Global streaming is shifting from rapid subscriber growth to a focus on retention, monetization, and diversified content delivery. With mature markets slowing and engagement slipping, SVOD platforms are expanding into lower-ARPU regions, testing ad-supported tiers, and forging partnerships like Netflix’s landmark TF1 deal, which blends traditional TV, live sports, and on-demand programming.
As the American Film Market wrapped at the Fairmont Century Plaza, the prevailing sentiment was unmistakable: relief. After four locations in four years—Santa Monica, virtual, Las Vegas—the independent business finally had a market that functioned, flowed, and felt worthy of the work being done inside it.
As the American Film Market wrapped at the Fairmont Century Plaza, the prevailing sentiment was unmistakable: relief. After four locations in four years—Santa Monica, virtual, Las Vegas—the independent business finally had a market that functioned, flowed, and felt worthy of the work being done inside it.
This year’s AFM slate is unusually dense, featuring high-profile packages, prestige breakouts, and ambitious commercial plays across genres, drama, and franchise-adjacent concepts. To help readers track the projects driving the most conversation—across sellers, buyers, agencies, and financiers—we’ve compiled a curated list of the 50 packages dominating meetings and hallway chatter.
The global independent film market has entered a period of hard correction. The number of buyers has contracted, advances are smaller, and even strong festival premieres are taking longer to close. What was once an expansive network of territorial sales has narrowed into a handful of dependable regions and a few genres that still command premiums.
What was sold as a revitalization appears to many, both inside and outside the company, as a high-risk restructuring that may strip Paramount of the very assets that once justified the deal. The comparison made by several veterans suggests that this has the makings of another Bronfman-era playbook: big promises, bigger checks, and a costly pursuit of scale that can leave the core business weaker.
When the cinema lights go down and the credits roll, it becomes clear that the major studio theatrical business is no longer a reliable growth engine. Yes, the occasional billion-dollar franchise still lands. But beneath the surface lies a shrinking marketplace, fewer wide releases, and an exodus of mid-budget films with nowhere to land.
As the American Film Market wrapped at the Fairmont Century Plaza, the prevailing sentiment was unmistakable: relief. After four locations in four years—Santa Monica, virtual, Las Vegas—the independent business finally had a market that functioned, flowed, and felt worthy of the work being done inside it.
This year’s AFM slate is unusually dense, featuring high-profile packages, prestige breakouts, and ambitious commercial plays across genres, drama, and franchise-adjacent concepts. To help readers track the projects driving the most conversation—across sellers, buyers, agencies, and financiers—we’ve compiled a curated list of the 50 packages dominating meetings and hallway chatter.
The global independent film market has entered a period of hard correction. The number of buyers has contracted, advances are smaller, and even strong festival premieres are taking longer to close. What was once an expansive network of territorial sales has narrowed into a handful of dependable regions and a few genres that still command premiums.
What was sold as a revitalization appears to many, both inside and outside the company, as a high-risk restructuring that may strip Paramount of the very assets that once justified the deal. The comparison made by several veterans suggests that this has the makings of another Bronfman-era playbook: big promises, bigger checks, and a costly pursuit of scale that can leave the core business weaker.
When the cinema lights go down and the credits roll, it becomes clear that the major studio theatrical business is no longer a reliable growth engine. Yes, the occasional billion-dollar franchise still lands. But beneath the surface lies a shrinking marketplace, fewer wide releases, and an exodus of mid-budget films with nowhere to land.
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