Independent Film & Television Alliance
Encyclopedia
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 worldwide membership and scope of services and advocacy. The organization has more than 150 member companies in 22 countries. Independent production and distribution companies, sales agents, television companies, studio-affiliated companies and financial institution
s, IFTA members create more than 500 independent films and countless hours of TV programming each year, with revenue of $4 billion annually.
IFTA publicly represents the independent film
industry on matters such as the threat to a competitive marketplace they see in media consolidation
; net neutrality
; the elimination of trade barrier
s; the impact of new technology on our traditional business model
s; anti-piracy
and improvement of copyright protection
around the world; and the need to foster broad-based growth of the industry. 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, including media consolidation and net neutrality.
IFTA executives meet regularly with Washington lawmakers advocating on behalf of reasonable and limited regulations to restore balance in the television and cable marketplace. IFTA also 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
to his transition team, including Julius Genachowski
, who was recently confirmed as the new FCC chairman.
IFTA also 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.
However, some members of the IFTA are subsidiaries of the Big Six movie studios, such as New Line Cinema
owned by Time Warner
and Focus Features
owned by NBC Universal
.
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 and established IFTA Collections, which now distributes millions of dollars in royalties to participants each year. Before joining IFTA, Wolf served two years as President & COO of Studio Three Film Corporation, a U.S. theatrical distribution company.
In September 2009, Troma Entertainment President Lloyd Kaufman was re-elected to a second two-year term serving as Chairman of the Independent Film & Television Alliance. Also elected to two-year terms on IFTA's executive committee were Imagination Worldwide's Pierre David, named general vice chairperson, and Summit Entertainment's Brad Kembel, vice chairperson/secretary. The newly elected members of the executive committee joined Roger Corman, Avi Lerner, Albert Lee and Elisabeth Costa de Beauregard Rose, who are all continuing their two-year terms.
Also serving new and continued two-year terms on IFTA's board of directors are Paul Hertzberg, Jay Joyce, Mark Lindsay, Nicole Mackey, Almira Malyshev, Bobby Meyers, Charlotte Mickie, Barbara Mudge, Michael Ryan, Adam Wright, Carl Clifton, Tony Kandah and Edward Noeltner,Steve Bickel, Nicolas Chartier, Kirk D'Amico, Mark Damon, Clay Epstein, Kim Fox, Richard Guardian, Brad Krevoy, Kathy Morgan and Brian O'Shea.
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.
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) and Slumdog Millionaire
(2008).
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); Coraline
(2009); Knowing
(2009); and, Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail (2009).
IFTA members, as well as the entire independent film industry, benefit from other services outside of the AFM, which has grown into one of the world’s largest film markets. The organization publishes standard form contracts and sets recognized business definitions, while providing business services to many of its members’ entrepreneurial companies. Acting as an arbitration tribunal (IFTA Arbitration), IFTA resolves distribution-related disputes between parties.
Industry trade group
A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association or sector association, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry...
that represents companies that finance, produce and license independent film
Independent film
An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...
and television programming worldwide. The association is headquartered in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
but has a worldwide membership and scope of services and advocacy. The organization has more than 150 member companies in 22 countries. Independent production and distribution companies, sales agents, television companies, studio-affiliated companies and financial institution
Financial institution
In financial economics, a financial institution is an institution that provides financial services for its clients or members. Probably the most important financial service provided by financial institutions is acting as financial intermediaries...
s, IFTA members create more than 500 independent films and countless hours of TV programming each year, with revenue of $4 billion annually.
IFTA publicly represents the independent film
Independent film
An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...
industry on matters such as the threat to a competitive marketplace they see in media consolidation
Concentration of media ownership
Concentration of media ownership refers to a process whereby progressively fewer individuals or organizations control increasing shares of the mass media...
; net neutrality
Network neutrality
Network neutrality is a principle that advocates no restrictions by Internet service providers or governments on consumers' access to networks that participate in the Internet...
