AFM 2018

3 Trailers Showcased Daily @ AFM
Click to View - Day 1 - Oct 31st

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EDITORIAL COMMENT
The Deconstruction Of Humanity As We Are
Consumed By And Into The Digital World
Of Communicating Making The Markets
More Crucial As We Scramble To Catch UP

The American Film Market, Home of the Independents - AFM 2017 Official Poster

Technology is great – it’s the industrial revolution of the 21st century. The pace at which we can appear to accomplish tasks is at lightning speed – but in the process we lose our way and subjugate our humanity – that essence that a digital world or robots cannot be a substitute for.

Everyone EMAILS or TEXTS ABOUT EVERYTHING - it is rare to talk on the phone unless it is URGENT. When calling a company 99.9 % of the time we speak to ROBOTS in our DAILY existence. Even lovers sit next to each other and text to communicate!! And for kids they are dinosaurs if they don't text to each other – speaking is OLD FASHIONED.

For retail and shopping unless we are ACTIVELY BUYING – if we have a return or complaint, hours, days, weeks, and even months can go by without a response.

In our work environment the ROBOT directs our calls – in a very civlised tone – asks: “How can we direct your call?” “Joe or Ms. Bloggs please.” At the other end if Joe Bloggs is having a bad day – busy, or does not want to talk to you for WHATEVER reason – you leave a voice mail and maybe - maybe not - your call is returned.

That brings us to the Markets. Because of technology we have the ability to send out our one sheet (expense saved with FEDEX), our Trailers (expense spared – link to YOUTUBE), flyers, and company newsletters all sent out with ease – letting our clients know our latest production, etc. The economy has not recovered from 2008 – small and large companies have let staff go. We are all working with less staff and ‘saving money,’ which arguably we are actually not – because ‘in the global economy’ robots are replacing humans and the cyclical effect of poverty is engulfing the overall economic structure. The middle class who have upheld ‘the system’ for decades have diminished and crumbled in every country in the world - worldwide! The trillion dollars companies Apple, Google, Amazon, AT &T to name a few are all digitally based.

The cumulative result is an overworked staff, on ALL levels of society – and more importantly, separating them from the day to day continual interaction pre the digital world – which has a long term effect.

That is why on a human level we CONTINUE to attend the MARKETS - not every market - but at least once a year - as Humans we sublimely crave that interaction with people we know (aside from family or very close friends).

The technology and the digital world we now live in deconstructs our ability to interact with each other in a way so subliminal we don't notice – we surge forward – always in a rush.

Does it give us more time with our families and friends? In a delicate matter - unless it’s LEGAL – it take 100 times as long to write an email – and as a result in the digital world we use the email as a buffer – when the BUFFER should be communicating face to face.

This is where the major industry events are crucial – the opportunity to a have face to face and resolve problems, build bridges, new alliances, and reconfirm our relationships the backbone, roots and FOUNDATIONS of our film and television Industry. Even when we have held relationships dear for many years, when there is an issue, nothing is more apt for both sides than a face to face.

Over the last few months, I have had many conversation with clients and friends not only in the film industry, but in almost every sector of society that my friends work in. In law enforcement particularly, they are spending so much time writing emails, they can’t get out and deal with the criminals the way they used to.

STREAMING is the crunch, the FINAL FRONTIER – over the last two years STREAMING has become the INDUSTRY MATRIX adding another layer to our digital world, a world global and vast – with less staff. We do not have the ability to mine this rich vein of revenue.

It's the future, the GOLD RUSH of the Wild West, when independent men and women were scouring new terrain to find the ‘vein of gold’ and in the case of our digital world the VEINS that lead to a regular pot of gold in our in ‘CART’ each day and month.

Over the last two years the MAJOR companies have all created their STREAMING services - all Companies with a LIBRARY now have a STREAMING service and a ‘CART.’

The micro independents now have the ability to sell films from their own websites – and are doing so!

Do we still need the expertise and knowledge of an INDEPENDENT SALES AGENT? Yes we DO – because not all of us want the same path – some of us want to be creators – and do what we do best – make films – even if the marketplace does not want them - leaving others with knowledge and experience of the commerce side selling the films – that is just as important.

There is no question it is a tough time for ALL companies big and small. However – the ‘SPIRIT OF THE INDEPENDENT IS INDEFATIGABLE.’

I visit and support to the extent I can a wonderful INDEPENDENT woman regularly in South Central Los Angeles (MamaHillsHelp.org), who takes care of kids in one of the most economically disadvantaged ethnic areas of Los Angeles without dependable fiscal resources. On her wall - a plaque reads: “we are BIGGER than the CHALLENGES that face us.”

When I get back in my car and drive back to Beverly Hills (a wealthy enclave of Los Angeles) I am on the phone to INDEPENDENTS in our business – who are thrown sets of DIFFERENT challenges EVERYDAY.

The roster of NEW companies at AFM attest to The INDEPENDENTS are here are to stay – and NEW INDEPENDENTS are coming along everyday – there is plenty of space in the world for everyone to have their INDEPENDENT NICHE.