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Following the bill’s introduction to the Senate, it also received statements of support from the Recording Academy, the Recording Industry Association of America, OpenAI, IBM, the Walt Disney Company, Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group, Sony Music Group, Independent Film & Television Alliance, WME, CAA, UTA and more.

The Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA), the trade association representing independent producers and distributors worldwide, is also returning to Filmart. The IFTA Pavilion will house seven companies – CineTel Films, CMC Pictures, Lakeshore, Millennium Media, Premiere Entertainment, Vision Films and Voltage Pictures – while around a dozen other IFTA members will also be present. 

AFM leadership said on Thursday that the recent in-person edition of the market drew attendees from a record 87 countries while the overall attendee level reached a solid 5,866.

Brian Beckmann (Arclight Films), Caroline Couret-Delegue (Film Seekers Limited), Diane Ferrandez (AGC Studios), Jeffrey Greenstein (Millennium Media), George Hamilton (Protagonist Pictures), Jasmin McSweeney (NZ Film Commission) and Lise Romanoff (Vision Films) have been elected to serve on the Independent Film & Television Alliance’s 15-person Board of Directors.

Independent Film and Television Alliance (IFTA), the producer of the AFM, has unveiled the results of its annual elections for the board of directors, with Arclight Films’ Brian Beckmann and Protagonist Pictures’ George Hamilton among the freshly elected board of 15.

Brian Beckmann of Arclight Films, Caroline Couret-Delegue of Film Seekers, Diane Ferrandez (AGC Studios), Jeffrey Greenstein (Millennium Media), George Hamilton (Protagonist Pictures), Jasmin McSweeney (NZ Film Commission) and Lise Romanoff of Vision Films have been newly elected to the board of the Independent Film & Television Alliance.

As the 43rd edition of the American Film Market returns in-person this week, it provides the first real test of whether, and how, the independent film business can bounce back from the COVID years. 

“It’s the first real ‘let’s get down to business’ market,” says Jean Prewitt, president and CEO of the producers association Independent Film & Television Alliance, which runs the AFM. 

Los Angeles-based Jean Prewitt is president and CEO of the Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA), the global trade association representing independent content distributors and producers that also runs the American Film Market (AFM) in Santa Monica.

Top executives from Constantin Film, Thunder Road, FilmNation, Millennium Media, and Protagonist Pictures will take part in 2022 AFM’s sessions, market heads said on Friday (October 14) as they also highlighted LocationEXPO.

Ashley Stern of Picture Perfect Federation, Constantin Film’s Martin Moszkowicz, Jeffrey Greenstein of Millennium Media and George Hamilton of Protagonist Pictures are also among panelists.

A24, FilmNation, MGM and WME Independent are among the exhibiting companies, while the Independent Film & Television Alliance has also announced two key hires.

Matthew Thompson and Catherine Girard-Cobb have been appointed to the new roles of co-managing directors of AFM ahead of the November 1-6 in-person market.

The American Film Market will return to Santa Monica as an in-person event from November 1 through November 6, after being forced online for two years due to the Covid pandemic, the Independent Film & Television Alliance announced today.

The 43rd edition of the market, which planned its shift to a six-day run in 2020, will take place at the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel and theatres throughout the city. The Loews will once again be to home to 400+ sales & production companies, LocationEXPO, and new for 2022, all Conferences & Panels, providing attendees more convenient access to this year’s sessions.

In 2020, nearly 400 feature film projects either moved overseas or disappeared, according to the Independent Film & Television Alliance, the global trade group for independent distributors and producers. Moreover, Hamby estimates the cost of insurance premiums for productions have risen upward of 50% since before the pandemic.

The Independent Film & Television Alliance has today unveiled the confirmed exhibitors, as well as the opening speakers for the 43rd edition of the American Film Market, taking place at the Loews Beach Hotel in Santa Monica and theatres throughout the city from November 1-6.

The market, which went virtual for the last two years due to the pandemic, will play out over six days at the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel and theatres throughout the city.

Registration will open May 9 for returning and new exhibitors, while accredited buyers and industry attendees can register starting on July 5.

The American Film Market is set to return with an in-person market in Santa Monica for its 43rd edition this Fall.

With the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel returning as a conference venue, the 2022 AFM will run from Nov. 1 to 6, the Independent Film & Television Alliance said on Thursday. The market, which began a six-day run in 2020, will also take place at theatres throughout the city.

“China is a market which is now totally unreliable, replete with exactly the same barriers if not worse that existed before 2012 — a black hole,” said Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA) head Jean Prewitt. “We don’t know how to access it. We don’t know how to influence it. We’re waiting really on our own government to develop a game plan that includes the services industry, and includes dealing with the 2012 agreement and the issues that have sprung up since then.”

“China is a market which is now totally unreliable, replete with exactly the same barriers if not worse that existed before 2012 — a black hole,” said Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA) head Jean Prewitt. “We don’t know how to access it. We don’t know how to influence it. We’re waiting really on our own government to develop a game plan that includes the services industry, and includes dealing with the 2012 agreement and the issues that have sprung up since then.”

“The politics were always there, but they were subordinated to growth. Now they’re not subordinated,” explains IFTA CEO Jean Prewitt. “We went from thinking we understood a system — albeit one where you couldn’t necessarily push a button and know what the results were — to a system that was just a black hole, where rumors are rife.”

IFTA has partnered with ICDR-AAA for the administration of its arbitration process, which has resolved thousands of disputes among companies in the worldwide film and TV production, distribution, financing and sales.

IFTA President/CEO Jean Prewitt and Chairperson Clay Epstein discuss the association's advocacy agenda, its strong member community, the challenges facing the independent film landscape and the AFM.  

