TIFF revamps leadership team as it aims to shake off revenue challenges

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After enduring what chief executive Cameron Bailey calls “one of the toughest years I’ve ever seen,” the Toronto International Film Festival is kicking off the new year with a revamped leadership team and structure.

On Thursday, TIFF announced that Jennifer Frees will serve as the organization’s first-ever chief business and marketing officer, while Judy Lung, who joined the non-profit this past June as the vice-president of public relations and communications, will expand her role to oversee strategy and stakeholder relations. Frees returns to TIFF after working for years in its partnerships office, including serving as vice-president of the department from 2019 to 2020.

“Jen’s new role, which we’ve never had before, is all about addressing what we need to focus on: business and revenue. And Judy’s work, in terms of board relations and bigger-picture work, will give us a longer, broader outlook to anticipate whatever crisis comes next. Because god knows there will be something,” Bailey said in an interview with The Globe.

The appointments arrive a month after TIFF cut 12 full-time staff positions across departments, representing about seven per cent of the organization’s head count, in a restructuring. In addition to the lingering effects of the pandemic, TIFF lost $2.76-million in revenue from stakeholders reducing or cancelling their participation in this past September’s strike-plagued festival.

“Our corporate partners, who depend on red carpets and sizzle and excitement, were concerned before we even knew how a strike would work. We were dealing with things like interim agreements, and who might come, on a film-by-film, actor-by-actor basis. But our partners didn’t want to live in that uncertainty, which is understandable,” says Bailey. “In some cases, there was a scaling back of how much they wanted to participate and in some cases they said, ‘No, we’re taking a pause and we’ll come back when this is over.’”

In TIFF’s 2022 annual report, corporate sponsorship contributed $13.4-million to the organization, or 28 per cent of its total revenue.

“Revenue and sustainability, two things that are not unrelated, will be Jen’s priorities,” says Bailey. “It has been almost four years of revenue challenges since the pandemic first shut our doors, and while we’re recovering, we’re not fully recovered.”

Bailey says that last month’s job cuts helped get TIFF to a “much better place this year” in terms of lining up revenue with expenses, and adds that the shape and size of this September’s festival will look similar to last year’s. “Things are looking really good for this year, but that’s because we did a lot of work to get there.”

The leadership restructuring effectively replaces two separate positions: chief operating officer and vice-president of partnerships. Beth Janson held the former role from April, 2022 until she stepped down in August, 2023, while Elisabeth Burks held the latter title from January, 2022, until she also left this past August.

In her new role as chief business and marketing officer, Frees will be on the hunt to secure a replacement for long-time lead sponsor Bell. The telecom ended its $5-million-a-year partnership with TIFF at the end of 2023, with its name currently being removed from all elements of TIFF’s five-screen Lightbox headquarters.

“We’re approaching it in two ways: Is there a partner who can come onboard and just step into that lead role, or are there multiple partners who can come in and fill that revenue gap?” says Bailey. “We want to find partners who are aligned with who we are and what we do. There are more and bigger brands who are interested in our transformative experiences, and aligned with our interest in inclusion. There are more points of contact now, and we’re trying to lean into that.”

Further on the inclusion front, TIFF is finding success in its efforts to expand and diversify its year-round audience outside the festival. The “Under-25 Free Pass” and 300-plus free Cinematheque screenings initiative for members has resulted in more audiences attending the Lightbox’s weekly new releases. (Total TIFF membership currently numbers 22,813 households, an overall increase of about 20 per cent from the same time last year.)

“Newer and younger members are now getting back into the habit of actually going out to see a movie, and it’s looking like last year was one of, if not our best, years ever,” says Bailey.

Lung, meanwhile, in her new role as vice-president of strategy, communications and stakeholder relations, is busy helping draft a new three-year strategic plan that will kick off in 2025, when TIFF will celebrate its 50th anniversary.

“One thing we’ve come to in those 50th conversations is that there is a big business piece of what we do at the festival and opportunities to grow,” says Bailey.

Which is why the CEO has been spending a “surprisingly large amount of time” in Ottawa lately, talking with government officials about significantly ramping up TIFF’s position as an official marketplace for industry members to buy and sell films. As Bailey told The Globe last year, TIFF could become the “Frankfurt Book Fair of screen markets,” if the government investment is available.

“We don’t know where it will land yet, but we’re ideally timed and situated for everyone who works in the industry. And it just so happens that our anniversary year is coming up,” Bailey adds. “So we feel that there’s a moment to seize.”