![\"Love](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ABFF2025_Day4_LoveJones_AJT_6856.jpeg\" "\\"Love")
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Love Jones co-stars Nia Long and Larenz Tate share a laugh with journalist and Access Hollywood co-host Scott Evans. The two reminisced with Evans about the film, its legacy and where their characters would be in 2025.<\/p>\n
Courtesy of American Black Film Festival.<\/p>\n
The American Black Film Festival, which has long history in Miami Beach, is relocating to Los Angeles, citing increasing hotel and production costs in South Florida. The festival, which celebrated its 30th edition this year, has been a fixture in South Florida for more than two decades.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe event costs really escalated beyond the point where it was sustainable for us since COVID,\u201d co-founder Jeff Friday told the Herald. \u201cIt does kind of limit people\u2019s capacity to get there, particularly independent filmmakers, and that\u2019s our core audience. Our specific production costs almost doubled since 2019. This really became cost prohibitive for us. It just wasn\u2019t a sustainable model.\u201d<\/p>\n
The festival has long been a launch pad for Black filmmakers and storytellers and provides opportunities for master classes, networking and independent film screenings. The past festival highlighted the career of actress Regina King and spotlighted upcoming shows like the \u201cA Different World\u201d revival set to air on Netflix on Sept. 24.<\/p>\n
Friday said because the Regal Cinema on Lincoln Road in Miami Beach had closed last year, the festival had to construct its own theaters inside the Miami Beach Convention Center for film screenings.<\/p>\n
RELATED: \u2018Keep our foot on the gas\u2019: American Black Film Festival marks 30 years in Miami Beach<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cBuilding a movie theater is very, very expensive: the chairs, the projection equipment. People don\u2019t realize how much it takes,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen you go to the movies, you don\u2019t really think about the projection and the sound and the lighting. But all those things are very important to the moviegoing experience.\u201d<\/p>\n The festival will now be held in Los Angeles, where Friday\u2019s production company, which he co-founded with his wife Nicole, NICE CROWD is headquartered.<\/p>\n ABFF\u2019s move was formally announced last week, but Friday said he gave Miami Beach mayor and the local tourism agency Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau notice weeks ago. In a statement, the GMCVB thanked ABFF for its longstanding relationship with the bureau and Miami Beach.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile we will certainly miss welcoming the signature event, we understand and respect the decision to begin a new chapter and new experiences,\u201d said GMCVB senior vice president of destination engagement Connie W. Kinnard. \u201cRelationships like this extend well beyond a location, and we remain open to consider collaborations in the future. Miami will always consider ABFF part of our cultural and creative family.\u201d<\/p>\n ABFF\u2019s move comes at a time when hotel occupancy has declined as rates have increased in Miami Beach. According to GMCVB data<\/a>, hotel occupancy was down nearly 3% in May compared to last year. Hotel room rates in Miami Beach, however, increased year-over-year with the average daily rate being $329 in May compared to $283 last May.<\/p>\n \u201cMiami, if you look back historically, was a sun and fun leisure destination. It\u2019s turned into a higher-end, cosmopolitan, luxury destination, and that\u2019s not only for visitors. That\u2019s also cost of living. That\u2019s also cost of real estate,\u201d said Peter Ricci, clinical associate professor and director of Florida Atlantic University\u2019s Hospitality and Tourism Management Program.<\/p>\n Ricci noted the film festival is held in the \u201cshoulder period,\u201d a transitional period when demand tends to taper off.<\/p>\n Ricci said typically, when you have an organization that has successfully held an event in a city for more than 20 years, the community would want to do something to help them stay. But on the other hand, he said tourism promotion professionals favor higher hotel rates.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s nothing better than being the highest-rated hotel rates in the state because it brings in a more affluent traveler,\u201d he said. \u201cIt brings more money to owners. It brings higher types of brands, and so on and so forth.\u201d<\/p>\n Daniel Foreman, a hospitality intelligence analyst with hotel-data platform Lighthouse, said Miami Beach is a more costly option than Los Angeles, but not by much.<\/p>\n His data shows only nominal differences in room rates in the two markets: From May 20-23, when this year\u2019s festival was held, the average daily room rate in the Los Angeles metro area was $250 per night and $226 for the city of Los Angeles. By comparison, it rates were $286 per night in Miami Beach although Miami-Dade County and Miami would cost $246 and $220 per night, respectively.<\/p>\n Foreman said Miami\u2019s inventory likely also played a role given Miami\u2019s market has a lot of premium inventory spread across many smaller hotels. On average, he said, Los Angeles has about 20% more hotel rooms than Miami.<\/p>\n \u201cA group block is a much bigger inventory commitment for a small hotel,\u201d Foreman said. \u201cA 25-room block is a far bigger ask for a 50-room property than for a 250-room one, so Miami Beach hotels have less room to discount blocks in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n As for the decreased occupancy rate, Foreman said it just means hoteliers are comfortable with lower occupancy if the guest pays more.<\/p>\n Friday was clear the move had nothing to do with Florida\u2019s recent anti-DEI legislation, Senate Bill 1134, that will go into effect next year and prohibits municipalities from providing local funding for groups or services tied to gender, race or sexual orientation.<\/p>\n RELATED: Miami-Dade leaders say state\u2019s anti-DEI law is so confusing they may have to sue<\/a><\/p>\n Friday believed the festival\u2019s presence defied those state level anti-DEI restrictions and noted they were receiving support from Miami Beach and the GMCVB. \u201cWe were proud to do it there because in a certain way we were resisting the resistance,\u201d he said. \u201cI think sometimes when these types of things happen in our society, it\u2019s really important to stand your ground and that\u2019s kind of how we looked at it.\u201d<\/p>\n But Friday hasn\u2019t ruled out a return to the Miami area in the future, perhaps as one of its pop-up ABFF sites.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just the economy,\u201d he said. \u201cThe economics just didn\u2019t work, and we would consider coming back in the future if something were to change.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Actress,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/debbie_allen_jeff_friday.jpg\" "\\"debbie_allen_jeff_friday.jpg\\"")
Actress, dancer and actress Debbie Allen with American Black Film Festival co-founder Jeff Friday. Allen is an executive producer of the revival of the TV series \u201cA Different World\u201d airing on Netflix in September. Courtesy of ABFF. <\/p>\n![\"American](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ABFF2025_Day1_Opening_Night_AJT_5637.jpg\" "\\"ABFF2025_Day1_Opening_Night_AJT_5637.jpg\\"")
American Black Film Festival founder Jeff Friday poses on the red carpet for opening night of the festival. Aaron J. Thornton Aaron J. Thornton for American Black Film Festival <\/p>\n![\"American](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ABFF2025_Day1_Opening_Night_AJT_5512.jpg\" "\\"ABFF2025_Day1_Opening_Night_AJT_5512.jpg\\"")
American Black Film Festival founder Jeff Friday and wife Nicole Friday pose on the red carpet for opening night of the festival. Aaron J. Thornton Aaron J. Thornton for American Black Film Festival <\/p>\n
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