; the elimination of trade barrier
Trade barrier
Trade barriers are government-induced restrictions on international trade. The barriers can take many forms, including the following:* Tariffs* Non-tariff barriers to trade** Import licenses** Export licenses** Import quotas** Subsidies...
s; the impact of new technology on our traditional business model
Business model
A business model describes the rationale of how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value...
s; anti-piracy
Anti-piracy
Anti-piracy is a term used to describe countermeasures against maritime piracy but moreoften by some to describe the attempt to prevent copyright infringement, counterfeiting, and other violations of intellectual-property rights....
and improvement of copyright protection
Copyright protection
The term copyright protection may refer to two things:* The monopoly granted to authors by copyright, as in "The 1996 act provided additional copyright protection," or "Permission is not granted to use these images, which are protected by copyright."...
around the world; and the need to foster broad-based growth of the industry. 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, including media consolidation and net neutrality.
IFTA executives meet regularly with Washington lawmakers advocating on behalf of reasonable and limited regulations to restore balance in the television and cable marketplace. IFTA also 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
Vertical integration
In microeconomics and management, the term vertical integration describes a style of management control. Vertically integrated companies in a supply chain are united through a common owner. Usually each member of the supply chain produces a different product or service, and the products combine to...
structure with traditional programming and distribution platforms.
In December 2008, IFTA called on the new Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
Administration to appoint an FCC
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
chairman and commissioners who support principles of openness and diversity in the media with an open letter
Open letter
An open letter is a letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally....
to his transition team, including Julius Genachowski
Julius Genachowski
Julius Genachowski is an American lawyer and businessman. He became Federal Communications Commission Chairman on June 29, 2009.-Education:Genachowski grew up in Great Neck, New York. He attended yeshiva and studied in Israel...
, who was recently confirmed as the new FCC chairman.
IFTA also 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.
What is an Independent?
According to IFTA:An independent film or television program is financed primarily from sources outside the seven major U.S. studiosMovie studioA movie studio is a term used to describe a major entertainment company or production company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to film movies...
. Independent entertainment programming is made at every budget rangeBudget rangeBudget range is the name given to software that are sold for a fraction of a regular product price...
, from mainstream commercial to art houseArt filmAn art film is the result of filmmaking which is typically a serious, independent film aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience...
, and is seen by the public side-by-side with major studio release. IFTA’s member companies finance, license, and produce this independent programming.
However, some members of the IFTA are subsidiaries of the Big Six movie studios, such as New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema, often simply referred to as New Line, is an American film studio. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996 and was merged with larger sister studio Warner...
owned by Time Warner
Time Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
and Focus Features
Focus Features
Focus Features is the art house films division of NBC Universal's Universal Pictures, and acts as both a producer and distributor for its own films and a distributor for foreign films....
owned by NBC Universal
NBC Universal
NBCUniversal Media, LLC is a media and entertainment company engaged in the production and marketing of entertainment, news, and information products and services to a global customer base...
.
IFTA Leadership
Jean Prewitt became IFTA’s President in April 2000 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.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 and established IFTA Collections, which now distributes millions of dollars in royalties to participants each year. Before joining IFTA, Wolf served two years as President & COO of Studio Three Film Corporation, a U.S. theatrical distribution company.
In September 2009, Troma Entertainment President Lloyd Kaufman was re-elected to a second two-year term serving as Chairman of the Independent Film & Television Alliance. Also elected to two-year terms on IFTA's executive committee were Imagination Worldwide's Pierre David, named general vice chairperson, and Summit Entertainment's Brad Kembel, vice chairperson/secretary. The newly elected members of the executive committee joined Roger Corman, Avi Lerner, Albert Lee and Elisabeth Costa de Beauregard Rose, who are all continuing their two-year terms.
Also serving new and continued two-year terms on IFTA's board of directors are Paul Hertzberg, Jay Joyce, Mark Lindsay, Nicole Mackey, Almira Malyshev, Bobby Meyers, Charlotte Mickie, Barbara Mudge, Michael Ryan, Adam Wright, Carl Clifton, Tony Kandah and Edward Noeltner,Steve Bickel, Nicolas Chartier, Kirk D'Amico, Mark Damon, Clay Epstein, Kim Fox, Richard Guardian, Brad Krevoy, Kathy Morgan and Brian O'Shea.
