Many people are venturing north in hopes of kicking off awards-season runs that will land them in the thick of the Oscar race. Not everyone is touching down in Canada looking to buy movies. “That’s both in terms of the quantity of projects and the fact that are a lot of interesting directors with movies that are available.” “My impression is that, in terms of the market for films, this is one of the most robust Toronto’s we’ve seen in some time,” says Scott Shooman, head of film at AMC Networks. Some of the biggest films hoping to entice buyers include “Hit Man,” a noir-ish thriller from Richard Linklater that features a showy turn from Glen Powell “Lee,” an awards-bait drama about war photographer Lee Miller that stars Kate Winslet “In Restless Dreams,” Alex Gibney’s look at the life of music legend Paul Simon and “Les Indésirables,” a politically charged examination of modern Paris from Oscar-nominated filmmaker Ladj Ly. On paper, many movies that are looking for distribution boast showy casts that could make them commercially viable. It’s a very challenging time for the business.” “It’s not clear that people are going to be as aggressive. “There’s too much insecurity right now,” says Delphine Perrier, the chief operating officer of the Highland Film Group, a sales and production company. They note that the strikes have taken a devastating financial toll on a business that hasn’t recovered from the slowdown in production created by COVID. “Since very little has been in production since June, any completed movies should be disproportionately valuable.”īut other industry players aren’t so sure. “It could be a great atmosphere for sellers because of the pure math of things,” says John Sloss, the head of Cinetic Media, a management and sales company. That could be a good thing for agents hoping to land big deals for the finished films they are looking to sell to studios in need of something to put in theaters or streamers desperate for new content. Ethan Hawke’s “Wildcat,” a drama that features his daughter Maya Hawke as Flannery O’Connor, and Michael Keaton’s thriller “Knox Goes Away,” are among films cleared by the union for promotional activity.ĭespite those exceptions, there’s no escaping the fact that the dual strikes mean that very little is getting made throughout most of Hollywood. And while producers and publicists have privately groused that the actors’ guild has been slow to grant waivers allowing stars to promote their films at festivals - making travel cumbersome and more expensive - many projects are getting dispensations. Some films were produced outside the studio system with financing from a range of backers or made by independent companies such as Neon and A24 that aren’t involved in the labor standoff. That’s not to say that the city will be devoid of A-listers. “It’s going to make for a dampened sense of festivity at the festival,” notes Kamen. That means that films such as Netflix’s “Nyad,” featuring Annette Bening and Jodie Foster, or 20th Century Studios’ “Quiz Lady” with Awkwafina and Sandra Oh, or Sony’s “ Dumb Money,” a comedy about the stock market that boasts an ensemble that includes Seth Rogen and Pete Davidson, will be unveiled without their stars. With actors and writers on strike, most movie stars won’t be making the trek across the border when the celebration of movies kicks off on Sept. It will show how passionate people are about him.”Ī lively premiere of “Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero” filled with younger music lovers won’t be the only thing that’s distinctive about this edition of the Toronto Film Festival. “We knew that people who love his music would turn out, so we weren’t going to have an audience of typical film festival attendees. “Nas X has performed in the city, and he has a huge fanbase there,” says Kamen.
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