Toronto Film Festival Announces Plans for Official Market in 2026

 The Toronto International Film Festival, finishing off a heady and booming 2024/25 market, has unveiled plans to launch its first-ever formal content market in 2026 alongside its traditional film festival program. This development marks a significant shift for TIFF, which has previously operated without an official bazaar for buyers and sellers. Brandon Blake, entertainment lawyer at Blake & Wang P.A., has the exciting news for us.

                                                                        Brandon Blake

Broadened Offerings

In a story that broke late last week, TIFF’s chief programming officer, Anita Lee, announced the festival’s intention to diversify its offerings and establish itself as a robust platform for launching and marketing films and facilitating their buying and selling. This is quite a change from older TIFF iterations. The new market aims to create opportunities for international companies, national promotion agencies, and emerging producers to participate more fully in TIFF’s ecosystem.

 

Key features of the planned official market include:

●     A co-producing forum

●     A project market

●     A works-in-progress salon

●     Packaging and financing opportunities

●     Talent development and matching initiatives

Going Beyond Films

As of its 2026 edition, the market will extend beyond just film sales to include TV series, Extended Reality/XR projects, and more immersive digital content. Indeed, “content” was the word of the day, as TIFF seeks to expand into an entire content market rather than solely a film market, hoping to stay relevant for a more digital entertainment landscape after 49 years on the go. TIFF has already increased its focus on sales titles in recent years, likely in preparation for this change.

The new market will complement TIFF’s existing “Industry Selects” program, which has successfully platformed market films to specific industry cohorts. Additionally, TIFF plans to develop a Canadian pavilion to support and showcase Canadian companies, producers, and stakeholders within the market. We’ve also been teased with some upcoming custom technology for the official market, though we have little details on what that will look like.

Exciting things are coming to one of the world's oldest and most-established film festivals. It will be exciting to see if TIFF continues to expand its role as a gateway to the North American market for global cinema.

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hulu and Disney+ Integration Dates Set

Image
 With the news that Disney has officially committed to buying out Comcast’s remaining one-third stake in streaming platform Hulu dropping last week, it seems that Disney is keen to fast-track its integration into the wider Disney ecosystem even as formal valuation processes still need to be completed. Brandon Blake, our expert entertainment lawyer Los Angeles from Blake & Wang P.A shares what we know to date. Brandon Blake Addition to Disney Bundles The Hulu streaming platform will begin integration with existing Disney+ services from December 2023, ahead of the formal buyout formalization anticipated for early 2024. It will be available to all viewers currently holding a Disney Bundle subscription. Disney has already taken full control of Hulu from Comcast. Currently, they are anticipating being able to offer a full ‘one-app experience’ for Disney+ subscribers from March 2024. This means that Hulu originals, as well as ABC assets, will be on offer as part of the ‘Hulu on Di
Read more

Fall Film Festival Acquisitions to Know

Image
 With the traditional red carpet promenade severely limited by strike action, the fall film festival circuit gave indie movies a near-unprecedented chance to shine to buyers. While some jitteriness around the SAG-AFTRA waiver system caused slower-than-normal sales and some of the larger AMPTP distributors to opt for a ‘wait and see’ policy, there have been some strong acquisitions to keep on your radar. Entertainment lawyer Brandon Blake, of Blake & Wang P.A., highlights just a few to watch. Brandon Blake Festival and Post-Festival Sales Of the titles acquired during the festival itself, we see Sing Sing (to A24) headed to 2024 theatrical release in a seven-figure deal. Sorry/Not Sorry (Greenwich Entertainment) and Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World (Wavelengths)also attracted considerable festival attention. Despite the quiet market overall for documentaries, Netflix took home Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa alongside Women of the Hour as the fi
Read more

Is Kung Fu Panda 4 the Key to a Reinvigorated 2024 Box Office?

Image
 With Dune: Part Two having finally powered up the 2024 box office, it's time to build on that impetus if the wider box office recovery is to continue. There could be another strong contender lurking in the wings for this weekend’s releases- but it will doubtless surprise you to learn that this hope lies with the fourth installment of the animated Kung Fu Panda saga! Blake & Wang P.A. entertainment attorney Los Angeles , Brandon Blake, has more on this ironic twist for us.                                                                          Brandon Blake Two $40M Grosses on the Cards For the first time since July 2023 and the Barbenheimer dual release, we have a chance at not one, but two, films grossing over $40M this weekend. In fact, those figures may top $50M! While Dune: Part Two has had the benefit of massive hype and anticipation, Kung Fu Panda 4 may well turn out to be the more profitable production. Dune: Part Two has already grossed over $100M globally,
Read more