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CANADIAN INDUSTRY ONLINE - OCTOBER 2014
of the festival and it’s extraordinary
where they come from: volunteers join
us every year from all over the world.
These are people that take vacation to
come and volunteer, they love the buzz
and everything that comes with the
festival.
CIO:
What has been the biggest trans-
formation for TIFF in the last 20 years?
PH:
Probably the single biggest trans-
formation is going from being a 10-day
organization to a 365-day organization
and this building has been a big part
of that. It has just allowed us to do so
much more.
We are now reaching our public on a
daily basis. Generally, film festivals
are sort of invisible at other times of
the year but now we’re seen as a year-
round organization and we have our
own programming outside of the fes-
tival itself—people are always amazed
that a festival can do everything that
TIFF does.
CIO:
What has TIFF done for Cana-
dian filmmakers?
PH:
It has become the showcase for
Canadian filmmakers, people who are
unknown or relatively unknown come
out of the festival with a reputation
and end up building international ca-
reers. We are committed to cinema and
make sure that the festival and our Ris-
ing Stars program help emerging film-
makers and talent.
CIO:
What do you think sets TIFF
apart from every other festival in the
world?
PH:
Well for one it is not competitive.
We are very focused on our audience
and this is a public festival. Those are
the two things that really mark us as
different. Also we’re in a city that’s
expanding and the infrastructure that
supports the festival is expanding. We
only have five of our own cinemas so
we need another 25 to operate: Toronto
Credit: Jag Gundu,
Courtesy of TIFF
Credit: WireImage/
Getty for TIFF
Credit: WireImage/Getty for TIFF
Credit: WireImage/
Getty for TIFF
“
We are now
reaching our
public on a daily
basis. Generally,
film festivals are
sort of invisible
at other times
of the year”
TIFF
