TIFF industry conference returns with streamlined programme and sharper focus

After a two-year digital interlude, Toronto’s industry conference is back in person with a new look. “During the pandemic we took the opportunity to streamline our conference so that it had clear programming streams and a very clear focus,” explains Geoff Macnaughton, TIFF’s senior director of industry and programmer of the Primetime television section. “That worked well, and this will be the first time we’ll be implementing it in person.”

Over five days (September 9-13), the conference programme will offer around 40 sessions divided into six strands: Visionaries and Dialogues aimed at relatively broad audiences; Perspectives, dealing with important current industry issues; Spotlights and Microsessions, with in-depth looks at the industry’s workings; and Connections, where attendees and speakers can interact.

This year for the first time a limited number of tickets for more than a third of the sessions will be available to the public. But the programme is primarily designed to meet the needs of film professionals coming to Toronto. Industry attendees, says Macnaughton, “want to be inspired, but they also want the practical sessions and the networking opportunities.” (All sessions and speakers will be in-person only.)

This year’s Visionaries strand (now incorporating what used to be known as the programme’s Master Classes) kicks off with a high-profile session with Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea Clinton, whose HiddenLight company is producing projects including TIFF Docs selection In Her Hands. “It was important to get the conference back with a bang,” says Macnaughton of the Clintons’ session, which also aligns with TIFF’s Share Her Journey initiative championing women in the industry. “With the work Hillary and Chelsea are doing with their production company, we thought it would be a great opportunity.”

Also in the Visionaries strand will be conversations with SS Rajamouli, director of Telugu-language Indian blockbuster RRR; US multi-hyphenate Tyler Perry, director of TIFF Gala presentation A Jazzman’s Blues; Werner Herzog, whose Theatre Of Thought screens in TIFF Docs; Laura Poitras, director of TIFF Docs entryAll The Beauty And The Bloodshed; and Efe Cakarel, founder of arthouse VoD platform Mubi.

International flavour

The six sessions in this year’s Dialogues strand include a conversation with South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook and his frequent writing partner Jeong Seo-kyeong, whose Decision To Leave — selected by South Korea as its international feature Oscar entry — has its North American premiere as a TIFF Special Presentation. “We want this conference to be as international as possible,” says Macnaughton, “so we wanted to do a spotlight on Park Chan-wook and his co-writer.”

The strand also offers a session with two of the directors (Hawa’s Maïmouna Doucouré and Charcoal’s Carolina Markowicz) whose films are in TIFF’s growing Platform section for innovative contemporary filmmakers (see page 44), as well as a session with Bruce Miller (Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale) and Mickey Down and Konrad Kay (HBO’s Industry). “The lines between series and film — and between the creators behind the content — are so blurred now,” Macnaughton points out. “Emerging filmmakers and audiences like to hear from these showrunners.”

The Connections strand will deal with subjects including how filmmakers can progress from short films to first features and how to access funding from Canadian film and TV finance and promotion organisation Telefilm. “These are smaller, more intimate sessions, where audience members will have more of a direct connection with the speakers and more time for questions,” Macnaughton explains.

Originally announced as part of Connections, the conference’s Academy 365 session, with new Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences CEO Bill Kramer and president Janet Yang discussing the year-round operations of the organisation behind the Oscars, has now been transformed into a special event to be held on the programme’s main stage.

The Microsessions strand provides festival sponsors or partners with the opportunity to stage their own curated discussions. “When a partner with real experience in these fields wants to do something, we create the space for them,” says Macnaughton. This year’s discussions will cover topics such as creating inclusive content, ecological responsibility and the future of cinema technology.

The conference programme’s Spotlight strand provides a forum for showcasing global talent and for detailed discussions, usually staged in collaboration with national film promotion agencies, about incentives and co-production in the international marketplace. Subjects to be covered include Indigenous filmmakers and, in a follow-up to a session at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, the recently renewed Canada-France co-production treaty. The stream will also offer a session with six prominent producers from Ukraine who are facing the challenges posed by Russia’s invasion.

The Ukraine showcase was made possible by TIFF’s effort to secure a Canadian backer, Macnaughton reports. “We’ve worked with the Ukrainian Film Institute and the Ukrainian State Film Agency for years, programming and bringing delegations to Toronto,” he says. “This year they let us know that a lot of their funding from government bodies was tied up in the war effort. In response, we looked for a silent donor in Toronto to support what they were looking to do, which was to ensure that what was going on in Ukraine was not halting the development of Ukrainian producers.”

