Toronto Film Festival CEO Cameron Bailey and TIFF: The Market boss Charles Tremblay dropped by the Deadline Studio and told us industry attendance is up over a third this year.
TIFF: The Market had, per the name, a large market floor space, as well as a full conference program. Tremblay, Head of the TIFF: The Market, dished the numbers, telling us there were 6,800 industry delegates versus 5,000 last year.
“It’s a considerable jump,” he said. “In terms of how it’s going in practice on the floor, we’ve seen quite a bit of activity.”
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TIFF has long had an unofficial market, but making it official means better access for the small and mid-size players, as well as the heavyweights, Tremblay told us. “It feels like people are comfortable in the venue. We’ve been hearing that they’re getting back-to-back meetings.”
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Bailey, who received a live update on the latest numbers during the interview, was visibly delighted. “Our goal for this year was to grow from 5,000 to 6,000. We’ve grown from 5,000 to 6,800… it’s great news for us, and I think it’s a sign of the success of the market.”
The Market has received generous funding from the federal government and Bailey has previously told Deadline the plan is to double industry attendance within a few years.
The goal was a market that spanned TV and digital as well as film. The reality in year one was the floor was firmly focused on film sales. The conference element was more inclusive of TV.
No first-time event goes without a hitch. Early on, there were massive queues caused by a snafu with the ticketing system. Once inside, people headed to conference sessions in their numbers, with Seth Rogen, Gary Oldman, Robbie Brenner and Pamela Abdy among the speakers.
Looking to future editions, Bailey said the focus will become increasingly international. “What I’m hopeful for from what we saw this year is that this market will become increasingly global. It’ll reflect the fact that talent and capital, and the dissemination of work, is increasingly global.”