Oct 25, 2006
AMERICAN FILM MARKET ANNOUNCES
CONFERENCE AND SEMINAR LINEUP
LOS ANGELES, October 25, 2006 –
The American Film Market (AFM) today announced the lineup for its Finance
Conference and Seminar series presented by Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
LLP and KPMG LLP, set to take place during the November 2006 Market (1-8
November).
This year, the AFM will host a
record 13 sessions, which span a broad range of topics and issues important to
the global entertainment industry and feature a diverse cross section of
prominent entertainment executives, filmmakers and talent from around the
world. These informative panels provide
a forum where attendees can interact with and learn from prominent filmmakers,
financiers, industry executives and talent.
The series will kick off with the
AFM Finance Conference on Friday, Nov. 3 at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel
(101 Wilshire Blvd., Santa
Monica), with
additional panels taking place at the JW Marriott Le Merigot Hotel (next door to
the Loews Hotel) through Tuesday, Nov. 7.
These popular seminars are being
programmed by the Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA), as well as
a number of major industry organizations, including Directors Guild of America,
Writers Guild of America, west, SAGIndie/Screen Actors Guild, American Society of
Cinematographers, Film Independent, International Committee of Women in Film,
British Academy of Film and Television Arts/L.A. and Hong Kong Trade
Development Council.
Below is the full schedule of
seminars, including participants and venue. For pricing and ticket information, please
visit www.americanfilmmarket.com.
Friday, 3 November, 2006
9:00am -
12:30pm
Programmed by: Independent Film &
Television Alliance
The
yearly Finance Conference brings together CEOs, financiers, and filmmakers in
two back-to-back sessions where you will learn about the current state of
independent film financing. The high-powered panels will discuss emerging trends
and financing options.
Session One:
New Sources of Equity for Financing Film: Wall
Street Develops a Taste for
Hollywood
Moderator:
John
Burke,
Partner, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, LLP
Panelists:
Laura
Fazio,
Managing Director Capital Markets Origination Media, Communications & Entertainment, Dresdner
Kleinwort
Tom
Pollock,
Principal,
The Montecito Picture Company
Roy
Salter,
Principal, Salter Group
Bob
Yari,
Principal, Yari Film Group
Session Two:
Maximizing Your Distribution
Rights
Moderator:
Penny Mavridis Sales, Principal,
International Corporate Tax, KPMG LLP
Panelists:
Vicki Cherkas,
Partner, Head of Business Affairs, Business Development and New Ventures,
Greenestreet Films,
Inc.
Joseph
D. Chianese,
VP of Business Development & Tax Incentives, Entertainment Partners
Los
Angeles
Hal Sadoff, Head of
International & Independent Film, International Creative Management
Agency
Diane Stidham, Managing
Director, Newbridge Film Capital
4:00pm -
5:30pm
Programmed by: Hong
Kong Trade Development Council
Known for its exceptional
productions and creative talents, Hong Kong has evolved
from an Asian leader for filmmaking to an incomparable hub for co-production in
the hot region. Learn from our expert panelists about partnering with
Hong Kong companies and hit the expressway to the
China market via
Hong Kong.
Panelists:
Lee
Beasley,
Head, Media and Entertainment, Creative Industries, Client Relationships,
Wholesale Banking
Charmaine
Koo,
Partner, Deacons
Han
Sanping,
General Manager, China Film Group Corporation
Nansun
Shi,
Executive Director, Film Workshop Co. Ltd.
Saturday, 4 November, 2006
9:00am -
12:30pm
Pitch
Me! Programmed by: Independent Film & Television
Alliance
Whether you have a meeting with a
studio head or you bump into an actor in an elevator, you need to be able to
pitch your film well. Learn the art of the pitch in this intensive session where
a dozen filmmakers pitch their project to a panel of industry experts - agents,
producers, and production execs - who will give their unvarnished feedback on
each pitch, saying what worked, what didn't, and why. Space is limited - advance
registration is recommended.
Moderator: Stephanie Palmer, President, Good in a
Room
Panelists: Peggy
Rajski, Executive Producer, Bee Season; Producer, Home for the
Holidays, Little Man Tate; Director, ER (TV Series) Sebastian Twardosz, VP, Craftsman
Films
2:00pm - 5:30pm
Location
Expo® Programmed by:
Independent Film & Television
Alliance
Sponsored by: Air
New Zealand
Film Commissioners and
representatives from around the world discuss incentives and "soft money." Learn
how to get 30% or more of your budget covered! Space is limited - advance
registration is recommended.
Session One:
North American
States
Moderator:
Steve Fayne, Partner, Akin Gump
Strauss Hauer & Feld, LLP
Panelists from: Dan Chugg,
Alberta Film Commissioner
Jamie Cope, Location Services Manager,
West Virginia Film Office
Jamie Delatte, Film
Commissioner, Louisiana Capital
Area Film Commission Tonya S.