Primetime viewing

In addition to heading TIFF’s industry initiatives, Macnaughton oversees the festival’s Primetime section, describing the television sidebar — which launched in 2015 — as “a passion project for me”.

Now in its seventh year, Primetime will offer episodes from seven new TV series — five of which are world premieres including High School, a comedy based on a book by Canadian indie pop duo Tegan and Sara; 1899, a German horror drama from the creators of Dark; and Dear Mama, filmmaker Allen Hughes’ docuseries about rapper Tupac Shakur and his mother, political activist Afeni Shakur.

That range is key to what Macnaughton says he is trying to create for the Primetime line-up. “I’m looking for things that surprise me and I’m looking for diversity — not just in the creators that are telling the stories but in the stories themselves, so there’s something for everyone.”

Each project gets one press and industry showing at Toronto and one public showing. The latter is followed by a Q&A session with creatives, which, says Macnaughton, is designed to “eventise” the screening.

With the output of TV industries around the world at unprecedented levels, Primetime may be one Toronto section ripe to expand in the future. But this should not come at the price of less selectivity, argues the section’s programmer. “I’m hopeful it will grow,” says Macnaughton, “but there’s something valuable in having it tightly curated.” 

Industry Conference & Primetime highlights

VISIONARIES

• Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea Clinton, executive producers, Gutsy (Sept 10, 2:30pm)
• SS Rajamouli, writer/director, RRR (Sept 11, 11:30am)
• Werner Herzog, director, Theatre Of Thought (with brain scientist Rafael Yuste and entrepreneur Jamie Davies) (Sept 13, 10:00am)

DIALOGUES

• Production and development TriStar Pictures president Nicole Brown, producer Ram Bergman (Knives Out, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery) and Passage Pictures CEO Uri Singer (Sept 9, 11:30am)
• Primetime Bruce Miller, creator, The Handmaid’s Tale, and Mickey Down and Konrad Kay, creators, Industry(Sept 9, 10:00am)
• Co-writers Park Chan-wook, director and co-writer, Decision To Leave, and Jeong Seo-kyeong, co-writer Decision To Leave (Sept 11, 4:00pm)

PERSPECTIVES

• The future of exhibition Phil Clapp, chief executive, UK Cinema Association; Jackie Brenneman, executive vice president and general counsel, National Association of Theatre Owners; and Bill Walker, CEO, Landmark Cinemas Canada (Sept 12, 11:30am)
• Narrative sovereignty Nyla Innuksuk, director, Slash/Back; Darlene Naponse, director, Stellar; Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, actor, Stellar; and Sonya Ballantyne, writer/director, Crash Site; with moderator Bird Runningwater (Sept 12, 2:00pm)

CONNECTIONS

• Breaking in and moving forward Sarah Lash, senior director, acquisitions, Condé Nast Entertainment; Kiva Reardon, vice president of film, Pastel; Sudeep Sharma, programmer, Sundance Film Festival, director of programming, Palm Springs International ShortFest; and Inga Diev, general manager, content acquisitions and sales, Ouat Media (Sept 11, 3:30pm)
• Bafta session: navigating an international career Representatives from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts discuss programmes to support international filmmakers transitioning their careers to North America (Sept 12, 11:00am)

MICROSESSIONS

• Being Seen — directives for creating authentic and inclusive content Jennifer Holness, chair and founder, Black Screen Office; Mayumi Yoshida, actress and filmmaker; Kelly Lynne Ashton, consultant; and VT Nayani, director; with moderator Haydn Wazelle (Sept 11, 11:30am)

SPOTLIGHTS

• Renewal of the Canada-France co-production treaty (Sept 10, 9:00am)
• Ukrainian producers Darya Bassel, Butterfly Vision; Volodymyr Yatsenko, Luxembourg, Luxembourg; Maksym Nakonechniy, This Rain Will Never Stop; Ihor Savychenko, The Painted Bird; Valeria Sochyvets, Blindfold; and Egor Olesov, Mr Jones (Sept 12, 9:00am)

SPECIAL INDUSTRY EVENT

• Academy 365 Bill Kramer, CEO, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and Janet Yang, president, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Sept 10, 10:00am)

PRIMETIME

• The Kingdom Exodus Denmark (Sept 9, 12:35pm; Sept 12, 4:30pm) Dir Lars von Trier
• 1899 Germany-US (Sept 12, 12:00pm; Sept 13, 3:30pm) Creators Baran bo Odar, Jantje Friese
• Dear Mama US (Sept 13, 9:40am; Sept 15, 7:00pm) Dir Allen Hughes

All times listed are Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)

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