Industry Programmes Introduces Master Class With Atom Egoyan And Short Cuts Canada Roundtables, To Join Returning Programmes

Toronto – Industry Programmes at the 34th Toronto International Film Festival® continue to develop and support the Canadian film industry via innovative networking and career-development programmes. The Festival introduces new programmes this year such as the Master Class with Atom Egoyan, an intimate discussion with one of the industry’s most celebrated directors and Short Cuts Canada Roundtables, an informal networking opportunity for filmmakers and producers with films in this year’s Short Cuts Canada programme.

Celebrating its tenth year at the Festival, returning programme Telefilm Canada PITCH THIS! is a live pitch competition with a $10,000 CAD prize to assist with project development. In its sixth year, Talent Lab welcomes 25 emerging filmmakers to build networks in a creative environment with some of the most esteemed filmmakers and artists in the world. Filmmakers and producers will be able to network at Match Club, the hub for all Sales & Industry and Guest Relations Office delegates. Other returning Industry Programmes include Meet With…, International Financing Forum and the CFTPA Producer’s Award. For more information on Industry Programmes’ dynamic lineup at this year’s Festival, running September 10 to 19, 2009, please visit tiff.net/industry or contact us at iio@tiff.net.

MASTER CLASS WITH ATOM EGOYAN – New!

This Master Class is an intimate discussion with one of the industry’s most widely respected filmmakers. Auteur Atom Egoyan occupies a distinct position within Canadian filmmaking – his unequivocal authorial vision and inimitable style are sustained throughout a body of work that includes Next of Kin (1984), Family Viewing (1987), Speaking Parts (1989), The Adjuster (1991), Calendar (1993), Exotica (1994), The Sweet Hereafter (1997), Felicia’s Journey (1999), Krapp’s Last Tape (2000), Ararat (2002), Where the Truth Lies (2005), Adoration (2008) and Chloe (2009). Egoyan’s films appeal to national and international audiences alike and have met with wide critical acclaim and commercial success.

Tom McSorley, Executive Director of the Canadian Film Institute in Ottawa, will interview Egoyan live on stage. McSorley teaches film at Carleton University and is the film critic for the Ottawa Morning show on CBC Radio One. He is the editor of Rivers of Time: The Films of Philip Hoffman (2008) and is co-editor of Self Portraits: The Cinemas of Canada since Telefilm (2006) and Life Without Death: The Cinema of Frank Cole (2009). McSorley’s latest book, Atom Egoyan’s The Adjuster, will be released this fall through University of Toronto Press and available for purchase at select Festival box office locations. Master Class with Atom Egoyan will take place Tuesday, September 15, from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Varsity Cinemas. A cocktail will be held from 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., location TBA.

SHORT CUTS CANADA ROUNDTABLES – New!

Short Cuts Canada Roundtables is an informal networking opportunity for directors and producers with a film in the 2009 Short Cuts Canada programme. The event celebrates these filmmakers and introduces them to key industry delegates including short film distributors, broadcasters, festival programmers and funders, via rotating roundtable discussions. Short Cuts Canada Roundtables will take place Thursday, September 17 from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Match Club (5th Elementt restaurant). By invitation only.

MATCH CLUB

Match Club is a meeting space and lounge, the hub for all Sales & Industry and Guest Relations Office delegates, and the nexus for the international and Canadian film industries. International consultants are available on-site to help set up meetings and offer assistance as required. Held within Match Club are daily Meet With... events that provide the opportunity to attend an intimate and informal session on the hottest topics in today’s film industry. Please note that seating is limited and reservations are not accepted. Match Club is open 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Thursday, September 10, to Thursday, September 17, at 5th Elementt restaurant (1033 Bay Street), located just north of the Sutton Place Hotel. Match Club is open to all Sales & Industry pass holders as well as all Guest pass holders. For more information, please contact iio@tiff.net.

This year’s Match Club consultants are Nancy Collett, Peter Belsito, Strategic Planner, sydneysbuzz.blogspot.com; Matt Toner, President, Zeros 2 Heroes Media; and Jessica Leigh Clark-Bojin, Creative Director, Zeros 2 Heroes Media.

MEET WITH…

Meet With... is a series of informal and intimate information sessions on the hottest topics in today’s film industry. The sessions provide attendees with a unique opportunity to gain insight into the fundamentals of the business and craft of filmmaking from seasoned industry professionals. Meet With... is open to all Sales & Industry and Guest Relations Pass holders and runs from Friday, September 11 through to Thursday, September 17, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at Match Club (5th Elementt Restaurant, 1033 Bay Street).

Meet With…topics will include feature comedy writing; digital distribution; DIY Web 2.0; what filmmakers and producers should know about the convergence of the film and videogame industries; an interview with a special selection of Variety’s Top 10 Producers to Watch; and the state of international film festivals. Meet With… guest speakers include Christine Aylward, Co-founder & CEO, MakingOf, Inc.; John Cooper, Director, Sundance Film Festival; Matt Dentler, Head of Programming and Marketing, Cinetic Media; John Galway, President, Astral Media The Harold Greenberg Fund; Paul Gertz, Executive Producer, Network Entertainment; Nathon Gunn, CEO, Social Game Universe; Sydney Levine, Strategic Planner, sydneysbuzz.blogspot.com; Jared Moshe, President, Sidetrack Films; Michael Regina, Founder, TheOneRing.net; Kevin Shortt, Lead Scriptwriter – Story Design, Avatar; Ubisoft; Matt Toner, President, Zeros 2 Heroes Media; and Ryan Werner, VP Marketing, IFC Films.

