THE AFM SESSIONS
The AFM Sessions will be held at the Hilton Santa Monica Hotel & Suites
Once again, The AFM Sessions will present four full days of programming exploring today’s global industry and where we are headed. Forecasts for the future, marketplace intelligence, advice on how to best navigate our industry, and conversations on the most current topics and technologies across Financing, Production, Distribution, Streaming, FAST, AI, Sustainability, Diversity, and more will be shared through the lens of 100+ Speakers from all facets of the business.
We will continue to announce sessions and speakers in the coming weeks.

THE AFM SESSIONS
The Finance Conference – Session I
Stage
- Pacific
Speaker
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Jill GoldsmithCo-Business Editor, Deadline
Jill joined Deadline in 2019 after working as a New York-based contributor. She follows corporate finance, deals and publicly traded companies in media and entertainment, film financing, and New York film and TV production.
Moderator
Jill Goldsmith, Co-Business Editor, Deadline
More session and speaker updates coming soon…
The Finance Conference – Session II
Stage
- Pacific
Speakers
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Jeaneane DaveyDirector, Production Tax Planning & Incentives, Netflix Studios
Jeaneane Davey is Director, Production Tax Planning & Incentives, for Netflix Studios. Jeaneane oversees all production-related tax and incentive matters across several of Netflix’s content teams and Studio-wide initiatives, including Live-Action Film, Virtual Production/VFX, and Animation.
Jeaneane began her career in general tax compliance and consulting at PwC in 2009, where many of her clients were in Entertainment & Media. After accepting a position in the Corporate Tax department of Fox Entertainment Group in 2013, Jeaneane soon joined Fox’s Production Tax Planning & Incentives team, and advised on all production-related tax and incentive matters for Fox’s Feature Film, Television, and Sports divisions until leaving for Netflix in 2016.
Jeaneane holds a Master of Accounting from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and is a licensed CPA (inactive) in the state of California.
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Patrick RizzottiCo-Founder & President, Blue Fox Financing
Patrick Rizzotti has successfully secured $100MM+ in financing spanning over 20+ feature films. Rizzotti recently launched the film and television lending marketplace, Blue Fox Financing. Blue Fox Financing is the first transactional digital platform to streamline and expedite film financing opportunities for the entertainment industry, connecting borrowers with the largest database of film and television lenders and gap financiers.
Rizzotti has produced major internationally successful films including the critically acclaimed “Pride” (Lionsgate), starring Academy Award Nominee Terrence Howard (Empire, Iron man), “The Collector”, co-written and directed by Marcus Dunstan (The Saw Franchise), which spawned a two sequels called “The Collection” and “The Collected”, “The Super”, a psychological thriller starring Val Kilmer (Top Gun, The Doors) financed by legendary television producer Dick Wolf, “Malicious” starring Josh Stewart (The Dark Knight Rises), Delroy Lindo (Heat, Get Shorty), Bojana Novakovic (i-Tonya, Shameless) “The Free Fall” starring Andrea Lando (NARCOS) and Shawn Ashmore (X-Men Days of Future Past, The Boys), “Maximum Truth” Starring Ike Barinholtz (Central Intelligence, Blockers), Dylan O’Brien (Maze Runner, Teen Wolf) Financed by Edward H. Hamm Jr (Get Out, Blackkklansman), “Tiger Mom” starring Ken Jeong (Hangover, Community) and “Bunker”, financed by Blue Fox Entertainment and directed by Adrian Langley (Butchers).
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Ryan BroussardVP of Sales and Production Incentives, Wrapbook
Ryan Broussard, Wrapbook’s VP of Sales and Production Incentives, has worked with productions of all sizes—from the largest studio features to the smallest independent projects—to help them optimize their production-incentive strategies and make the most of their budgets.
Broussard’s career in production payroll began sixteen years ago. In that time, he’s worked at payroll companies like Entertainment Partners, where he served as Senior Account Specialist; CAPS, where he served as Tax Incentive Manager; and Media Services, where he served as Vice President of Sales and Production Incentives. He has worked on production incentives from nearly every possible angle, developing innovative reporting measures to facilitate faster audits, advising countless productions on state tax incentives, and even helping some states and local jurisdictions design their incentive programs.
Broussard combines his industry-leading expertise with an emphasis on client service. He has helped clients budget their projects to ensure production incentives are applied correctly, and he has worked directly with clients’ financial institutions to help productions secure financing using incentives. He maintains active relationships with every major film office.
As a well-regarded industry expert, Broussard has hosted numerous online tutorials, webinars, and educational videos, and he has served as both guest and host numerous panels and events for leading industry festivals like SXSW, AFM, NPACT, and more.
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Will FrenchHead of Film & Television, Fallbrook
Will French is one of the most prominent tax credit finance specialists in the film industry. He was among the first brokers and financiers of film tax credits in the nation, beginning in 2003 with the first-of-its-kind Louisiana transferable tax credit program. Through his network of operating companies, Mr. French has personally traded or financed more than $500MM of state film credits for more than 250 projects. From 2014-2017, Mr. French served as Managing Director of State Tax Credits for Enhanced Capital, a diversified, national asset manager specializing in complex credits. In 2018, he joined a small start-up called The Forest Road Company, which he helped grow into the largest non-bank financier of tax credits in the United States and which ultimately purchased the market-leading Three Point Capital. In 2021, Mr. French left Forest Road and joined Fallbrook Financial Services, the largest trader of state tax credits in the country, where he leads the company’s film finance, tax credit administration, and tax credit consulting practices.
