Company Announcement - The American Film Market took place in Santa Monica California recently, from November 4th to 11th and South Africa was well represented by South African Indies and it’s partners the Department of Trade and Industry and the Gauteng Film Commission. The AFM is one of the largest film markets and conferences in the world with the 2015 edition seeing over 2,200 new films being presented to potential distributors from the USA and across the globe. The ATFT attended the event with one its best delegations to date, consisting of 16 of South Africa’s most exciting emerging filmmakers.  Over the 7 days South Africa was represented by a country stand on the main exhibition floor and a formal meeting room where a number of networking and promotional events took place. 

The theme for stand SA this year was “Come Shoot in South Africa,” with the Dti, the Gauteng Film Commission and SA Indies promoting South Africa as an ideal filming location due its favourable economic conditions, competitive rebates, ability to service blockbuster Hollywood films, and the multiple opportunities for co-productions. 

Co-production was also the topic of a very well attended panel discussion hosted by South African Indies, African Co-productions; The Possiblities and the Challenges. The panel included Delon Bakker from Mannequin, Jon Volmink from Diprente, Pascal Schmitz from AAA Entertainment, and was moderated by Mayenzeke Baza from SA Indies.

The main event for South African attendees was the networking reception on November 7th hosted by the GFC & Hoplight Entertainment – an LA based production company – who has hosted the reception for three years running.  

A range of Hollywood celebs and high-powered industry players attended the event including So You Think You Can Dance producer - James Gutierrez, Wrap Kings producer Tank Menzies, producer / director Rob Margolies, Emmy Award winning actor, Kiko Ellsworth, South African Faith Like Potatoes actor Frank Rautenbach who is now based in Hollywood, Iris TV CEO Filed Garthwaite and Lions Gate’s Kai Wai Ho.  The event was an informal yet important opportunity to network and discuss existing film projects and the future for collaboration and co-productions.  

Hoplite Films explains why they continue to host this event and support South African Indies:

“Hoplite has been cultivating a relationship with South African Indies, for a few years now, with the intention of bringing and developing projects alongside South African producers.  We currently have 2 separate narrative series, 2 films, and 3 unscripted TV series we are looking to bring into the region.  As with all of our relationships, we try to cultivate and foster expression through constant communication.  As your market continues to grow and emerge, we are happy to come along side you and help you grow.  We have come to know both Pascal and Mayenzeke and have seen first hand their passion spread through various markets while they promote their country.”

Overall the news for South African filmmakers at AFM was good, with Jonathan Wolf, the AFM Director explaining the current trends within global film production and distribution.  According to Wolf, the gap is widening between high budget films and  lower-budget indie films with the middle ground disappearing. This means that internationally, the ideal production budget is $1 million and below for indie films, and for high budget indie films with known cast above $20 million. Films within these two categories are the most successful at securing distribution deals, with films in the $3 – 20 million range struggling to do so.

Pascal Schmitz from AAA Entertainment explains why this is good for SA films, “most top productions coming out of South Africa are in the ideal  budget range  of approximately 1 million USD. With an average of only 25% of films presented at market securing distribution, production budgets are an important determining factor that stand in our favour.“

An example of  the South African films presented at AFM is Pop, Lock n Roll, a top-notch hip-hop dance film currently in production. The film garnered significant interest at AFM with a subsidiary of Lion’s Gate distribution interested in first –sight of the finished product.  AAA Entertainment is confident that this film will secure international distribution upon completion in 2016.

Overall the American Film Market 2016 provided significant promotional and business opportunities for the rapidly expanding South African film industry.