Toronto International Film Festival 2008
09-19-08 | 03:15 PM
#26
DVD Talk Legend
Another article about the (perceived) problems with the festival, including an interview with the principal organizer, if anyone cares:
www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/502007
www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/502007
TIFF tiff with press cut Handling `to the quick'
Peter Howell
Piers Handling has stoically endured 9/11, SARS, grasping rivals and construction migraines during his long tenure as head of the Toronto International Film Festival.
He's managed to stay positive through it all.
Handling admits, though, being "cut to the quick" by some of the press criticism at this year's TIFF, which wrapped up last weekend. Among the journo complaints were charges of elitism in the queue-jumping privileges for wealthy donors and grumbles about a general lack of energy at the sprawling fest.
The show never ends for Handling. He was trying to take some deserved time off this week, but he obligingly agreed to a long interview to discuss various issues.
Regarding the press, Handling thinks we scribes may need better handling: "We seem not to be managing the Toronto press as successfully as we have in the past and that's an issue."
He's rightly much more concerned about regular festgoers and he takes "incredibly seriously" the frequently expressed opinion during TIFF '08 that the event is no longer the people's festival it proudly claims to be. Mama TIFF accorded favourite-kid status to wealthy donors who dropped a minimum $250 into the tin cup for the new Bell Lightbox facility, under construction at King and John Sts.
Going by emails I've received, comments left on thestar.com and people who approached me during the fest, many are steamed by changes to the TIFF pass system. Matinées at the Elgin, normally a bargain for those who couldn't afford the galas at Roy Thomson Hall, are no longer part of the pass system and they're now priced at the premium rate of $40 a head.
Handling vows to look very hard at ticket prices for next year, particularly at the Elgin.
"I think that's a very fair criticism, and we'll definitely be reassessing that. The whole ticketing thing is tough, and we adjust it every year. At the same time, what people probably forgot, and which I don't think we messaged out well, is that we did not raise ticket prices across the board this year."
Handling argues, with much justification, that TIFF is more of a people's festival than it has ever been.
The addition of the AMC Yonge/Dundas multiplex to the festival mix bumped the number of available screens up to 36 from last year's 29, allowing more people to see more movies – although both press and public grumbled about long lines and a certain amount of confusion at those AMC screenings.
"In terms of the infrastructure, it's now the largest public festival in the world, without a doubt," Handling said.
The fest also opened Yonge-Dundas Square for free public screenings, averaging 15,000 people a day for star appearances, musical events and the closing night party, hoping to make more Torontonians feel like they're part of the big show.
"So on the whole, we feel that apart from a couple of weather things – we had to cancel the first Sunday event because of rain – it was incredibly successful. It brought the festival to the city of Toronto."
Handling had a couple of slaps to administer of his own. He described as "completely fallacious" the suggestion by some journalists (present company included) that the Venice Film Festival is making major inroads into TIFF's turf by scheduling its 2009 show at the start of September rather than the end of August. TIFF always begins on the Thursday after Labour Day, which means next year's fest will begin on Sept. 10. There will still be just the usual three-day overlap between Venice and TIFF.
He also disagrees with me that TIFF needs to be more aggressive in hustling for major world premieres, as Venice and Telluride have been.
"We've never wanted to turn ourselves into a festival of premieres. That was not what Toronto was about. That's an industry-designed event; that's not an event designed for the public."
Peter Howell
Piers Handling has stoically endured 9/11, SARS, grasping rivals and construction migraines during his long tenure as head of the Toronto International Film Festival.
He's managed to stay positive through it all.
Handling admits, though, being "cut to the quick" by some of the press criticism at this year's TIFF, which wrapped up last weekend. Among the journo complaints were charges of elitism in the queue-jumping privileges for wealthy donors and grumbles about a general lack of energy at the sprawling fest.
The show never ends for Handling. He was trying to take some deserved time off this week, but he obligingly agreed to a long interview to discuss various issues.
Regarding the press, Handling thinks we scribes may need better handling: "We seem not to be managing the Toronto press as successfully as we have in the past and that's an issue."
