IFFM SUCCEEDS
AS SERIOUS ACT


    BY K.D. SHIRKANI
    As the 21st annual Independent Film Market wrapped Sept. 24 at SoHo's Angelika Film Center, it paused to take stock of it's new more serious self.
    This years market had a more professional atmosphere, exactly what the Independent Feature project had intended in cutting it's traditional slate of features by half.
    "There's a perceptible increase in commercial activity at the market this year," says Gotham-based attorney Steven C, Beer, who was there repping Michael Sergio's "Under Hellgate Bridge" and Adam Marcus' "Snow Days," both of which generated a lot of talk last week.
    "I haven't made a substantial deal out of the IFFM before," Beer says of his five years attending the market, "but I think that not having to sift through lesser-quality films (this year) gives my distribution colleagues a chance to focus on the quality projects." Director Sergio agrees. "Pulling back the number of features is much fairer to projects and to distributors. It simplifies and adds clarity."