The VIFF’s 21st Film & Television Forum wrapped its highly successful event on Saturday evening with a packed cocktail reception for New Filmmakers’ Day. Over the event’s four days, local filmmakers participated in interactive sessions, master classes, and Speed Dating meetings with top international industry professionals focusing on writing, producing, directing, acting and a range film and television trends. Many Forum speakers were Oscar and Emmy nominees and winners, including Canadians who shared the secrets to their success beyond Canadian borders with our BC film and television community.

“We had savvy and dynamic speakers, all at the cutting edge of the international indie film and TV scene, who were keen to connect with our local audiences, which made for a really fun event,” says Forum Program Director Helen duToit.

It was “standing room only” at many of the sessions including Documentary Master Class with Last King of Scotland’s director Kevin MacDonald, Writing master classes with both
Joel Cohen (The Simpsons) and Alexandra Cunningham (Desperate Housewives), TV directing master class with Alan Taylor (Sopranas, Six Feet Under, Rome) and Development Workshop with top creative indie producers Susan Cartsonis and Paul Miller.

New Filmmakers’ Day (NFD) played to a packed house of emerging filmmakers and featured special guests, including actor/director Sarah Polley (The Sweet Hereafter, Away from Her), actor/director Beau Bridges (The Fabulous Baker Boys, My Name is Earl) and Sook-Yin Lee (Shortbus, Hedwig and the Angry Inch) exploring the Actor/Director Relationship.
The Low-Budget Screenwriting session featured Jason Reitman (Thank you for Smoking) and Richard Glatzer (Quincineara), both writer/directors whose indie films were big hits at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. And NFD wrapped with a lively case study featuring director Paul Fox and his key creative team discussing the process of bringing
Douglas Coupland’s Everything’s Gone Green to the screen.

New models for financing, new sources of revenue, and expanding the target market were explored through business panels including: The Art and Commerce of Convergence featuring Rockstar: Supernova’s Co-Executive Producer of Eden Gaha ; Finding the Budget Sweet Spot with Calendar producer Nick Barton, and the complementary Packaging Roundtables; Market Trends; and Crafting the Soundtrack Deal with infamous DJ and Music Supervisor Nic Harcourt from KCRW.

VIFF’s new daily cocktail event Industry Hour had the Vancity Theatre’s lobby buzzing with local film and television producers and international Forum panelists. This new initiative was a huge success and will be repeated in future years.

The 21st Annual Film and Television Forum took place in the Rogers Industry Centre at the Vancouver International Film Centre and Vancity Theatre, 1181 Seymour Street, September 27 – 29, with New Filmmakers’ Day on September 30. For more information please phone: (604) 685-3547, Fax: (604) 688-8221, email: forum@viff.org.