A graduate of Purdue University, Mr. French received his J.D. degree from Tulane University School of Law in 1998.
Film Funding Today: The Benefits & Limitations of Global Tax Incentives
Moderator
Will French, Head of Film & Television, Fallbrook
Panelists
Ryan Broussard, VP of Sales & Production Incentives, Wrapbook
Jeaneane Davey, Director of Production Tax Planning & Incentives, Netflix
Patrick Rizzotti, Co-Founder & President, Blue Fox Financing
Six Imperatives for Rendering Black Lives in Media
Stage
- Malibu
The relationship between mass media and the Black community demonstrates the tremendous power of storytelling and how it conveys images and messages that conjure perceptions and beliefs that either help or harm. Intentional choices in the depiction of Black life in media have produced psycho-social dynamics that require attention and redress. In this session, the NAACP Hollywood Bureau will explore six imperatives for rendering Black lives in media. The panel will discuss various ways mass media storytelling can illuminate a path toward a healthy, discerning and authentically rendered society, wherein the Black experience is understood, appreciated and celebrated with equitable deference.
presented in partnership with the NAACP Hollywood Bureau
The Global Perspective: Breaking the Boundaries of Today’s Film Marketplace
Stage
- Pacific
Speakers
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Christian VesperCEO, Global Drama
Vesper’s role sees him build on Fremantle’s impressive portfolio of scripted drama, films and dailies throughout the world, with direct oversight of Fremantle’s founder-led scripted labels, including Miso Film (Face to Face, The Investigation), Wildside (My Brilliant Friend, Cannes Jury Prize winner Eight Mountains, L’Immensità), The Apartment (Venice winner Bones and All, Priscilla, We Are Who We Are and Academy-Award nominee The Hand of God), Euston Films (Wreck, Baghdad Central, The Sister) and Element Pictures (Academy Award winning film The Favourite, Normal People, Conversations With Friends).
He oversees Fremantle’s impressive roster of talent partnerships and deals, which includes Chernobyl director Johan Renck and Michael Paret’s newly launched production company Sinestra, Michael Winterbottom’s Revolution Films, Afua Hirsch’s Born In Me and The Creatives, Fremantle’s three-year partnership agreement with a creative alliance of nine leading independent production companies.
Christian joined Fremantle in 2016 as Executive Vice President and Creative Director, Global Drama, and was promoted in 2020 to President, Global Drama. He was previously drama chief at Sundance TV where he oversaw critically-acclaimed international productions including Jane Campion’s Top Of The Lake and Hugo Blick’s The Honourable Woman, starring Maggie Gyllenhaal and Deutschland 83.
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Mark GooderCo-President, Cornerstone
Mark Gooder began his film career in Australia and New Zealand over 25 years ago. He established Icon Distribution in Sydney in 2000 for Academy-Award winning Producer/Director and Actor Mel Gibson and his producing partner Bruce Davey and re-located to Los Angeles in 2006 to oversee the Icon group of companies. In 2012 he became President of Acquisitions for The Weinstein Company. In 2015 he established the international sales company Cornerstone Films with business partner and former Focus Feature’s International President, Alison Thompson. The company is based in Santa Monica and London. Cornerstone works with Producers to help develop, finance, and sell films and episodic content to the domestic and international marketplace. German TV and Film Production company, X Filme are a minority shareholder in Cornerstone through their parent company Beta, one of the world’s leading international distributors of TV license rights. Cornerstone most recently became a shareholder in The Reset Collective, a new Australasian content distribution and production company based in Sydney. Mark is an Executive Producer on over 25 feature films including the recent 2022 Sundance and Berlin Film Festival sensation GOOD LUCK TO YOU, LEO GRANDE from director Sophie Hyde starring Emma Thompson.
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Steven GaydosSenior VP, Global Content & Executive Editor, Variety
Speaker bio details coming soon…
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Syrinthia StuderEVP of International Productions, Paramount Pictures
Speaker bio details coming soon…
As our industry continues to drastically change, the intrinsic value of films in today’s global environment evolves as well. Reliance on a well-written script and star-studded cast alone no longer suffice in what is now termed a “binary” market. Films from their inception must possess an intrinsic uniqueness, with carefully defined target audiences guiding the vision.
Moderator
Steven Gaydos, SVP of Global Content & Executive Editor, Variety
Panelists
Mark Gooder, Co-President, Cornerstone
Syrinthia Studer, EVP, International Productions, Paramount Pictures
Christian Vesper, CEO, Global Drama, Fremantle
International Co-Production with China: Navigating Filmmaking Without Boundaries
Stage
- Malibu
The Content Audiences Want & The Industry Needs to Provide
Stage
- Pacific
Harnessing the Power of Music for Film
Stage
- Malibu
Speakers
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Cristina MayMusic Director, Producer
As a graduate from Musicians Institute, majoring in Music Business & Vocal Performance, Christina spent three years in Post Production before she was offered a Creative Admin job at Universal Music Group’s Rondor Music International. This is where she gained first-hand experience in TV sync, publishing, licensing, and copyright. In 2015, she landed at FirstCom Music serving as Licensing Manager and soon after moved into her full-time role as Music Director for Film & TV as well as a Producer for the catalogue. Now almost a decade into her tenure at Universal, she has produced over 60 albums as well as spearheading culturally impactful initiatives such as 100% HER and Power To the People, aimed at establishing roster diversity and representation. Throughout her career thus far, she’s had much creative success with her productions and established invaluable relationships through her strong work ethic, a pristine ear for music and in-depth understanding of client needs. A creative contribution to the sync process and the marriage of sound & picture are at the very root of her passion for this industry.
