Long haul: Hotel reconfigures itself for AFM
OCEAN AVE. — As thousands of film industry executives arrive in town this weekend, most will congregate at Loews Hotel, which has become a makeshift conference center for the American Film Market.
For the past week, it’s been a revolving door of movers at the hotel, where every single room has been converted into an office to accommodate more than 300 film companies and their executives. While movers have been hauling out hotel furniture, teams hired by AFM have been moving in their own rented furniture, plasma television screens and other audio/visual equipment.
“Imagine a freight company trying to load in, a rental company hauling furniture in and, at the same time, a hotel moving out,” said Dave Romano, director of catering and conference management at Loews Santa Monica Hotel, who is overseeing the conversion. “It’s a like a well-orchestrated ballet.
“You have to stay with a schedule and stick to it,” Romano added. “Everybody is on each other’s heels.”
The former hotel rooms will serve as private screening rooms and a place where film executives can buy and sell movies not yet distributed.
“This is the place where people are given green lights,” Romano said. “They’ll create custom walls in the rooms and trick out the sets.
“It really becomes a tradeshow because you’re in a boutique hotel with beautiful surroundings to come sell your film.”
The movers began hauling out hotel beds earlier this week, starting with the second and third floors. The eighth and final floor was being cleaned out on Friday.
“We start progressing day by day,” said Romano, whose been in charge of the move for 10 years. “As soon as the guests check out, we start moving beds.”
When the film market ends on Nov. 9, Loews will go back into the hotel business.
“The hotel tries to get everything back together and we’ll try to get guests in by the 11th,” Romano said. “We’ve definitely got more efficient in how fast we convert it.”
Loews has been the headquarters for the AFM since it arrived in Santa Monica in 1991, mostly because it has the most rooms of any hotel in town — 342. What’s more, the city doesn’t have a conference center. And while it might seem like a lot of work, it’s worth it, Romano said, estimating that the AFM brings in more than $1 million in revenue for Loews.
As the AFM has grown over the years, it has taken more space at the hotel. In the beginning years, the market only used half of the floors.
“The length of stay is important to us,” Romano said. “It’s the whole package that makes it worthwhile for the hotel.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 29, 2005. Read the original PDF.