Canadian 2SLGBTQ+ festival Inside Out has revealed the five feature and three TV series projects set to participate in its eighth annual Finance Forum in Toronto.
The forum takes place this Thursday (May 30) and Friday (May 31), near the end of the festival’s May 24-June 1 run.
The Forum gives queer-led creative teams with 2SLGBTQ+ content the chance to pitch projects to industry executives and take part in panels and conversations. Executives at the forum will include representatives from US and international companies including first-time attendees A24, Big Beach and Mr Smith Entertainment as well as return attendees Bankside Films, Bell Media, Neon, Protagonist and Studiocanal.
Among the five narrative feature projects at the event will be Ireland-Canada-Denmark-Luxembourg co-production Julian, the Forum’s first animation participant produced by five-time Oscar-nominated and two-time Golden Globe-nominated Irish producers Cartoon Saloon (The Breadwinner, Song Of The Sea) and Aircraft Pictures (The Breadwinner) with Denmark’s Sun Creatures (Flee), and Luxembourg producer Melusine Productions (Ernest & Celestine).
Ireland’s Louise Bagnall directs the story of a boy who wants to be a mermaid and his strong-willed aunt. Co-directors are Guillaume Lorin and Mark Mullery.
Canada/US comedy Butch Baby Mama, written and directed by Jess Desvarieux and starring Moonie Desvarieux, is based on characters from web series Moonie and centres on a comedian who becomes her sister’s baby surrogate.
Romantic comedy Goldstar, from the US, is written and directed by Emily Friedman and follows two friends who meet up in New York City and have unexpected queer romances that teach them about acceptance.
Bottoms and Shiva Baby writer-director Emma Seligman will give a talk about career highlights and making films in Canada and the US. Emmy-nominated casting director and producer Kerry Barden will provide practical advice to the teams about casting. He has cast more than 300 films and series including Boys Don’t Cry, The Girl OnThe Train, and Jennifer Lawrence break-out Winter’s Bone, as well as series like Sex And The City and recent Apple show Palm Royale.
The forum is produced by Jan Nathanson, with festival co-head Andrew Murphy and industry coordinator Sarah Barzak. Nathanson produced Ontario Creates’ International Finance Forum at Toronto International Film Festival from 2007-2018, and acted as senior consultant until September 2023.
Murphy said, “Year over year we are inspired by the breadth and quality of queer stories we have the privilege of supporting at the Finance Forum. This year especially, we celebrate and embrace the ever expansiveness of what queerness can be.”
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