The 2018 American Film Market may have come to a close. But really that is only the beginning. The market, where 28 countries were represented this year serves as a relationship farm, a place where seeds of new film and TV projects are planted.
The Loews, Le Merigot and the Carousel are where these seeds sometimes grow and bloom. Other times, it happens after the market has ended.
This year, REEL360 wanted to profile some of the market’s attendees and their projects.
Today, meet Gerald O’Connell. He’s a Chicago screenwriter who attended this year’s market for the first time ever.
In 1995, O’Connell joined Impulse Theatre Company as a board member and business manager for which he authored a study of the Chicago theatre market resulting in a detailed business plan. Artistically with Impulse, O’Connell was the Stage Manager and performed in small roles.
2015 saw the native Chicagoan found Conaill Productions to develop short and feature-length film productions. After producing a short film, the company is working on developing a feature-length sci-fi film.
What brought you to AFM this year? This year was my first AFM in which I wanted to learn more about the state of the independent film market and how to package a project for production. My first feature film script is near a second draft with the intention that I will produce this project myself.
What is your project about? The project is a sci-fi drama-thriller set in the near future. After meteor strikes ravish earth, a mother leaves her son behind to join a mission to set-up protection grid in deep space. The mission finds an anomaly in Space that slingshots them across the universe. Both mother and son must discover new laws of physics to reunite.
Any takers on the project? This visit to AFM was more to gauge the market and not actively selling.
How has your experience been at AFM? Best? Worst? The experience provided valuable information to get my project started. The contributors to the panel conversations and seminars were industry leaders with indispensable insight. I am much better positioned to develop my project because of this experience.
Did AFM live up to expectations? The expectations of meeting fellow filmmakers and industry leaders were met. A guide to navigating through the buyer landscape would have been helpful. I have a genre project, and it was hard to find the sales agents and producers interested in sci-fi. My next visit will take a bit more research before attending.
Did you meet any other Midwesterners here? A met a couple of filmmakers from the Detroit area, but I have not seen other areas from the Midwest represented.
What advice would you offer others who want to come in 2019? To get the most out of the experience, in any market, not just AFM, research before attending is vital. Seek out the sales agents that you think would be interested in your work, and reach out for meetings before your visit.
The REEL30 team wishes you luck with your project, Gerry.
Contact Colin Costello at colin@reelchicago.com or follow him on Twitter @colincostello10.
