Independent Film & Television Alliance

Last updated
Independent Film & Television Alliance
Company type Incentive
Industry trade association
Founded1980
United States
Headquarters California
Website ifta-online.org   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

The Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA) is the trade association that represents companies that finance, produce and license independent film and television programming worldwide. The association is headquartered in Los Angeles, but has a global membership and wide scope of services and advocacy. Its roster of 150 member companies in 23 countries include independent production and distribution companies, sales agents, television companies, studio-affiliated companies and financial institutions. IFTA members create more than 500 independent films and countless hours of TV programming each year generating a revenue of $4 billion annually.

Contents

The freedom for independents to create and distribute movies and television shows has been threatened by a handful of consolidated media companies that control programming and distribution. As the voice and advocate for the independent industry worldwide, IFTA continues to increase public awareness of the major issues facing independents and publicly represents the independent film industry on such matters as the threat to a competitive marketplace seen in media consolidation; [1] net neutrality; [2] the elimination of trade barriers; the impact of new technology on our traditional business models; anti-piracy; improvement of copyright protection around the world; [3] and the need to foster broad-based growth of the industry.

To that end, IFTA executives meet regularly with Washington lawmakers to advocate on behalf of reasonable and limited regulations to restore balance in the television and cable marketplace. IFTA endorses the principles of "net neutrality" or open access to the Internet. Net neutrality is currently threatened if broadband providers are able to discriminate in favor of certain content or applications, potentially replicating the closed and vertically integrated structure with traditional programming and distribution platforms.

In December 2008, IFTA called on the new Obama Administration to appoint an FCC chairman and commissioners who support principles of openness and diversity in the media with an open letter [4] to his transition team, including Julius Genachowski, who was confirmed as the new FCC chairman.

IFTA lobbies against market barriers that impede the independents' ability to compete fully in national markets around the world, including import and censorship restrictions and weak copyright protection. IFTA is a member of the Center for Copyright Information (CCI), [5] that aims to reduce online copyright infringement through a graduated response scheme called the Copyright Alert System.

What is an Independent?

According to IFTA: [6]

An independent film or television program is financed primarily from sources outside the seven major U.S. studios. Independent entertainment programming is made at every budget range, from mainstream commercial to art house, and is seen by the public side-by-side with major studio releases. IFTA's member companies are the independents who finance, license, and produce this programming.

Some members of the IFTA are subsidiaries of the Big Six movie studios, such as New Line Cinema and HBO which is owned by Time Warner, and Focus Features which is owned by NBCUniversal.

IFTA leadership

Jean Prewitt became IFTA's President in April 2000 [7] and was promoted to Chief Executive Officer in December 2001. Prior to joining IFTA, Prewitt was a senior government official and lobbyist for the film and entertainment industry for nearly ten years. Before her time in Washington DC, she was Senior Vice President and General Counsel of United International Pictures (the international distribution entity formed by then-Universal, Paramount and MGM-UA studios), managing international legal and government affairs. [8]

Jonathan Wolf has been IFTA's Executive Vice President and Managing Director of the American Film Market since 1998. He joined IFTA in 1993 as Senior Vice President of Business Development. Before joining IFTA, Wolf served two years as President & COO of Studio Three Film Corporation, a U.S. theatrical distribution company. [8]

In September 26, 2017 Michael Ryan was elected for a second two-year term as Chairman of the Alliance until 2019. Another appointments include Andrew Kramer (Lionsgate) as General Vice Chairperson and Clay Epstein as Vice Chairperson. Jay Joyce, Lloyd Kaufman (Troma Entertainment), Charlotte Mickie and Almira Ravil continue to serve as members of the Executive Committee through their second year of their term. The Board of Directors include Tannaz Anisi, Paul Bales (The Asylum), Jason Buckley (Lakeshore Entertainment), Carl Clifton (Hyde Park International), Caroline Couret-Delegue, Kirk D'Amico (Myriad Pictures), Jeffrey Greenstein (Millennium Media), Lise Romanoff, Gabrielle Stewart, Jeannine Tang, Shaked Berenson (Epic Pictures Group), Tamara Birkemoe (Foresight Unlimited), Jody Cipriano (MarVista Entertainment), Alexandra Cocean (Voltage Pictures), Camela Galano, Brad Krevoy, Albert Lee, Nat McCormick, Michael Rothstein and Alison Thompson. [9]