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Garo SetianCreative Director
Garo Setian is an award-winning filmmaker and trailer editor with over 25 years’ experience in the film industry. He has cut and produced over 430 Trailers and television spots for films and has been nominated for 31 Golden Trailer Awards including categories such as “best horror” trailer (2017’s THE HATRED, 2019’s THE WRETCHED, and 2021’s BROADCAST SIGNAL INTRUSION), “best thriller” trailer (2019’s 1BR) and “most original trailer” (The 2015 Ryan Reynold’s film, THE VOICES).
Garo won 3 Golden Trailers awards for his trailers to THE EYE 3 (Best Foreign Trailer), DRIVE-THRU (Trashiest Trailer) and the Marvel animated feature DOCTOR STRANGE (Best Anime).
He has also been nominated for a Promax Award for his trailer to THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT 2, a Clio award for the aforementioned, THE HATRED, and won 3 Clios for his work on THE HITMAN’S BODYGUARD.
Garo’s feature film work has also been noteworthy. His Award winning and critically acclaimed Sci-Fi films, 2019’s AUTOMATION and the 2023 release of SPACE WARS: QUEST FOR THE DEEPSTAR have both been released theatrically and on home entertainment (Through Epic Pictures and Uncork’d Entertainment) both digitally and on physical media.
Garo edits his own films and gives them a dynamic and exciting quality that his years in trailer editing helped refine. He is a true storyteller with a big vision to make entertaining movies that are both exciting and heartfelt.
A lifelong film fan, Garo used to make his own movies using super 8mm film and later worked in public access television making over 100 television shows. He holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from USC School of Cinema-Television in addition to a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from New York University.
Garo and his wife Anahit, operate HUNGRY MONSTER ENTERTAINMENT as both a trailer and film production company.
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Jeff CardoniComposer for Film & Television
Jeff Cardoni’s talents range from intimate independent fare to full orchestral majesty. With over 55 feature film scores and several network series to his credit, one can hear his work worldwide every day. He was voted ASCAP 2019 TV Composer of The Year and nominated again in 2020.
After a brief stint as lead guitarist for the Warner Bros. band “Alien Crime Syndicate,” Jeff left to pursue film scoring full time. He worked under several Hollywood composers including John Murphy (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, 28 Days Later) while studying conducting and orchestration at UCLA.
His film scores include Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, Step Up: All In, Just Friends, Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off, Circuit Breakers, Players, Me Time, Sweetwater, The Confirmation, Sundance
darling The Vicious Kind, Fallen, and the upcoming Amazon drama feature Sitting In Bars With Cake.His television scores include Heels, Ghosts, Silicon Valley, Training Day, Young Sheldon, CSI: Miami, The Kominsky Method, Smartless: On The Road, and the HBO limited series White House Plumbers.
Jeff has also penned the theme songs to Heels (co-written with Ben Bridwell of Band of Horses), The League, “Pimp My Ride”, and MadTV, with songs appearing in films such as “Hard Knock Life” in Austin Powers, “Long Road Home” featuring Gene Simmons of Kiss for CSI, and an updated version of classic “I’ve Got a Golden Ticket” with Minnie Driver.
Jeff also produced several songs with Jon Lajoie for the soundtrack to The League and a Lexus Super Bowl spot with The Pixies. He recently produced a reimagined version of the Mariah Carey classic track “Fantasy” for Freeguy.
Agent: Jake Kozarec / Fortress Talent Management 818-858-0020
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Kris Le-RoyMusic Licensing Executive
Kris Le-Roy is a music licensing executive who’s been with Universal over 15 years. Kris started out as a marketing assistant and carved a path for himself into the film and tv licensing world. He provides a unique perspective on both sides of production as he’s been involved in all sides of the film industry since 2007, the highlight being a sketch performer for Conan O’Brien for 12 years. Kris prides himself on the relationships he’s created working with filmmakers by taking their projects from start to finish with the best music possible.
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Ryan SvendsenMusic Director, Producer
Ryan Svendsen is Millennium Media’s Head of Music. In this role, Ryan provides an innovative and multi-faceted approach to music supervision. His work can be heard in feature films including Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, EXPEND4BLES, Red Sonja, Till Death, The Protégé, and The Bricklayer. Prior to joining Millennium, Ryan served as Director of Film and TV Music at Lionsgate where he managed the Music campaigns of over 80 Soundtracks including the Academy Award-winning best song and score for La La Land. While Music Supervision is Ryan’s primary professional focus, he has found commercial success as a trumpet player and horn arranger from his home studio. Ryan has accumulated over 5 billion streams from his collaborations on trending songs and you might have heard him on the chart topping 6x platinum Lil Nas X hit, “Industry Baby”. As an advocate for the Arts and Music, Svendsen currently serves as Alumni Board Chair for the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music in addition to being an instructor of Music Supervision at UCLA Extension. Ryan is also an avid masters swimmer and has swam from Alcatraz 3 times.
