Over the past few weeks, the Toronto International Film Festival
has announced its lineup of galas, special presentations and Midnight Madness programming. Typically, the month of August is also when all the TIFF-related parties – thrown by studios, event promoters, sponsors and local insiders – start falling into place.
But with just over a week until Hollywood North rolls out the red carpet, many venue owners and regulars on the social circuit are wondering why their evenings between Sept. 10 and 19 still seem so free. The absence of invitations has become an important conversation topic among the city's habitual schmoozers who, to be sure, need to start planning outfits, scheduling hair appointments and arranging their chauffeurs.
Although the festival falls later in September this year, insiders blame the economy. Studios are now expecting venues to front some of the costs in exchange for bragging rights; sponsor money is not what it used to be. There's more suspense in the air than in the theatre that will be showing Jennifer's Body (the horror flick penned by Diablo Cody).
“I'm not sure if people are actually needing to scale back or wanting to appear as if they're scaling back,” says Barbara Hershenhorn, who has earned the nickname of “Party Barbara” thanks to 27 years of planning TIFF events. While it's no surprise that her plate is full once again – she is overseeing the official opening cocktail reception and late-night celebration at the Liberty Grand as well as smaller director's dinners – she admits to receiving a surfeit of last-minute inquiries.
“In the past, there were more dollars coming from the film companies, says Tara Hendela, director of public relations for Ink Entertainment, the parent company of uber-cool hangouts Ultra, Tattoo Rock Parlour and the newly opened Ame (formerly Rain). “Corporate dollars don't exist in the same way; there's not the bandwidth to do so. We'd no longer assume we could go to a partner and ask them for $50,000. The formula is completely different this year.”
Like other destinations such as the Hazelton Hotel's One restaurant, the Rosewater Supper Club, Maro Supper Club and Nota Bene, Ink's hot spots will be hosting various exclusive dinners and events. But where reps once rushed to announce their bookings, now, they are too anxious to publicly confirm details for fear that planners could still jump ship for a better opportunity.
“It's very competitive,” Hendela says. “When celebrities or other people are in the city, it can elevate a venue that doesn't normally get that level of exposure.”
A venue can become sexier to studios and stars when it is able to align with prestige sponsors such as Moët & Chandon, which now bills itself as “the champagne of the cinema.” This year, marketing director Kelley Burns-Coady stresses that her loyalty is to local restaurants and bars that carry the brand year-round as opposed to one-off parties or lounges. Nonetheless, she's been fielding frantic requests. “There have been some years when [calls] would start coming in late July. It seems to get later and later each year but this year it's very late,” she says. “To me, that speaks to the competition between venues and planners and caterers to get the same parties.”
But despite the recession, the 5 p.m. to 4 a.m. party cycle that occurs during TIFF should not ultimately prove dramatically altered. The yearly fete thrown by Holt Renfrew (this year on Saturday night), as well as the celeb-studded mixer co-hosted by InStyle magazine and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association at the Windsor Arms Hotel are proceeding as usual. After a strong turnout to their sparkly cocktail reception last year, Hello! Canada and Birks have already sent out invites. George Christy's famous luncheon will continue with gusto. Then there's Nikki Beach, a lifestyle brand with chic outposts in Miami and St. Barts, which will be setting up a pop-up club at the Park Hyatt after successfully attracting the stars at Cannes and Venice.
Moreover, an increase in tangentially-related TIFF galas – the inaugural Artists for Peace and Justice fundraiser founded by Paul Haggis to benefit Haiti and Cinema Against AIDS 2009 Toronto in addition to OneXOne and Best Buddies – suggests that TIFF is becoming as recognized for the business of charity as the business of film.
Although these soirees often come at a hefty cost (a co-sponsor table at amfAR's Cinema Against AIDS, for example, runs $100,000), the chance of rubbing elbows with famous faces is much higher than at an after party where stars are typically cordoned off in a VIP area. That is, if they even show up. “It's no longer a given that a celebrity will want to come out for these events,” notes Hendela.
She expects the next week to present a number of curve balls and 11th-hour bookings: “I think everything is going to keep rolling until the festival starts,” she says. But she's optimistic that everyone will be ready to party hardy once the TIFF is under way.
As for venues that have yet to lock down any events, this is now the make-or-break moment, according to Hershenhorn. “People in the hospitality industry may wake up at the last minute and cut some deals,” she says. “Let's face it, everyone wants their name up in lights.”
