5 Questions
What’s acquisitions you ask? Well, it’s a very important part of what makes it possible for you to sit down in a theatre and watch what may very well be your new favourite movie. In fact, it sort of sounds like a dream job for a film geek since acquisitions involves scouring the globe (from film festivals to book stores to anywhere someone with a great undeveloped screenplay might be hiding) to find projects to distribute to the movie ticket-buying public. Caroline Habib has been with Mongrel Media–one of Canada’s leading film distribution companies specializing in art house, foreign and...
Getting a visit from Aunt Flo, that time of the month, riding the crimson wave: you’d think that something experienced monthly by 53% of the world population would be something that’s more openly talked about. Unfortunately, menstruation–the experience of it, the tools related to it and stories that happen as a result of it–continue to be a bit of a taboo subject in the mainstream media. Hell, there may actually be a whole segment of the population who believe women excrete blue liquid each month thanks to the way maxi pad commercials depict it. Luckily for ladies everywhere, three Canadian...
Have you ever wanted to live in a movie? Well thanks to Ned Loach and Robert Gontier, artistic producers of Toronto’s own 360 screenings, you can do just that. A totally immersive experience, 360 screenings are a combo of taking part in a live theatre production and seeing your favourite film in the company of an appreciative audience. Even more intriguing is the surprise element of the event – the audience is kept in the dark about the location (usually a historic building) until 24 hours prior and the film itself isn’t revealed until after everyone has arrived, enjoyed some...
If you polled a bunch of true film lovers about what their dream job would be, it’s safe to say that a good number of them might answer “film festival programmer”. Well, not only does Elizabeth Muskala get to actually live that dream each and every day in her role as Director of TIFF Kids, she also has the privilege of getting to help shape a whole new generation of cinemaniacs. This includes overseeing everything from TIFF Kids International Film Festival each April, to the upcoming TIFF Next Wave as well as cool new initiatives like the digiPlaySpace. TFS was...
Any seasoned film festival-goer is accustomed to seeing whole troops of people in matching t-shirts working the theatres, answering questions, directing traffic and helping to make the public’s fest experience a happy one. Yes, these cinema devotees are as much a part of the festival landscape as lineups and popcorn, and hundreds upon hundreds of them volunteer their time each and every year at Toronto’s many film festivals. But did you ever stop to think about just who wrangles these volunteers? Who finds them, schedules them and makes sure they’re where they’re supposed to be? Well, at the Toronto Reel...
Vik Sahay is a veteran character actor who’s probably best known for his role as Lester Patel on the NBC spy comedy Chuck. The Ottawa-born Sahay may not yet be a household name, but chances are that even if you never saw his work in Chuck, you recognize him from Canadian TV series This Is Wonderland or from the Roxy Hunter movie series, or from his roles in homegrown films like Amal and Afghan Luke. He’s also appeared in American-produced movies like American Reunion opposite Sean William Scott and in The Rocker with Rainn Wilson. Yep, Sahay is slowly but...
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to walk the red carpet at TIFF, rubbing shoulders with celebrities and navigating the hoards of fans and photographers? If you’re not someone like George Clooney you may never find out, but the people who work in publicity get a small taste of what it feels like every September. Often armed with clipboards and tasked with acting as a sort of gatekeeper to their celebrity charges, publicists take care of everything from dealing with the army of press that descend on TIFF each year to ushering talent all over the city...
When one thinks of the word grindhouse, it’s impossible not to conjure up an image of smoke-filled theatres populated by men in trench coats enjoying a double-feature of something you definitely couldn’t bring your Grandmother to. It’s dirty, it’s illicit, and just a little bit rock ‘n’ roll (see how deftly I tied that into TFS’ June Music & Film Issue?). That’s exactly the feeling local film historian/filmmaker/writer/b-movie programmer extraordinaire Dion Conflict is trying evoke with the fifth edition of his all-night grindhouse movie marathon, Shock & Awe. He explains, “When I first moved to the GT for film school,...
Angie Driscoll grew up loving Canadian film, “When I was little I’d stay up late watching Cinema Canada on the CBC.” And it’s a good thing too, because it’s that love for our often underappreciated indigenous cinema that lead to her becoming a cheerleader for cinematic products that might be considered “underdogs” by both audiences and those in the film industry. Nowhere is that truth more evident than in the world of short film. “I want to make people understand that shorts are not just a stepping stone to making a feature film, but that they feature a range of...
Larissa Fan never thought she’d be a filmmaker, much less one whose focus is the often-challenging (for both audiences and filmmakers) experimental genre. “I always liked art, and did still photography in high school, but being an artist never seemed like a viable option.” Says Fan. “After university I went to OCADU to study graphic design, thinking it would be a practical way to do something creative but still earn a living, but didn’t like the program and after taking a summer course in film, wound up taking film and video instead.” Once that cinematic fire was lit, it seemed...
Frank Meschkuleit has been a puppeteer and voiceover artist in Toronto for 30 years. During that time he’s lent his dulcet tones and nimble fingers to everything from animals (hippos, chickens, beavers) to otherwordly-based beings (vampires, aliens, killer dolls) to inanimate objects (wallpaper, chairs, shoes) and he’s clearly had a ball doing it. “I have a job that rewards me for playing,” said Meschkuleit. “I like to play. It’s fun!” Meschkuleit studied physical theatre for two years, and got his professional start after stumbling into an audition with Jim Henson’s company. His audition was peculiar enough to get a few...
Toronto is a movie-centric city with a thriving film industry that employs over 25,000 members of the city’s population””most of them not in front of the camera. So why is it that we only ever seem to hear about high profile people like directors or actors? In this new column, we’ll talk to some of the Toronto film industry’s unsung heroes: the people slogging away behind the scenes to help make your life just a little more entertaining....