Holly, President, Alabama
Filmmakers Association Luis A.
Riefkohl, Executive Director and Film Commissioner, Puerto
Rico Film Commission Christopher Stelly, Economic
Development Manager, Louisiana
Film Office
Session Two: National Perspectives
Moderator:
Mark Hutchinson, Principal, Rothstein Kass
Panelists: Jamal
Alsharif, Manager, Dubai
Studio
City
Owen Bethel, President,
Bahamas
Invest International
Taniela (Dan) Bolea, CEO,
Fiji Audio
Visual Commission
Patrick Mao Huang,
Taiwan
Carlene Tan, Manager, Industry
Development (Media Services), Media Development Authority of
Singapore
David Zitzerman, Partner, Goodmans LLP,
Canada
Sunday, 5 November, 2006
11:00am - 12:30pm
Who Backs Movies and
Why Programmed by: Film Independent
Have you ever wondered what made
an investor say yes? Is a great script enough, or can a killer idea be thwarted
by a poorly thought-out business plan or budget? Players in packaging and film
financing reveal why they say "No" most of the time, and what producers need to
assemble to hear that elusive "Yes." Learn about current sources of financing;
finding the right fit for your project; attracting interest from talent; and the
do's and don'ts of approaching an investor.
Moderator:
Michael Donaldson, Partner, Donaldson
and Hart
Panelists:
Holly Becker, Senior Vice
President, Production, Sidney Kimmel Entertainment
Cassian Elwes, Senior Vice President,
William Morris Agency
Bo Hyde, CEO/Co-Founder,
Cherry
Road
Films
Diane Weyermann, Executive Vice President of Documentary
Production, Participant Productions
3:00pm - 4:30pm
Programmed by: AXIUM
Moderator:
Jeff
Begun,
Axium International; author Guide to U.S. Production Incentives
Panelists:
Dama
Chasle,
independent producer; formerly Tax VP, 20th Century Fox
Jeff
Geoffrey,
partner, Blue Rider
Mike
Upton,
Head of Production, 2929 Entertainment
Monday, 6 November, 2006
11:00am -
12:30pm
Programmed by: Writers Guild of America, west
It's a killer script but will the
film be marketable? Are non-theatrical markets - TV, Internet, iPods, DVDs -
limiting or expanding creative content? Screenwriters discuss how marketing and
distribution trends affect (or don't) the topics they choose and the way their
ideas are expressed.
Moderator: Billy Ray, Co-Writer/Director,
Breach; Co-Writer, Flightplan; Writer/Director, Shattered
Glass
Panelists: Doug Atchison, Writer/Director,
Akeelah and the Bee; Writer/Director, Outspoken; Co-Writer,
Spinning Into Butter Jessica
Bendinger, Writer/Director, Stick It; Writer/Co-Producer, Bring It
On; Co-Writer, First Daughter, Aquamarine; Writer, Sex and the
City
Ted Elliot, Co-Writer,
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of
the Black Pearl;
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's
Chest; Co-Writer/Co-Producer, Shrek Tyger Williams, Writer/Co-Producer,
Menace II Society
2:00pm -
3:30pm
(working title) Programmed by:
Directors Guild of
America
Directors,
exhibitors, and distributors discuss the aesthetic and financial implications of
shifting business models and the pervasive trend toward narrowing exhibition
windows.
Panelist:
John
Fithian,
President, National Association of Theater Owners
Marcy Magiera, Editor,
Video Business
4:00pm -
5:30pm
Programmed by: The International Committee of
Women In Film
Getting your independent feature
or short film into a festival can often be the first step to distribution. Top
executives and senior programmers will tell us what they are looking for... how
and when to apply... and how to maximize your experience if you are
accepted.
Moderator: June Shelley, Chair, Women in Film
International
Panelists: Nancy Collet, Director of
Programming, AFI FEST presented by Audi Matt Dentler, Film Festival Producer,
South By Southwest Conferences and Festivals
Eleonora Granata,
USA
Representative/Programmer, Venice
International Film Festival Caroline
Libresco, Senior Programmer, Sundance Film Festival
Jeremy Platt,
Artistic Manager/Head Programmer, Santa
Barbara International Film Festival Rachel Rosen, Director of
Programming, Film Independent's
Los Angeles Film Festival David Straus, Co-Founder/CEO,
Withoutabox.com
Tuesday, 7
November, 2006
11:00am -
12:30pm
Totems & Taboos: The
Rules and Myths of the International Marketplace Programmed by: The
British Academy of Film & Television Arts, Los
Angeles
What genres work internationally? What
genres are taboo? Romantic comedies? Westerns? Baseball movies? Erotic
thrillers? What are the "rules" and what are the "myths" of the foreign
marketplace? How can you make your movie the exception? An insider's guide for
the perplexed.
