AFM Day 1 Daily H 2015
The Hollywood Reporter released its first American Film Market & Conferences daily issue as the festival kicked off on Nov. 4. The issue explores how projects from A-listers like Liam Neeson and Paul Rudd spark pre-market optimism, as well as news of Anne Hathaway joining the adventure film The Modern Ocean and a chat with Independent Film & Television Alliance President and CEO Jean Prewitt on the new era of Netflix and China.
Hollywood A-Listers to the Rescue!
AFM was shaping up to be another in what has become a worryingly long line of sluggish markets, but a raft of high-profile titles with stars like Liam Neeson, Paul Rudd and J.K. Simmons has arrived in the 11th hour to give buyers hope. Despite the late rush, most buyers still expect a slow AFM. “It’s been the same story every market this year — shockingly few films and sales agents finding it harder to package projects and harder to attach talent,” said Marc Schmidheiny, head of acquisitions at German distributor DCM.
Related Stories
/2015/AFM/THR_afm-2015.png)
Inside Shane Carruth’s Modern Ocean
Emerging filmmaker Carruth has assembled an impressive cast for his latest film, The Modern Ocean. Anne Hathaway, Keanu Reeves, Daniel Radcliffe, Chloe Grace Moretz, Tom Holland, Asa Butterfield, Jeff Goldblum and Beasts of No Nation breakout Abraham Attah will star in the ensemble adventure drama, based on Carruth’s 200-page script, which is described as being filled with pictures and diagrams. The storyline revolves around vengeance and the fierce competition for valuable shipping routes and priceless materials that converge in a spectacular battle on the rolling decks of behemoth cargo ships.
IFTA’s Prewitt Talks AFM
Prewitt has been running the Independent Film & Television Alliance for 15 years, shepherding the film and TV trade association into a global organization that serves as an adviser to and advocate for the indie community. She spoke to THR about this year’s AFM, issues facing independents around the world, how Netflix is changing markets and gender disparity in the independents. “Because you’re so dependent on other countries, there’s always the question of how many women are sellable and how do we work our way around that,” she said on the latter. “But it’s changing.”
Mobile/tablet users:
Click here to download the Day 1 PDF.
Desktop users can view the entire Day 1 issue below.
