Geoff Macnaughton, TIFF senior director of industry and theatrical programming and programmer of Primetime, is feeling confident when he speaks to Screen, several weeks before the world’s industry would descend on Toronto.
“In addition to the content itself, our numbers for industry attendance are very strong,” he says, talking to Screen International ahead of TIFF. “We’re tracking 10% above where we projected to be and that hasn’t been impacted at all [by the Hollywood strikes].”
Buyers and sellers will have plenty of sales titles to pore over, such as Lee with Kate Winslet, Viggo Mortensen’s The Dead Don’t Hurt and Ethan Hawke’s film Wildcat. North American rights will be available on titles including Anna Kendrick’s directing debut Woman Of The Hour and Chris Pine’s Poolman. For the first time, there was a day of dedicated sales screenings at TIFF Bell Lightbox, on September 6, one day before the festival started.
“That’s by demand,” says Macnaughton. “We already have 90-plus market screenings in the schedule, not including our Industry Selects titles. So we’re trying to meet the sales agents and buyers where they are in terms of the activity they’re bringing to the festival.”
Last year Macnaughton and his team invited members of the public to watch a market screening of Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers (which screens in selection this year) to help buyers see how it might play in front of a paying crowd. The ploy triggered the headline deal of TIFF when Focus Features paid $30m for world rights.
“We’re creating more experiences like that, knowing our audience is such an important part of the experience for both sellers and buyers,” he says. “We haven’t identified the exact projects yet but we’ll have at least five to six of those types of screenings this year.”
Talking shop
The Industry Conference — running September 8-12 at Glenn Gould Studio — features a rousing roster of Visionaries conversations with the likes of Spike Lee, Guillermo del Toro and Lucy Walker. Dialogues will explore the documentary marketplace and hear from Mortensen and producer Jeremy Thomas on The Dead Don’t Hurt. Perspectives panels cover a range of subjects, from AI to South Korean and African cinema.
“This year it was about creating something for everyone,” says Macnaughton. “There’s a lot of representation in terms of what the industry is looking for from emerging to mid-career to experienced directors, producers, financiers, sales agents, distributors.”
Pitching sessions are also returning to TIFF for the first time in several years in the form of the Sloan Science and Technology Project Pitch. Macnaughton is particularly pleased by the large number of applicants received given it is the first year for this inaugural talent development programme. He is also excited about the Primetime line-up of world premieres for series, which he has been curating for several years.
“There are two incredible sales titles [in Primetime] that I’m hopeful will get distribution at the festival,” he says. “One is from Ron Leshem, the co-creator of Euphoria — his new Israeli series Bad Boy is phenomenal. And Domhnall Gleeson and Andrea Riseborough in UK series Alice & Jack is also one to look out for.”
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