History
A group of independent producers established the American Film MarketAmerican Film Market
The American Film Market is a film industry event held each year at the beginning of November in Santa Monica, California. About 8,000 people attend the eight day event to network and to sell and acquire films...
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.
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
Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
winners as Gandhi
Gandhi (film)
Gandhi is a 1982 biographical film based on the life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, who led the nonviolent resistance movement against British colonial rule in India during the first half of the 20th century. The film was directed by Richard Attenborough and stars Ben Kingsley as Gandhi. They both...
(1982); Amadeus
Amadeus (film)
Amadeus is a 1984 period drama film directed by Miloš Forman and written by Peter Shaffer. Adapted from Shaffer's stage play Amadeus, the story is based loosely on the lives of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri, two composers who lived in Vienna, Austria, during the latter half of the...
(1984); Platoon
Platoon (film)
Platoon is a 1986 American war film written and directed by Oliver Stone and stars Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe and Charlie Sheen. It is the first of Stone's Vietnam War trilogy, followed by 1989's Born on the Fourth of July and 1993's Heaven & Earth....
(1986); The Last Emperor
The Last Emperor
The Last Emperor is a 1987 biopic about the life of Puyi, the last Emperor of China, whose autobiography was the basis for the screenplay written by Mark Peploe and Bernardo Bertolucci. Independently produced by Jeremy Thomas, it was directed by Bertolucci and released in 1987 by Columbia Pictures...
(1987); Driving Miss Daisy
Driving Miss Daisy
Driving Miss Daisy is a 1989 American comedy-drama film adapted from the Alfred Uhry play of the same name. The film was directed by Bruce Beresford, with Morgan Freeman reprising his role as Hoke Colburn and Jessica Tandy playing Miss Daisy...
(1989); Dances with Wolves
Dances with Wolves
Dances with Wolves is a 1990 epic western film directed by and starring Kevin Costner. It is a film adaptation of the 1988 book of the same name by Michael Blake and tells the story of a Union Army Lieutenant who travels to the American frontier to find a military post, and his dealings with a...
(1990); The Silence of the Lambs (1991); Braveheart
Braveheart
Braveheart is a 1995 epic historical drama war film directed by and starring Mel Gibson. The film was written for the screen and then novelized by Randall Wallace...
(1995); The English Patient
The English Patient (film)
The English Patient is a 1996 romantic drama film based on the novel of the same name by Sri Lankan-Canadian writer Michael Ondaatje. The film, written for the screen and directed by Anthony Minghella, won nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture...
(1996); Shakespeare in Love
Shakespeare in Love
Shakespeare in Love is a 1998 British-American comedy film directed by John Madden and written by Marc Norman and playwright Tom Stoppard....
(1998); Chicago
Chicago (2002 film)
Chicago is a 2002 musical film adapted from the satirical stage musical of the same name, exploring the themes of celebrity, scandal, and corruption in Jazz-age Chicago....
(2002); The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a 2003 epic fantasy-drama film directed by Peter Jackson that is based on the second and third volumes of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings...
(2003); Million Dollar Baby
Million Dollar Baby
Million Dollar Baby is a 2004 American sports drama film directed, co-produced, and scored by Clint Eastwood and starring Eastwood, Hilary Swank, and Morgan Freeman...
(2004); Crash
Crash (2004 film)
Crash is a 2004 American drama film co-written, produced, and directed by Paul Haggis. The film is about racial and social tensions in Los Angeles, California. A self-described "passion piece" for Haggis, Crash was inspired by a real life incident in which his Porsche was carjacked outside a video...
(2004); The Departed
The Departed
The Departed is a 2006 American crime thriller film, fashioned as a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs. The film was directed by Martin Scorsese and written by William Monahan...
(2006); No Country for Old Men
No Country for Old Men (film)
No Country for Old Men is a 2007 American crime thriller directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, and starring Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, and Josh Brolin. The film was adapted from the Cormac McCarthy novel of the same name...
