AFM Diary (4): A soft market
When Luke hardiman discovers that the American Film Market still suffers from GFC symptoms, and that an iPad might not be the best business partner.
AFM has been running for 30 years, with the sale of Rambo: First Blood in 1981 putting it on the map and over the years films like The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Pulp Fiction and more recently Brokeback Mountain and The Hurt Locker coming through. This year IM Global has made the biggest sales at AFM for years with the Reliance Big Pictures/Evergreen Films/BBC Earth project Walking with Dinosaurs 3D to Fox, on the other hand the head of Wild Bunch, the huge French sales agent says it was a “soft” market still reeling from the GFC. Read more »
US loves Mao
Mao’s Last Dancer is finishing its third month in theaters (it opened Aug. 20) despite never grossing more than $500,000 or playing on more than 140 screens on a given weekend. A slow-burn hit is an anomaly in an era in which most specialty movies either cross over or die quickly.
AFM Diary (3): D-grade celebrities and night work
On Day 3 at the American Film Market, Luke Hardiman meets a bionic man and does an overnight, hotel room edit of Skyline - the new US indie alien invasion movie – content.
Today we decide to divide and conquer. My partner Melinda heads to Hydraulx studios for a few one-on-one interviews with the directors and cast of Skyline, which Hopscotch are releasing in Australia. Skyline is a very impressive looking “epic indie” created by the Strause brothers who own and run a VFX house here in Santa Monica. Read more »
AFM Diary (2): Schwarzenegger, bumped meetings and a man in sparkly blue
It’s day two for Luke Hardiman (Haywire Communications) at the 2010 American Film Market, where the strong Australian dollars is doing him no favours, offices follow floor level hierarchies, and and not learning anything new is actually a good thing.
Sunday is our first full day at the American Film Market. We head down to the Loews hotel. Arnold Schwarzenegger rides past us on a pushbike. Nobody else seems to care, so we pretend not to.
AFM takes over Santa Monica, with posters in all the shops, discounts in the restaurants, over 400 film screenings over the course of the week, that’s 30 films every session. Most of those films will have had a trailer made for them, and that’s why we’re here. Read more »
Miner wants to do “a small movie”
“At the moment they’re saying the best way to make money is romantic comedies, so there are two I’m looking at that look like being produced before the end of next year and made into a movie the year after. All up I’d be the cornerstone investor for a $20 million shoot — it’s not a blockbuster first up; I just want to do a small movie.”
Mining executive Tony Sage on his film industry plans. Read more »
AFM Diary (1): Never too late
This week, Haywire Communications’ Luke Hardiman will share his experiences at the 2010 American Film Market. Today, he tells us why he’s ‘late’ for the event.
Day 1. Not looking good. Qantas has grounded all their Airbuses, and our flight is delayed by 10 hours. There goes our recovery and shopping day. We’ll now have to go straight into a meetings jet-lagged and with a hole in my jeans.
The U.S. customs officer, when he finds out I’m here for AFM, tells me I’m late. Read more »
Burning indeed
Being sold at AFM by Filmbox, the picture is billed as a reckless, sexy, provocative and ultimately tear-jerking father and son tale.
The Hollywood Reporter thinks Jonathan Teplitzky’s Burning Man will be hot at this year’s American Film Market. Read more »
So many hits
Ausfilm’s Tracey Vieira reports from Ausfilm Week – perhaps the agency’s hardest week ever.
Attracting offshore production has never been harder. The once booming industry that attracted large budget feature films, movies of the week and television series from the USA has taken so many hits that Australia is no longer one of the standard locations studios do budget comparisons for when looking at potential filming locations. Read more »
Are international ‘gurus’ doing their homework?
When questioned about the local market, visiting ‘gurus’ are often vague in their response. Why? Most of them haven’t done their homework; they’re here to talk about themselves and their places of origin, but should they do a Google search before boarding their LAX-Sydney flight? Read more »
Playing your Ace at MIPCOM
The founder of Melbourne-based production company Galaxy Pop, Gian Christian, shared his experiences with his animated series Get Ace at this year’s MIPCOM with Encore.
Well… It’s a long way to go. But I don’t have to tell any Australian who has done the trip that. Your commitment level is tested as soon as you walk onto that plane. It would be nice to one day turn left when boarding, or even go up the stairs, but until then, I keep telling myself that when I get off this plane at the other end, I’m $4000 richer for not going Business. Of course that’s hard to remember when you’re cramped up in economy for over 28 hours sitting next to a man whose feet smell worse than a freshly manured lawn. Read more »