The American Film Market (AFM), taking place from Nov 2-9, is set to welcome more than 200 registrants from Mainland China, with an additional 75-plus from Hong Kong expected to descend upon Santa Monica. The registrants will be joining the market on behalf of over 90 different companies, continuing to promote China’s rising prominence and international business relations at the AFM.
The AFM highlights continued growth from China and Hong Kong, and will host number of new Chinese exhibitors at the market this year, including: BEIJING HY MEDIA, Beijing Phoenix Entertainment Co. Ltd, Flame Node Entertainment, Kingants Picture, Renart Pictures, Chang Yi Pictures, Eastbound Entertainment, FunAge Pictures, GIMC Global Entertainment Co. Ltd, and Golden Oak Pictures. The importance of US-Chinese media relations and crossover potential between these markets is outstanding.
The AFM’s continued collaboration and spotlight on China will be additionally showcased at this year’s Conference Series, with the annual China Conference taking place on Thursday, November 3. This year’s discussions will focus on the topics of “Producing in China” and “Marketing & Distributing in China,” with speakers including Bruno Wu, founder/co-chairman and CEO of Sun Seven Stars Media Group Limited; Yugang An, CEO, Beijing In-Entertainment Media Co., Ltd; William Feng, head of Greater China, VP of Asia Pacific, Motion Picture Association; and Melanie Ansley, producer/co-executive director, China Hollywood Society.
Following the China Conference, AFM will host a Roundtable, “Hong Kong: The Next Generation of Project Management for Production in Asia,” that will explore co-production solutions through Hong Kong.
Merman makes its signing of Ritesh Gupta official; company takes on U.S. representation for the director
Merman has officially announced the signing of director Ritesh Gupta for commercial representation in the U.S. Gupta had joined Merman last year but was working on a feature film for most of 2024 so the production company held off until now on making the signing public.
The director is a former award-winning sports journalist and creative director. He’s created noteworthy campaigns from Budweiser’s viral “Dwyane Wade: This Bud’s for 3,” which he directed, to the multi-award winning Beats by Dre campaign “You Love Me,” which Gupta worked on as group creative director at the agency Translation. The “You Love Me” film, which was directed by Melina Matsoukas, earned a primetime commercial Emmy nomination in 2021 as well as a DGA Award win for PRETTYBIRD director Matsoukas. This marked the second Emmy nod for Gupta. Back in his MTV days he was a producer on a documentary, Aftershock: Diary of Gideon in Pakistan, which garnered a News & Documentary Emmy nomination.
As a director, Gupta’s approach is to layer a truthful authenticity ingrained during his time as a journalist--along with an emotional intelligence he honed storytelling in the documentary world--to craft his own evocative and unique cinematic style. In addition to his two Emmy nods, he has netted four Webbys, six AICP wins, eight Cannes Lions, 25 Clios and recognition from ADCOLOR and the ANDYs.
“Ritesh brings a unique perspective to his storytelling,” said Merman global director Ellen Clarke. “He has the ability to identify the multilayers of a narrative and its characters, weaving them impactfully together. His strength lies in his connection to the talent’s performance and discovering the authenticity within the story.”
Gupta said,... Read More