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Satya FuentesMusic Creative, Series, Netflix
Satya Fuentes is a music executive and musician based in Los Angeles. She currently works on the Original Series team at Netflix where she acts as a creative music executive on a wide slate of projects including Bridgerton, Dahmer and Stranger Things. Satya previously worked for Black and White Music Supervision under Emmy nominated music supervisor Jen Malone, having also held tenure in the film music department at Universal Pictures. Satya holds a degree in Ethnomusicology from UCLA with a focus on jazz piano performance and world music. She currently serves on the inaugural alumni board for the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music and was selected as part of the 2022 Grammy NEXT class. Satya is also the founder of FilAms in Sync, an organization that amplifies the Filipinx community working in the sync industry.
Sit down with Universal Production Music and friends of the industry to discuss:
- What is Production Music?
- The Art of Locking Down a Track
- The Power of a Great Film Soundtrack or Trailer Sync
- What inspires Composers to Write for a Particular Film or Music Library?
- Soundtracking Music: Easy Paths to Clearances
- Planning a Music Budget
Moderator
Kris Le-Roy, Music Licensing Executive, Universal Production Music
presented by
New Distribution Patterns Shaping Release Trends
Stage
- Pacific
The industry is experiencing more radical shifts in feature film distribution patterns than ever before. Amongst these changes are the loosening of windows, that for years dictated the distribution journey most films had to conform to, an ever-growing offering of both mainstream and niche streaming platforms and channels, and the highly anticipated return to theatrical exhibition with encouraging box-office numbers. International thought-leaders discuss how leading distributors and content owners are evolving and experimenting with delivering feature films to global audiences hungry for entertainment.
More session and speaker updates coming soon…
How to Lock-In Professional Actors and Musical Talent
Stage
- Malibu
Speakers
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Colin McCormackCommunications Manager, SAGindie
Colin McCormack is the Communications Manager at SAGindie, a free educational resource that assists indie filmmakers in hiring professional actors for their films. He has worked in various capacities as a writer, producer, and editor on projects ranging from features, short films, commercials, and documentaries. As SAGindie’s Communications Manager, he handles advertising and promotions, filmmaker interviews, and web operations for SAGindie.org. Colin also manages SAGindie’s Movies & Music program, designed to offer resources that bring together independent filmmakers and music professionals.
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Debby RomanoCasting Director
Debby Romano has worked in casting for 30 years. She is a 3-time Emmy nominee and Artios Award winning CD for the TV series SCRUBS. With her business partner, Brett Benner, they cast the current AppleTV series SHRINKiNG and will soon be starting the indie feature SPIRIT WEEK based on the AFI thesis short BALLOON. Prior projects include long running series LAST MAN STANDING, ONE TREE HILL and COUGAR TOWN, as well as numerous other “shorter running” TV shows (we all know how that goes).
She cast the pilot and season 1 of THAT ‘70s SHOW as a CD at Liberman/Hirschfeld Casting. That experience gave her the confidence to start Romano/Benner Casting.
A New Jersey native, Debby always loved film, TV and theater. For her 13th birthday, she asked her parents for a filing cabinet to organize clippings and articles of the actors she loved. Her parents feared she might grow up to be a stalker! She turned out okay. Debby loves that this job is different and full of surprises every single day and is thankful to keep calling it her profession.
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Germaine FrancoComposer
Full rests are rare for Germaine Franco. As a Grammy-winning and Oscar-nominated composer, she’s been in constant motion. Her extensive resume, coupled with her curiosity, and inventiveness, has made her a trailblazer. Franco was the first Latina to win a Grammy for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media with her score for Encanto and the first to receive the Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Music in an Animated Feature with Coco in 2018. In addition, Encanto received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score, an SCL Award for Outstanding Original Score for a Studio Film, an Annie Award for Best Music in a Feature, a Billboard Music Award, and a World Soundtrack Awards nomination for Film Composer of the Year in 2022. The film was directed by Byron Howard and Jared Bush, co-directed by Charise Castro Smith, and produced by Clark Spencer and Yvett Merino, with original songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda.
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Roxanne CastilloGeneral Counsel, Film Musicians Secondary Markets Fund
Roxanne Castillo is General Counsel for the Film Musicians Secondary Markets Fund (FMSMF), the non-profit that collects, processes and distributes residuals to musicians who work on film, television and streaming media scores. Prior to joining FMSMF, Castillo served as Director of the American Federation of Musicians’ (AFofM) Los Angeles Local 47 Electronic Media Services Department and was responsible for contract administration and advising producers about AFofM agreements covering film, television, commercials, sound recordings and videogames. From 2020-2021, she provided legal and production consulting advice to independent filmmakers and companies on a wide range of subjects, including WGA, SAG-AFTRA, IATSE and AFofM agreements. She has been featured as a guest speaker on topics such as intellectual property, musicians’ royalties and residuals, and she currently teaches copyright law at UCLA’s Extension program. Castillo served as a board member of the California Copyright Conference and is currently a member of FilmLA, Inc.’s Operations Committee. A native Angeleno, Castillo received her J.D. from Southwestern University School of Law.
