Telefilm Canada showcases Canadian talent at the Toronto International Film Festival

Telefilm's Carolle Brabant to participate in TIFF Industry Conference panel Women at the Helm (September 10)

TORONTO, Aug. 3, 2016 /CNW Telbec/ - Telefilm Canada is showcasing Canadian talent at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), a celebration of film that brings together filmmakers and movie lovers in one festive event that runs from September 8 to 18, 2016. Telefilm is enthusiastically partnering with the Festival once again, putting key initiatives in place focused on recognizing veteran as well as emerging Canadian talent.

"The TIFF selection mirrors the wonderful diversity and creativity of Canadian filmmaking," said Carolle Brabant, Executive Director of Telefilm Canada. "I'm particularly pleased to applaud the Canadian women filmmakers at TIFF this year. I look forward to sharing my thoughts on gender representation at the TIFF Industry Conference panel Women at the Helm, and I'm delighted that we're teaming up once more with Birks to pay tribute to the Canadian women directors, actors and screenwriters who made their mark over the past year. In order to make an impact to more effectively support a representative diversity of content creators, we need to work in partnership."

Piers Handling, Director and CEO of TIFF, added: "Celebrating and nurturing Canadian talent is one of the goals both TIFF and Telefilm Canada share as cultural organizations. Our valued and long standing partnership has been wonderfully collaborative and helps put Canadian talent in the spotlight during the Festival, both at home and abroad. We look forward to another great year of programming at TIFF 2016."

Eye on TIFF, organized by Telefilm Canada in New York and Los Angeles
New York: August 24, 2016
Los Angeles: August 25, 2016
A recurring initiative in New York since 2011 and now in its third consecutive year in Los Angeles, the Eye on TIFF events organized by Telefilm are pre-festival activities that provide distributors and exhibitors with a sneak peek at the Canadian films in selection at TIFF. A showreel of a dozen films will be presented during the event, with the teams behind a few of the films previewed set to attend the New York happening. New for the NYC event in 2016: UniFrance has signed on as partner and will present a showreel of recent French films.

Filmmaker Boot Camp
August 4, 2016
This workshop, the first in a series aimed at the industry and that runs throughout the year, helps prepare producers and directors for the requirements as well as the benefits of film festivals by focusing on the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival. Some 20 speakers and other guests will provide an overview of the Festival program, the Festival Industry Conference series and the resources available for delegates, as well as offer advice to participants on how to promote their projects in development and play their best cards at the Festival.

Canada Lounge
September 8 to 14, 2016
Located in the Festival Industry Centre, the Canada Lounge is a business and networking centre for Canadian film teams. The Lounge serves as their Toronto meeting hub with international industry representatives and press. New in 2016: the Lounge will be on the "west wing" of the Industry Centre in order to help promote relationships with Latin-American and European partners.

Telefilm Canada Talent to Watch
September 10, 2016, 1:15 PM to 2:15 PM
Breaking In & Staying In: The Art of "Staying Alive" as a Filmmaker
This panel brings together filmmakers with feature films at TIFF who have broken into the business with a first feature, and successfully continued to make films. The directors will discuss how they crafted a career and captured attention in the evolving marketplace. How does a filmmaker deal with heightened expectations after the debut feature? Are there secrets to not only surviving, but thriving? How to manage increasing budgets and new financing and creative partners?

September 11, 2016, 10:15 AM to 11:15 AM
Show Me the Money: Monetizing Your Film Internationally
With substantial revenue coming from exploitation outside of a film's home country, it is vital to target and structure deals with foreign sales agents. In this panel, foreign sales agents discuss what attracts them to representing specific films for sales abroad with a focus on current deal structures, windowing strategies and licensing films by territory

September 12, 2016, 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM
The American Dream: Canadian Films in the U.S.
In recent years, U.S. distributors have been attracting and engaging audiences for an increasing number of Canadian films. In this panel, U.S. distributors of Canadian films will address the opportunities and realities of their market with a focus on how the digital age has influenced the development of their distribution and marketing strategy.

Telefilm Canada PITCH THIS!
September 11, 2016
Telefilm Canada's very popular PITCH THIS! initiative turns 17 this year! Six teams will have six minutes to pitch their feature film idea to a live audience of over 200 industry professionals. The winning team, selected by a jury of international industry experts, is awarded $15,000 from Telefilm to develop its script.

Birks Diamond Tribute to the Year's Women in Film, in partnership with Telefilm Canada
September 12, 2016
For a fourth year running, 12 Canadian women will be honoured at the Birks Diamond Tribute to the Year's Women in Film, in partnership with Telefilm. New in 2016: the nomination process included the input of the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA), the Association des réalisateurs et réalisatrices du Québec (ARRQ), the Directors Guild of Canada (DGC), the Société des auteurs de radio, télévision et cinéma (SARTEC) and the Writers Guild of Canada (WGC). In addition, for the first time, the Birks Diamond Tribute is honouring women scriptwriters, in addition to actors and directors. Finally, this edition benefited from the expertise of the largest jury to date, which was made up of 20 journalists and bloggers covering arts, culture and entertainment.

TIFF Rising Stars
Telefilm is a loyal partner of TIFF Rising Stars, an initiative designed to discover the next generation of outstanding Canadian actors. In a workshop setting, winners will receive professional development and mentoring from casting directors, agents, managers, producers and filmmakers.

Talent Lab
Telefilm is again partnering with Talent Lab, a professional development workshop that provides emerging talent with a unique opportunity to learn from the world's best film artists, thus enabling them to hone their skills.

For more information on Canadian producers at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival, check out our microsite at www.canada-tiff16.ca, which will go live August 25.

About Telefilm Canada—Inspired by talent. Viewed everywhere.
Created in 1967, Telefilm is dedicated to the cultural, commercial and industrial success of Canada's audiovisual industry. Through its various funding and promotion programs, Telefilm supports dynamic companies and creative talent here at home and around the world. Telefilm also makes recommendations regarding the certification of audiovisual treaty coproductions to the Minister of Canadian Heritage, and administers the programs of the Canada Media Fund and the Talent Fund, a private donation initiative. Visit telefilm.ca and follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/telefilm_canada and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/telefilmcanada.

SOURCE Telefilm Canada

Media enquiries: Douglas Chow, Head, Public Relations, Telefilm Canada, [phone], ext. 2048 or 1-800-567-0890, [e-mail]