AFM sees solid, careful biz

'The Words''The Words'The arrival of Daylight Savings Time today, getting one more hour for the day, could not arrived a much better time for customers and merchants while using American Film Market at its midpoint."We're trying to cram whenever you can to the next day or two before we leave town," mentioned Christopher Woodrow, topper of NY-based financer Worldview Entertainment. He thought that he'll did about 90 conferences in four days before departing Tuesday."I'm so glad that individuals have the extra hour because I'll put it to use get some good badly needed sleep," noted Sierra/Affinity Boss Nick Meyer. "At this time around, the demand is actually strong permanently product which is very competitive."Though customers have held off on making bulletins throughout the initial four days, many condition that numerous deals will be in the entire shebang, adding they have been as active simply because they were through the Cannes Film Festival. Typically the most popular theme that emerges -- identifiable casts are what comfort customers, greater than almost every other factor.And so the solid amount of transactions already on-going can be a promising sign for your market. A couple of from the key deals up to now include: Parlay Films saw solid sales due to its literary drama "WhatInch and financial thriller "Arbitrage" with sales to a lot of European areas."The organization remains by having an upswing since Cannes, however, you need films that respond to industry conditions," mentioned Parlay Films' Lisa Wilson. Exclusive Media began drawing major fascination with racing drama "Hurry," getting into Ron Howard on day one to fulfill with customers. "It's fantastic to own someone of Ron's quality because we introduced this in Toronto," mentioned Exclusive Media sales prexy Alex Walton. "That's a thing that really impressed customers from Asia and europe.Inch Stuart Ford's IM Global introduced a quartet of projects. It's financing Jason Statham's actioner "Hummingbird" and "Dead Guy Lower," starring Colin Farrell and Noomi Rapace co-financing dramatic thriller "Blood stream," starring Paul Bettany, John Cox and Stephen Graham and coming onto sell Vertigo Films' 3d musical "Walking on Sunshine" FilmNation Entertainment has offered almost all worldwide areas on Steven Soderbergh's "Miracle Mike," which recently wrapped production. Hannibal Classics set Michael Katleman to direct the knowledge film "Red-colored-colored Squad" with production slated to begin inside the first quarter. Endgame Entertainment introduced an ambitious P&A funding plan."Financing is tough to acquire nowadays -- but it's difficult,In . mentioned CineTel chief Paul Hertzberg, lately attracted on as chairman in the Independent Film & Television Alliance.Hertzberg mentioned business at AFM remains continuously consistent up to now. Hertzberg also gave props to indie players like Summit and Nu Image/Millennium topper Avi Lerner, for walking because the financial crisis reduced. He asserted the indie sector's been good at developing game game titles while using important components -- identifiable stars and designs.InchIndividuals want our movies," he declared in the CineTel game game titles. "We now have experienced business for 31 years and then we are often careful even if that limits our upside."Indomina Group, which setup an in-house worldwide sales division throughout Cannes, developed a splash at its first AFM with Melissa Leo and Hayden Panettiere joining Nick Stahl and Freddy Rodriguez in dramatic thriller "Inside the Wall." Panettiere and Rodriguez met with customers on Thursday within an Indomina event."Acquiring the cast available like we did suggests that people are competitive because space," mentioned V . p . of worldwide sales Catherine Quantschnigg."Those need product now therefore we are becoming an excellent response up to now," noted Indomina consultant Carole Siller.Lightning Entertainment held a Saturday event with Stephen Dorff for "Brake" since the action star -- representing a Secret Service agent inside the pic -- pressed the flesh about 150 customers within the Viceroy."You should exhibit the customers that Lightning and Stephen are behind this film," mentioned Lightning prexy Robert Beaumont. "In my opinion it's sufficiently strong enough even without Stephen there to promote, but getting him there really makes customers remember it."Maya Entertainment, which began a foreign sales business four years ago, found AFM getting twelve game game titles. It clicked on up domestic rights to action-thriller "La hora cero," the finest grossing local film in Venezuelan history.Elias Axume, Maya's prexy of worldwide distribution, noted that "Hora" is a touch from the gamble because the cast isn't well-known -- frequently a difficult sell."The market's become very selective," he mentioned. "You'll be able to still sell Digital video disks nationwide, Germany as well as the U.K. The reply is obtaining the best cast." Contact Dork McNary at dork.mcnary@variety.com