More Session and Speaker details coming soon…
co-presented by FMSMF and SAGindie
Fast Times in the Ad-Supported Distribution Landscape for Independents
Stage
- Pacific
Cross-Border Collaborations: Creating Powerful Co-Productions & Partnerships
Stage
- Pacific
Getting Your Film Made, Seen & Profitable in The Streaming Era
Stage
- Pacific
Speakers
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Brian BeckmannCFO/COO, Arclight Films
Brian Beckmann is the CFO of Arclight Films and has two decades of hands-on, multifaceted executive finance experience. He oversees all legal, financial and accounting functions for Arclight including its production operations and its 300+ sales library of feature films. Celebrating their 20-year anniversary this year, Arclight’s current slate of production and sales titles include the fantasy-adventure film The Portable Door starring Academy Award winner Christophe Waltz and Sam Neill produced with the Henson Company; the thriller Poker Face, directed by Academy Award winner Russell Crowe who also stars alongside Liam Hemsworth, Elsa Pataky and rapper RZA; the thriller The Locksmith starring Ryan Phillippe, Kate Bosworth and Ving Rhames; the SXSW competition title Seriously Red starring and produced by Rose Byrne’s production company Dollhouse Pictures and featuring the music of Dolly Parton and the dark-comedy Big Gold Brick starring Andy Garcia, Emory Cohen, Megan Fox and Golden Globe winner Oscar Isaac.
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Juliet BermanProducer, Spiral Stairs Entertainment
Juliet Berman is a film and television producer with experience working in both the independent and studio/streamer space. She is a hands-on producer, shepherding each project from inception through the development and packaging phase, running point on set and in post, crafting the distribution/sales strategy and consulting with the distributor on marketing and publicity.
Since forming Spiral Stairs Entertainment in 2023, Berman has produced two independent features, a remake of the 1991 cult classic DON’T TELL MOM THE BABYSITTER’S DEAD and coming of age comedy GRIFFIN IN SUMMER, starring Melanie Lyskey, Owen Teague and Kathryn Newton.
Berman previously served as Head of Production for Treehouse Pictures, where she built a slate from the ground up of socially-conscious, commercial, film and television projects across all genres and managed an in-house fund for independent development/production financing. She has a track record of identifying emerging talent as well as working with high end IP rights holders.
At Treehouse, Berman built an early relationship with Netflix. She brought in and oversaw the production and financing of SAND CASTLE, starring Nicholas Hoult and Henry Cavill, which was sold in post to Netflix as one of their early Original Film acquisitions. She followed that up with the romantic comedy SET IT UP, which was developed at Treehouse based on her original idea and went on to become Netflix’s top-performing movie in over 200 territories in the summer of 2018.
Prior to Treehouse, Berman worked at New Line Cinema, Summit Entertainment and Anonymous Content. She grew up in Los Angeles and graduated with honors from Columbia University. In her spare time, she volunteers for non-profit mentorship program Young Storytellers, and serves as a jury member for several screenplay competitions and film festivals.
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Paul ScanlanCo-Founder & CEO, Legion M
Paul Scanlan is an Emmy Award winning co-founder and CEO of Legion M, an innovative entertainment company that puts fans at the center of everything they do. With a focus on discovering and producing original and breakthrough films and television content, Scanlan and the team at Legion M are reshaping how content gets made. Using new securities laws enabled by the SEC, they created the world’s first fan-owned entertainment company and have been involved with notable releases such as Nandor Fodor and the Talking Mongoose, You Can Call Me Bill, Colossal, the Jay and Silent Bob Reboot and more across NEON, Searchlight, Bleecker Street, SpectreVision, Saban, RLJ and Screen Media.
Moderator
Brian Beckmann, CFO/COO, Arclight Films
Panelists
Juliet Berman, Producer, Spiral Stairs Entertainment
Paul Scanlan, Co-Founder & CEO, Legion M
More session and speaker updates coming soon…
Evolving Roles & Relationships: Sales Agents and Producers
Stage
- Pacific
Speakers
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Clay EpsteinPresident, Film Mode Entertainment
Clay Epstein has over twenty years of experience as an Entertainment Executive. Since launching his own company in 2016, he is the President and Owner of Film Mode Entertainment, a worldwide sales and distribution entity with a producer friendly initiative. In addition to bringing films to audiences around the globe, Clay executive produces many of the company’s titles. As an Executive Producer, Clay is instrumental in working with filmmakers in the early stages of pre‐production to help build the financing, and creative elements to achieve these successes worldwide. To better help producers and directors who may be less experienced, Film Mode has an active consultancy division, offering producers expertise and guidance on financial models, marketing, and distribution strategies.
Film Mode represents over 50 independent feature films worldwide, with a client base that spans the globe. Recent successes include BREACH starring Bruce Willis, AS THEY MADE US starring Dustin Hoffman, and Candice Bergan, CRYPTO starring Kurt Russel, LITTLE PINK HOUSE starring Catherine Keener, and MONSTROUS starring Christina Ricci.
