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At Wrapbook, we pride ourselves on providing outstanding free resources to producers and their crews, but this post is for informational purposes only as of the date above. The content on our website is not intended to provide and should not be relied on for legal, accounting, or tax advice. You should consult with your own legal, accounting, or tax advisors to determine how this general information may apply to your specific circumstances.
Every November, much of the independent film business gathers in Los Angeles for one week of meetings. At the American Film Market (AFM), films are financed, packaged, sold, and distributed, and buyers and sellers from around the world negotiate on projects at every stage between development and delivery.
If you’re a producer with a finished film or a developed project, the American Film Market 2026 can move it forward. The market rewards preparation. Below, you’ll find how to plan your week, prepare your materials, pitch well, and follow up so that the meetings you take in November keep paying off into next year.
Wrapbook is the Presenting Sponsor of The AFM Sessions this year, so we’ll be there too. You’ll find details on our panels and our table near the end.
AFM is a marketplace for licensing and distributing feature films. The 2026 edition runs November 10 to 15 at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles. The market spent decades in Santa Monica, then went virtual and later moved to Las Vegas for several years before returning to Los Angeles in 2025. Screenings take place nearby at the AMC Century City 15.
Sales companies, distributors, financiers, and producers all come to do business. The Independent Film & TV Alliance (IFTA), which produces the market, reports that it accounts for more than $1 billion in film deals each year, covering projects at many levels of completion.
No. AFM is a sales market. Films screen and networking matters, but there are no competitions, juries, or awards. The only prizes are the deals attendees make for themselves.
Everything about the week is built around business: advancing companies, projects, and careers in the international film industry.
Anyone can buy a badge, but the market is built for buyers and sellers. Attendee badges are meant for industry professionals who don’t belong to a sales company or an accredited buying company.
Hundreds of sales companies and distributors come to present and review new films and projects. Producers arrive to sell finished films and line up financing for future ones. Writers can use the week to pitch screenplays and look for producing partners. If you need to connect with the people who finance and distribute independent film, the market puts most of them in one building.
This guide is written for producers with a film or developed project to sell, and it draws on the organizers’ own advice for attendees. Most of it applies to anyone bringing a business opportunity to the market.
The market moves fast, and a strategy built before you arrive is what keeps your week from getting away from you.
When you walk into the market with a project, you’re attending as a salesperson. Before you go, get specific about what makes your film attractive to a buyer: genre, cast, budget level, audience, and any financing already in place. Those details become the foundation of your pitch and your target list.
Your project won’t fit every company at the market, and that’s fine. The work is figuring out which ones make sense.
Research each company’s production profile. What genres do they handle? What audiences do they serve? What budget and risk levels do they usually take on? Which distribution channels do they specialize in? A company’s past slate tells you a lot.
The organizers suggest starting this research in The Film Catalogue about a month before the market, since most companies list their projects, profiles, and staff contacts there. As a benchmark, IFTA considers a list under 10 companies too narrow and a list of 100 or more unfinished; 30 to 40 is a good range for most projects.
For each company, find the specific people you want to meet, usually executives in acquisitions, development, or production. Trade publications and company websites are good places to look, and if a name doesn’t turn up, the market’s guide recommends calling the company’s main office to ask.
The market brings companies from all over the world to one location, so put that to work. A smart approach is to split your list into companies based in your home city and those based elsewhere, then focus first on the out-of-town companies, since you can meet local ones after the market. From there, sort your list into an A list and a B list of roughly 15 to 30 companies each.
Think of this step as pre-production. It’s where your strategy turns into a schedule, materials, and a badge.
Don’t plan to wing it. Most companies start booking their market schedules three or four weeks out, and a short, personalized email followed by a phone call a few days later works best.
Give each company a reason to say yes. The strongest requests explain why your project fits that company’s slate and what they gain from it.
You won’t have time to reprint anything once the market starts, so prepare your leave-behinds in advance. Most producers bring a large supply of business cards, a synopsis, bios for the attached producers and key creatives, and a short summary of the project’s creative and financial strengths.
That summary is worth extra attention. The organizers suggest it can include who’s attached or committed, a budget abstract under half a page, any rights that aren’t available, committed investors, and the production incentives the film can use. If you haven’t mapped out incentives yet, Wrapbook’s Production Incentives Finder and State Incentives Map are good places to start.
