Published on Thursday, Sep. 06, 2007 12:00AM EDT Last updated on Saturday, Mar. 14, 2009 1:00AM EDT
Leave it to Paris Hilton to provide local stargazers with an amuse bouche of lights! camera! action! before the 32nd Toronto International Film Festival officially begins.
On Tuesday night, she dropped into luxe lounge Lobby on Bloor Street West where, according to owner Corey Mandell, she ordered ... tea. Ms. Hilton also got tongues wagging at fuchsia-chic Century Room on King Street where owner Zark Fatah told me the staff could not contain their excitement.
The teetotalling heiress isn't even here to promote a movie. Rather, she's in town to make one: a maniacal music flick called Repo! The Genetic Opera. And so why not ride the TIFF tide by throwing a "production launch party" which will be one of the many stops I hope to make this Saturday night as I bring you daily coverage of the festival social scene.
Consider tonight's agenda: I'll get some early sparkle at a cocktail reception hosted by Swarovski crystal sellers; partake in some debauchery at the party for a Canadian flick, Young People Fucking, at swingers club Wicked; and quell my midnight munchies with a "Hellenic feast" at the Gardiner Museum to launch Robert Lantos's new production company, Maximum Films. Somewhere in between, I'll hit the opening gala extravaganza where thousands will descend upon the Liberty Grand to network, flirt and frolic.
So crammed is the schmoozing schedule this year that I predict the most memorable parties will be the smallest. These include the home-hosted gatherings where local power players toast Hollywood heavy hitters, and the dinners booked by foreign studios within Toronto's newest batch of well-appointed private dining rooms. Count me in.
"This is the year of the party at the festival," Barry Avrich confirmed to me earlier this week. He would know. In addition to being on the festival's board of directors, the marketing exec-cum-documentary filmmaker has opened his home to out-of-towners in the past.
As a counterpoint to all the sponsored soirees, invitations to private parties have become highly desirable, he said. "You can actually practise the art of conversation and, generally, the homes are quite spectacular."
No surprise there, given that hosts past or present include Mr. Lantos, Roots co-founder Michael Budman, producer Don Starr, actress Taylor Thomson (sister of Thomson Corp. chairman David) and Michael King, whose Kontent Group publishes glossy Inside Entertainment, FQ and SIR magazines.
Says Mr. Budman: "If you love your home and you believe it's a place to share, then it's a great way to get people together." He likes his friends to recognize the achievements of behind-the-scenes talent, from filmmaker Bernardo Bertolucci to photographer Bruce Weber.
He credits filmmaker Norman Jewison for starting the tradition decades ago by inviting people to his farm in the Caledon Hills, about 45 minutes northwest of Toronto. Ironically, what has since become the festival's annual Sunday barbecue, on the grounds of the Canadian Film Centre on Bayview Avenue, has been criticized for making the event too large.
Which explains the popularity of private dining rooms, now considered the ideal setting for guest lists that don't exceed 20, give or take a skinny starlet.
"The notion that someone can be celebrating an event in the private dining room but can be just on the edge of the action creates a level of versatility that you might not be able to have just in a home environment," said Drake Hotel owner Jeff Stober, who just launched Room 222 - once a yoga den, now a glowing, world-class space within the Drake, complete with audio-visual equipment for post-supper screenings.
In Yorkville's new Hazelton Hotel, which I suspect will be ground zero for TIFF action, the Joseph Bloor room has been outfitted with a 103-inch Panasonic plasma screen and is booked for private dinners through the festival (it helps that über-chef Mark McEwan oversees all food service).
PR darling Candice Best represents downtown resto Marben where a private dining room can be accessed through a clandestine back alleyway. She says she has been fielding calls from firms in New York and Los Angeles all week.
"It does make for some pretty harried hostesses," conceded Michelle Hunt of the Martini Club, which designed signature cocktails for Mr. Jewison's barbecue and the Premier lounge among other venues this year.
In her opinion, home parties represent the highest ratio of celebrities to A-list Torontonians. "Lips are sealed and then, boom, the event happens," she said, noting that she was caught off guard upon spotting Sean Penn and Bill Clinton in someone's garage last year. "Our running joke is 'Guess who's coming to dinner?' "
As for the answers, stay tuned and I'll have lots of grist for the rumour mill.
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