Jonathan Wolf will step down as AFM managing director after 24 years in the role when his term ends on June 30.
Wolf, who also serves as EVP of Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA), will continue as an advisor through the 2022 AFM, which is set to return in-person to Santa Monica for the 43rd edition running November 1-6.
Under Wolf’s leadership, the AFM transformed from its import-export roots to an event that serves the entire independent film production and distribution community. Today the AFM remains the only market controlled by the independent industry.
During his tenure Wolf enhanced the market’s tools for buyers and sellers and worked to develop and adapt services to meet the industry’s needs. He launched TheFilmCatalogue.com, the industry resource with information on thousands of projects and films available from global producers, distributors and sales companies, and its companion TFC Weekly Update email. He also introduced significant networking and education programmes, including multi-stage conferences and panels, and the MyAFM online platform.
“Jonathan has been central to the success of the association’s growth and transitions,” said IFTA president and CEO Jean Prewitt. “He consistently has focused on making the AFM the best place for the industry to do business and has built an outstanding and long-established AFM team who share his commitment to excellence. We are grateful that Jonathan will be available to advise through the 2022 market.”
“It’s been a privilege to lead the AFM and work with passionate volunteer board members for more than 20 years,” said Wolf. “I was supported by a terrific team that worked tirelessly to produce a world-class event; we achieved much together. I’m excited to see what the future holds – for the AFM, IFTA and me.”
Earlier with IFTA, among other successes, he spearheaded the launch of IFTA Collections, the industry’s first centralised service for the collection and distribution of royalties and levies from secondary audio-visual rights for films and television programming. To date, IFTA has collected more than $150m for its clients and continues to distribute more than $5m annually.
Wolf’s connection to IFTA began as an elected board member and vice chairman, finance while CFO at IFTA member New World International. He joined the association as SVP in 1993 and was appointed to lead the AFM as managing director in 1998.
Future leadership will be announced at a later date.
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