AFM 2004

by William C. Martell

Anyone wandering into Leow's Santa Monica Hotel off the street would probably be confused. Something is going on in here, but what? The lobby is filled with equal numbers of businessmen in suits and starlets in next to nothing. There are a pair of flat screen TVS suspended over the lobby showing non-stop movie trailers for films like *Proof* with Gwyneth Paltrow and Jake Gyllenhaal and *DinoCrock* featuring the title creature munching on water skiers at a resort. Everyone seems to be exchanging business cards or passing out "flaps" (8.5' x 11" mini movie posters), and there are a couple of really odd people in costume trying to lure the guys in suits up to a room on the seventh floor to see a movie called *Tales From The Crapper*. Welcome to the 24th annual American Film Market!

The American Film Market is one of three markets where independently made films are sold to distributors from around the world. Warner Brothers, Paramount, and Universal have long standing deals in place with foreign distributors, but smaller companies and Indies often make deals on a film-by-film basis at markets like AFM, Cannes and MIFED (in Milan). Indie Producers from all over the world set up shop at Leow's, turning the luxury hotel into the world's most exclusive office building. Security guards are posted at the elevators and stairwells to keep those without badges off the sales floors. Sometimes it's hard to tell who they are trying to keep out: the odd people in costumes are allowed in but often the people in suits are refused.

On the upper floors are American producers selling films to foreign countries, or foreign producers selling films to America. The films range from Oscar winners and art films like *City Of God* and *Hotel Rwanda* to big budget films like the new Bruce Willis thriller *Hostage* and John Travolta's firehouse drama *Ladder 49* to low budget genre films like Steven Seagal's submarine flick *Submerged* and Don "the Dragon" Wilson's new virtual reality action flick *Sci-Fighter*. Any movie with distribution made outside the studio system ends up here.

THREE ELEVATORS - NO WAITING

When I first attended AFM back in 1986, the lines in front of the three hotel elevators were so long that you'd gladly climb the stairs to the eighth floor. The stairwells were rivers of people climbing as fast as they could to make their next meeting. For the past few years the hallways have become less crowded, and this year it was actually faster to wait for the elevators. Part of this is due to the studios buying up independent companies: Disney buys Miramax, Universal buys Shooting Gallery, Fox creates Fox Searchlight and now Warner Brothers has their own "independent" production arm. The number of "independent" films actually made independently is shrinking every year.

This has also made it tough for the remaining Indie companies to stay alive. Back in the late 1980s a company like CineTel could secure a limited theatrical release for their movies like *Relentless* starring Judd Nelson and Leo Rossi and written by Phil Alden Robinson (*Field Of Dreams*). Today an Indie genre film would have trouble finding a screen not filled by the latest Hollywood blockbuster. Independent producers are struggling, and this year it seemed that as many as a third of the regular companies were missing from the halls. Some of this may be due to mergers, some may be due to companies closing their doors, and some may be due to the second AFM.

TWO FOR THE PRICE OF TWO

This year there will be a second AFM in November. For several years AFM has been quietly battling with the MIFED market in Italy, and now war has been declared. AFM officials say they want to move the market to fall in order to remove conflicts with Sundance and the Oscars, but they also think there isn't enough business for three markets in one year. Everybody loves Cannes for the glamor and AFM for the business, so that means MIFED has got to go. By rescheduling AFM at the same time as the Milan market, buyers and sellers must make a choice between the two... and everyone is confident they will go to Santa Monica.

This means two AFMs in one year, and many companies can't afford to attend both. That may account for *some* of the missing film companies, but others may be casualties of a rapidly changing business. One that gets tougher to make a buck in every year.

WHAT'S HOT?

Every company seems to be chasing trends - trying to stay alive until the next big market rescues the industry. Looking for the next big subgenre or the next big actor or the catering to the next big sales territory. Sometimes when you walk down the hallway, all of the posters look exactly the same. Fifteen years ago those posters had musclebound guys with machine guns in the foreground and an exploding helicopter in the background (usually there weren't any helicopters in the actual film). Five years ago it was giant bugs on a rampage. This year it was disaster movies and horror flicks.

