The Toronto International Film Festival’s inaugural Asian Film Summit will see Harvey Weinstein acting as master of ceremonies for its closing banquet.

The Summit, held Sept 10 at the Shangri-La Hotel, will also welcome guests including Jackie Chan and MPAA CEO and chairman Chris Dodd.

Topics to be discussed include: film policy featuring Chris Dodd; film financing featuring Bruno Wu of the Seven Stars Entertainment, Stuart Ford of IM Global and Kenneth Tan from Media Development Authority Singapore; global talent featuring ICM’s David Unger, Echelon’s Andrew Ooi and Loeb & Loeb’s Stephen Saltzman; production with Ellen Eliasoph, Village Roadshow Asia, Jeffrey Chan of Bona Film Group, Isabelle Glachant (11 Flowers) and Lemore Syvan (Man of Tai Chi); Japanese culture with Kayo Yoshida of Asmik Ace Entertainment; a conversation with Ashok Amritraj of Hyde Park Entertainment; sales with Kini Kim of CJ Entertainment, Etchie Stroh from Moonstone Entertainment and Michael Werner of Fortissimo Films; genre films with Bill Kong of Edko Films, filmmaker Eli Roth, Tom Quinn from Radius-TWC, and Stephen Fung from Diversion Pictures; exhibition with Ellis Jacob of Cineplex Entertainment, Larry O’Reilly of IMAX and Ivy Zhong of Beijing Galloping Horse; India: Bollywood & the independents with Shailja Gupta, Red Chillies, Guneet Monga, Anurag Kashyap Films and Mira Nair.

“The TIFF Asian Film Summit is an event we’ve been working on for a long time and we’re thrilled to see it come to life this year,” said Piers Handling, Director and CEO of TIFF. “We’ve received tremendous support and interest from the industry and we’re confident this event will help foster deeper relationships and generate new business opportunities between key film players in the East and West. And as Canada reaches out across the Pacific, we’re glad to have officials such as Telefilm Canada’s Executive Director Carolle Brabant and Ontario Media Development Corporation’s Karen Thorne-Stone join us for the Summit.”

“In a year when our Opening Night Gala Looper is a US-China co-production, we’re pleased to provide a platform in Toronto for industry leaders in both Asia and the West to get to know one another better. It will be an honour to be in the room as people like Senator Dodd, Ashok Amritraj, Bill Kong, Mira Nair and Stuart Ford share ideas with Summit delegates,” added Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director of the Toronto International Film Festival. “And I can’t wait for the banquet that ends the day. With Jackie Chan as guest of honour and Harvey Weinstein as MC, it will be a night to remember.”

More programme updates will be announced in coming weeks. Supporters of the summit include the Government of Ontario, through the Ministry of Tourism, Culture, and Sport; and IMAX Corporation.

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