Reflections on the 2025 American Film Market

A change in location is a big plus for the AFM and provides a backdrop for sharing thoughts on tariffs, AI and the independent film market.

Well, the first place to start when looking back on this year’s American Film Market (AFM) is the switch in location to the Fairmont Hotel in Century City. This change follows years of logistical issues for the market in Santa Monica, not least being 30-minute waits for elevators and a disastrous hiatus to Las Vegas in 2024. Las Vegas is a city for gambling, not films and as one Producer observed, ‘the sound of slot machines was somewhat distracting.’ Further, what helped to make the Fairmont such a success was its proximity to producers, agents and financiers offices. Many meetings, including my own, were held outside the Fairmont around Beverley Hills, Brentwood and locations surrounding Century City.

The site of Century City is one of historic interest. It was part of the backlot of Twentieth Century Fox up to 1963. At the start of the 1960’s Twentieth Century Fox incurred huge losses on several films including Cleopatra. The exodos from Hollywood is not just recent: Cleopatra was initially filmed at Pinewood studios and then moved to Cinecittà studios in Italy. Twentieth Century Fox were forced to sell off 180 acres of the backlot for $54m ($600m in today’s money). Fox Studios is adjacent to Century City which retains its iconic name.

Typical of all Festivals and Markets rumours and anxieties were rife.

Firstly, there was the threatened Trump tariffs on foreign films. Amidst a lot of talk, speculation and silence from the authorities, no one knows where any of this will go.

Alas, there is a lot more clarity about Artificial Intelligence. It is here and it is going to stay. AFM has partnered with Cannes Marche du Film to launch an Innovation Hub focused on filmmaking. Another indicator of where we are was expressed by Bob Iger, CEO of Disney who commented he was having ‘productive conversations’ with unnamed AI companies that would protect intellectual Property, but would add new features to the studio. He further says in an investor call that ‘other thing we’re really excited about is that AI is going to give us the ability to provide users of Disney+ with a much more engaged experience’.

Finally, there seemed to be a black cloud hovering over the Indie Market. It was reported that there were fewer buyers, advances are smaller, films that had been well received at festivals were taking longer to strike commercial deals and the number of regions to sell the films has shrunk. It was reported that Hulu, HBO, Max and Starz were all paying less than before. To make an independent film work commercially it was emphasised over and over again that the film must know its audience and have a tight budget

So, going forward I suspect the Fairmont will be a fixture albeit with stronger competition from Toronto who have announced they will host a market next year

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