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The American Film Market, or AFM, has long been a place where independent films can find homes with international distributors, where packages can come together, and where producers and sales representatives can mingle and hold meetings. It is an essential event on the calendar for many in the indie film world. Callo, meanwhile, is an operating system and platform that aims to bring that experience online, allowing independent creators to match up with producers, other collaborators, or studios.
It is fitting, then, that this year’s AFM will combine real-world interaction with online connections to rethink how people network, connect and collaborate in the marketplace. This is just the latest sign of how the market appears to be changing under new IFTA president Jackie Brenneman.
IndieWire can share exclusively that Callo is the official collaboration platform for AFM 2026, which means that AFM participants can access Callo’s platform and find those people, projects and opportunities they want to discover on the ground in Los Angeles before, after, or during the market. Badge holders can request access to Callo, and the creators who join can use it to find collaborators, build and package projects, review teams and materials, share film slates with potential partners. Likewise, it is a useful tool for buyers, financiers, sales representatives, and other operators to find new projects and talent.
AFM will also give Platinum badge holders exclusive access to the service, including Callo’s intelligent matching and human therapy. They will be invited to one-on-one meetings at a special lounge at the Fairmont Century Plaza, and other participants will be hand-selected to receive a one-year membership to Callo Slate, a premium offering that provides alternative development, project management, and therapy support throughout the year.
In addition, Brenneman will also participate in a panel discussion with Callo founder and CEO Fassa Sar, as well as Monica Khan, Founder & CEO of Creator Revolution and Senior Consultant at McKinsey & Company. The panel is titled “More Than Trend: The Rise of Creator Filmmakers,” and will discuss how the likes of Curry Barker, Kane Parsons, and Markiplier, who have a clear, online-based audience, have brought their work to Hollywood and the cinema, something that has already sparked a gold rush of people trying to find the next online IP or talent. The panel will take place on the AFM Main Stage on Wednesday, November 11 at 4:30 pm PT.
“It is clear that the market is changing rapidly. The people entering film and television today do not look like the people who built the industry before them. We are seeing creators with audiences coming in for the first time, along with a new generation of producers, financiers and creative entrepreneurs who want to be real players in our industry,” Sar said in a statement. “Callo serves this new generation, giving them the infrastructure to develop projects, build teams, work slates, and bring projects to market. That’s why partnering with AFM felt obvious. AFM has always been where the independent marketplace comes together to buy and sell.”
“The rules and business models that have long defined our industry are being reinvented, creating new ways to develop, finance and bring projects to audiences. At the same time, this is still an industry built on relationships, and bringing the industry together has always been fundamental to AFM.
AFM’s theme for 2026 is The New Global Screen Economy, and the market will focus more on the convergence of independent film and television, creators, technology, and new business models across development, financing, production and distribution at its first summit on opening day, November 10.
AFM 2026 takes place November 10-15 at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles.