Be selective with sensitive materials like a finished screenplay or pitch deck. It’s smart to check with your attorney before leaving a script behind.
If you’re selling a finished film, plan to prepare three to six minutes of selected scenes about a month ahead and host them behind a password, so companies can watch before committing to a meeting. Use complete scenes rather than a trailer. Acquisition executives want to see how the film plays, not how you’d market it.
AFM 2026 offers seven attendee badges: Platinum and Industry badges cover all five market days starting November 10, Four Day and Four Day + Sessions badges start November 11, Three Day and Three Day Plus badges start November 12, and a One Day badge covers any single day.
The organizers’ guidance is that producers with a project or script get the most value from a four-day badge, while producers with a finished film should buy a badge that lets them start on opening day. Platinum and Plus badges also include access to The AFM Sessions conferences and panels, which is worth considering if you want the financing and incentives programming.
A strong pitch is the center of a successful week. It’s part craft and part discipline, and both can be practiced.
Write your pitch from start to finish. Focus on the clearest way to say what makes your project valuable, and keep it tight; most market meetings are short. Keep in mind that companies want a good film, but they want a profitable one first, so speak to how your film will connect with an audience.
Practice until the structure is second nature. If you can, rehearse with people who don’t know the project. A pitch flows differently in conversation, and real reactions will show you where it drags. Remember that buyers are evaluating you as well as the project, since committing to a film means committing to working with its producer.
Once you’re on site, the job is execution.
Show up to every scheduled meeting on time, leave your materials behind, and take notes after each conversation. You’ll want them when you follow up.
Meetings will run late, get bumped, or move. That’s normal at AFM. When a gap opens up, go back to your prioritized list. Drop by companies that wouldn’t commit to a meeting in advance, or scout B-list companies in person. It also helps to ask for meetings later in the week, since most companies are busiest in the first few days.
Most deals close after the market ends. One short meeting rarely lands a deal, so the goal of each pitch is getting a second meeting. Lock in the next conversation, make the next connection, and follow up with every contact you meet. Even the ones that don’t lead to a sale can open doors later.
Getting real value out of the market takes work before, during, and after the week itself. It’s built for people who treat their projects as a business.
For producers who do the homework, the payoff is access. Sales agents, distributors, and financiers from around the world are in one place for one week, ready to talk.
Whether it’s worth it for your project is a question only you can answer. A clear target list and a sharp pitch will make the answer easier.
Wrapbook is back as the Presenting Sponsor of The AFM Sessions, a four-day conference program with 150 speakers across two stages, focused on financing, production, distribution, and where the business is headed.
Ryan Broussard, Wrapbook’s VP of Sales & Production Incentives, is speaking on two panels about the financial side of filmmaking.
Finance II: The New Math of Independent Film. Wednesday, November 11, from 11AM to noon on the Santa Monica Stage, for Platinum and Plus Sessions badge holders. The panel looks at how financiers value a film today, covering budgets, cast value, sales estimates, tax incentives, and recoupment, along with what producers can do to build a project that pencils out.
U.S. Production Incentives: Where to Shoot in the U.S. Thursday, November 12, from 4 to 5PM. on the Constellation Stage, open to every badge except one-day badges. Ryan moderates a discussion with state film office representatives about what each state offers and how to make an incentive program work for your budget.
You can also find the Wrapbook team at our table outside the Santa Monica Stage throughout the Sessions. Bring your questions about payroll, production accounting, or incentives, and enter our giveaway while you’re there.
Wrapbook is the AI platform for production finance. With payroll, spend, and accounting in one system, Wrapbook eliminates the back-and-forth and keeps finance teams moving forward. Learn more about Wrapbook at AFM 2026.
The American Film Market 2026 runs November 10 to 15 at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles, and the producers who leave with momentum usually did the work before they arrived. Sharpen your delivery with our guide to pitching your movie, and read up on how films get financed so pre-sales, minimum guarantees, and gap loans feel familiar when they come up in meetings.
Then come find us. Catch Ryan Broussard on the Finance II panel Wednesday morning or the U.S. incentives session Thursday afternoon, and stop by the Wrapbook table outside the Santa Monica Stage with your questions about payroll, production accounting, or incentives. We’ll see you in Century City.
