The Independent Film & Television Alliance® (IFTA®), the L.A. headquartered global trade association of the indie motion picture and TV programming industry, announced the results of its annual elections to select the executive committee and board of directors for the 2017-2019 term.
IFTA’s executive committee will continue to be headed by chairperson Michael Ryan (GFM Films), who was elected for a second term. Joining him are Andrew Kramer (Lionsgate), who was elected as general vice chairperson, and Clay Epstein (FilmMode Entertainment), who was elected as vice chairperson/secretary.
Jay Joyce (Artist View Entertainment), Lloyd Kaufman (Troma Entertainment), Charlotte Mickie (Mongrel International), and Almira Ravil (Screen Media) will continue serving as members of the executive committee through the second year of their term.
The following new board members have been elected to serve a two-year term for 2017-2019: Tannaz Anisi (13 Films), Paul Bales (The Asylum), Jason Buckley (Lakeshore Entertainment), Carl Clifton (Hyde Park International), Caroline Couret-Delegue (unaffiliated), Kirk D’Amico (Myriad Pictures), Jeffrey Greenstein (Millennium Media, Inc.), Lisa Romanoff (Vision Films, Inc.), Gabrielle Stewart (HanWay Films), Jeannine Tang (The Weinstein Company), and Andrew Orr (Independent Film Sales) will serve as an alternate.
Also on the board of directors, continuing for their second year, are: Shaked Berenson (Epic Pictures Group), Tamara Birkemoe (Foresight Unlimited), Jody Cipriano (MarVista Entertainment), Alexandra Cocean (Voltage Pictures), Camela Galano (unaffiliated), Brad Krevoy (Motion Picture Corporation of America), Albert Lee (Emperor Motion Pictures), Nat McCormick (The Exchange), Michael Rothstein (IM Global) and Alison Thompson (Cornerstone Films).
IFTA’s executive committee and board of directors were elected by IFTA’s voting membership and represent companies from Europe, Asia, and North America, reflecting the global scope of the association’s services, activities, and its annual event, the American Film Market® (AFM®).
Nintendo reports lower profits as demand drops for its aging Switch console
Nintendo, the Japanese video game maker behind the Super Mario franchise, said Tuesday that its profit fell 60% in the first half of the fiscal year, as demand waned for its Switch console, now in its eighth year since going on sale.
Kyoto-based Nintendo Co. reported a 108.7 billion yen ($715 million) profit for the April-September period, as sales slipped 34% from the previous year to 523 billion yen ($3.4 billion).
More than 74% of its sales revenue came from overseas, according to Nintendo, which didn't break down quarterly numbers.
Global Switch sales during the period dropped to 4.7 million machines from 6.8 million units the previous year.
But Nintendo said in a statement that Switch sales were still growing and vowed to stick to its goal of selling a Switch console to each and every individual, not just one Switch per every household.
Nintendo stuck to its earlier projection for a 300 billion yen ($2 billion) profit for the full fiscal year through March 2025, down nearly 29% from the previous fiscal year.
Annual sales were forecast to drop 23% to1.28 trillion yen ($8.4 billion).
It also lowered its Switch sales projection for the fiscal year to 12.5 million units from an earlier forecast to sell 13.5 million.
Nintendo and other game and toy makers rake in their biggest profits during the Christmas shopping season, as well as New Year's, a holiday celebrated with fanfare in Japan, when children receive cash gifts from grandparents and other relatives.
Nintendo has not yet announced details on a successor to the Switch.
Among its million-seller game software titles for the fiscal half were "Paper Mario RPG," which sold 1.95 million units since going on sale in May, and "Luigi Mansion 2... Read More