“We see more equity coming in”: UK sales agents cautiously upbeat ahead of AFM 2025

After a tricky 2023 navigating Hollywood strikes and tiresome lifts at Santa Monica’s Meridian Delfina hotel, and a tough 2024 with high venue costs in an inconvenient location (and yet more tiresome lifts) at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, the new central Los Angeles location of the Fairmont Century Plaza is being welcomed by international sales executives, bringing with it the chance to also engage in general meetings with talent agents — the CAA office is next door — financiers and producers.

“Los Angeles is the emotional, philosophical and cultural home of our business,” says Architect co-founder Calum Gray, who is selling Kiah Roache-Turner’s horror Dogs Of War. “You need a market in LA.”

Less love is being shown at this stage for the prospect of a formal market in Toronto, which launches next year (September 10-16). Screen International spoke to several UK sales agents who are uninspired by the prospect of putting together a slate over the summer break, and still feel they do not have enough detail to decide on participation. Toronto’s appeal remains as a festival for financing, acquisitions and informal catch-ups with filmmakers.

Spending money to attend yet another market, they say, is not so alluring.

UK presence 

Back in its Los Angeles home, UK sellers believe AFM is the best place in North America to get business done, geographically and calendar-wise. But they are not coming with rose-tinted spectacles. Political issues in the US make travelling to the country a concern for some across the industry, and the market has issued official invitations for individuals to show on arrival at the US airport border control to help smooth the process. Expense is still an issue, with one sales agent pointing out, although not as pricey as Las Vegas, it will still set their company back around $70,000 to attend the AFM.

Just before European execs were due to fly, there was also an added concern about delays and cancellations impacting Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), one of 40 US airports where flight capacity was reduced due to the US government shutdown. As of November 10, the cuts had only impacted domestic flights, and international attendees flying in over the weekend did not report difficulties. 

The turnout at the AFM among the larger regular UK attendees is strong. Once again, for the more specialised sellers, Film Seekers’ Caroline Couret-Delègue has organised a UK stand to replace the UK umbrella stand previously arranged by trade body Film Export UK, for which the BFI acts as the primary funder, which has not returned since the Covid pandemic. There are nine companies (up from last year’s six) in the shared space. These are: Altitude, Blue Finch, Carnaby, Celsius, Evolutionary, Film Seekers, Jinga Films, Metro International and Reason8. 

A few companies with which Screen has spoken have deemed a trip to the AFM not financially viable at this time, and are focused on building a fresh slate for the European Film Market (EFM). 

Gut instinct

The independent sales landscape is ever challenging, with both pre-sales and the ancillary market remaining tough.

“The streamers are very specific about what they’re looking for,” says HanWay Films CEO Gabrielle Stewart, who is launching Ben Sharrock’s Alone Together at AFM. “Sometimes, what you need is gut instinct on a project. Fewer and fewer people are using their gut to go for projects.”

US president Donald Trump’s vague threat of a 100% tariff on films made outside the US hangs in the background, but few, if any, UK independent sellers have the resources or capacity to draft contingency plans.

In addition to the domestic US buyers, territory distributors anticipated to be out in full force at AFM include  Germany and Eastern Europe, while Asia continues to hold back.

Petitions that were circulating online calling for a boycott of Israeli companies in light of the conflict in Gaza do not seem to have resulted in pressure on UK sales agents to stop selling to the territory. Indeed, many have continued to sell to non-government-affiliated Russian buyers following the country’s 2022 Ukraine invasion. Amid the US studio boycott of Russia, it has been a healthy territory for independents. However, there are concerns the tide is changing.

“When they buy something, it’s a risk now,” says one UK seller of doing a deal with a Russian buyer. “ [Russia is] a market that’s definitely rockier [because of] censorship. When they pre-buy, they’re committing to paying a certain amount down the road, but with the instability of the rules, it can be very challenging.”

Sales optimism

On a positive note, sellers are optimistic that enough of the key buyers will be in town to get robust business done, in addition to pre- and post-market Zooms.

“It does feel busy,” says Janina Vilsmaier, Protagonist Pictures’ senior vice-president of sales and distribution. Protagonist is launching Love Language starring Chloe Grace Moretz at the market. 

There are improving signs for original IP in the market. “If you look at the Warner Bros release schedule in the past six months, there is some interesting original IP,” says Architect’s Gray, pointing to the box-office successes of Sinners, Weapons and One Battle After Another. “Studios are recognising that differentiated, non-sequelised original IP is the point.”

“What’s even more interesting is the venture capitalists have taken notice of this, and they are now backing mid-market participants to come into the market, like [US distributor] Row K. Everyone knows exhibitors are underserved by diversity of content.”

When financing projects, Gray says he’s seeing more creative funding plans.  “I’ve done kinds of financings that I’ve never seen before. I even teamed up with another sales agent on one film. I’m seeing just more hybridised versions of it, because pre-sales and gap [funding] alone are not sufficient, in general.”

“For the films that we’re working on, we see more equity coming in,” adds Cornerstone’s co-president Mark Gooder. “There are equity investors who want to be part of the bold, the original and the birthing of new talent, and have a strong point of view, and are excited by a distinctive vision.” 

Cornerstone’s AFM launches include theatre director Bijan Sheibani’s The Arrival, starring Kingsley Ben-Adir and Archie Madekwe.

Hippo thriller 

Overall, the buzzword in the market ahead of AFM could be “differentiation”.  

“Everyone will tell you that the market is saturated with horror, which it is,” says Mister Smith Entertainment’s David Garrett, who is introducing David Turpin’s Irish-UK noir mystery Ancestors to buyers. “You have to be very discerning and disciplined about what you take on and take to market. It’s got to have something fresh.”

Garrett is keen to remove the taboo of drama in the market. “We need to reclaim the word drama – at the heart of every good story and good move is good drama, be it an action film, horror or sci-fi. I’m cheering drama on.”

Capture is finding creature features are working well, says Asia Muci, the company’s vice-president of international sales. “It’s rare these days to pre-sell the world, but on shark thriller Above & Below we’ve been able to do it. It’s the same with hippo thriller Hungry.”

A film’s proposition, also, has to be crystal clear. “We try and minimise the risk for buyers by positioning and marketing, and bringing filmmaker presentations to market, and doing our very best to communicate as clearly as we can what the opportunity, what the hooks are,” says Stewart.

“It’s about differentiation of concept and concreteness of concept,” says Gray. “The thesis is, can something be marketed on a thumbnail, on the side of a bus, on a poster and on a TikTok ident?”

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