IFTA (Independent Film & Television Alliance) president and CEO Jean Prewitt has issued a statement in support of a new version of pandemic support legislation introduced in May 2020.

“For the film and TV industry, the pandemic is far from over,” said Jean Prewitt, President & CEO of the Independent Film & Television Alliance. “The inability to secure full insurance coverage for the risks inherent in film and television production — standard for our industry and required to lock-in financing — since March 2020, continues to damage production and production-related jobs across the U.S.

“I am honoured to be entrusted by our membership to lead them as Chairperson,” said Epstein. “The future of our industry relies on the talent and energy of the independent community. IFTA is the only unified voice for the Independents and it has never been more important to ensure opportunity and success for our members, colleagues, filmmakers, and the global industry.”

Clay Epstein, the president of Film Mode Entertainment, has been elected chair of the Independent Film & Television Alliance for the 2021-2023 term, IFTA said Monday. He’s been a board member since 2008 and served regularly on its executive committee.

Seven others were elected to the organization’s 15-person board including: J.D. Beaufils (VMI Worldwide), Jason Buckley (Lakeshore Entertainment), David Fannon (Screen Media), Lisa Gutberlet (Blue Fox Entertainment), Nat McCormick (The Exchange), Michael Ryan (GFM) and Rob Williams (Participant Media).

“The independent industry is being heroic in their effort to get back to production, get back distribution, notwithstanding a number of hurdles that really have never been worse,” said Jean Prewitt, president of IFTA.

“What we are looking at right now is this incredible patchwork. Everybody is cobbling together a solution of one sort or another,” said Jean Prewitt, CEO of the Independent Film & Television Alliance, who lobbies for the industry. “The positive thing is that everybody’s working hard to find industry solutions. But as an industry, we have not stabilized yet. Nor is anyone aware of what stability is going to look like.”

“We’re a good 18 months — even with the best news in the world — before people feel comfortable with the production plan they might have had in place two years ago,” says Jean Prewitt, president and CEO of the Independent Film & Television Alliance.

The IFTA is keenly focused on the issue of production insurance, which affects midrange independent films more than any others. Major insurance carriers are refusing to cover losses associated with the COVID pandemic. And even when vaccines are widely available, insurers will exclude coverage for future pandemics.

The Motion Picture Association, DGA, IATSE, IFTA, SAG-AFTRA along with the AFL-CIO’s Department of Professional Employees have penned a letter to President Joe Biden urging the new administration to keep the job-providing, economy-stimulating film and television community in mind when hashing out policy.

"As you develop the agenda for the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs for this year, the film, TV, and sports industries respectfully request that you address the broad economic impact that the withdrawal of pandemic risk coverage has created for our businesses," a group of film, television and sports groups (including The Motion Picture Association, the Independent Film & Television Alliance, the NCTA – The Internet & Television Association, the Directors Guild of America, the National Association of Broadcasters, IATSE, the Producers Guild of America, American Coalition for Independent Content Production and SAG-AFTRA) stated in a letter addressed to Senate leaders on Friday. 

With traditionally Hollywood-friendly Democrats in the White House, “there are issues that will be resolved differently and conversations that may or may not be more comfortable,” Jean Prewitt, president and CEO of the Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA), told Screen recently.

“But our industry employs people in every state in the country, both red and blue,” Prewitt added. “It’s not a one-party industry.”

Jean Prewitt, the president and CEO of IFTA, the Independent Film & Television Alliance, has been a tireless advocate for the independent community as pandemic insurance coverage, completion bonds and financing evaporated for new production with Covid-19. As 400 film and TV projects by her estimate may have fallen away due to lack of pandemic insurance, she was a conduit for information and connections as producers sought alternate sources of cash, moved overseas and pondered expensive new specialty insurance products. 

For independent filmmakers, the Covid-19 pandemic has added a new hurdle to the already challenging task of lining up financing: finding insurance to cover virus-related interruptions.

“Losing insurance coverage has reduced our industry’s ability to work dramatically -- affecting thousands of jobs across the country in virtually every state,” said Jean Prewitt, head of the Independent Film & Television Alliance, which is working with Maloney.

Jean Prewitt, President & CEO, Independent Film & Television Alliance, has estimated that as many as 400 film projects may have fallen away due to lack of COVID insurance.

Prewitt said insurance industry proposals so far all are limited to the next pandemic, not this one, “and the classic salary and overhead costs of a shut-down.” In a statement after the hearing, she said IFTA, along with the MPA, Fox Broadcasting and others in the film and television industry, is supportive of the BCC proposal that recommends businesses “be protected going forward during this pandemic, as well as future ones, and that legislation must contain provisions adapted to the specialty insurance lines including film and television production, sports events, and event cancellation.”  

The Independent Film & Television Alliance, which produces the annual American Film Market, has elected eight new members to its board. The new directors include executives from such companies as Lionsgate, Myriad Pictures and XYZ Films.

The latest additions to IFTA’s board are J.D. Beaufils (VMI Worldwide), Scott Bedno (Myriad Pictures), Jody Cipriano (MarVista Entertainment), Patrick Ewald (Epic Pictures Group), Will Machin (Metro International Entertainment), Wendy Reeds (Lionsgate), Lise Romanoff (Vision Films) and Nick Spicer (XYZ Films).

With traditionally Hollywood-friendly Democrats in the White House, “there are issues that will be resolved differently and conversations that may or may not be more comfortable,” says Jean Prewitt, president and CEO of the Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA).

“But our industry employs people in every state in the country, both red and blue,” Prewitt adds. “It’s not a one-party industry.”

