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The 19th Annual Film & Television Trade Forum:
September 22 - 25, UBC at Robson Square

B.C.'s film & television industry professionals, both established and emerging, will gather this week for The Film & Television Trade Forum of the Vancouver International Film Festival, set to take place Sept. 22 - 25 at UBC, Robson Square. In twenty panel sessions, plus master classes and one-to-one meetings, Canadian and international guest panellists address some of the most pressing business issues of the day, while others share insights on a range of creative topics.

Business trends centre stage this year include The DVD Boom, Co-productions - The International Hunt for Production Incentives, Pick Me! Pick Me! - The Recipes For Feature Film Acquisition Success, International Financing and the Marketplace, Breaking into the US Marketplace - Television and The Year of the Doc.

On the creative side, On the Right Track features the process of crafting the score for a film, showcasing the diverse talents of guest panellists Benoît Charest (The Triplets of Belleville) and Craig Wedren (School of Rock), while Sarah Webster, Music Supervisor, S.L. Feldman & Associates will discuss the business of licensing and putting together a soundtrack deal; Creating The Mood explores the unique relationship between director of photography and production designer, with Jan Roelfs and DOP Tom Stern (Mystic River); Year of the Doc highlights one of the most positive industry developments this year, the explosion of documentaries on the big screen. Jennifer Abbott (Co-Director, The Corporation), Albert Nerenberg (Director, Stupidity), Velcrow Ripper (Director, ScaredSacred) talk about the art and business of documentary including the elements that contribute to critical and commercial success.

Several sessions will be of interest to writers, among them: Adapting Material for the Screen, tracking the transformation from book to successful screenplay with writers John C. Richards (Nurse Betty) and Brandon Boyce (Apt Pupil); For television, Unabashedly Canadian - Low-Budget Episodic Television features guests, Steve Levitan (Executive Producer, Train 48), Susin Nielsen (Creative Producer, Robson Arms) and John Pattison (Creator, Puppets Who Kill) discussing their respective creative approaches to this genre of programming.

Aspiring writers in particular will want to attend Writing For Low-Budget Features on New Filmmakers' Day, Sept. 25. This fourth and final day of the Trade Forum is dedicated to emerging filmmakers with such sessions as The Business of The Low-Budget Feature and The Shot List - A Director's Blueprint. A special highlight of New Filmmakers' Day is Success Stories with filmmakers Chris Kentis (Open Water) and Michael Dowse (Fubar, It's All Gone Pete Tong).

The 19th Annual Film and Television Trade Forum takes place in the Rogers Industry Centre located at UBC at Robson Square, 800 Robson Street, September 22-24, with New Filmmakers' Day on September 25. For more information and registration call 604.685.3547 or email tradeforum@viff.org . Registration and program information is also available via the Trade Forum links at www.viff.org. For media enquiries, accreditation or guest interview opportunities, email leslie@viff.org or call 604.762-0651.