By Robert Goldrich

SANTA MONICA, Calif. --

The American Film Market (AFM) is first and foremost known as a place for making deals–with exhibitors and buyers from around the world set to do business. Exhibitors offering their content wares this time around at the six-day AFM (10/31-11/5) included the likes of A24, AGC Studios, Altitude Film Sales, Amazon MGM Studios, Anton, Bankside Films, Beta Cinema, Black Bear Pictures, Blue Fox Entertainment, Charades, Cinema Management Group, CJ ENM, Emperor Motion Pictures, Film Mode Entertainment, FilmNation, GAGA Corporation, Gaumont, Global Screen GmbH, HanWay Films, Lakeshore, Lionsgate, MGM Studios, Millennium Media, Odin’s Eye Entertainment, Orange Studio, Pathé Films, Protagonist Pictures, SND Groupe M6, STUDIOCANAL, Toei Company, TrustNordisk, UNIFRANCE, Voltage Pictures, WME Independent, and XYZ Films. 

On the other side of the transactional ledger, territorial buyers from more than 65 countries turned out for AFM 

But beyond brisk business, AFM offered conversations in the form of organized Sessions (this year at the Hilton Santa Monica), as well as LocationExpo exhibitors (at the main venue of the Le Meridien Delfina Santa Monica hotel) consisting primarily of film commissions from around the globe.

Both the film commission community and the AFM Session platform came together for a conversation last week dubbed “Economic Development: Moviemaking on Native Land” moderated by Joanella Romero, founder, CEO and president of the Red Nation Celebration Institute, and featuring panelists Allison Whitmer, film commissioner, Montana Film Office; Coni Shepperd, film president, Southern Kentucky Film Commission; Cyndy McCrossen, film liaison, City of Albuquerque Film; Marcei Brown, who’s served as an assistant director, line producer and UPM (on films ranging from Get Out to BlacKkKlansman), and is co-founder of Crewvie, a database of crew talent which helps to promote diversity, equity and inclusion for movies, TV, commercials and digital programming; and Mike Fantasia, former president of the Location Managers Guild International (LMGI).

Fantasia, supervising location manager on Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, shared insights into that film. Fantasia was brought on early in the process, noting that Scorsese prioritized being true to the Osage Nation story. Part of that included the commitment to shoot in Oklahoma despite overtures from elsewhere, including Georgia where a significant amount of financial incentives could have been realized.

Fantasia added that Scorsese established a bond of communication with the Osage community, recalling a dinner with some 100 Osage leaders who were free to ask questions of the director, voice their concerns, make suggestions and be part of the moviemaking process. Furthermore in crafting Killers of the Flower Moon, Scorsese and Eric Roth as writers not only adapted the non-fiction book of the same title by David Grann but also, said Fantasia, incorporated elements of the family stories that Osage Nation members shared with them, adding a personal intimacy and authenticity to the feature narrative.

Killers of the Flower Moon wound up hiring assorted Indigenous people spanning the cast, art department, locations, production and wardrobe. The latter category in particular tapped into the historical wisdom and artistry of Osage elders. Dozens of Osage people appeared in the movie, with Fantasia adding that he knows a number of Indigenous artisans who as a result of the film have embarked on industry careers. The bottom line, related Fantasia, is that the community of Pawhuska (Oklahoma) has been changed “for the better” thanks to Killers of the Flower Moon.

So too has Fantasia who acknowledged that the project was “the toughest shoot I’ve been on,” entailing two years away from home, extreme weather conditions and other logistical challenges. But ultimately, he walked away with a deep respect and empathy for Osage Nation, making new friends along the way.

Session moderator Romero and panelists Shepperd, McCrossen, Brown and Whitmer noted that production on Native land generates assorted benefits, including most notably economic growth–creating job opportunities, facilitating workforce development training to prepare tribal members for the film industry, unlocking untapped resources which translate into new locations, uncovering hidden treasures and overall helping to expand horizons.

Albuquerque’s McCrossen, who has a location scouting background, observed that Indigenous communities have rich untold stories. She recalled an observation made years ago that likened intellectual property to “oil and gas,” meaning that IP is too a most valuable resource, one which Native lands and their people have in abundance.

And Whitmer of the Montana Film Office noted that actress Lily Gladstone, who gives a tour de force performance in Killers of the Flower Moon, was raised on the Blackfeet Nation reservation in Browning, Montana. She graduated from the University of Montana with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre and a minor in Native American Studies.

Relative to filming on Native land, Whitmer has seen activity in Montana on both the narrative and documentary feature fronts, prime examples being the Gabe Polsky-directed Butcher’s Crossing, a Nicholas Cage starrer which had its theatrical release last month. Although the film about bison hunters in the 1870s takes place in Colorado, it was shot entirely on the Blackfeet Reservation.

On the alluded documentary side, the evolution of buffalo is chronicled in Ken Burns’ The American Buffalo, which premiered on PBS the same week as Butcher’s Crossing hit theaters. Much of The American Buffalo was lensed in Montana.

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