The MPA, Independent Film & Television Alliance, Fox Corp, Sony Pictures Entertainment, ViacomCBS, the NAB and the NCTA have boarded a broad new coalition to tackle public-private business continuity insurance, the latest push to offset the financial devastation of COVID-19 and future pandemics.

The Business Continuity Coalition (BCC) represents two dozen industries from restaurants, hospitality and gaming to retail and real estate with over 50 million workers. 

A whopping 250-400 films have bitten the dust due to lack of pandemic insurance, said Jean Prewitt, president and CEO of the Independent Film & Television Alliance, speaking Thursday at a roundtable organized by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) to discuss the Pandemic Risk Insurance Act, or PRIA.

Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA) head Jean Prewitt has called on the US government to get behind a pandemic insurance backstop in a “disastrous” year that has seen up to 400 films stall before they could go into production.

“It’s reasonable to look at any offer,” said Jean Prewitt, president and CEO of IFTA, which reps indie producers and has been following their insurance conundrum closely. “It’s not a substitute for what was there before,” she said of the nascent COVID policies. “But our industry wants to go back to work right now … The question really is, is there a short-term product that bridges that gap?”

“On the independent side, it is the case that brand-new projects that presumably didn’t have insurance written in March are moving very slowly,” said Jean Prewitt, CEO and president of the Independent Film and Television Alliance. “But the studios are not going to fare any better next year than the independents do.”

For Hollywood, the return of the film industry’s most important foreign market was cause for cautious optimism.

“The conversation needs to be focused on gaining legal access to the Chinese market rather than trying to tie producers’ hands in their efforts to surmount the trade barrier,” said Jean Prewitt, president of the Independent Film & Television Alliance.

Insurers have largely stopped covering independent film and television productions against the risk of COVID-19 illness, a shift that threatens the supply of new entertainment in 2021, Hollywood producers, insurers and industry experts said. While big studios can self-insure, independent producers, who turn out 70% of new films and numerous TV shows in the U.S. each year, are looking for alternatives, said Jean Prewitt, chief executive of the Independent Film & Television Alliance.

Insurers have largely stopped covering independent film and television productions against the risk of COVID-19 illness, a shift that threatens the supply of new entertainment in 2021, Hollywood producers, insurers and industry experts said. While big studios can self-insure, independent producers, who turn out 70% of new films and numerous TV shows in the U.S. each year, are looking for alternatives, said Jean Prewitt, chief executive of the Independent Film & Television Alliance.

Insurers have largely stopped covering independent film and television productions against the risk of COVID-19 illness, a shift that threatens the supply of new entertainment in 2021, Hollywood producers, insurers and industry experts said. While big studios can self-insure, independent producers, who turn out 70% of new films and numerous TV shows in the U.S. each year, are looking for alternatives, said Jean Prewitt, chief executive of the Independent Film & Television Alliance.

Signing on to the letter were the Motion Picture Association, Independent Film & Television Alliance, NCTA–The Internet & Television Association, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, NASCAR, National Football League, Directors Guild of America, National Association of Broadcasters, Producers Guild of America, NPACT, Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

The document, sent Monday to Congressional leaders, was signed by leaders of the Motion Picture Association, the Directors Guild of America, the Independent Film & Television Alliance, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and SAG-AFTRA. “We believe a hiring incentive modeled on the employee retention credit or the work opportunity tax credit (WOTC) will help move workers off of unemployment and bring them back into the workforce,” the letter said.

In a letter that went out on Monday to Congressional leaders, prominent industry groups have outlined policies from hiring incentives to a federal insurance program they'd like to see enacted. "These policies would help jumpstart domestic film and television production, encourage hiring and ameliorate the higher costs that must be undertaken to protect our industry’s workforce," states the letter signed by the leaders of the Motion Picture Association, the Directors Guild of America, the Independent Film & Television Alliance, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and SAG-AFTRA.

The Motion Picture Association (MPA), Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA) and the major Hollywood labour groups have appealed to US Congress to help resolve the looming insurance crisis as part of a package of Covid-19 relief proposals. The measure calls on legislators to set up either a federal insurance scheme or guarantee to fill the gap to cover Covid-related losses in the future.

“Everyone’s negotiating,” said Jean Prewitt, president of the Independent Film & Television Alliance, which represents the industry in D.C. “Some are going without pandemic insurance. Some are self-bonding. Some are paying for an additional policy out of their own pocket. Whatever is necessary… [to] assure a bank you are covering risk yourself. That you have five cast members and a limited crew … and calculate what that is going to cost you.”

The insurance industry has planted a flag with its own solution, one that calls for the federal government to set up a kind of risk-transfer mechanism. Jean Prewitt, president and CEO of the Independent Film & Television Alliance, said the insurance industry proposal, which was posted on NAMIC’s website Thursday and just started circulating, “has nothing to do with film and would not solve the gap in production going forward.”

The entertainment business doesn’t work without insurance. And right now, the insurance industry is getting crushed. “This is a giant problem,” says Jean Prewitt, CEO of the Independent Film & Television Alliance. “If you’re not fully covered, you’re going to have difficulty getting it bonded and difficulty getting it financed,” Prewitt says.

The question for the film and TV business, says IFTA president and CEO Jean Prewitt, "is how do we address risks that are specific to this industry, and can [such provisions] be added into one of those more general bills that are floating around?"

Jean Prewitt, CEO of the Independent Film & Television Alliance, is the point person for indie producers in Washington, D.C., where several bills are in the works. She said the one from Maloney — chairwoman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee and a senior member of the House Financial Service Committee and the Joint Economic Committee — appears to be the farthest ahead and may best serve the needs of producers.

