From the shores of the Pacific Ocean in Santa Monica, the American Film Market (AFM) has long been a beacon for filmmakers, producers, sales agents, and distributors. It not only served as the last major market of the year where distributors boosted their spring release slates but also as a barometer for new packaged projects for the year to come.
However, last week’s 42nd annual AFM left many producers and sales agents worried about the difficulties facing the independent film market, particularly in attaching name talent to projects with the ongoing strike of SAG-AFTRA. There were no blockbuster sales last week to report, and only a handful of new projects generated genuine interest from distributors.
Hopes were high at the beginning of last week that a deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) representing the streamers and the studios would be reached during AFM, but as the weekend approached, hopes faded. Now, after AMPTP’s “last, best and final offer” was deemed insufficient by the union’s negotiating team on Monday, a resolution to the 117-day strike seems further off with each passing day.