TELEFILM CANADA PITCH THIS!

Telefilm Canada PITCH THIS! celebrates its tenth anniversary at the Festival, offering aspiring filmmakers a start to their feature-film careers. In a live pitch environment, six participant teams have six minutes to pitch their feature-film idea to an audience of over 250 industry professionals. The winner will be selected by a jury of international industry experts. The prize is $10,000CAD to assist with costs related to project development. It will be hosted by Ennis Esmer, who starred in Young People Fucking (TIFF 2007) and plays Oz on CTV’s hit drama The Listener.

This year’s Telefilm Canada PITCH THIS! finalists are The Banquet, Gloria Ui Young Kim; Cry, Havoc, Sami Khan and Christian Magalhaes; Fit To Print, Daniel Perlmutter; The Livingstons, Andrew Malabre, Stuart McIntyre and Paul Matthews, Manitouwabi, Jeff Kopas; and Super Zeroes, Shane Belcourt and Duane Murray. Telefilm Canada PITCH THIS! will take place on Tuesday, September 15, 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Sutton Place Hotel, Stop 33 (955 Bay Street). Open to Sales & Industry and Guest pass holders.

TALENT LAB

Talent Lab is a four-day intensive programme that offers artistic-development opportunities to emerging filmmakers. The programme provides participant filmmakers the opportunity to build networks in a creative environment and to learn from some of the most esteemed filmmakers and artists in the world.

Don McKellar (Last Night, Childstar, Blindness), one of the most prominent figures on the Canadian film scene, returns as one of four Talent Lab governors who mentor the participants, guiding them through sessions with guest speakers. Confirmed 2009 Talent Lab guests include: actor Tilda Swinton (I Am Love, The Limits of Control, Michael Clayton), cinematographer Christopher Doyle (Ondine, The Limits of Control, Paranoid Park), director Niki Caro (The Vintner’s Luck, North Country, Whale Rider), director Atom Egoyan (Chloe, Adoration, The Sweet Hereafter), director/producer Ivan Reitman (Chloe, Trailer Park Boys: The Movie, Ghostbusters), and producer Christine Vachon (Cracks, I’m Not There, Boys Don’t Cry).

Congratulations to the 2009 Talent Lab Participants:
Trevor Anderson, Denise Blinn, Annie Bradley, Britt Crowley, Jamie M. Dagg, Sonya Di Rienzo, Stephen Dunn, Walter Forsyth, Sarah Galea-Davis, Gloria Ui Young Kim, Michelle Latimer, Elizabeth Lazebnik, Ayelen Liberona, Paul Matthews, Daniel Montgomery, Kazik Radwanski, Svet Rouskov, Daniel Schachter, Tamara Scherbak, Martin Smith, Katarina Soukup, Greg Spottiswood, Jane Tattersall, Ana Valine, David Widdicombe.

10 Talent Lab alumni and 4 Talent Lab 2009 participants have written, directed or produced films in the Festival’s official 2009 selection:

Alumni: 5 Dysfunctional People in a Car, directed by Pat Mills; 75 El Camino, directed by Sami Khan; The Armoire, directed by Jamie Travis; Big Head, written and co-produced by Kris Elgstrand; Cole, produced by Jason James; Crackie, directed, written and produced by Sherry White; Karaoke, directed by Chris Chong Chan Fui; On a Lonely Drive, directed by Igor Drljaca; Sixty Seconds of Regret, directed by Ed Gass-Donnelly; and Year of the Carnivore, directed and written by Sook-Yin Lee.

2009 Participants: The Island, directed by Trevor Anderson; Out in that Deep Blue Sea, directed by Kazik Radwanski and produced by Daniel Montgomery; and The Translator, directed by Sonya Di Rienzo.

CFTPA PRODUCER’S AWARD

The Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA) Producer’s Award acknowledges the vision and entrepreneurship of an independent Canadian producer with a Canadian feature at the Festival. Last year’s recipient, producer Rob Merilees will chair the 2009 jury and award a Canadian producer a $10,000CAD cash prize. The CFTPA Producer’s Award Presentation is held on Thursday, September 10, at 4:00 p.m. at the Match Club (5th Elementt restaurant, 1033 Bay Street).

INTERNATIONAL FINANCING FORUM

Presented by the Ontario Media Development Corporation, the International Financing Forum (IFF) is a competitive feature film cofinancing event at the Toronto International Film Festival that brings together selected international and Canadian producers developing English language projects to meet and do business with high-level international industry executives including sales agents, financiers, distributors, agents, and executive producers. For 2009, the selected 45 producers represent the following countries and provinces: England, Scotland, Wales, Australia, Germany, France, Spain, Russia, South Africa, Brazil, Ireland, the USA, Ontario, British Columbia, Manitoba, Quebec and Nova Scotia.

IFF 2008 brought producers together with representatives from companies such as Aramid Capital Partners (UK), Bavaria Film International (Germany), Celluloid Dreams (France), Cinetic Media (USA), Endeavor Talent Agency (USA), Film4 (UK), Fortissimo Films (Hong Kong/Netherlands),IFC Entertainment (USA), Kinowelt International GmbH (Germany), Magnolia Pictures (USA), The Match Factory (Germany),Overture Films (USA), Paramount Vantage (USA), Participant Media (USA), William Morris Agency (USA) and more.