The American Film Market has announced that it remains on track to hold the 2020 market set for Nov. 3-8 in Santa Monica, Ca., despite the coronavirus pandemic. “We know how difficult the past few months have been for our industry around the world and our thoughts go out to those whose loved ones have been directly impacted by the virus,” the Independent Film & Television Alliance said Friday. “Plans for AFM 2020 continue to move forward as scheduled."

On March 10, Jonathan Yunger, Co-President of IFTA member Millennium Media, testified in the U.S. Senate about the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and its “safe harbor” provision that allows internet companies to dodge liability for copyright infringement on their platforms.

A joint group of companies operating in the film and audiovisual sector—IFTA, the MPA, and 49 other organizations and companies across Europe—have issued the following statement in advance of the video conference of EU ministers of culture and media on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the culture and creative sectors.

Dans un communiqué commun, ces 51 voix (incluant l'IFTA) représentant tous les secteurs de l'audiovisuel et du cinéma exigent des réponses urgentes des décideurs européens pour la sauvegarde de l'industrie.

Over 50 European film and TV organizations, including IFTA, have issued a joint statement this morning calling for E.U. and member state decision-makers to take urgent action to safeguard the future of the sectors in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

A group of 51 European film and audiovisual organizations and individual companies, including IFTA, has released a call for action by EU and member state decision makers to safeguard the future of the sector in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The statement, see it in full below, says the industry requires “urgent financial support now and in the months to come” as the film and audiovisual ecosystem “is suffering grievously because of valid social distancing measures and related societal consequences.” It warns, “The crisis in our sector will be felt way beyond the confinement period.”

“The conversations we have had suggest that most of our members are focused on keeping their projects together, negotiating mutual agreements on delays on completion and delivery, etc., because that’s the best way to maintain their business in the long run,” said Jean Prewitt, president and CEO of the Independent Film & Television Alliance.

Hollywood film and television makers and Washington lawmakers gathered in DC on Thursday for the “Beyond the Red Carpet: Movies and TV Magic Day,” an event that offered lawmakers a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the creativity and innovation of the film and TV industries.

British film executive Michael Ryan of GFM Films has been re-elected to a two-year term as chair of the Independent Film & Television Alliance.

IFTA announced the results from its annual members’ meeting on Thursday, a day after its American Film Market opened for its 40th iteration at the Loews Hotel in Santa Monica, Ca.

Millennium Media's Jeffrey Greenstein, Jeannine Tang of Participant and Jeannine Tang of Participant are among the new members elected to the board of the Independent Film & Television Alliance.

Michael Ryan, a partner in London-based film group GFM Films, has been re-elected as chairperson of the Independent Film & Television Alliance.

Michael Ryan of GFM Films has been re-elected as Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA) chairperson and will serve from 2019-21.

The organisation’s 15-person board comprises newly elected members voted in at Wednesday’s annual elections: Tannaz Anisi (13 Films), Scott Bedno (Myriad Pictures), Caroline Couret-Delégue (Film Seekers Limited), Clay Epstein (Film Mode Entertainment), Patrick Ewald (Epic Pictures Group), Jeffrey Greenstein (Millennium Media), Jay Joyce (Artist View Entertainment), Jeannine Tang (Participant), and Adam Wright (Voltage Pictures).

South Carolina’s movie and television industry is getting noticed — and industry officials want more government help to lure business. So far, that aid is proving difficult to find...Reviving the pre-2017 benefit is “incredibly important” to independent producers, said Jean Prewitt, president and CEO of the Los Angeles-based Independent Film & Television Alliance.

Input was made by The Motion Picture Association of America, The Independent Film & Television Alliance, CreativeFuture and The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

“Moreover, because pirate websites increasingly infect consumers with malware, unauthorised online dissemination of movies and television programmes is a growing threat to consumers and our nation’s cybersecurity,” the groups added.

Jean Prewitt notes, "You cannot underestimate the ongoing significance of having the whole industry come together at these events, to test out their own perceptions about what's valuable, what's important, what other people are seeing and how they're pricing it."

"The China market has slowed down to an uncertain dribble of business," said Jean Prewitt, president of the Independent Film & Television Alliance.

Jean Prewitt, CEO and president of the Independent Film & Television Alliance, the trade association of independent film and TV producers and distributors, and Jonathan Wolf, IFTA executive vp and managing director of American film market have both had their contracts renewed for another three years, the IFTA announced Tuesday.

Jean Prewitt, President & CEO, Independent Film and Television Alliance, "Today’s 3-2 decision by the FCC to repeal the critical ‘net neutrality’ safeguards established by the 2015 Open Internet Order is a significant setback for the independent sector of the film and television industry and the consumers which we serve."

Hollywood's Motion Picure Association (MPA), the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF) and the Independent Film & Telecision Alliance (IFTA) were among 20 trade bodies, insitutions and comapnies that officially supported the legal affairs committee ruling, circulating a joint letter to that effect to the European represetnatives last week.

Jonathan Yunger, co-president of film production company Millennium Media, bristles at the thought of TickBox and similar businesses profiting from the illegal use of his movies. Several of Millennium’s films, including “The Expendables 3” and “The Hitman’s Bodyguard,” have lost millions from online piracy.

Indeed, 78 of the Oscar nominations this year are for movies produced by companies outside the six major studios, according to the Independent Film & Television Alliance.

Hollywood will soon have its first chance in five years to change the terms of doing business in China, a politically fraught opportunity for studios to reap billions more from their most important foreign market.

Indeed, it’s a complex issue, but at its beating heart lies a dangerous prospect for the future of the audio-visual sector, which threatens to dismantle territory-by-territory licensing in Europe.