Prior to launching Film Mode, Clay was SVP Sales & Acquisitions at Arclight Films. He was instrumental in representing high profile films such as Paul Schrader ’s DOG EAT DOG starring Nicolas Cage, and the Spirig brother’s PREDESTINATION starring Ethan Hawke. Earlier in his career, Clay represented prestigious titles such as TSOTSI (2006, Academy Award Winner for Best Foreign Language,) and THE LAST STATION (2010, Academy Award Nominee for Best Performance by an Actress.) Clay earned a BA in Fine Arts, from California State University, Northridge majoring in Film Production and minoring in Italian Language.
In addition to his professional accomplishments, he holds the elected position of Chairman of Independent Film and Television Alliance. Clay is an instructor at UCLA Extension, and a frequent lecturer at film festivals worldwide., a member of PGA, FIND, BAFTA LA, and the Australian Academy Cinema Television Arts.
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Marc GoldbergCEO, Signature Entertainment
Speaker bio details coming soon…
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Mark PadillaPresident of Worldwide Sales & Acquisitions, Jackrabbit Media LLC
Mark Padilla has over 20 years of experience in the independent film and television industry. Currently the President of Worldwide Sales and Acquisitions at the Arizona-based company Jackrabbit Media. Mark oversees all acquisitions and worldwide sales rights to their projects.
Mark also teaches two courses at UCLA Extension focusing on the independent film business. One course is dedicated to marketing and distributing independent films across all platforms, while the other is an in-depth look at the acquisition process in Hollywood.
Previously, Mark was SVP of Sales and Acquisitions at DDI (Double Dutch International), a Toronto-based company. At DDI, Mark produced and executive produced several films. Including the action film THE DOORMAN, the hitman thriller THE VIRTUOSO, and the exciting horror film ESCAPE THE FIELD.
Before joining DDI, Mark was the VP of sales and acquisitions at Myriad Pictures. Mark was responsible for selling both new and library titles. He also managed a team of sales, marketing, and publicity executives. Before Myriad, Mark was VP of International Sales at Essential Entertainment; before Essential, he was the marketing manager at Arclight Films.
Mark started his career working as an international acquisitions consultant for multiple distribution companies worldwide, including international broadcasters such as Mediaset (Italy), Telecinco-Mediaset (Spain), and ProSeiben (Germany).
Mark has spoken on several panels discussing the international distribution market and has been featured in several industry trade publications regarding the global independent film market. Mark has also served as a jury member for independent feature films and short film festivals.
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Nadine de BarrosCo-Founder & SVP, Fortitude International
Speaker bio details coming soon…
Moderator
Clay Epstein, President, Film Mode Entertainment
Panelists
Nadine de Barros, Co-Founder, Fortitude International
Marc Goldberg, CEO, Signature Films
Mark Padilla, President of Worldwide Sales & Acquisitions, Jack Rabbit Media LLC
Developing, Pitching, and Making Television
Stage
- Malibu
Television has a tremendous amount of variables given the multiple episode and multi-season format. When developing a television project, how long should your script be? What additional material do you need in order to pitch your project? What should go into your TV pitch bible? What should you have prepared if you’re on a Zoom pitch? And, once your show gets greenlit, what is the process like working with the buyer? We’ll bring in a variety of experts to talk about the entire process and what it’s like from the creative and buyer perspective.
Modern Horror: The Genre and What Scares Us Evolve
Stage
- Pacific
Speaker
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Patrick EwaldCEO, Epic Pictures
Since its inception in 2007, Patrick Ewald has been the CEO of Epic Pictures Group, Inc. a leading independent studio with a focus on original and visionary genre content. His career in the film business spans over 20 years as a senior level executive as well as involved in the development, financing, and producing of numerous independent films. A few of these are: “TURBO KID,” “THE LODGERS,” “WHO GETS THE DOG?” “EXTRA ORDINARY,” “SEA FEVER,” and “THE MAN WHO KILLED HITLER AND THEN THE BIGFOOT.”
Patrick also heads DreadCentral.Com, the world’s most popular horror website which releases over 20 films a year under its Dread distribution label. In 2019, the company launched DreadXP.com, which focuses on horror-themed video games, podcasts, streaming entertainment, and publishes video game under its DreadX label.
Previously, he was the founder of Rogue Entertainment, a development and production company that was acquired by Universal.
A transplanted New Yorker, with an appreciation for all good things both west and east coast, Patrick is a current IFTA Board Member a three-time Saturn Award winner, and a member of the Producers Guild of America. Most important is his family – his wife, Sarah, three daughters, Olivia (9), Alexandra (6), and Ella (4), and their lovable rescue pit bull, Austin.
While low-budget, high-return Horror films have long been an independent industry staple, the genre continues to evolve for more sophisticated audiences. Industry experts discuss a new breed of elevated genre films that are drawing audiences and commercial and arthouse production and sales companies into the game.
Moderator
Patrick Ewald, CEO, Epic Pictures
More speaker updates coming soon…
Changing Minds & Bettering Lives Through Storytelling
Stage
- Pacific
Speakers
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Anikah McLarenEVP of Narrative Film, Participant Media
As Executive Vice President of Narrative Film, Anikah McLaren co-heads the development and production of narrative film for Participant, the leading media company dedicated to entertainment that stands at the intersection of art and activism. While at Participant, she has been instrumental in the development and production of the Toronto International Film Festival Changemaker Award winner We Grown Now and Academy Award®-winning film Judas and the Black Messiah, as well as upcoming projects Shirley and BLKNWS.
