TIFF UNCUT

This conversation is taken from Natalie's career spanning sit down with TIFF Artistic Director Cameron Bailey on September 9 2015 at the TIFF Bell Lightbox in downtown Toronto.

Part four of our Horizontal Case Study — which unpacks the 2014 Festival selection Spring — explores the mixed-model of distribution, and how it maximizes both online and theatrical release strategies. This case study takes one independent film property from last year’s Official Selection and analyzes that film’s creative, financing, marketing and distribution. Sessions in this case study series include Managing the Directorial Collaboration (Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead), Structuring the Co Production with Italy (Luca Legnani), A New Niche Of Genre-bending Film (Nate Bolotin, Raffaella Del Vecchio), and The Modern Distribution Model (Tim League, Janet Brown).

Part three of our Horizontal Case Study of the 2014 Festival selection Spring examines the unique strategy the filmmakers employed when marketing their outside-the-box concept film — a supernatural twist on Before Sunrise. This case study takes one independent film property from last year’s Official Selection and analyzes that film’s creative, financing, marketing and distribution. Sessions in this case study series include Managing the Directorial Collaboration (Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead), Structuring the Co Production with Italy (Luca Legnani), A New Niche Of Genre-bending Film (Nate Bolotin, Raffaella Del Vecchio), and The Mixed Distribution Model (Tim League, Janet Brown).

How does the creative team pull together all the finishing touches? How do these concepts manifest differently in TV vs Film? Some of the most acclaimed showrunners in the business lead a panel discussion on the rise and mastery of their craft, and the nuances of the creator process.

Join expert technologists and creatives as we discuss the impact of Atmos on the creative process and their work using the Festival selection Hyena Road as a case study. Dolby Atmos technology ‘pushes’ sound to a place in a 3D space, giving the audience the feeling of an immersive sound world. This session explores storytelling and how to use sound to build a world and transport an audience.

Working in China can be a mystery for everyone involved. Learn from these seasoned professionals as they discuss their journey entering and navigating the Chinese market. Guests will reflect on how they established themselves and developed the valuable relationships that have propelled their desirability as producing partners for Chinese projects.

What we see on screen and behind the scenes often formulates the ideas and principles that we use to contextualize our daily realities. Too often, we are presented with representations in which stories of diversity are either stereotyped or totally absent. How can we change this? Top entertainment creators and executives will discuss how technology, entertainment and media should promote narratives that feature underrepresented demographics, creating new onscreen and behind the scenes realities.

This panel discussion featured different perspectives from Canada's Top Ten Film Festival guests on what makes a film Canadian and was held on January 10, 2014 at TIFF Bell Lightbox. Panelists included: University of Alberta film scholar and Canada's Top Ten Film Festival panelist Liz Czach, Senior Programmer for the Toronto International Film Festival Steve Gravestock, and Canada's Top Ten Film Festival guests, directors Jeff Barnaby (Rhymes for Young Ghouls) and Alan Zweig (When Jews Were Funny). Visit the Higher Learning Digital Resource Hub to learn more about our upcoming events at TIFF Bell Lightbox and to access bibliographies, filmographies and additional resources associated with this event.

The Grand Budapest Hotel's lead graphic designer Annie Atkins joins post-secondary students and faculty for a behind-the-scenes look at some of Grand Budapest's unique graphic design elements. See more at http://tiff.net/higherlearning

Hitting a new high this year with her critically acclaimed performance in the official Festival selection I Smile Back, actor, activist, author, producer, and no-holds-barred comedian Sarah Silverman joins us for a far-ranging onstage conversation that will explore her inspiring and dizzyingly diverse career. Irreverent and incisive, iconoclastic and hilarious, Sarah Silverman grew to prominence as a no-holds-barred comedian, a fearless master of taboo-busting social satire. Yet beyond the boundaries of stand-up comedy, Silverman has proven herself a propulsive cultural force on numerous fronts. From her early appearances on Saturday Night Live and Mr. Show with Bob and David to her concert film Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic and sitcom The Sarah Silverman Program, she has been a singular onscreen presence — with multiple Emmy nominations and two wins to show for it. She is a shrewd producer, an outspoken activist, and a gifted writer. Her memoir The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee was entertaining, articulate, revealing, and audacious. (The book's solemn afterword is attributed to God.) As an actor, Silverman has revealed an emotional and tonal range that few who admire her comic chops would likely have foreseen. In Sarah Polley's Take This Waltz, Silverman gave an arresting performance as a recovering alcoholic. On the television series Masters of Sex, she has a highly memorable recurring role as a lesbian trying to lead a fulfilling romantic life. Now, in Adam Salky's stunning feature I Smile Back, screening at this year's Festival, Silverman stars as a seemingly contented middle-class suburban wife and mother who struggles secretly with depression, substance abuse, and dangerous compulsions. The role affords Silverman the opportunity to show the wealth of creativity, craft, and candidness at her disposal as she imbues her character with a disarming rawness and humanity. And this onstage conversation with Silverman is our opportunity to explore in-depth her dizzyingly diverse and inspiring career.

Pam Grier introduces Quentin Tarantino's worshipful homage to her action-hero past. Pam Grier is a film, stage and television actor, author, and philanthropist. Best known for her performances in the early '70s features Coffy, Foxy Brown, and Sheba Baby, she later starred in the Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress. She was the first black woman to appear on the cover of Ms. Magazine, was named as one of Ebony Magazine's "100 Most Fascinating Women of the 20th Century," and the recipient of the Career Achievement Award at the 34th Annual Chicago International Film Festival.

The Martian Press Conference at the Toronto International Film Festival 2015 featuring cast and crew including: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Jeff Daniels, Michael Peña, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sean Bean, Kate Mara, Mackenzie Davis, author Andy Weir and director Ridley Scott. Things you will learn about: Matt Damon's time at a Turkish bath with one of his castmates; the giant wall that the U.S. is building to keep out Canadians (Mackenzie Davis gets to stay in the States because of her powerful friends); how that Donald Glover fall happened; Michael Peña's claim to be the first Mexican in space (seriously, he wants you to remember that); and some very low-tech methods for making Hollywood stars look like they're floating. There are so many interesting people on this panel you will never be bored.

Our Brand is Crisis Press Conference at the Toronto International Film Festival 2015 featuring cast and crew including: Sandra Bullock, Zoe Kazan, producer George Clooney, writer Peter Straughan and director David Gordon Green. Things you will learn: What age Sandra Bullock lost her virginity; Where the final quote in the film originated; That the main role was originally written for a man;

Demolition Press Conference at the Toronto International Film Festival 2015 featuring cast and crew including: Jake Gyllenhaal, Naomi Watts, Chris Cooper, Judah Lewis, writer Bryan Sipe and director Jean-Marc Vallée. Things you will learn: Jake Gylenhaal describes the techniques used by Jean-Marc Vallée in shooting Demolition and the effect that it had on him as an actor; The origins of the title from writer Bryan Sipe; Jake doesn't do shoutouts.

The people who finance movies speak a different language. Learn how to speak “finance-ese,” and get a leg up on building relationships and working with financiers. Speakers: Charles King (Founder and CEO, MACRO), Tara Parker (Partner, Entertainment Group, Goodmans LLP), John Vandervelde (Co-Founder, The Entertainment and Media Finance Group Inc.) and moderator Adam Leipzig (COO, CreativeFutures)