The Independent Film & Television Alliance, an international trade association representing more than 135 companies in 23 countries, elected four vice-chairs at its annual membership meetings today in Los Angeles and London. Elected vice-chairs were Jay Joyce of Artist View Entertainment, Troma Entertainment’s Lloyd Kaufman, Charlotte Mickie of Mongrel International and Screen Media’s Almira Ravil.

Michael Ryan, the chairman of the Independent Film and Television Alliance, said in a statement on Friday that the decision was “a major blow to the U.K. film and TV industry.”

“Uncertainty might be the greatest impact,” said Michael Ryan, the chairman of the Independent Film and Television Alliance, and a partner at GFM Films. “The U.K. employs a massive amount of people in this industry, and right now it’s a very confused place.”

"The decision to exit the European Union is a major blow to the U.K. film and TV industry," said Michael Ryan, chairman of the Independent Film & Television Alliance in a statement.

Reactions have rolled in from industry execs following last night’s vote by Britain to exit the EU and as media stocks crashed in London.

"Hollywood is hitting serious competition from local TV and film productions," said Jean M. Prewitt, president and chief executive of the Independent Film & Television Alliance. "More countries are producing world-quality films. We're certainly seeing that."

"There are fears that increased censorship also could encourage more piracy, and could give domestic movies, which have to go through the censorship process every early on, an advantage."

In 2020, nearly 400 feature film projects either moved overseas or disappeared, according to the Independent Film & Television Alliance, the global trade group for independent distributors and producers. Moreover, Hamby estimates the cost of insurance premiums for productions have risen upward of 50% since before the pandemic.

In 2020, nearly 400 feature film projects either moved overseas or disappeared, according to the Independent Film & Television Alliance, the global trade group for independent distributors and producers. Moreover, Hamby estimates the cost of insurance premiums for productions have risen upward of 50% since before the pandemic.

In 2020, nearly 400 feature film projects either moved overseas or disappeared, according to the Independent Film & Television Alliance, the global trade group for independent distributors and producers. Moreover, Hamby estimates the cost of insurance premiums for productions have risen upward of 50% since before the pandemic.

In 2020, nearly 400 feature film projects either moved overseas or disappeared, according to the Independent Film & Television Alliance, the global trade group for independent distributors and producers. Moreover, Hamby estimates the cost of insurance premiums for productions have risen upward of 50% since before the pandemic.

The American Film Market will return to Santa Monica as an in-person event from November 1 through November 6, after being forced online for two years due to the Covid pandemic, the Independent Film & Television Alliance announced today.

The 43rd edition of the market, which planned its shift to a six-day run in 2020, will take place at the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel and theatres throughout the city. The Loews will once again be to home to 400+ sales & production companies, LocationEXPO, and new for 2022, all Conferences & Panels, providing attendees more convenient access to this year’s sessions.

The market, which went virtual for the last two years due to the pandemic, will play out over six days at the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel and theatres throughout the city.

Registration will open May 9 for returning and new exhibitors, while accredited buyers and industry attendees can register starting on July 5.

The American Film Market is set to return with an in-person market in Santa Monica for its 43rd edition this Fall.

With the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel returning as a conference venue, the 2022 AFM will run from Nov. 1 to 6, the Independent Film & Television Alliance said on Thursday. The market, which began a six-day run in 2020, will also take place at theatres throughout the city.

“China is a market which is now totally unreliable, replete with exactly the same barriers if not worse that existed before 2012 — a black hole,” said Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA) head Jean Prewitt. “We don’t know how to access it. We don’t know how to influence it. We’re waiting really on our own government to develop a game plan that includes the services industry, and includes dealing with the 2012 agreement and the issues that have sprung up since then.”

“China is a market which is now totally unreliable, replete with exactly the same barriers if not worse that existed before 2012 — a black hole,” said Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA) head Jean Prewitt. “We don’t know how to access it. We don’t know how to influence it. We’re waiting really on our own government to develop a game plan that includes the services industry, and includes dealing with the 2012 agreement and the issues that have sprung up since then.”

“The politics were always there, but they were subordinated to growth. Now they’re not subordinated,” explains IFTA CEO Jean Prewitt. “We went from thinking we understood a system — albeit one where you couldn’t necessarily push a button and know what the results were — to a system that was just a black hole, where rumors are rife.”

IFTA has partnered with ICDR-AAA for the administration of its arbitration process, which has resolved thousands of disputes among companies in the worldwide film and TV production, distribution, financing and sales.

IFTA President/CEO Jean Prewitt and Chairperson Clay Epstein discuss the association's advocacy agenda, its strong member community, the challenges facing the independent film landscape and the AFM.  

IFTA (Independent Film & Television Alliance) president and CEO Jean Prewitt has issued a statement in support of a new version of pandemic support legislation introduced in May 2020.

“For the film and TV industry, the pandemic is far from over,” said Jean Prewitt, President & CEO of the Independent Film & Television Alliance. “The inability to secure full insurance coverage for the risks inherent in film and television production — standard for our industry and required to lock-in financing — since March 2020, continues to damage production and production-related jobs across the U.S.

“I am honoured to be entrusted by our membership to lead them as Chairperson,” said Epstein. “The future of our industry relies on the talent and energy of the independent community. IFTA is the only unified voice for the Independents and it has never been more important to ensure opportunity and success for our members, colleagues, filmmakers, and the global industry.”

Clay Epstein, the president of Film Mode Entertainment, has been elected chair of the Independent Film & Television Alliance for the 2021-2023 term, IFTA said Monday. He’s been a board member since 2008 and served regularly on its executive committee.

Seven others were elected to the organization’s 15-person board including: J.D. Beaufils (VMI Worldwide), Jason Buckley (Lakeshore Entertainment), David Fannon (Screen Media), Lisa Gutberlet (Blue Fox Entertainment), Nat McCormick (The Exchange), Michael Ryan (GFM) and Rob Williams (Participant Media).

