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In an interview just before he began shooting his sophomore feature, filmmaker Pat Mills dubbed it “Dirty Dancing meets Cocoon for girls with low self-esteem.” As droll loglines go, that’s a pretty accurate capsule description of Don’t Talk to Irene, which brings together teen misfits and cast-off seniors for a nasty-wholesome empowerment romp. The knack for biting dialogue that Mills brought to Guidance is still evident, although his new effort can’t match the bracing sting of his wickedly funny debut, which revolved around the filmmaker’s delirious performance as a role model so bad he was good.

The bad behavior in...

The Canadian indie “Don’t Talk to Irene” shows it’s possible to find a movie’s first 20 minutes immensely dislikable and its last 20 minutes assuredly winning; that it’s possible to tap your feet and roll your eyes at the same time as you recognize how you’re being played. Somewhere in between introducing, in a dumpster, the titular misfit teenage girl (newcomer Michelle McLeod), and sending her into the closing credits with a few Hughes-ian moments of justifiable pride, writer-director Pat Mills (“Guidance”) manages to overcome a weakness for twee snark and easy humiliation comedy to find a suitably amusing,...

Toronto-based Edyson Entertainment is set to begin production on the body-positive comedy in Hamilton, Ontario.

The film marks Pat Mills’ second feature after Guidance premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.

Edyson’s Alyson Richards and Lithium Studios’ Mike MacMillan will produce the film starring newcomer Michelle McLeod, Scott Thompson, Bruce Gray and Anastasia Philips. Davis will make a special appearance.

“Pat [Mills] is one of the freshest voices in filmmaking today; the team is excited to be heading back into production on this hilarious comedy,” said Richards. “That the film happens to have such an incredible underlying message of body-positivity is a huge bonus. It’s important for us to put good things out into the world.”

Search Engine Films will distribute Don’t Talk To Irene in Canada.

Telefilm Canada, Shaw Rocket Fund, The Movie Network, Ontario Media Development Corp., Search Engine Films, The Harold Greenberg Fund, and Vigilante Productions are partnering to finance.

Don’t Talk to Irene

Director: Pat Mills

Writer: Pat Mills

Writer/director Pat Mills was one of our favorite discoveries out of 2014 following the premiere of his debut Guidance at the Toronto International Film Festival (Strand distributed the film in late August of 2015 and it’s currently streaming on Netflix). The Toronto based filmmaker is already at work on his sophomore feature, Don’t Talk to Irene, a project which took home the Best Screenplay award at the 2013 Austin Film Festival. Returning once more to the developmental hell of high school, the film is a body positive teen dance movie about a 16 year old named Irene who dreams of becoming a cheerleader despite the cruelty of her peers. Just prior to production, the choreographer Mills had been circling to hire for the film, Nicole Arbour, ended up in a social media firestorm with an insensitive YouTube video titled “Dear...

Pat Mills, who directed of Tiff'14 critically acclaimed "Guidance," did have the intention to hire Nicole Arbour to play a cheerleader in his upcoming film dealing with overweight teen empowerment: "Don't Talk to Irene.

This week Arbour was at the center of media storm after her YouTube video, "Dear Fat People," exploded online and exposed her views on overweight individuals.

After watching Nicole's video, here is Pat Mills statement:

My name is Pat Mills. I am a Toronto-based filmmaker in pre-production on my second feature film. It's a body-positive teen dance movie set in a retirement home. It's about a sixteen year old girl who dreams of being a cheerleader, but she is constantly bullied for being fat. She learns that she doesn't have to change anything about herself to be awesome because she already is. The title is "Don't Talk to Irene." We are scheduled to shoot next month.

I've been developing the script for several years. I am excited to shoot this - and the message is important to me. I'm gay. I was bullied a lot as a kid. I wore purple jogging pants every day during the seventh grade - you can imagine what that did to my social life. I am no stranger to ridicule and loneliness. It's made me a sensitive storyteller, but it also developed my sense of humour. And now I make comedy movies set in high school. I guess I never got over high school. Every filmmaker has an obsession, right?

"Don't Talk to Irene" is a dance movie, so obviously we needed a choreographer. We met with a woman who not only did traditional dance choreography, but was a cheerleader as well. She was fun and nice and had a lot of energy. She even had a YouTube channel and identified as a "youtuber". She seemed like a perfect fit for the project. I shared the script with her. She said she dug it and was excited to come on board. I was supposed to get together with her this week for what she called a "choreo party" to watch my favourite dance scenes and talk ideas. And then a crazy thing happened on Saturday - I saw something on the internet that made me never want to see her again. Her name is Nicole Arbour.

I was randomly checking Facebook and a comment on a video popped up. The video is called "Dear Fat People" - it's an unfunny and cruel fat-shaming video that guises itself about being about "health." It's fat phobic and awful. It went on for over for six minutes. I felt like I had been punched in the gut. I was so upset I was shaking like Shelley DuVall in the "The Shining."

Bullies like Nicole Arbour are the reason I am making this movie. I'm tired of body shaming. It's everywhere. This nice choreographer I met turned out to be the reason I wrote this movie. Her video added an offensive twist to the development of this film. I was shocked.

It's very odd that we live in a world now where people post their opinions on YouTube (to get views), but they cannot say these opinions to our faces. My film celebrates being different. It celebrates not fitting in. I want to arm teen girls of all sizes with confidence. People like Nicole Arbour strip this confidence away. She knew what my movie was about. Why couldn't she express these opinions to my face? I guess talking the old fashioned way won't get you internet-famous.

