Last year during the festival I had the privilege of participating in two amazing programs, Talent Lab & Pitch This!

Talent Lab was four days of inspirational dialogue with veteran filmmakers (where else can you sit between Brian De Palma and Samira Makhmalbaf during diner).

But Pitch This! is a fundraising bloodsport.  5 selected teams have 6 minutes to pitch a feature film idea to a jury of industry vets – and to a room full of their colleagues and peers.  Winner takes all, $10 000 in development money from Telefilm.

Last year I was pitching a film with writer/diretor Jeff Barnaby.  We pitched Blood Quantum, a Zombie movie set on an aboriginal reserve where the residents had to defend their homes from hordes of invading white corpses. Colonialism redux.

To prep for the pitch, we sequestered ourselves in our hotel room for four 4 days.  Writing out a script, practicing and preparing visuals.  Fueled by beer and pizza, we honed it to perfection.

We decided that Jeff should do all the talking, but should his nerves overcome him, I would stand behind him and be prepared to jump in.

The worst part of the pitch was the waiting.  The pacing.  Jeff, reciting his script repeatedly.  I ignored our competition, occasionally trying to intimidate them with the stink eye.  I felt low for doing it, but I knew from previous pitches that we would need any edge we could manufacture.

We were first and the climax was a blur.  People laughed.  Then the exquisite relief of applause.  Then watching the other pitches.  Which were all fantastic.  Two of which we grudgingly admitted might be better then ours, especially because they were better performers then we were.

Then more tension, waiting for a decision, waiting over 30 minutes as the jury deliberated. Such a long delay didn’t bode well for us.  It meant a split vote, and funny often trumps controversy in those circumstances.

Being chosen as runner up and given an honorable mention was bittersweet.  We really wanted the development money.

But the sting wore off and people congratulated us on a wonderful pitch.  Then realization sunk in.  People really liked our idea.  In fact, we had a very good chance of getting money through other means, and that our concept was strong enough to make a good film.

Pitch This! wasn’t about money – though the money would have been nice – but about the opportunity to introduce our idea to the film community.  In that sense, we won.  And for that reason, I’m really looking forward to seeing tomorrow’s pitches. (Tuesday Sept. 14^th, 2009, on the top floor of the Sutton)

Good luck pitchers!  I’ll be watching.

John Christou is an independent filmmaker based in Montreal. His credits include Up The Yangtze, The Colony, Punk Le Vote! and more.  He’s currently producing films about David Lynch & Transcendental Meditation, the Clock of the Long Now, the Residential School system and a feature about a Zombie invasion of an aboriginal reserve.  To read more about these projects and others, check out www.ProspectorFilms.ca

I just got back from the Trotsky party.  It’s 3 am.

The day started with a 9:30 am meeting that I was 15 minutes late for.  Spoke to a number distributors and broadcasters.  It was a good days work, pushing some of my projects.  As an indie producer I try to never pitch someone that I haven’t been introduced to first, or haven’t met while drunk at a party.  It makes for a much less stressful relationship.  There is nothing worse then pitching stone cold to someone you’ve got no connection to whatsoever.

By 4 in the afternoon I was pitched out. I needed to take a nap, and I did, though I could have slept for hours, but only got 15 minutes.

At 5 I forced myself out to the SODEC cocktail.  As supporter of a lot of my work, I had to go.  I have to admit that I’ve been a bit grumpy the first two days of the festival, and for some reason I thought I wouldn’t know anyone at the cocktail.  But within a minute of walking through the door and getting a beer at the bar, I realized in fact, that I knew at least half of the people in the room.

One of the great things about TIFF cocktails is the food.  It’s a known fact that an indie producer, if he is suave enough to eat while standing, can survive TIFF on cocktail snacks alone.  I, unfortunately, am not that suave.  Whenever I attempt to eat a meal of cocktail snacks, I inevitably spill food all over myself.