“The independent industry is being heroic in their effort to get back to production, get back distribution, notwithstanding a number of hurdles that really have never been worse,” said Jean Prewitt, president of IFTA.

“What we are looking at right now is this incredible patchwork. Everybody is cobbling together a solution of one sort or another,” said Jean Prewitt, CEO of the Independent Film & Television Alliance, who lobbies for the industry. “The positive thing is that everybody’s working hard to find industry solutions. But as an industry, we have not stabilized yet. Nor is anyone aware of what stability is going to look like.”

“We’re a good 18 months — even with the best news in the world — before people feel comfortable with the production plan they might have had in place two years ago,” says Jean Prewitt, president and CEO of the Independent Film & Television Alliance.

The IFTA is keenly focused on the issue of production insurance, which affects midrange independent films more than any others. Major insurance carriers are refusing to cover losses associated with the COVID pandemic. And even when vaccines are widely available, insurers will exclude coverage for future pandemics.

The Motion Picture Association, DGA, IATSE, IFTA, SAG-AFTRA along with the AFL-CIO’s Department of Professional Employees have penned a letter to President Joe Biden urging the new administration to keep the job-providing, economy-stimulating film and television community in mind when hashing out policy.

"As you develop the agenda for the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs for this year, the film, TV, and sports industries respectfully request that you address the broad economic impact that the withdrawal of pandemic risk coverage has created for our businesses," a group of film, television and sports groups (including The Motion Picture Association, the Independent Film & Television Alliance, the NCTA – The Internet & Television Association, the Directors Guild of America, the National Association of Broadcasters, IATSE, the Producers Guild of America, American Coalition for Independent Content Production and SAG-AFTRA) stated in a letter addressed to Senate leaders on Friday. 

With traditionally Hollywood-friendly Democrats in the White House, “there are issues that will be resolved differently and conversations that may or may not be more comfortable,” Jean Prewitt, president and CEO of the Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA), told Screen recently.

“But our industry employs people in every state in the country, both red and blue,” Prewitt added. “It’s not a one-party industry.”

Jean Prewitt, the president and CEO of IFTA, the Independent Film & Television Alliance, has been a tireless advocate for the independent community as pandemic insurance coverage, completion bonds and financing evaporated for new production with Covid-19. As 400 film and TV projects by her estimate may have fallen away due to lack of pandemic insurance, she was a conduit for information and connections as producers sought alternate sources of cash, moved overseas and pondered expensive new specialty insurance products. 

For independent filmmakers, the Covid-19 pandemic has added a new hurdle to the already challenging task of lining up financing: finding insurance to cover virus-related interruptions.

“Losing insurance coverage has reduced our industry’s ability to work dramatically -- affecting thousands of jobs across the country in virtually every state,” said Jean Prewitt, head of the Independent Film & Television Alliance, which is working with Maloney.

Jean Prewitt, President & CEO, Independent Film & Television Alliance, has estimated that as many as 400 film projects may have fallen away due to lack of COVID insurance.

Prewitt said insurance industry proposals so far all are limited to the next pandemic, not this one, “and the classic salary and overhead costs of a shut-down.” In a statement after the hearing, she said IFTA, along with the MPA, Fox Broadcasting and others in the film and television industry, is supportive of the BCC proposal that recommends businesses “be protected going forward during this pandemic, as well as future ones, and that legislation must contain provisions adapted to the specialty insurance lines including film and television production, sports events, and event cancellation.”  

The Independent Film & Television Alliance, which produces the annual American Film Market, has elected eight new members to its board. The new directors include executives from such companies as Lionsgate, Myriad Pictures and XYZ Films.

The latest additions to IFTA’s board are J.D. Beaufils (VMI Worldwide), Scott Bedno (Myriad Pictures), Jody Cipriano (MarVista Entertainment), Patrick Ewald (Epic Pictures Group), Will Machin (Metro International Entertainment), Wendy Reeds (Lionsgate), Lise Romanoff (Vision Films) and Nick Spicer (XYZ Films).

With traditionally Hollywood-friendly Democrats in the White House, “there are issues that will be resolved differently and conversations that may or may not be more comfortable,” says Jean Prewitt, president and CEO of the Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA).

“But our industry employs people in every state in the country, both red and blue,” Prewitt adds. “It’s not a one-party industry.”

The MPA, Independent Film & Television Alliance, Fox Corp, Sony Pictures Entertainment, ViacomCBS, the NAB and the NCTA have boarded a broad new coalition to tackle public-private business continuity insurance, the latest push to offset the financial devastation of COVID-19 and future pandemics.

The Business Continuity Coalition (BCC) represents two dozen industries from restaurants, hospitality and gaming to retail and real estate with over 50 million workers. 

A whopping 250-400 films have bitten the dust due to lack of pandemic insurance, said Jean Prewitt, president and CEO of the Independent Film & Television Alliance, speaking Thursday at a roundtable organized by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) to discuss the Pandemic Risk Insurance Act, or PRIA.

Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA) head Jean Prewitt has called on the US government to get behind a pandemic insurance backstop in a “disastrous” year that has seen up to 400 films stall before they could go into production.

“It’s reasonable to look at any offer,” said Jean Prewitt, president and CEO of IFTA, which reps indie producers and has been following their insurance conundrum closely. “It’s not a substitute for what was there before,” she said of the nascent COVID policies. “But our industry wants to go back to work right now … The question really is, is there a short-term product that bridges that gap?”

“On the independent side, it is the case that brand-new projects that presumably didn’t have insurance written in March are moving very slowly,” said Jean Prewitt, CEO and president of the Independent Film and Television Alliance. “But the studios are not going to fare any better next year than the independents do.”