History

A group of independent producers established the American Film Market and the AFM's parent, the non-profit American Film Marketing Association, in 1980 to expand the independent film business. In 2004, the organization changed its name and expanded its scope to include television with the formation of the Independent Film & Television Alliance. [6]

Collectively, independents produce the largest number of motion picture industry jobs, films and, over the past quarter century, Academy Award-winning movies. IFTA members have produced and distributed such Best Picture Oscar winners as Gandhi (1982); Amadeus (1984); Platoon (1986); The Last Emperor (1987); Driving Miss Daisy (1989); Dances with Wolves (1990); The Silence of the Lambs (1991); Braveheart (1995); The English Patient (1996); Shakespeare in Love (1998); Chicago (2002); The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003); Million Dollar Baby (2004); Crash (2004); The Departed (2006); No Country for Old Men (2007) Slumdog Millionaire (2008), The Hurt Locker , (2009); The King's Speech (2010); and The Artist (2011).

Most recently, some of the world's most prominent films were produced, distributed and financed by IFTA Members: Milk (2008); The Reader (2008); The Wrestler (2008); Doubt (2008); Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008); W (2008); Twilight (2008); Defiance (2008); I've Loved You So Long (2008); Burn After Reading (2008); Inglourious Basterds (2009); Taken (2009); Paranormal Activity (2010); Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010); Insidious (2011); The Lincoln Lawyer (2011); The Hunger Games (2012); Now You See Me (2013).

IFTA members, as well as the entire independent film industry, benefit from the American Film Market (AFM), which has grown into one of the world's largest film markets, as well as the organization's standard form contracts and publications. Acting as an arbitration tribunal, IFTA resolves distribution-related disputes between parties.

See also

Related Research Articles

Orion Releasing, LLC is an American film production and distribution company owned by the Amazon MGM Studios subsidiary of Amazon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Major film studios</span> United States film production and distribution companies with high output

Major film studios are production and distribution companies that release a substantial number of films annually and consistently command a significant share of box office revenue in a given market. In the American and international markets, the major film studios, often known simply as the majors or the Big Five studios, are commonly regarded as the five diversified media conglomerates whose various film production and distribution subsidiaries collectively command approximately 80 to 85% of U.S. box office revenue. The term may also be applied more specifically to the primary motion picture business subsidiary of each respective conglomerate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alliance Atlantis</span> Former Canadian film and media company

Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. was a Canadian media company that operated primarily as a specialty service operator in Canada. Alliance Atlantis also had offices in Halifax, Los Angeles, London, Dublin, Madrid, Barcelona, Shannon, and Sydney.

StudioCanal S.A.S. is a French film & television production and distribution company which is a subsidiary of the Canal+ Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Columbia Pictures Television</span> Former American television and distribution company

Columbia Pictures Television, Inc. was launched on May 6, 1974, by Columbia Pictures as an American television production and distribution company. It is the second name of the Columbia Pictures' television division Screen Gems (SG) and the third name of Pioneer Telefilms. The company was active from 1974 until New Year's Day 2001, when it was folded into Columbia TriStar Television, a merger between Columbia Pictures Television and TriStar Television. A separate entity of CPT continues to exist on paper as an intellectual property holder, and under the moniker "CPT Holdings" to hold the copyright for the TV show The Young and the Restless, as well as old incarnations from the company's television library such as What's Happening!!

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Starz Entertainment Corp.</span> Canadian-American entertainment company

Starz Entertainment Corp. is a Canadian-American entertainment company currently headquartered in Santa Monica, California. It was founded by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, and domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, being incorporated there.

The Walt Disney Studios is a major division of the Disney Entertainment business segment of The Walt Disney Company best known for housing its multifaceted film studio divisions. Founded on October 16, 1923, and based mainly at the namesake studio lot in Burbank, California, it is the seventh-oldest global film studio and the fifth-oldest in the United States, a member of the Motion Picture Association (MPA) and one of the "Big Five" major film studios.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cineplex Odeon Films</span> Motion picture distribution unit

Cineplex Odeon Films was the film distribution unit of the Canadian cinema chain Cineplex Odeon Corporation. The company was originally named Pan-Canadian Film Distributors. In 1998, the company was purchased by Alliance Communications, whose film unit was merged into Alliance Atlantis, split from the company in 2007 as Alliance Films, and folded into Entertainment One, currently a subsidiary of Lionsgate Studios Corp.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vestron Video</span> Defunct American home video company

Vestron Video was the main subsidiary of Vestron, Inc., a home video company based in Stamford, Connecticut, that was active from 1981 to 1993, and is considered to have been a pioneer in the home video market.