Moderator:
John
Alan Simon,
producer, The Getaway; former staff writer New
Orleans Times Picayune
Panelists:
Chris
Auty,
Managing Director, The Works Media Group
Jane
Barclay,
Managing Director, Capitol Films
Kirk
D'Amico,
President, CEO, Myriad Pictures
Stuart
Ford,
President, First Look International
Brad
Krevoy,
Chairman, CEO, Motion Picture Corp. of
America
Penny
Wolf,
Executive Vice President, Peace Arch
3:00pm -
4:30pm
Artful Movies on
Shoestring Budgets Programmed by: American Society of
Cinematographers
ASC cinematographers discuss how new film, digital and
hybrid tools are affecting the art and craft of
cinematography.
Moderator: George Spiro Dibie, ASC; Chair, ASC PR
Committee; Member, Board of Governors Bob Fisher, Cine
Journalist
Panelists:
Mat Beck, ASC, Visual
Effects Supervisor, Miami Vice (2006), The Aviator, Spider-Man 2,
Smallville James Chressanthis,
ASC, Ghost Whisperer, The Reagans, Life with Judy Garland: Me and My
Shadows Richard Crudo, ASC,
American Pie, Down to Earth, American Buffalo Allen Daviau, ASC, Bugsy, Empire of
the Sun, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial Michael Goi, ASC, Invasion, The Kids
Who Saved Summer, Judas Francis
Kenny, ASC, Scary Movie, Heathers, New Jack City Denis Lenoir, ASC, The Clearing,
Uprising, Carrington Stephen
Lighthill, ASC, Nash Bridges, Coming out Under Fire, Open
Season M. David Mullen, ASC,
Akeelah and the Bee, The Quiet, Shadowboxer
Guillermo Navarro, ASC,
Zathura: A Space Adventure, Spy Kids, Jackie Brown, Cronos Michael Negri, ASC, The Dream
Factory, Local Color, Nightwatch Daryn Okada, ASC, Just Like Heaven,
Mean Girls, Cradle 2 the Grave Daniel Pearl, ASC, The Texas Chain
Saw Massacre (1974), The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (2003), Madonna:
Truth Or Dare Wally Pfister,
ASC, The Italian Job, Laurel Canyon, Memento Robert Primes, ASC, Money Talks,
Bird on a Wire, "thirtysomething" Nancy Schreiber, ASC, November,
Lover Boy, The Celluloid Closet Leon Silverman, ASC; President,
LaserPacific Media Corp.; VP, Entertainment Imaging, Eastman Kodak Co.;
President, Hollywood Post Alliance David Stump, ASC, Effects DP, X-Men,
X2, Stephen King's Storm of the Century
John Toll, ASC,
Seraphim Falls, The Thin Red Line, Braveheart, Legends of the
Fall
For additional Conference and Seminar information, including
location and to purchase tickets, please visit www.americanfilmmarket.com.
About the AFM
As previously announced, as a
result of the continued growth, the AFM, for the third consecutive year, has
increased office space at the Le Merigot Hotel, located directly next to the
Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel in order to meet the needs of its new and
returning exhibitors.
The business of independent motion picture
production and distribution reaches its peak every year at the American Film
Market (AFM), the premiere global marketplace.
Founded in 1981, the AFM is a pivotal destination for independent
filmmakers and business people from all over the world. Each year, more than 8,000 industry
professionals converge in Santa
Monica for eight days of deal-making, screenings,
seminars, red carpet premieres, networking and parties. Participants come from
over 70 countries and include acquisition and development executives, agents,
attorneys, directors, distributors, financiers, film commissioners, producers,
writers, the world’s press, and all those who provide services to the motion
picture industry.
Unlike a film festival, the AFM is a marketplace
where production and distribution deals are closed. In just eight days, more than $800 million in
deals will be sealed — on both completed films and those that haven’t started
shooting yet.
The AFM offers more than 900 screenings of
approximately 600 films - 32 new films every two hours - the majority of them
world or U.S.
premieres. Titles range from big budget blockbusters that will be released by
the major studios in the
U.S., to lower
budget genre films and art films recognized at international film festivals, all
destined for theaters and television around the world.
The AFM is produced by the
Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA), the trade association
representing the world’s producers and distributors of independent motion
pictures and television programs. For
more information, please visit www.americanfilmmarket.com.
Media Contacts:
Jennifer
Garnick
Paul Nichols
The
Lippin Group/LA
(323)
965-1990
jgarnick@lippingroup.com
pnichols@lippingroup.com
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