Prior to joining Participant, McLaren served as Senior Vice President of Production at Fox Searchlight Pictures, where she oversaw The Old Man and the Gun, as well as development on an eclectic group of projects, including a feature film about iconic choreographer Alvin Ailey, directed by Barry Jenkins. Prior to Fox Searchlight, McLaren was a production executive at Universal Pictures, where she worked on a wide variety of films, including Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, The Bourne Legacy, The Best Man Holiday and Lone Survivor. McLaren also held positions at Focus Features and Miramax Films.
McLaren received a BA in English from The George Washington University. She currently is a member of AMPAS in the Executive Branch and sits on the Executive Panel for the AFI Directing Workshop for Women.
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Jamal HendersonCCO, The Springhill Company
Jamal Henderson is the Chief Content Officer at The SpringHill Company, the Emmy Award-winning studio team founded by LeBron James and Maverick Carter. Under Jamal’s leadership, the studio team develops and produces high-quality sports and entertainment film, audio and theatrical releases with the biggest content creators, networks, streamers, brands, and platforms in the world. Since joining in 2015, Henderson has successfully led the charge for several award-winning projects including: Space Jam: A New Legacy, Hustle, Turning the Tables with Robin Roberts, Recipe for Change, Top Boy, Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker, The Wall, The First One with DJ Khaled and many more.
Prior to joining SpringHill, Henderson held roles at PepsiCo and Deloitte respectively. He received his BS from Cornell and MBA from the Kellogg School of Management.
Panelists
Jamal Henderson, Chief Content Officer, The Springhill Company
Anikah McLaren, EVP of Narrative Film, Participant Media
Justin Wilkes, President, Imagine Entertainment
More session and speaker updates coming soon…
The Pitch Conference
Stage
- Pacific
Speakers
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Cassian ElwesProducer & Agent, Elevated Film Sales
Cassian Elwes is an expert in producing, arranging financing and finding distribution for independent films. He began his producing career with 1984’s “Oxford Blues” starring Rob Lowe and Ally Sheedy and quickly went on to make another 29 films, including “Men At Work,” with Emilio Estevez and Charlie Sheen, and “The Chase,” again with Sheen.
In 1994, Elwes joined William Morris and headed William Morris Independent Film for 15 years. He arranged financing for indie hits such as “Slingblade” and “The Apostle,” both of which were nominated for multiple Academy Awards. “Monster’s Ball” was their historic follow up as Halle Berry became the first African-American woman to win the Academy Award for Best Actress. In the end he had arranged financing and distribution for 283 films during his tenure at William Morris.
Since leaving William Morris 10 years ago, Elwes has either produced or executive produced more than 70 films such as David Lowery’s “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints”, which was nominated for a Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Feature, Derek Cianfrance’s “Blue Valentine” starring Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams, for which Williams was nominated for Best Actress at the Academy Awards, and the hit period drama “Lee Daniels’ The Butler,” which featured an all-star cast headed by Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey.
He also executive produced J.C. Chandor’s “All Is Lost” starring Robert Redford and executive produced and arranged financing for the Academy Award winning hit “Dallas Buyers Club” directed by Jean-Marc Vallee, starring Matthew McConaughey, Jared Leto and Jennifer Garner.
Most recently, Elwes produced both the multiple Academy Award nominated “Mudbound”, directed by Dee Rees, which Netflix distributed, and Dee Rees’ latest film, “The Last Thing He Wanted,” starring Anne Hathaway, Ben Affleck and Willem Dafoe, which Netflix will distribute. “Dreamland,” starring Gary Oldman, Armie Hammer, and Evangeline Lilly, and “Best Sellers,” starring Michael Caine and Aubrey Plaza, are in currently in post-production.
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Lee JessupScreenwriting Career Consultant & Coach, leejessup.com
Lee Jessup is a career coach for professional and emerging screenwriters, a twice-published, best-selling author, whose consulting services have been utilized by Universal Writers Program, NBC International, and Final Draft’s Big Break contest. Lee’s clients include writers who have major spec, pilot and pitch sales under their belts, writers who have written major studio films, staffed TV writers on shows including DEAD TO ME, MRS. AMERICA, GOOD GIRLS, UNDONE and MANIFEST (just to name a few), TV writing program fellows, writers named to The Hit List, The Blood List, The Young & Hungry List and The Black List, major contest winners, as well as writers just beginning to chart their professional course.
Lee is the author of BREAKING IN: TALES FROM THE SCREENWRITING TRENCHES (Focal Press) and GETTING IT WRITE: AN INSIDER’S GUIDE TO A SCREENWRITING CAREER (MWP). She has appeared in countless screenwriting conferences and panels domestically, abroad, and online.
Never too far from the industry, Lee resides in Los Angeles with her family.
A good pitch can get a bad film made while a bad pitch can leave an outstanding project languishing on the shelf. Attendees will learn the essential rules and tools of pitching from the experts. AFM participants can submit a pitch video for the opportunity to take the stage and pitch to our expert panel, who will give unvarnished feedback – explaining what worked, what didn’t – and why.
