‘What’s your best tip for surviving/enjoying the Toronto International Film Festival?’

Cristina Garza, vp, Mundial Films

Rent a bike! Toronto is a beautiful and bicycle-friendly city and this is the best way to experience it. You’ll arrive fresh to your morning meetings, on time for back-to-back screenings and you’ll avoid those expensive taxis. Most places rent bikes for about $10 a day or $50 per week. But beware, this is best recommended to those people who are not prone to losing keys. And certainly not to those who like a few drinks in the evening.

Arianna Bocco, SVP of acquisitions & productions, Sundance Selects/IFC Films

There’s one place that gets me through the festival: Ravi Soups. Find it on Adelaide Street West.

Caroline Couret-Delegue, sales & acquisitions director, AV Pictures

My best advice would be to hire a publicist if you have films in the official selection, so you don’t spend all your time running around keeping track of your talent.

Isabel Davis, head of international, British Film Institute

For Europeans pushing through on the first night, go to a midnight screening as a great way to beat jetlag

Kathleen Drumm, head of marketing, Screen Australia

Pack everything from tropical to arctic wear - the weather is unpredictable. Arrive early and secure a list of delegates’ mailbox numbers from the industry centre so you can drop notes to key contacts ahead of their arrival. Do a quick recce of the main venues and schedule lunches and dinners with some of your favourite people, to bring balance to business. Rehearse the tricky meetings in advance in your hotel room, but not with the mini-bar open. And get some sleep!

Colin Geddes, TIFF programmer, Midnight Madness & Vanguard

As the programmer who stays up the latest of all my colleagues - for purely job-related reasons - my primary survival tip is about staying at your best until 2am. My rule is hydration: three glasses of water for every serving of alcohol. My tip for out-of-towners is to plot out your destinations carefully. With the amount of construction in downtown Toronto, walking is almost always quicker than taking a cab. Plus, our city is very pedestrian friendly.

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