Film Budget .com | American Film Market (AFM) 2011 Film Finance and International Sales Roundup

American Film Market (AFM) 2011 Round-Up

The 2011 American Film Market is winding down at the moment and as promised, this year’s event is proving to be quite a success!   Though film financing remains a difficult proposition, projects with the right combination of well known talent, directors and strong marketing prospects funding is on the rise in combination with lenders, equity, gap,  film tax credits, co-productions, government funding and incentives.   The market is indeed hungry for quality films to distribute with solid packages, a film budget with a reasonable recoupment potential and name talent is the constant mantra.

Here are a list of some the deals that were made at this year’s AFM:  (updates forthcoming as we write)

* IM-Global takes rights to ‘The Sister’ for Europe, Latin America

* Universal Pictures International Entertainment has picked up rights to Content Film’s ‘Hard Boiled Sweets’ for the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Benelux and Scandinavia

* Drafthouse Films has picked up crime drama ‘Bullhead’ and raucous comedy ‘Clown’, for distribution in North America

* Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions has picked up domestic distribution rights to ‘Bel Ami’, from Protagonist Pictures. The company also picked up comedy ‘Bailout’ starring Jack Black, for multiple territories including North America, South America and Scandinavia.

* FiGa Films has picked up ‘The Last Christeros’ (Los ultimos cristeros) by Matias Meyer, which had its world premiere in Toronto Film Festival (link to blog on Toronto Film Festival), and ‘Machete Language’, directed by Kyzza Terrazas, which had its world premiere in Venice.

* FilmDistrict has acquired ‘Drive’ the Nicolas Winding Refn-directed film adaptation of James Sallis’ suspense-themed novel

* Sierra Pictures announced the acquisition of ‘Rampart’, a crime thriller starring Woody Harrelson. The company also picked up comedy ‘Darling Companion’, which stars Kevin Kline, Diane Keaton.

* Tiberius Film has picked up a trio of horror sequels – ‘Piranha 3D’, ‘Children of the Corn: Genesis’ and ‘Hellraiser: Revelations’ for the German market.

* Exclusive Media Group picks up international rights for ensemble drama ‘Disconnect’

* Lightning Entertaiment picked up 7 films including ‘Brake’, ‘Columbus Circle’ and ‘Wrath’, making their world premiere debut at the AFM. The other films are ‘Boy Wonder’, ‘Bloodwork’, ‘The Trouble with Bliss’ and ‘Scents sand Sensibility’

* Wild Bunch acquired the international rights to Academy-Award winner Geoffrey Fletcher’s directorial debut ‘Violet & Daisy’

* Los Angeles-based film production, financing and foreign-sales company Unified Pictures has entered into a three-movie deal with Vancouver-headquartered production-finance group Bron Studios

Announcements of major financings include:

* Exclusive will finance Matt Damon’s ‘Yesterday’ with Focus Features handling U.S.

* Endgame Entertainment announced the creation of Endgame Releasing, to provide as much as $500 million in funding for marketing and distribution of four to six wide release movies per year through major studios. One of the first movies to tap into the fund will be the movie ‘Looper’  starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis.

* W2 Media has come on to co-finance and distribute ”The Theatre Bizarre 2,” a sequel to Severin Films and Mataluna Prods.’ ”The Theater Bizarre” horror anthology.

* Green Isle Entertainment has entered into an initial $60 million dollar multiple picture financing agreement for film budgets with Allegiance Capital Corp.

* IM Global to finance $20 million action-drama ‘Hummingbird’.

These are just a few of the ‘official’ announcements. With the AFM still underway, many more similar announcements are anticipated in the coming days. With deals being made fast and furious – don’t miss your chance to catch a piece of the  action! For more information on this year’s AFM, check out the blog on filmbudget.com

 Filmbudget.com is the international leader in worldwide film budget and schedule line producer film budgeting production services.  Film finance and camera ready movie budget and schedule packages.

3 Top Film Finance Expert Sources

The film financing market is showing signs of life again. Pre-sales and negative pick-ups were up and funding every range of film budget at the Cannes Film Festival and the Cannes Film Market.

So we thought it might be helpful to our readers to list three sources for film finance information to assist in finding financial sources for film funding of your film budget toward the greenlight required for motion picture production. While certainly not a complete list and we will be posting more here are some key resources to get your film budget the critical investor, financier or lender required to get your film made.

1. Jeff Steele’s Film Closings – Jeff Steele is a film finance expert based in Venice, CA and Chicago. Jeff provides expert insight into the pitfalls and advantages of properly aligned financial documentation and managing expectations across the film finance process. Jeff is a strong proponent of hiring a professional line producer to create a custom and accurate film budget and schedule for any serious movie production seeking financing.

2. Film Finance Forum – Film Finance Forum is the preeminent conference for the film finance, movie and television production industry. Panelist relay their expertise on matters of the funding, production, bank lending, studio and independent film budget realities and marketplace analysis. Presenters range from studio executives to bank representatives. Filmbudget.com founder Jack Binder is a regular attendee to the conference. FFF operates in NY, LA, Cannes, Singapore, Moscow and other locations.

3. Film Finance Summit – Film Finance Summit is likewise a film industry leader in movie financing seminars and conferences. Past speakers include film financing attorneys, bankers, film tax incentives professionals and film producers. Filmbudget.com Founder, Producer Jack Binder has been a guest panelist for Film Finance Summit Conferences.