new, and a nice change. People are now listening to the fact that there is no parity in the workplace for women, which is principally what we are after here. Women directors hold only about six percent of positions as feature film directors. We feel i...
THE OTHER SIDE OF RUSSIA (2.15pm) Val Kupeev Film Commissioner, Russian Office of Film Commissions “Russia is the land of sand dunes, warm seas, unique forests, mesmerizing lakes, magnetic mountains, mystic Siberia, icy winters and history.” “Russia has the influence of different European cultures – these are reflected in our architecture. We have modern architecture as well. There are plenty of futuristic locations, including Moscow’s financi...
THE FILM FINANCE MATRIX: FROM SCRIPT TO SCREEN (11.15am) Shirley Davis Executive Vice President, Physical Production, Alcon Entertainment, LLC “You have to build a solid foundation – build the skeleton of your budget first because that’s going to be your bible and that’s what’s going to determine whether you’ll profit or not from your film.” “I always ask people what type of project they’re trying to make before building...
PRODUCING STUDIO FILMS WITH INDEPENDENT BUDGETS (9.15am) Paul Hanson CEO, Covert Media “In today’s marketplace, there are lots of alternatives that will allow you to build an interesting distribution model across some of these up and coming streaming platforms.” “There’s a dynamic nature to pre-sales. At any point in time, this dynamic can change.” “10 years ago, you could have a B/B- grade film, but if you had the right st...
November 5, 2017: Los Angeles: Today the AFM hosted: · Finance Conference II, featuring the following two sessions: o Producing Studio Films with Independent Budgets o The Film Finance Matrix: From Script to Screen · The Passion of The Film: Reaching The Faith Community roundtable, which saw filmmakers revealing the essential elements of story, ministry and o...
A discussion of the independent film landscape, which used case studies of specific financing models to identify a sustainable way forward for LGBTQ representation in cinema. Lucy Mukerjee Moderator Director of Programming, Outfest & Newfest Christine D’Souza Gelb Agent, Endeavor Content [on waiting for festival premieres to sell your film] “When you have the right distributor with the right plan, you just want to sign up right away and get everyone on...
Today the AFM hosted its annual Pitch Conference which drew an audience of more than 700 people – a full hous · The morning started out with moderator Pilar Alessandra, Producer Cassian Elwes ane!d Virgin Produced’s Tobin Armbrust sharing practical advice and the essential rules and tools of pitching. · The second part of the session consisted of 14+ filmmakers hitting the ...
Finance Conference 1: The Big Picture – QUOTES: Adrian Alperovich COO, OddLot Entertainment “From a producer’s standpoint, the proliferation of new streaming platforms is a good thing. As a producer, it means there are so many more buyers and so many more ways to expose our projects.” “The SVODs have certainly caused some disruption in the way things are done: each platform is different and each one has their own unique acquisition stra...
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Variety and Steve Chan Chi-Fat (Director, Weeds on Fire) “To complete a movie as a new Director [in Hong Kong], it’s all about your network and support system.” “I worked for Hong Kong’s TVB at one stage. They used the same system for almost 30 years and it never changed.” “Hong Kong now has a new channel called Real TV and the system they use is quite different. They respect wri...
