After doing TIFF for a few years I thought I had the whole scheduling thing figured out.  With a festival pass I almost always got 90% of my first choices through the lottery and eventually I figured out ways of increasing my odds of getting my first choices:

1)      Avoiding 1^st screenings of world premiere Special Presentations. These would always be popular so if I really wanted to see it I'd check out the 2^nd screening.

2)      Avoiding evening screenings at the Elgin. A lot of those seats went to Elgin Pass Holders and again, the remaining seats would be pretty in demand and I'd be content catching a second screening.

I never got that bent out of shape about not getting a first choice ticket... until 2006. Which was the year that Borat premiered during Midnight Madness.  While all you dedicated Midnight Maniacs were in there watching Michael Moore try to fix a projector and Colin being threatened with castration; I was back at my Hotel watching some show called "This Hour has 22 Minutes".  I'm not kiddin, seriously... Check it out

That was when I learned a  powerful lesson: With Great Power Must Come Great Responsibility. Wait... That was Spider-Man; what I meant was that I needed a Midnight Madness pass. No other pass at the festival GUARANTEES you a seat at the World Premiers of Jennifer's Body (written by Oscar winning TIFF Alum Diablo Cody's new flick) & George A. Romero's Survival of the Dead. If you already have a 10 or 30 ticket pass, go ahead and get a madness pass too. The extra cash is worth it, plus you'll be able to use your tickets on some of the other genre films playing at TIFF this year.... More about those in another post.

                Last year's Madness was all about discovery:  emerging directors and talent coming to show off their midnight skills. Plenty of screenings sold out, but if you got to the Rush line in time you got a ticket. But this year, you've got films and directors with entrenched fanbases all competing for those precious  seats in the Ryerson.  Don't be left empty handed in the Rush line while the rest of us are tossing around a beach ball waiting for the premiere of Ong-Bak 2 or [REC] 2; get your pass now!

                Pick up The Midnight Madness Package for $156.51, and available to students and seniors for $100 (prices do not include GST, building-fund fee and service charges).  Purchase online here, by phone at 416-968-FILM or 1-877-968-FILM (Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., closed weekends and holidays) or in person at the Festival Box Office at Nathan Phillips Square (Box Office hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days a week), located at 100 Queen Street West, in the white tent, west of the square.