(2007) and Slumdog Millionaire
Slumdog Millionaire
Slumdog Millionaire is a 2008 British epic romantic drama adventure film directed by Danny Boyle, written by Simon Beaufoy, and co-directed in India by Loveleen Tandan. It is an adaptation of the novel Q & A by Indian author and diplomat Vikas Swarup...
(2008).
Most recently, some of the world’s most prominent films were produced, distributed and financed by IFTA Members: Milk
Milk (film)
Milk is a 2008 American biographical film on the life of gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk, who was the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors...
(2008); The Reader (2008); The Wrestler (2008); Doubt (2008); Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Vicky Cristina Barcelona is a 2008 romance comedy-drama film written and directed by Woody Allen, and starring Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, Scarlett Johansson and Rebecca Hall...
(2008); W
W. (film)
W. is a 2008 American film based on the life and presidency of George W. Bush. It was produced and directed by Oliver Stone, written by Stanley Weiser, and stars Josh Brolin as Bush, with a cast that includes Ellen Burstyn, Elizabeth Banks, James Cromwell, Thandie Newton, Jeffrey Wright, Scott...
(2008); Twilight
Twilight (2008 film)
Twilight is a 2008 American romantic vampire film based on Stephenie Meyer's popular novel of the same name. Directed by Catherine Hardwicke, the film stars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. It is the first film in The Twilight Saga film series...
(2008); Defiance
Defiance (2008 film)
Defiance is a 2008 World War II era film written, produced, and directed by Edward Zwick, set during the occupation of Belarus by Nazi Germany. The film is an account of the Bielski partisans, a group led by three Jewish brothers who saved and recruited Jews in Poland during the Second World War...
(2008); I've Loved You So Long
I've Loved You So Long
I've Loved You So Long is a 2008 French-language drama film written and directed by Philippe Claudel. It tells the story of a woman struggling to interact with her family and find her place in society after spending fifteen years in prison.-Plot:...
(2008); Burn After Reading
Burn After Reading
Burn After Reading is a 2008 black comedy film written, produced, and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. The film stars George Clooney, John Malkovich, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, and Brad Pitt. It was released in the United States on September 12, 2008, and it was released on October 17, 2008...
(2008); Coraline
Coraline (film)
Coraline is a 2009 stop-motion 3D fantasy/horror children's film based on Neil Gaiman's 2002 novel of the same name. It was produced by Laika and distributed by Focus Features. Written and directed by Henry Selick, it was released widely in US theaters on February 6, 2009, after a world premiere at...
(2009); Knowing
Knowing (film)
Knowing is a 2009 American-British science fiction film directed by Alex Proyas and starring Nicolas Cage. The project was originally attached to a number of directors under Columbia Pictures, but it was placed in turnaround and eventually picked up by Escape Artists. Production was financially...
(2009); and, Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail (2009).
IFTA members, as well as the entire independent film industry, benefit from other services outside of the AFM, which has grown into one of the world’s largest film markets. The organization publishes standard form contracts and sets recognized business definitions, while providing business services to many of its members’ entrepreneurial companies. Acting as an arbitration tribunal (IFTA Arbitration), IFTA resolves distribution-related disputes between parties.
External links
- Independent Film & Television Alliance official site
- American Film Market
- Los Angeles Times: California budget includes tax relief for film, TV shoots (February 20, 2009)
- Broadcasting & Cable: IFTA Not Invited to “Cocktail Party” (April 23, 2009)
- Variety: Indie film biz wrestles bear market (May 1, 2009)
- Forbes: Cannes Means Business (May 20, 2009)
- Reuters: Indie filmmakers in Cannes still dreaming of 3-D (May 24, 2009)
- Broadcasting & Cable: Leading the War for Independents (May 25, 2009)
- Bill Mechanic to deliver IFTA keynote (September 14, 2009)
- IFTA Steps Up Anti-Piracy Campaign With Internet Security Technology Measures (November 9, 2009)