Moderator
Lee Jessup, Screenwriting & Career Consultant, leejessup.com
Panelists
Cassian Elwes, Producer & Agent, Elevated Film Sales
More speaker updates coming soon…
Interested in Pitching?
The AFM Pitch Conference Guide
Producers Pitching Their Projects, powered by AI Forecasts
Stage
- Malibu
Largo.ai is teaming up again with AFM this year to host “Producers’ Pitches with AI Forecasts” — a high-intensity “shark tank” pitching session where global producers with projects in-development will go face-to-face with forecasts powered by Largo’s revolutionary production intelligence platform. Come and find out how data and AI are being used as a tool to better understand a film’s potential, audience, and story’s strong and weak points. Selected producers will showcase their projects in front of financiers, distributors and other producers looking for co-production opportunities.
** Pitchers/producers are clients affiliated directly with LARGO AI. Unfortunately, there is no application process to participate in the LARGO AI AFM 2023 pitch session.
presented by
Managing Common Legal Risks in Production
Stage
- Pacific
Speakers
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Kirk D'AmicoPresident & CEO, Myriad Pictures
Award-winning producer Kirk D’Amico founded Myriad Pictures in 1998 and has positioned the company as a leading sales and distribution home for diverse films and emerging talent. D’Amico has produced or executive produced over 60 films and Myriad has distributed hundreds of films worldwide. The current release slate includes April Mullen’s SIMULANT starring Sam Worthington and Simu Liu and Luke Sparke’s BRING HIM TO ME starring Barry Pepper, Sam Neill, and Rachel Griffiths. D’Amico produced DEAD FOR A DOLLAR starring Christoph Waltz, Rachel Brosnahan, and Willem Dafoe and is serving as Executive Producer on TIFF Industry Select film, Rebecca Snow’s THE BOY IN THE WOODS.
In 2010, D’Amico also co-founded Canadian distributor and production company Photon Films. Based in Toronto, Photon has released a diverse slate of bold films in Canada both theatrically and across all platforms. Notable films include THE ETERNAL DAUGHTER starring Tilda Swinton, SOUND OF METAL starring Riz Ahmed, and THE HATING GAME starring Lucy Hale.
For more information about MYRIAD PICTURES visit www.myriadpictures.com or follow Kirk on Twitter. For more information about PHOTON PICTURES visit www.photonfilms.ca
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Roger GoffEntertainment Lawyer & Producer, Goff Law Corporation
Roger Goff is a producer and entertainment lawyer in Los Angeles. In over 35 years as an entertainment professional, Roger has handled hundreds of transactions across the entire industry spectrum including film, television, music, digital media and entertainment technology. He has represented financiers, producers, directors, writers, actors and other artists and entrepreneurs. He has also produced and executive produced several films as both a lead producer and part of production teams.
Prior to becoming an attorney, Roger worked in radio and television broadcasting, commercial production, advertising and as a studio musician. He holds an FCC license as a broadcast engineer and graduated from the studio guitarists program at Musicians Institute (in addition to receiving his B.A. from UCLA and his law degree, with honors, from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles). He began his legal career as a corporate attorney handling mergers and acquisitions and private securities transactions. He quickly transitioned to the music industry and spent many years representing independent record labels.
As an attorney in the film industry, Roger has handled financing and production for over a hundred films, including the Academy Award winning “Dallas Buyers Club,” “Welcome to the Rileys” (produced by Ridley Scott), “Splinter,” and “American Gun.” Roger has been an executive producer or producer on several films, including “Man Down,” starring Shia Labeouf, Gary Oldman and Kate Mara, “Krystal,” directed by William H. Macy and starring Rosario Dawson, Kathy Bates, Nick Robinson and Grant Gustin, “Cut Throat City,” directed by RZA and with an all-star cast including Ethan Hawke, Terrence Howard, Wesley Snipes, T.I., Eiza Gonzalez and Kat Graham; and “The Tiger Rising” with Queen Latifah and Dennis Quaid.
Most recently, Roger produced “The Locksmith” starring Ryan Phillippe, Kate Bosworth and Ving Rhames – a crime thriller released earlier this year. Roger is a member of the Television Academy and the PGA.
Moderator
Roger Goff, Entertainment Lawyer & Producer, Goff Law Corporation
Panelists
Joanne Hoffman, Legal Counsel, www.HoffmanEntLaw.com
Kirk D’Amico, President & CEO, Myriad Pictures
More session and speaker updates coming soon…
Writers’ Workshop
Stage
- Malibu
The Art of Superstructure: Finding the Essential Turning Points in Your Story
One of the greatest challenges facing all screenwriters, directors and television producers is the process of developing an engaging premise into a compelling, well-structured story. This workshop explores the art of superstructure, those essential narrative turning points that have held together great stories not only throughout the history of filmmaking and television, but since Shakespeare and The Greeks.
From your opening scene to midpoint to your story’s emotionally engaging climax, you will learn how each of these critical scenes work in synthesis with one another and in the process avoid the pitfalls of the poorly structured story. The final goal of the workshop is a greater understanding of what holds any great film or television season together and a set of tools that participants can immediately apply to their current project.
Workshop Instructor
Steven Wolfson, Instructor, UCLA Film Extension