AFM 2026 Partners With Callo to Reinvent Market Networking

By Elena Vasquez

The American Film Market has named Callo its official collaboration platform for AFM 2026, merging the market's in-person dealmaking with an online system for finding projects, people and partners. IndieWire shared the news exclusively. The market runs November 10-15 at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles.

Callo is an operating system and platform for independent creators, built to match them with producers, collaborators and studios. Under the partnership, AFM badge holders can request access and use it before, during and after the market. In plain terms: participants can now scout Los Angeles meetings digitally before they land in the room.

What does the partnership include?

The deal layers digital tools onto the physical market.

• Badge holders can request access to Callo and find collaborators, build and package projects, review teams and materials, and share film slates with potential partners.
• Buyers, financiers, sales agents and other executives can use the platform to scope out new projects and talent.
• Platinum badge holders get special access, including Callo's intelligent matching and human curation, plus invitations to one-on-one meetings at a dedicated lounge at the Fairmont Century Plaza.
• Selected participants will be hand-picked to receive a one-year membership to Callo Slate, a premium tier offering development, project management and curation support year-round.

The one-year Slate memberships extend the market's usefulness well beyond its six-day run in November.

Who is speaking, and when?

IFTA president Jackie Brenneman will join a panel with Callo founder and CEO Fassa Sar and Monica Khan, founder and CEO of Creator Revolution and senior advisor to McKinsey & Company. The panel, "More Than a Trend: The Rise of Creator Filmmakers," takes place on the AFM Main Stage on Wednesday, November 11 at 4:30 pm PT.

The discussion will cover how online creators with established audiences — among them Curry Barker, Kane Parsons and Markiplier — have brought their work to Hollywood and theatrical release, a shift that has already sparked a gold rush for the next online IP or talent discovery.

Sar framed the partnership in generational terms. "It's clear the marketplace is changing rapidly. The people entering film and television today don't necessarily look like the people who built the industry before them," Sar said in a statement. "We're seeing creators with audiences enter for the first time, alongside a new generation of producers, financiers, and creative entrepreneurs who looking to be real players in our industry."

"Callo serves this new generation, giving them the infrastructure to develop projects, build teams, operate slates, and bring projects to market," Sar added. "That's why partnering with AFM felt obvious. AFM has always been where the independent marketplace comes together to buy and sell. We see an opportunity to extend that ecosystem and give more people a way to participate, connect, and launch what they're building at AFM."

Brenneman, who has overseen an evolution of the market since taking the IFTA presidency, cast the deal as continuity rather than disruption. "The rules and business models that have long defined our industry are being reinvented, creating new ways for projects to be developed, financed and brought to audiences," Brenneman said in a statement. "At the same time, this is still an industry built on relationships, and bringing the industry together has always been fundamental to AFM. We're excited to partner with Callo to give our community a smarter way to discover the people and opportunities most relevant to them, make valuable connections and create new possibilities for collaboration and business."

What else changes at AFM 2026?

The market's 2026 theme is The New Global Screen Economy. Programming will expand its focus on the convergence of independent film and television, creators, technology and new business models across development, financing, production and distribution. AFM has also added an AI track for AI startups, part of a new AFM House and Innovation Hub.

The takeaway: AFM is betting that the indie market's future depends as much on software-mediated matchmaking as on hallway meetings — and other industry markets will be watching whether the hybrid model draws new entrants or dilutes what made AFM essential.