A year on from excited talk of a Covid rebound, delegates arrive in Santa Monica for the American Film Market (AFM, October 31-November 5) under the shadow of a labour dispute that has changed the dynamics not just of the event, but the industry itself.

The 2023 edition of AFM, which takes place in its new digs at Le Méridien Delfina in Santa Monica, a few blocks inland from the former Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel venue, could also morph into something of a screenings market where buyers get to see what they pre-bought in the last year or so and sales agents continue talks on completed titles.

Kirk D’Amico, CEO of Myriad Pictures, concluded “good sales” on completed titles at TIFF and notes strong appetite and robust markets in Eastern Europe, Germany and Spain. D’Amico believes AFM will be well attended by inter­national distributors, even though he reckons TIFF was under-attended. “Maybe that’s just a holdover from the pandemic, but also an indication of what happens around the world with theatrical still not back to where it was and there were few actors,” he says. “There’s still a lot of caution out there. We didn’t see many buyers from Asia or Latin America.”

The Myriad head will be showing new promos from two films in post, both of which received interim agreements: zombie horror Die Alone from Minds Eye Enter­tainment starring Carrie-Anne Moss and Frank Grillo, which shot in Canada; and John Leguizamo comedy-­drama Bob Trevino Likes It, which filmed in Kentucky.

“We’re trying to get interim agreements on our projects and we’re looking at shooting in Europe and Canada, working with European and Canadian producers and actors where the strikes aren’t such an issue,” says D’Amico.

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