Best-behaved Festival in the World

Midway through the festival, director Piers Handling and managing director Michele Maheux have much to be proud of. Aside from a few obnoxious guests at a screening of Girlfight (who screamed profanities so loudly that the audience could not hear most of the show), Toronto is thus far living up to its reputation as one of the best organized, best-behaved festivals in the world. One fan of the festival is Aussie actress Susie Porter (in two films here: Better than Sex and The Monkey's Mask). In heels and a fishnet black top, she said she was having a great time in Toronto as she dashed off to her next screening.

Filmfestivals.com Celebrates Festival Directors
Speaking of festival directors -- they are often the unsaluted souls who absorb the many headaches of festivals. Everything from planning, recruiting, fundraising and promoting falls on their shoulders. The guests of honor at an invite-only dinner thrown by Filmfestival.com CEO Malo Girod de l'Ain and his team at the Urban restaurant in downtown Toronto brought together guests from around the world, including New York, Las Vegas, Singapore, Los Angeles, Seattle, Brussels and Rotterdam. In addition, a few non-festival folk joined the crowd, including Nathon Gunn (President and Founder of Bitcasters.com), and Andy Robbins (Miramax's director of online marketing). For many guests, it was the first chance to swap stories with so many fellow directors. Before the dinner, the annual Alliance party at the ROM -- otherwise known as the Royal Ontario Museum -- attracting a standing-room only crowd. Among those standing were Willem Dafoe, who is in town to promote Shadow of the Vampire.

"Prophets and Profits" Unite
Today the festival's biz group gathered at the Four Seasons for the panel discussion called "Prophets and Profits" -- named for the prophets (film critics) and the profits (internet folks) on the panel. On the profit side were Rachel Shapiro (VP of Sales and Marketing at reelplay.com), Beki Probst (director of the European Film Market at the Berlin Film Festival), and John Fitzgerald (VP of Programming for iFilm.com). Their voices were a bit muted, as the prophets tended to dominate the conversation. Prophets included online film critics David Poland (the self-described "professional cynic") and Jeffrey Wells; and Gerald Peary, a print journalist for The Boston Phoenix. The panel was promoted as a forum to dicuss online marketing versus traditional methods -- but it quickly turned into a spirited showcase for the critics to argue with each other. In the respites from their engaging debates, a few topical points emerged.

Up to now, the only contemporary journalist to "put the butts in the seats" as Poland put it -- has been Roger Ebert, whose popularity was greatly helped by television. So far, no online critic has emerged with this prophetic ability. Poland noted that the one advantage of internet critique is their intimacy -- he often receives immediate feedback with his readers. Both sides saw the internet as an "enhancer" -- Shapiro noted that internet sites can help build interest in a film or a fest, but in the end, deals are done via personal relationships, lending new credence to the phrase it's not what you know but who you know.