Scott Mitchell Rosenberg is an American film, television, and comic book producer. He is the chairman of Platinum Studios, an entertainment company that controls a library of comic-book characters and adapts them for film, television and other media. Through Platinum Studios he is affiliated with Moving Pictures Media Group. He is also the founder and former president of Malibu Comics, and is a former senior executive vice president for Marvel Comics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Legendary Entertainment</span> American film studio

Legendary Entertainment, LLC is an American mass media and film production company based in Burbank, California, founded by Thomas Tull. The company has often collaborated with the major studios, including Warner Bros. Pictures, Universal Pictures, Sony Pictures and Paramount Pictures, as well as streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu. Since 2016, Legendary became a subsidiary of the Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group, with American equity firm Apollo buying a minority stake in 2022. In 2024, Legendary bought out Wanda's stake, making the former and Apollo equal partners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Film Market</span> Annual film industry event

The American Film Market (AFM) is a film industry event held annually in early November. Historically, more than 7,000 people attend the eight-day annual event to network and to sell, finance, and acquire films. Participants come from more than 70 countries and include acquisition and development executives, agents, attorneys, directors, distributors, festival directors, financiers, film commissioners, producers, writers, etc. Founded in 1981, the AFM is a marketplace for the film business, where, unlike a film festival, production and distribution deals are the main focus of the participants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alliance Films</span> Former Canadian motion picture production and distribution company

Alliance Films was a Canadian motion picture distribution and production company.

Paul Hertzberg is an American film producer and former actor. His genres included thrillers, action, drama, and sci-fi. He was the president and chief executive officer of CineTel Films, Inc. Alongside his company's vice president, Lisa M. Hansen, Hertzberg also frequently made cameos in the films he was involved with.

William M. Mechanic is an American film producer. He is the chairman and CEO of Pandemonium Films.

Mission Pictures International (MPI) is a foreign sales, finance, and distribution company specializing in family and faith-based entertainment for mainstream audiences worldwide.

Rob Moore is an investor in Esports and CEO of Sentinels. Moore is the former Vice Chairman of Paramount Pictures, America's largest Hollywood film and television production/distribution company. He oversaw the following divisions: marketing, distribution, home entertainment, digital, interactive, television, licensing and business affairs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mister Smith Entertainment</span> British film distribution company

Mister Smith Entertainment is a British film distribution company involved in the acquisition, financing, production, licensing and distribution sales of films for the global theatrical market. Founded by David Garrett and Constantin Film, Mister Smith was established on 1 May 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Jay Solomon</span> American businessman and entertainment executive

Michael Jay Solomon is an American businessman, and entertainment executive. Solomon's career spans more than 55 years in the media and content distribution business. He is the founder, chairman and president of several publicly and privately held companies. Solomon has founded or sits on the board of philanthropic organizations benefiting education, public health, and the arts.

References

  1. ↑ "IFTA Not Invited to 'Cocktail Party' - BC Beat | Blog on Broadcasting & Cable". Archived from the original on April 4, 2010. Retrieved January 6, 2010.
  2. ↑ [ dead link ]
  3. ↑ "IFTA Steps Up Anti-Piracy Campaign With Internet Security Technology Measures". Thebusinessoffilmdaily.com. Retrieved 2016-04-21.[ dead link ]
  4. ↑ [ dead link ]
  5. ↑ "About | Center for Copyright Information". Archived from the original on January 13, 2013. Retrieved February 25, 2013.
  6. 1 2 "Independent Film & Television Alliance | The Voice for Independents". Ifta-online.org. 2016-02-15. Retrieved 2016-04-21.
  7. ↑ "Leading the War for Independents | Broadcasting & Cable". Broadcastingcable.com. 2009-05-23. Retrieved 2016-04-21.
  8. 1 2 "IFTA Staff | Independent Film & Television Alliance". Ifta-online.org. Archived from the original on 2016-04-24. Retrieved 2016-04-21.
  9. ↑ "Independent Film & Television Alliance Elects Executive Committee and Board of Directors | Independent Film & Television Alliance". Ifta-online.org. 2017-09-26. Retrieved 2016-04-21.[ permanent dead link ]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.