2014 American Film Market Wraps in Santa Monica

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Wednesday 12th November – The 2014 American Film Market (AFM®) wrapped its 35th edition today after 7,946 attendees visited the Loews Hotel in Santa Monica for the eight day market.

The AFM again was host to a truly global market, with 1,670 buyers coming from over 70 different countries.  Overall exhibitor attendance was up 1% from last year with 2,825 executives from exhibiting companies from over 40 countries, with the largest number of exhibitors coming from the IMG_4489United Kingdom, France and Japan, after the USA.

Overall industry attendees, the non-buyers and sellers that include Attorneys, Bankers, Festivals, Film Commissions, Filmmakers, Financiers, Post Production Facilities, Producers, Studio Facilities, and Writers finished at 2,624, up 1% from last year’s numbers.

The AFM also hosts a large segment of independent writers, producers, directors and wannabes of all ages.  Many of the faces haunting the lobby of the Loews Hotel have been attending the event for decades while many are just starting out.

Spotted at the AFM wasIMG_4271 this young man, Alexander Saffaie and his mother, producer, Michelle Alexandria. “With the film business being so youth oriented these days, you can’t wait to get in the game,” she explained with a smile as she and her baby, Alexander hurried to another power meeting.

This year’s AFM screened 432 films with 352 Market Premieres, 85 World Premieres and a total of 654 screenings across the AFM Campus in Santa Monica.

The popular five-day AFM Conference Series showcasing sessions on Financing, Pitching, Production, Marketing and Distribution featured global industry leaders including: Brett Ratner (producer), Cassian Elwes (Independent Producer), Tobin Ambrust (Exclusive), Mark Damon (Foresight Unlimited), Mark Gill (Millennium), Rena Ronson (UTA), Emanuel Nunez (Paradigm), Russell Schwartz (Relativity), John Sloss (Cinetic), and Nicolas Gonda (Tugg). The AFM IMG_4492Conference Series, which launched four years ago, hosted international audiences of more than 700 daily.

The 2014 Roundtables and Conversations featured notable industry elites including Wei Han (Bliss Media), filmmaker and comedian Adam Carolla, Meyer Schwarzstein (Brainstorm Media), Caroline Stern (Kaleidoscope Film Distribution), and many more.