He's rightly much more concerned about regular festgoers and he takes "incredibly seriously" the frequently expressed opinion during TIFF '08 that the event is no longer the people's festival it proudly claims to be. Mama TIFF accorded favourite-kid status to wealthy donors who dropped a minimum $250 into the tin cup for the new Bell Lightbox facility, under construction at King and John Sts.
Going by emails I've received, comments left on thestar.com and people who approached me during the fest, many are steamed by changes to the TIFF pass system. Matinées at the Elgin, normally a bargain for those who couldn't afford the galas at Roy Thomson Hall, are no longer part of the pass system and they're now priced at the premium rate of $40 a head.
Handling vows to look very hard at ticket prices for next year, particularly at the Elgin.
"I think that's a very fair criticism, and we'll definitely be reassessing that. The whole ticketing thing is tough, and we adjust it every year. At the same time, what people probably forgot, and which I don't think we messaged out well, is that we did not raise ticket prices across the board this year."
Handling argues, with much justification, that TIFF is more of a people's festival than it has ever been.
The addition of the AMC Yonge/Dundas multiplex to the festival mix bumped the number of available screens up to 36 from last year's 29, allowing more people to see more movies – although both press and public grumbled about long lines and a certain amount of confusion at those AMC screenings.
"In terms of the infrastructure, it's now the largest public festival in the world, without a doubt," Handling said.
The fest also opened Yonge-Dundas Square for free public screenings, averaging 15,000 people a day for star appearances, musical events and the closing night party, hoping to make more Torontonians feel like they're part of the big show.
"So on the whole, we feel that apart from a couple of weather things – we had to cancel the first Sunday event because of rain – it was incredibly successful. It brought the festival to the city of Toronto."
Handling had a couple of slaps to administer of his own. He described as "completely fallacious" the suggestion by some journalists (present company included) that the Venice Film Festival is making major inroads into TIFF's turf by scheduling its 2009 show at the start of September rather than the end of August. TIFF always begins on the Thursday after Labour Day, which means next year's fest will begin on Sept. 10. There will still be just the usual three-day overlap between Venice and TIFF.
He also disagrees with me that TIFF needs to be more aggressive in hustling for major world premieres, as Venice and Telluride have been.
"We've never wanted to turn ourselves into a festival of premieres. That was not what Toronto was about. That's an industry-designed event; that's not an event designed for the public."
09-21-08 | 06:33 AM
#27
Thread Starter
DVD Talk Legend
He's rightly much more concerned about regular festgoers and he takes "incredibly seriously" the frequently expressed opinion during TIFF '08 that the event is no longer the people's festival it proudly claims to be. Mama TIFF accorded favourite-kid status to wealthy donors who dropped a minimum $250 into the tin cup for the new Bell Lightbox facility, under construction at King and John Sts.
Going by emails I've received, comments left on thestar.com and people who approached me during the fest, many are steamed by changes to the TIFF pass system. Matinées at the Elgin, normally a bargain for those who couldn't afford the galas at Roy Thomson Hall, are no longer part of the pass system and they're now priced at the premium rate of $40 a head.
Handling vows to look very hard at ticket prices for next year, particularly at the Elgin.
"I think that's a very fair criticism, and we'll definitely be reassessing that. The whole ticketing thing is tough, and we adjust it every year. At the same time, what people probably forgot, and which I don't think we messaged out well, is that we did not raise ticket prices across the board this year."
Going by emails I've received, comments left on thestar.com and people who approached me during the fest, many are steamed by changes to the TIFF pass system. Matinées at the Elgin, normally a bargain for those who couldn't afford the galas at Roy Thomson Hall, are no longer part of the pass system and they're now priced at the premium rate of $40 a head.
Handling vows to look very hard at ticket prices for next year, particularly at the Elgin.
"I think that's a very fair criticism, and we'll definitely be reassessing that. The whole ticketing thing is tough, and we adjust it every year. At the same time, what people probably forgot, and which I don't think we messaged out well, is that we did not raise ticket prices across the board this year."