For Hollywood, the return of the film industry’s most important foreign market was cause for cautious optimism.

“The conversation needs to be focused on gaining legal access to the Chinese market rather than trying to tie producers’ hands in their efforts to surmount the trade barrier,” said Jean Prewitt, president of the Independent Film & Television Alliance.

Insurers have largely stopped covering independent film and television productions against the risk of COVID-19 illness, a shift that threatens the supply of new entertainment in 2021, Hollywood producers, insurers and industry experts said. While big studios can self-insure, independent producers, who turn out 70% of new films and numerous TV shows in the U.S. each year, are looking for alternatives, said Jean Prewitt, chief executive of the Independent Film & Television Alliance.

Insurers have largely stopped covering independent film and television productions against the risk of COVID-19 illness, a shift that threatens the supply of new entertainment in 2021, Hollywood producers, insurers and industry experts said. While big studios can self-insure, independent producers, who turn out 70% of new films and numerous TV shows in the U.S. each year, are looking for alternatives, said Jean Prewitt, chief executive of the Independent Film & Television Alliance.

Insurers have largely stopped covering independent film and television productions against the risk of COVID-19 illness, a shift that threatens the supply of new entertainment in 2021, Hollywood producers, insurers and industry experts said. While big studios can self-insure, independent producers, who turn out 70% of new films and numerous TV shows in the U.S. each year, are looking for alternatives, said Jean Prewitt, chief executive of the Independent Film & Television Alliance.

Signing on to the letter were the Motion Picture Association, Independent Film & Television Alliance, NCTA–The Internet & Television Association, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, NASCAR, National Football League, Directors Guild of America, National Association of Broadcasters, Producers Guild of America, NPACT, Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

The document, sent Monday to Congressional leaders, was signed by leaders of the Motion Picture Association, the Directors Guild of America, the Independent Film & Television Alliance, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and SAG-AFTRA. “We believe a hiring incentive modeled on the employee retention credit or the work opportunity tax credit (WOTC) will help move workers off of unemployment and bring them back into the workforce,” the letter said.

In a letter that went out on Monday to Congressional leaders, prominent industry groups have outlined policies from hiring incentives to a federal insurance program they'd like to see enacted. "These policies would help jumpstart domestic film and television production, encourage hiring and ameliorate the higher costs that must be undertaken to protect our industry’s workforce," states the letter signed by the leaders of the Motion Picture Association, the Directors Guild of America, the Independent Film & Television Alliance, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and SAG-AFTRA.

The Motion Picture Association (MPA), Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA) and the major Hollywood labour groups have appealed to US Congress to help resolve the looming insurance crisis as part of a package of Covid-19 relief proposals. The measure calls on legislators to set up either a federal insurance scheme or guarantee to fill the gap to cover Covid-related losses in the future.

“Everyone’s negotiating,” said Jean Prewitt, president of the Independent Film & Television Alliance, which represents the industry in D.C. “Some are going without pandemic insurance. Some are self-bonding. Some are paying for an additional policy out of their own pocket. Whatever is necessary… [to] assure a bank you are covering risk yourself. That you have five cast members and a limited crew … and calculate what that is going to cost you.”

The insurance industry has planted a flag with its own solution, one that calls for the federal government to set up a kind of risk-transfer mechanism. Jean Prewitt, president and CEO of the Independent Film & Television Alliance, said the insurance industry proposal, which was posted on NAMIC’s website Thursday and just started circulating, “has nothing to do with film and would not solve the gap in production going forward.”

The entertainment business doesn’t work without insurance. And right now, the insurance industry is getting crushed. “This is a giant problem,” says Jean Prewitt, CEO of the Independent Film & Television Alliance. “If you’re not fully covered, you’re going to have difficulty getting it bonded and difficulty getting it financed,” Prewitt says.

The question for the film and TV business, says IFTA president and CEO Jean Prewitt, "is how do we address risks that are specific to this industry, and can [such provisions] be added into one of those more general bills that are floating around?"

Jean Prewitt, CEO of the Independent Film & Television Alliance, is the point person for indie producers in Washington, D.C., where several bills are in the works. She said the one from Maloney — chairwoman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee and a senior member of the House Financial Service Committee and the Joint Economic Committee — appears to be the farthest ahead and may best serve the needs of producers.

The American Film Market has announced that it remains on track to hold the 2020 market set for Nov. 3-8 in Santa Monica, Ca., despite the coronavirus pandemic. “We know how difficult the past few months have been for our industry around the world and our thoughts go out to those whose loved ones have been directly impacted by the virus,” the Independent Film & Television Alliance said Friday. “Plans for AFM 2020 continue to move forward as scheduled."

On March 10, Jonathan Yunger, Co-President of IFTA member Millennium Media, testified in the U.S. Senate about the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and its “safe harbor” provision that allows internet companies to dodge liability for copyright infringement on their platforms.

A joint group of companies operating in the film and audiovisual sector—IFTA, the MPA, and 49 other organizations and companies across Europe—have issued the following statement in advance of the video conference of EU ministers of culture and media on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the culture and creative sectors.

Dans un communiqué commun, ces 51 voix (incluant l'IFTA) représentant tous les secteurs de l'audiovisuel et du cinéma exigent des réponses urgentes des décideurs européens pour la sauvegarde de l'industrie.

Over 50 European film and TV organizations, including IFTA, have issued a joint statement this morning calling for E.U. and member state decision-makers to take urgent action to safeguard the future of the sectors in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

A group of 51 European film and audiovisual organizations and individual companies, including IFTA, has released a call for action by EU and member state decision makers to safeguard the future of the sector in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The statement, see it in full below, says the industry requires “urgent financial support now and in the months to come” as the film and audiovisual ecosystem “is suffering grievously because of valid social distancing measures and related societal consequences.” It warns, “The crisis in our sector will be felt way beyond the confinement period.”

