The AFM Sessions kicked off today with more than seven panels, including The Finance Conferences featuring leading executives from 30 West, AGC Studios, Netflix, Paramount, FilmNation, Fremantle, Millennium Media, NAACP, GLAAD, Rebelle Media, Cornerstone, Deadline, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and more all took the stage today at the Hilton Santa Monica Hotel.    

Joe Simpson of Ashland Hill Media Finance, Lauren Lewis of Rebelle Media, Milan Popelka of FilmNation, and Tim White of Star Thrower Entertainment Photo credit: Dan Steinberg 

9:30am – The Finance Conference – Session I, (Pacific Stage) 

Panelists:  

Milan Popelka, COO, FilmNation 

Joe Simpson, Managing Partner, Ashland Hill Media Finance 

Tim White, Co-CEO / Founder, Star Thrower Entertainment

Laura Lewis, CEO & Founder, Rebelle Media

Moderator: 

Jill Goldsmith, Co-Business Editor, Deadline 

11:30am – The Finance Conference – Session 2, (Pacific Stage) 

Will French of Fallbrook, Ryan Broussard of Wrapbook, Jeaneane Davey of Netflix, and Patrick Rizzotti of Blue Fox Financing  Photo credit: Dan Steinberg

Panelists: 

Ryan Broussard, VP of Sales & Production Incentives, Wrapbook 

Jeaneane Davey, Director of Production Tax Planning & Incentives, Netflix 

Patrick Rizzotti, Co-Founder & President, Blue Fox Financing 

Moderator: 

Will French, Head of Film & Television, Fallbrook 

12:00pm – Six Imperatives for Rendering Black Lives in Media Presented in Partnership with NAACP (Malibu Stage) 

Panelists:  

Ivan Juzang, Founder and President of MEE Productions 

Michael Swanson, CEO, Faith Filmworks 

Tiffany Yvonne Cox, Actress / Multi-hyphenate 

Yvette Nicole Brown, Actress 

Moderator: 

Kyle Bowser, Senior Vice President of NAACP Hollywood Bureau 

2:30pm – The Global Perspective: Breaking the Boundaries of Today’s Film Marketplace (Pacific Stage) 

Steven Gaydos of Variety, Mark Gooder of Cornerstone, Syrinthia Studer of Paramount Pictures, and Christian Vesper of Fremantle Photo credit: Dan Steinberg

Panelists: 

Mark Gooder, Co-President, Cornerstone 

Syrinthia Studer, EVP, International Productions, Paramount Pictures 

Christian Vesper, CEO, Global Drama, Fremantle 

Moderator: 

Steven Gaydos, SVP of Global Content & Executive Editor, Variety 

4:30pm – The Content Audiences Want & The Industry Needs to Provide, (Pacific Stage) 

Scott Roxborough of The Hollywood Reporter, Jeffrey Greenstein of Millennium Media, Lourdes Diaz of AGC Studios, Joe Lewis of Amplify, and Maren Olson of 30West

Panelists: 

Lourdes Diaz, CCO, AGC Studios 

Jeffrey Greenstein, President, Millennium Media 

Maren Olsen, Sales & Acquisitions, 30WEST 

Joe Lewis, Founder & CEO, Amplify 

Moderator:  

Scott Roxborough, European Bureau Chief, The Hollywood Reporter 

5:00pm – Funding Queer Narratives: Financing LGBTQIA+ Stories with Social Impact Presented in Partnership with GLAAD (Malibu Stage) 

Panelists: 

Steph Oauknine, Senior Production Executive, Wondery and Amazon 

Mychael G. Chinn, Director, Original Movies & Limited Series for the MTV Entertainment Studios 

Tuck Dowrey, Director of Development, PageBoy 

Moderator: 

Alex Schmider, Director of Transgender Representation, GLAAD