AFM 2005 Report

ARROW AND FRIENDS AT THE
2005 AFM aka AMERICAN FILM MARKET

Hey guys, Arrow here! My trek through the 2005 AFM (American Film Market) has just ended. Once again, I was well backed this year with PAIN KILLER producer/director/editor Christian Viel and Co- Producer Benoit Hamel in my fold. We were there to shop around PAIN KILLER and Viel’s film RECON 2020.

I thought it would be kool to offer our insight as to the many facets of the AFM for those who go, want to go or don’t even care but love reading this shite. It should be said that these notes are not meant to sound bitter; it’s just how it is from our perspective and keep in mind that we are generalizing here. I’m sure there are exceptions to the norm, but here's what we saw and heard on a regular basis.

Hope this helps somebody out there who is also in the biz, wanting to make his/her films take flight.

• When meeting a BUYER, your film will never be great. It will always be average on every level (equaling the crap the BUYER already owns) and if you listen to him, the BUYER might make his money back if he purchases your film. All that jive is spat out in the name of offering you the lowest price tag possible for your movie.
  

• Some BUYERS at the AFM claim that they have a magic machine that will differentiate DV/HD/VIDEO from film. That machine doesn’t exist. We actually passed HD as film due to our Colonel’s Secret Recipe Film Look.
  

• Most BUYERS want movies shot on film with stars, yet still want to pay you chump change for it. Guess what happens if you have no stars; just "chump" no "change".
  

• If you’re going to take it in the ass money-wise; do it for domestic distribution where it is the hardest to attain (especially with no stars in your film) and will help you with your foreign distribution down the road (where you make your real money). Most of the big buyers look up to domestic for a sign as to what they should acquire.  
  

• Many BUYERS will make you feel like you need them, but they don’t need you in the way they speak or relate to you. Don’t be fooled. If they've seen your film and you're in their office speaking to them...they're f*ckin' interested.

• They will try to charge you for every single expense under the sun. You make the movie, you go broke...they make the money, they don’t spend a dime.
  

• Basically a “leech” since if the buyer and the seller would negotiate between themselves, SALES AGENTS would be unnecessary. Something to strive for guys! Cut out the middle guy if you want to make some coin.

PK Co-Producer Ben Hamel coming out of a meeting with a Sales Agent?

• If they want your film, you’ll make millions according to them but if they got your film, you make barely enough to buy a burger and a pair of sandals…the rubber kind.
  

• During your first meeting, they claim they'll make xxx high amount for you, but during the second meeting, they’re not sure how much anymore...they have to watch the full film.
  

• If a SALES AGENT wants to avoid you, he will with a smile on his face and a pat on the back. Solution: keep going with your own smile on your face and your own pat on the back. Persistence is key: he’ll break sooner or later.

• SELLERS with nothing concrete to sell always spread around that they have the "deal of the century" up in the air or a three-picture deal going forward with "somebody" who always remains nameless…hmmm?
  

• SELLERS who name-drop and scream major deals at the drop of a dime will slyly (or so they think) prod you for every single piece of “biz savvy” info/advice that they can without ever asking you “straight up”.
  

• Everybody at the AFM who hangs out in the lobby 24/7 most likely have nothing going on and like to pretend that they're talking to somebody important on their battery-less cell phones (this doesn't only apply to sellers). The pool area on the other hand: one third of them have something going on.

• Just because a SELLER makes a poster with his Crayola crayons and plasters star names all over them, doesn’t mean that he has a clue, owns the rights to the names or has something tangible to sell. It just means that he had enough dough to rent a booth, has a low IQ and lots of f*cking time on his hands.
  

• If a SELLER tells you that they have more meetings than there are sales agents at the AFM, those same sellers are full of shite and a side order of bullshit. NOTE: They are possibly responsible for the first statement in this category as well.

• Be confident in your project while not overestimating its value and taking into account the many variables that come with it (names, no names, budget, prod value, medium…what-not.)
  

• If you think somebody is low-balling you, they most likely are. Don’t fold, be a man/woman and stick to your bazooka.
  

• Just because somebody is smiling to you in the face, doesn’t mean he’s not stabbing you and your grandmother in the back at the same time.

• Don’t sell off your movie “forever” to a buyer: 5 to 15 years is the standard.  
  

• Always try to get a decent commission out of the sales agent: 10 to 20% of sales is acceptable; keep in mind that their fees, for which they will bill you (the faxes they send, the shit they mail to sell your film, etc...) will often be ludicrous (cause they cook the books) to compensate for their losses in terms of the agreed upon percentage. Ask for a cap on fees and aim as low as you can when it comes to this leech’s percentage.  
  

• If you’re going to the AFM to find financing for your low budget film which is at the script stage...good luck! It will most likely not happen. In our experience, the AFM is profitable if you have a finished project on your hands or, at least, a half financed project with names attached to it.
  

• Rare is it that people will say "no" in your face, straight up. Ignoring calls and ducking you is often the version of "no" in the industry.
  

• After a hard day at the AFM...drink lots of TEQUILA! You'll need it!

Me: On this trip, I got better at picking out the phonies who were just “nice” to me in the name of milking/using me from the genuine people. It baffles me as to how low some people can go in the name of getting what they want for cheap. Where's the integrity! Yes, my “shit list” got longer.

Christian Viel: There’s nothing worse than seeing the poster for a film you shot (Evil Breed: The Legend of Samhain) plastered all over the place; when the distributors/producers have edited the film themselves, tagged an idiotic ending to it and made you fully responsible for the messy result via the poster credits.

Benoit Hamel: I know it's clichéd but it’s true: if it's too good to be true than it most likely is. Scratch the surface and make sure that you're covered. I learned a thing or two about that on this trip.