Often these companies hop on the same bandwagon as the big studios... but most often they are slightly ahead of the curve. Hollywood had two giant-asteroid-hits-Earth movies in the same year, but the AFM version (*Within The Rock* - an HBO World Premiere Movie) came three years earlier. My martial arts vampire flick *Night Hunter* came three years before *Blade*. Because these films go through less development, they can jump on a trend (or news story) while the big studios are hearing "takes" or pitches on the idea. For the past two years all of the posters at AFM have been for disaster movies, preparing us for Hollywood's big summer flick *The Day After Tomorrow*.

Disaster movies were still prevalent in the halls this year, along with horror. Some companies like Porchlight specialize in *family* disaster movies: a family must put their problems aside when they're caught in an avalanche or tornado or chased by lightning (*Lightning: Bolts Of Destruction*). United Film Organization, which specializes in effects driven high concept films, is making a string of disaster films for the Sci-Fi Channel... look for a tsunami to take out Seattle in the near future.

Horror movies include everything from Dream Entertainment's reality show parody *Joe Killionaire* to serial killer biographies like *Manson* to sexy werewolf movies like Lion's Gate's *Gingersnaps 3*. Any genre with a loyal audience that's under served by studio films can usually be found at the American Film Market. You may wonder who watches all of these horror movies, but they wouldn't make them if there wasn't a hungry audience somewhere. Many of the horror films were extremely low budget: often shot on digital video for less than $100k. These are often "backyard movies" made way outside Hollywood by amateur film makers and funded by doctors and dentists or off the filmmaker's credit cards.

The actual numbers by genre for 2004 put the catch-all "Drama" in the lead with 327 films (down from 353 last year). Before you dust off that script about a close knit family of sharecroppers trying to survive the great depression, it should be noted that cops and robbers movies usually end up in the "Drama" category as well as films that will end up on the "Thriller" shelves at your local video store. Some companies categorize anything that isn't funny as a "drama", even if it takes place in outer space. Comedy was next with 182 films, up from 152 last year. Followed by Thrillers with 148 films, and action with 126 films. Horror probably showed the greatest change from last year: this year there were 117 horror movies compared to only 68 a year ago. Science Fiction also showed an increase: 33 films this year and 17 last year. There were also a bunch of documentaries this year: 75 compared to 37 last year. Movies like *Super Size Me* and *Fahrenheit 9/11* have opened the doors to documentaries as entertainment.

My best guest for the next big trend would be comic book movies. We've already seen hints of this with Creative Light's *Comic Book: The Movie* starring Mark Hamill and Action Concept's amazing *Punisher* clone *The Clown* (more large scale stunts than five big budget Hollywood action films). Recently Lion's Gate made a deal with Marvel to make some of their older comic books (*Thor*, *Captain America*) as direct to DVD titles, and I think this may create a trend that other AFM producers may follow.

REINVENTION

AFM has reinvented itself more than Madonna. It's been a market for art house movies, a market for direct-to-video titles, a market for Oscar caliber films, a market for schlock, a market for Gay films and niche movies, a market for family films, a market for cable films, and a market for blockbusters. Scrambling to stay alive as the market changes. Every time it looks like the independent film is dead, something comes along to keep them off life support. It may be a new country (Russia suddenly starts buying movies) or a new funding source (Irish lottery money) or a new market (those 500 channels of cable).

A few years ago Franchise Films tried using the same foreign presales techniques that are used to fund low budget genre films to make big budget star-driven films like *Driven* and *Battlefield Earth*. Suddenly AFM was filled with big budget movie stars... usually in cruddy exploitation films. Some of that can still be found for sale at AFM, along with those movie star pet projects that every studio turned down. The cable movie business has been killed by *The Sopranos* - hour long original series like *Six Feet Under* and *The Division* replacing the made for cable movie on most cable networks.

