Wednesday, September 22

9:00 – 10:45 am
The Business of Producing TF01

Last year our finance panel focused on the 5% Solution: who it was working for, how producers and distributors were rising to the challenge, if scripts and casting were becoming more commercial, what the box-office stats were and what kinds of films were getting made. Twelve months down the road, what’s changed? Is there a stronger focus on marketing indigenous films? Is there a new look in Canadian cinema? How has the policy and funding climate affected our filmmakers? Here we reassess the situation for 2004/2005.

Moderator
Colleen Nystedt, Founder, New City Pictures

Guest Speakers
John Bain, Director of Acquisitions, Lions Gate Films
John Dippong, Director, Feature Film Business Unit, Telefilm Canada
Liz Jarvis, Producer, Seven Times Lucky
Mary Anne Waterhouse, Producer, Desolation Sound
Shawn Williamson, Producer, Brightlight Pictures Inc.

11:00 – 12:30 pm
The DVD BOOM TF02

Last year marked one of the most significant changes in how audiences acquired and viewed motion pictures. Now that the DVD market generates more revenue than theatrical market, DVD sell-through is rewriting everything we once knew regarding the marketing of a feature film. The traditional retail model that accounts for approximately $25 billion in sales in North America is dominated in Canada by the likes of Wal-Mart and Future Shop/Best Buy for retail and Rogers and Blockbuster for “rentail.” While their overall buying strategies tend to favour the box office successes from major film studios, they each have different retail strategies to promote and appeal to fans of independent film. What are the implications of these trends for the independent filmmaker? How can filmmakers capitalize on the different retail strategies that continue to bolster the market position of these retailers?

Moderator
Bruce Marchfelder, Writer/Producer/Director

Guest Speakers
Rob Mallory, Director, Western Region, Universal Studios, Alliance Atlantis Home Video
Brad Pelman, Sr. VP, Sales & Marketing, Lions Gate Films Corp.
Linda Sanderson, VP Procurement & Logistics, Rogers Video
Martin Wragg, VP/Managing Director-Canada, MGM Home Entertainment

1:30 – 3:15 pm
Unabashedly Canadian – Low-Budget Episodic Television TF03

Now that broadcasters and cable networks need more programming to fill their slots but have less money to spend, low-budget episodic programming is the current trend. Have you got what it takes to adapt to this nimble style of writing and producing? The writers/creators/producers of these shows share their distinctive approaches to the creative process.

Moderator
Michael Ghent, Western Development Manager, Global Television Network

Guest Speakers
Steve Levitan, Executive Producer, Train 48
Susin Nielsen, Creative Producer, Robson Arms
John Pattison, Creator, Puppets Who Kill

1:30 – 3:15 pm
Year of The Doc TF04

One of the most positive developments in distribution this year has been the explosion of documentaries on the big screen. This panel focuses on several docs that have received critical and commercial success theatrically. We invite the filmmakers to discuss new approaches to finance (Metallica: Some Kind of Monster was financed by the band itself); marketing and distribution (Super Size Me was made for $65,000 and grossed over $6 million to date); capturing the zeitgeist (The Corporation and Fahrenheit 9/11) and extending the target audience (Riding Giants).

Moderator
Lynn Booth, Producer/Director/President, Make Believe Media Inc.

Guest Speakers
Jennifer Abbott, Co-Director, The Corporation
Albert Nerenberg, Director, Stupidity
Velcrow Ripper, Director, ScaredSacred

3:30 – 5:15
Pick Me! Pick Me! - The Recipes for Acquisition Success TF05

The participating distributors have had great success in taking risks with low-medium budget dramatic features and documentaries. Features such as The Station Agent and Pieces of April – with first-time directors, low budgets and almost unknown casts – were acquired and distributed successfully. Is interest in dramatic features on the slide now that there are bidding frenzies over docs at such festivals as Sundance and SXSW? What are the factors influencing acquisition executives in the current market place? Here is an up- to-the-minute snapshot of the economic realities of independent distribution.

Moderator
Stephen Hegyes, Producer, Brightlight Pictures. Inc.

Guest Speakers
Josh Deighton, VP Acquisitions, Fox Searchlight Pictures
Dylan Wilcox, Acquisitions Manager, Miramax Films