Once thoroughly drunk, I needed a real diner. I went out to a nice Italien restaurant with a group of four rowdy Saskatchewan filmmakers and actors.  I drank some fine wine while they belted out country tunes.  Thankfully, we had been seated in a back room away from the more discerning diners.  I think the maître’d sized us from the moment we walked in the restaurant and sensed we were trouble.  Thankfully our waitress was a good sport and didn’t make too much fun of us when we scoffed at their fancy Scotches in favor of Canadian Club.

By midnight, I found myself at a party celebrating the premiere of The Trotksy.  It’s a hilarious film, and judging by the reaction to it, a sure hit. The party was attended by an assortment of Canadian celebs. The vodka was abundant and free. The music was loud. What more could you ask for from a TIFF party?

It was a pretty good day.

John Christou is an independent filmmaker based in Montreal. His credits include Up The Yangtze, The Colony, Punk Le Vote! and more.  He’s currently producing films about David Lynch & Transcendental Meditation, the Clock of the Long Now, the Residential School system and a feature about a Zombie invasion of an aboriginal reserve.  To read more about these projects and others, check out www.ProspectorFilms.ca

The thing I love about the train is that I can plug in my laptop and get some work done.  Or at least pretend to get some work done.

In the lead up to the fest I’ve been so busy prepping pitch materials, booking meetings, and keeping up with my regular workload that I had absolutely no time to check the film schedule.  But now that I’m bound to my seat and have the time to look at what’s playing, I’m pretty excited by this year’s line-up.

Based on titles, directors and word of mouth alone, I’ve made a list of 22 features and 4 short programs that I’d love to see during fest.  Given my schedule, I’ll be lucky to see 6-7 films, so I’ll have to choose carefully.

Of course, my priority will be to support my friends who have films at the fest.  Here’s hoping I get to at least make it to their screenings. Here are a few I’m looking forward to:

Reel Injun - Because the producer of Reel Injun, Catherine Bainbridge, was one of the first pro filmmakers to take me seriously when I was starting my career in 2002.  I also happened to work on the film for a week last summer.  But those are probably the least important reasons why I am excited to see this film.  I love the topic.  I’ve always been fascinated by Native culture, and from what I understand this film neatly deconstructs the Hollywood manufactured image of the “noble savage”.  On top of all that, director Neil Diamond is talented, has a great name, and is fun to hang out with.

The Trotsky – Because father-son duo Kevin and Jacob Tierney  - producer and director respectively - are funny and energetic.  Star Jay Baruchel is hilarious. As a bonus, actress Tiio Horn, who starred in a short I produced (The Colony), is fantastic in a supporting role.  I saw an early cut of The Trotsky, and laughed from start to finish.  I can’t wait to see the final version.

The Wild Hunt & ???  - Tiio Horn is in three films playing at TIFF this year.  Aside from The Trotsky, she is also in The Wild Hunt & ????.  That’s reason enough for me to go see them.

Danse Macabre – Because PHI Group produced the amazing Next Floor, and this film is supposed to be as good, if not better.

A Hindu’s Indictment of Heaven – Because I went to school with Dev Khanna, where we worked on a student film together.  This film is likely 1000 times better than our student work.

5 Dysfunctional People in a Car – Because Pat Mills beat out Jeff Barnaby and I in last year’s “Pitch This” competition.  And you need to always keep up with what the competition is doing.

Volta – Because Ryan Mullins spent months in Ghana to make this short film about a decrepit old movie theatre.

Edge of the Desert – Because I like Lea and Simon Nakonechney.

John Christou is an independent filmmaker based in Montreal. His credits include Up The Yangtze, The Colony, Punk Le Vote! and more.  He’s currently producing films about David Lynch & Transcendental Meditation, the Clock of the Long Now, the Residential School system and a feature about a Zombie invasion of an aboriginal reserve.  To read more about these projects and others, check out www.ProspectorFilms.ca

This morning felt like Christmas.  Woke up at 5:50 am, dragged my wife out of bed so she could drive me to the train station and now I’m typing on the train, bound for the Toronto International Film Festival.