“The conversations we have had suggest that most of our members are focused on keeping their projects together, negotiating mutual agreements on delays on completion and delivery, etc., because that’s the best way to maintain their business in the long run,” said Jean Prewitt, president and CEO of the Independent Film & Television Alliance.

Hollywood film and television makers and Washington lawmakers gathered in DC on Thursday for the “Beyond the Red Carpet: Movies and TV Magic Day,” an event that offered lawmakers a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the creativity and innovation of the film and TV industries.

British film executive Michael Ryan of GFM Films has been re-elected to a two-year term as chair of the Independent Film & Television Alliance.

IFTA announced the results from its annual members’ meeting on Thursday, a day after its American Film Market opened for its 40th iteration at the Loews Hotel in Santa Monica, Ca.

Millennium Media's Jeffrey Greenstein, Jeannine Tang of Participant and Jeannine Tang of Participant are among the new members elected to the board of the Independent Film & Television Alliance.

Michael Ryan, a partner in London-based film group GFM Films, has been re-elected as chairperson of the Independent Film & Television Alliance.

Michael Ryan of GFM Films has been re-elected as Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA) chairperson and will serve from 2019-21.

The organisation’s 15-person board comprises newly elected members voted in at Wednesday’s annual elections: Tannaz Anisi (13 Films), Scott Bedno (Myriad Pictures), Caroline Couret-Delégue (Film Seekers Limited), Clay Epstein (Film Mode Entertainment), Patrick Ewald (Epic Pictures Group), Jeffrey Greenstein (Millennium Media), Jay Joyce (Artist View Entertainment), Jeannine Tang (Participant), and Adam Wright (Voltage Pictures).

South Carolina’s movie and television industry is getting noticed — and industry officials want more government help to lure business. So far, that aid is proving difficult to find...Reviving the pre-2017 benefit is “incredibly important” to independent producers, said Jean Prewitt, president and CEO of the Los Angeles-based Independent Film & Television Alliance.

Input was made by The Motion Picture Association of America, The Independent Film & Television Alliance, CreativeFuture and The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

“Moreover, because pirate websites increasingly infect consumers with malware, unauthorised online dissemination of movies and television programmes is a growing threat to consumers and our nation’s cybersecurity,” the groups added.

Jean Prewitt notes, "You cannot underestimate the ongoing significance of having the whole industry come together at these events, to test out their own perceptions about what's valuable, what's important, what other people are seeing and how they're pricing it."

"The China market has slowed down to an uncertain dribble of business," said Jean Prewitt, president of the Independent Film & Television Alliance.

Jean Prewitt, CEO and president of the Independent Film & Television Alliance, the trade association of independent film and TV producers and distributors, and Jonathan Wolf, IFTA executive vp and managing director of American film market have both had their contracts renewed for another three years, the IFTA announced Tuesday.

Jean Prewitt, President & CEO, Independent Film and Television Alliance, "Today’s 3-2 decision by the FCC to repeal the critical ‘net neutrality’ safeguards established by the 2015 Open Internet Order is a significant setback for the independent sector of the film and television industry and the consumers which we serve."

Hollywood's Motion Picure Association (MPA), the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF) and the Independent Film & Telecision Alliance (IFTA) were among 20 trade bodies, insitutions and comapnies that officially supported the legal affairs committee ruling, circulating a joint letter to that effect to the European represetnatives last week.

Jonathan Yunger, co-president of film production company Millennium Media, bristles at the thought of TickBox and similar businesses profiting from the illegal use of his movies. Several of Millennium’s films, including “The Expendables 3” and “The Hitman’s Bodyguard,” have lost millions from online piracy.

Indeed, 78 of the Oscar nominations this year are for movies produced by companies outside the six major studios, according to the Independent Film & Television Alliance.

Hollywood will soon have its first chance in five years to change the terms of doing business in China, a politically fraught opportunity for studios to reap billions more from their most important foreign market.

Indeed, it’s a complex issue, but at its beating heart lies a dangerous prospect for the future of the audio-visual sector, which threatens to dismantle territory-by-territory licensing in Europe.

The Independent Film & Television Alliance, an international trade association representing more than 135 companies in 23 countries, elected four vice-chairs at its annual membership meetings today in Los Angeles and London. Elected vice-chairs were Jay Joyce of Artist View Entertainment, Troma Entertainment’s Lloyd Kaufman, Charlotte Mickie of Mongrel International and Screen Media’s Almira Ravil.

Michael Ryan, the chairman of the Independent Film and Television Alliance, said in a statement on Friday that the decision was “a major blow to the U.K. film and TV industry.”

“Uncertainty might be the greatest impact,” said Michael Ryan, the chairman of the Independent Film and Television Alliance, and a partner at GFM Films. “The U.K. employs a massive amount of people in this industry, and right now it’s a very confused place.”

"The decision to exit the European Union is a major blow to the U.K. film and TV industry," said Michael Ryan, chairman of the Independent Film & Television Alliance in a statement.

Reactions have rolled in from industry execs following last night’s vote by Britain to exit the EU and as media stocks crashed in London.

"Hollywood is hitting serious competition from local TV and film productions," said Jean M. Prewitt, president and chief executive of the Independent Film & Television Alliance. "More countries are producing world-quality films. We're certainly seeing that."

"There are fears that increased censorship also could encourage more piracy, and could give domestic movies, which have to go through the censorship process every early on, an advantage."