Los Angeles – More than 120 companies from 23 countries worldwide are joining for the first time the 2012 American Film Market (AFM), to be held from October 31 – November 7 in Santa Monica. All in all, AFM is expected to see more than 750 companies from 70 countries sending over 1,500 representatives to the upcoming market—a record high. 

“We are seeing a shift in the way sub-distributors acquire film as they steadily rely less on local distributors and more on direct acquisitions. We also expect a significant increase in buyers from China,” commented Jonathan Wolf, AFM Managing Director and Executive Vice President of the Independent Film & Television Alliance.

According to AFM, the following are the countries with the most new buyers: Korea (25), China (13), United States (11), Japan (6), Turkey (6), and Russia (5), France (4) and Italy (4). Notable companies from the U.S. attending AFM for the first time include: Cinedigm, Hulu, IMAX Corporation, Tribeca Enterprises, and Universal Studios Home Entertainment.