The independent entertainment industry is at a structural inflection point. What we’re seeing today is not a cyclical downturn that will “return to normal,” but a permanent reset in how finance, production, and distribution interact. For decades, independent finance operated through fragmented intermediaries—producers, sales agents, distributors, lenders, and service providers—each optimizing their own slice of the value chain. That model worked when capital was cheap, streamers’ demand seemed limitless, and theatrical attendance was steadily rising.

Those conditions no longer exist. Minimum guarantees have weakened. Presales are increasingly signaling mechanisms rather than reliable financing tools. Risk is mispriced across silos. Platforms dominate visibility, pricing, and distribution windows. In short: ownership without control no longer creates economic advantage.

Alpha Film and Television (AFT) has officially launched a new financing company dedicated to empowering film and television productions across the UK and Australia.