What happens in Vegas… heads back to Los Angeles.
After just one year of the American Film Market (AFM) relocating to Las Vegas instead of Santa Monica, seven of the top sales agencies are telling — not asking — the market’s organizers that they will not return to Sin City. And if AFM won’t move back to Los Angeles, they’re already making other arrangements.
It’s an existential moment for what’s been a keystone event for the indie film industry. For organizer IFTA — the Independent Film & Television Alliance — it’s an existential crisis.
This year’s AFM wrapped November 10 at the Palms in Vegas. Attendance wasn’t the issue (over 5,500 people attended, more than in 2023); Vegas was. Sources told IndieWire that most attendees hated the venue, thought food and accommodations were “gross,” the hotel charged $700 to rent a coffee machine, and massive lines at the elevators made film buyers late for meetings. Turns out if you’re not gambling, windowless casinos are “not a particularly pleasant place to be stuck for a week,” as one attendee said.
So on Thursday, seven top film sales companies wrote a letter to IFTA demanding the market to move back to Los Angeles for 2025. If not, the companies would host their own makeshift marketplace and skip AFM altogether. In fact, one source told IndieWire such a move may be “inevitable,” regardless of IFTA’s decision, but talks are still in early days.
Those companies, as first reported by Deadline and confirmed by IndieWire, include AGC Studios, Black Bear, FilmNation, Lionsgate, Neon International, WME Independent, The Veterans, and Voltage Pictures. They’re among the very best film sales outfits and often represent the most premium titles.
The problem doesn’t lie with swapping Santa Monica sea breeze for air-conditioned casinos, or even the $700 coffee makers (an insider says IFTA actually negotiated down the rental price of the coffee makers and other expenses). It’s because Vegas requires everyone to rent a hotel room as office space — including all the Los Angeles companies.
In a statement, IFTA Chairperson Clay Epstein said in response to the letter, “We are all passionate about our industry and keeping it strong. This continues to signify that a market in November is crucial to all of our businesses. We appreciate the transparency and opinions of these companies, and the points they have conveyed will be part of our discussions as the IFTA Board of Directors plans for the future.”
IFTA’s board will have its first post-AFM meeting the first week of December.
AFM is a launching pad for smaller indies to get international pre-sales. This year featured new projects from Jim Jarmusch, Elegance Bratton, Barry Levinson, Jaume Collet-Serra, James Gray, Tarsem Singh, Chris Rock, and many more.
AFM has been essential to financing tens of thousands of indie films over its 43-year history, but is it even necessary in 2025? Deals can happen anywhere, anytime, and there’s always EFM alongside Berlin, the Marché du Film with Cannes, or TIFF.
IFTA also has the challenge of trying to build a one-size-fits-all event for the top tier of sellers and buyers as well as the middle- and lower-tier players who pass out brochures in the lobby. That may not be possible forever.
For the smaller guys, screenings are very important and require a lot of screening space. Major players operate largely on packages and save their biggest titles for festival premieres. A bespoke market would require fewer screens and could be much more nimble, but an AFM without the major players would also be less attractive to everyone else.
AFM didn’t relocate on a whim. It was a move of necessity after its long-time venue at the Loews Hollywood Hotel was put up for sale; attendees didn’t like the new location at the Delfina Hotel in Santa Monica either.
Santa Monica was imperfect. It spread everything out, with companies renting out houses on the beach that required buyers to Uber from place to place. At least the Palms had everyone in one spot.
But one source said AFM should be in Los Angeles because it’s a chance to plug into the bigger Hollywood ecosystem, to take time to meet agents, talent, and press. None of that is possible in Vegas.
The source added that despite the challenges, business was fine this year, and everyone was willing to make a bet on Vegas in a show of solidarity. Next year, they may not make the same gamble.