This is going to be my 3^rd time attending TIFF.  My first year, in 2007, I attended the festival with a short film I had produced (The Colony, Dir Jeff Barnaby).  Last year I was selected to participate in Talent Lab.  This year, I’m attending TIFF as a blogger for the festival.

Well, that’s not entirely true.  I’ve got a number of projects in development that I’ll be pitching during the fest, so blogging is just my sideline for the week, but a TIFF industry pass is expensive.  So, quid pro quo, I save a little cash and have some fun writing about TIFF from an independent filmmaker’s point of view.

Over the next few days I’m going to write about some of the events going on around the festival, such as “Pitch This”, the Match Club Roundtables, the doc conference and various other Canadian Initiative events.  I’m also going to be shamelessly promoting my friends films, while sharing some stories about my various pitching experiences, drunken parties, and random encounters.

If you want, you can follow my adventures here at the TIFF website or you can follow me on Twitter @ProspectorFilms

John Christou is an independent filmmaker based in Montreal. His credits include Up The Yangtze, The Colony, Punk Le Vote! and more.  He’s currently producing films about David Lynch & Transcendental Meditation, the Clock of the Long Now, the Residential School system and a feature about a Zombie invasion of an aboriginal reserve.  To read more about these projects and others, check out www.ProspectorFilms.ca

May 20th

7:15am:  My alarm rings, Tarantino is calling. I bolt out of bed, get dressed and head over to the Lumiere.

7:30am: Despite a long line-up I get a good balcony seat, about half-way back from the screen and just off to the right.  The film doesn't start until 8:30, so I have to sit for an hour while the theatre fills in.  I contemplate dozing off but I'm worried I'll snore.  I sit there bored and tired.

8:30am:  If there is one thing you can count on in Cannes, it's that the movies always start on time.  The lights go down, and up comes picture. More...

Cannes, May 19^th

6:15am:  My alarm rings. Why would I set my alarm at such an ungodly hour? Blame it on the Cannes festival organizers.  Everyone attending with a market badge has access to an online reservation system for invitations (ie. tickets) to the screening of films in competition.  You can't reserve the tickets until 26 hours before the screening.  I've been covetously eyeing a ticket to see the new Tarantino film, Inglourious Basterds.  I figure my best chance at getting one is to aim for the morning screening, which will be at 8:30am on Wednesday.  So, 26 hours prior to that, I have to wake up to reserve my ticket online. Once it's booked, I fall back asleep. The film better be worth it. More...

May 18^th

12:30am:  I pass out, and sleep long and hard.  I need it.

11am:  In the moments before getting out of bed I decide to take a semi-day off from the festival.  I have 3 full days left here and I need to recoup some energy.

2:30pm:  I see my first In Competition film at the Grand Theatre Lumiere.  More...

May 17^th

12:03am:  It’s a new day, so I head out for a night on the town.  I meet a group of friends at a tiny bistro where we drink cold glasses of Kronenbourg out on the street.

1:30am:  We head over to the Grand Hotel.  On the way, a Cannes veteran gives me a break down of the late night scene.  He says “the C listers head over to the Grand, the D listers drink at the Majestic and forget about the A and B listers.  They’re at villas, or on yachts or at parties where the door is guarded by a private army.”  So I guess we know where that leaves me... More...

Cannes, May 16^th

My second day in Cannes and I'm starting to get a feel for it.  From a far, this always seemed like a film lover's festival, but as I experience it up close, it's really about the biz, the glitz and bling.

8am:  Woke up and felt rested.  Started to feel adjusted to the time change.  Had a coffee and a croissant on an outdoor terrace.

10am:  Finally got a chance to peruse the 3 foot thick stack of material in my Cannes bag. More...

I was lucky enough to be selected by TIFF to attend Cannes as part of an extended Talent Lab initiative. I'm going to try and post a daily blog about my experiences. I'm not really sure how i should format these posts, so I'm just going to make it up as i go along.  Hope you enjoy it.

Here is a quick play by play of my first 24 hours experience of the festival. More...