SAVED BY THE DVD

Just as DVDs are helping offset the cost of producing expensive stinkers at studios, they may be the solution to the problems at AFM. The old direct-to-VHS business sold a limited number or tapes to stores at the "rental price" of about $100 a tape. After a year the most successful titles (usually studio films) might be offered at a "sell through" price of $20. People rented films, only buying big event films like *Titanic*.

DVD changed the formula: all discs are offered at a "sell through" price of around $20. Though you can still rent a DVD at Blockbuster or Hollywood Video, most people buy them. I don't know what your DVD collection looks like, but mine is massive. A title I might have waited until dollar night to rent on VHS, I'll buy on DVD. DVD sales are more than twice box office: as I mentioned last year, *Monsters, Inc* made $180 million in its first *week* on DVD.

Already this has created a side business for many AFM producers, making low budget sequels to studio films. Mainline Releasing used their low budget expertise to produce *Wild Things 2* for MGM. Most studios have created their own in-house direct-to-DVD production arms, but some work may be farmed out to existing AFM companies.

AFM companies are already making and selling direct-to-DVD titles, but the rules for making sell through titles seem to be different than the rules for making films for rental. It may take some of these guys a while to figure out that stars, production values, and stories actually matter if you plan on viewing the film more than once. Companies like Nu Image are experimenting with creating film *brands* on DVD, like the *American Heroes* movies, hoping to hook viewers with one title so that they can sell them the others. I think that's a step in the right direction (though the *American Heroes* movies that highlight different branches of the U.S. Armed Services were made overseas without Department Of Defense co-operation), but the real DVD future may be in *series* films. A high concept franchise starring a TV or B movie star with two or three new titles every year. The Lions Gate / Marvel direct-to-DVD films based on *Thor* and *Captain America* will test the waters for film series.

DIGITAL vs. 35mm

The most unusual thing about this year's AFM was the prevalence of "backyard films". In the past some of the smaller distribs down in the "basement" (3rd and 4th floors) may have had some amateur films, but most of the product offered above ground were films made by big companies with offices in Century City or Santa Monica. With fewer markets for movies, the budget gap is getting wider, with dirt cheap "backyard" films taking the place of the low end professional films. This year there were 88 new companies at AFM, and all of them seemed to be selling films shot on credit cards.

Selling a script to a digital filmmaker is probably a bad idea - there just isn't enough money to be paid anything when the film is being funded on credit cards. You want to be on the other side of the deal on a digital project - you want to be the producer.

If you're thinking of making a "backyard" horror movie cast a recognizable name. If you can't afford Clint Howard, find a heavy metal star or a scream queen like Brinke Stevens. Give the audience something they won't find in mainstream horror movies: excessive gore effects, nudity, and a forbidden or controversial story subject. The great thing about shooting digital is that digital effects are cheaper and easier to use. Producer Dan Benton (*The Revolting Dead*) makes films that utilize both digital effects like ghosts and matte work, plus practical gore effects. Paul Gagne's high-def slasher film *The Slaughterhouse Massacre* pushes the envelope in gore, cutting characters in half both horizontally *and* vertically. The film also features some digital head removal for a very realistic decapitation scene.

The drawback with shooting digital is that many distribs still want you to deliver a final cut on 35mm film... and the transfer from digital to film is expensive. Even though the film may only be released on DVD, many distributors want the choice to release theatrically. But a good, edgy, gore-filled horror movie shot digital will probably still earn enough to pay off your credit cards and leave you with some profit.

The future of AFM will be decided November 3rd through the 10th in Santa Monica. Will the hallways be crowded again? Will we have to wait forever for an elevator? Will the "backyard" movie distributors be pushed down to the basement by new companies specializing in high-end DVD originals? Will AFM kill off the MIFED market? Will there be a new trend, a new hot foreign territory, a bunch of new companies? Will November provide better weather? By mid-November we will know the answer to all of these questions, and know if there's a future for Indie films.

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