I've learned that the people who shame fat people hiding under an excuse that it's about their "health" are the same people who ridicule them when they see them working out at the gym.

Nicole: Did you even read my script? It is a body positive teen movie. It has a message that is in direct opposition to your cruel and lame YouTube rant.

On behalf of all of us who have been bullied and have a taste for comedy that doesn't make people feel shitty about themselves, "Fat shaming" is very much a thing. It's just as real as not getting a job because of your hateful opinions that you call "comedy." We will not be working together.

You are not hired for "Don't Talk to Irene."

- Pat Mills...

Life Coach: Mills’ Debut a Showcase for Own Multi-talents

Toronto based filmmaker Pat Mills makes his directorial debut with Guidance, a dark hearted comedy that gets a lot of traction from exaggerated, inappropriate behavior draping its endearing core. Aping the hook of Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star (2003), Mills manages to surpass David Spade’s limitations with a basic premise that has a myriad of possibilities, and, as far as comedies hinged on adults behaving badly goes, Mills’ film works on a variety of entertaining levels. Director, screenwriter, and star, his strongest asset happens to be himself in an entertaining performance that is as unabashedly off-putting as it is strangely empathetic. His onscreen persona manages to help us overlook some of the film’s minor sleights to the development of supporting characters necessary for the attempted third act pathos. Nevertheless, this is an impressionable first feature, one deserving of attention as...

Guidance Strand Releasing Reviewed byTami Smith, Guest Reviewer for Shockya. Grade: B+ Director: Pat Mills Screenwriter: Pat Mills Cast: Pat Mills, Zahra Bentham, Eleanor Zichy, Alex Ozerov, Kevin Hanchard Release date: August 21, 2015 Anything that can go wrong in the life of David Gold (Pat Mills) actually will. This man-child, in his thirties, has some sexual identity issues. He used to be a child actor, but is lacking career or direction at present. David spends his days drinking Vodka “to make the world a better place”, rewriting his Resume and becoming a high school guidance counselor. Ignoring a recently diagnosis of stage 3 melanoma, David goes through a physical [ Read More ]

The post Guidance – Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

With my first Siff now in the books, I can say that I’ve learned some valuable lessons. The first being what a remarkable festival and diverse program the organizers came up with for the 41st edition. From the venues to the volunteers, everything was top notch. Like most festivals, it was a bit front-loaded with premieres, but there were also notable premieres later in the program, including Max Landis’ Me Him Her on the closing weekend. From top to bottom, this was a great line-up with very few thin spots.

The other major lesson I learned is that it’s impossible to adequately cover a film festival in the city in which you live. Family, friends, and full-time jobs don’t simply disappear just because you want to have some fun. I come away feeling disappointed that time constraints kept me from seeing a lot of great films, as...

Guidance

Written & Directed by Pat Mills

Canada, 2014

Not only is Guidance hilariously uncouth, it might be one of the best movies ever made about borderline personality disorder. This is not a warm, snuggly comedy that you can watch with grandma and grandpa. No, this movie is the reprobate uncle that nobody wants to bail out of jail. Yet, despite its unabashed rudeness, Pat Mills’ consistently-funny debut doesn’t have a cynical bone its body. Our memorable hero just wants to help people, no matter how much it hurts them.

Imagine Stuart Smalley quitting his mood stabilizers cold turkey and you get some idea what to expect from David Gold (Mills). Twenty-five years ago, David was the star of a hit children’s show called “Wacky Street.” Today, he’s an unemployed narcissist who drinks like a fish, curses like a sailor, and refuses to acknowledge his homosexuality. He’s a...

We can coin this as a double Toronto Int. Film Festival acquisitions kind of day for the Strand Releasing folks — according to Variety, they’ve used their hallway pass to add Canuck comedy Guidance to their slate. Having received positive buzz from the fest, Pat Mills’ feature debut will likely be released this year.

Gist: A closeted former child actor, out of work and alcoholic, fakes his resume and gets a job as a high school guidance counsellor, where he thrives giving terrible advice.

Worth Noting: Pulling from his own bio, Mills was a child actor who got slimed on “You Can’t Do That on Television. So did Alanis Morissette.

Do We Care?: Our Nicholas Bell reviewed Guidance at Tiff last year and graded it with a handsome ★★★½ note calling it “a dark hearted comedy that gets a lot of traction from exaggerated, inappropriate behavior draping its endearing...

The distributor has acquired all Us rights to Pat Mills’ comedy that premiered in Toronto.

Guidance will screen at the upcoming Miami International Film festival and stars the Ottawa-born Mills as a former child actor who fakes his way into a job as a high school counsellor.

Pat Mills talks about Guidance

Zaire Bentham, Tracey Hoyt, Kevin Hanchard, Alex Ozerov and Eleanor Zichy round out the cast.

Jon Gerrans of Strand Releasing negotiated the deal with The Film Sales Company’s Andrew Herwitz and Jason Ishikawa on behalf of Edyson Entertainment.

Strand plans an autumn theatrical release.

Edyson Entertainment’s Alyson Richards produced with Mike Macmillan and the participation of Telefilm Canada. Richards also served as executive producer alongside Ed Gernon.

The Toronto Film Festival selection "Guidance" has been picked up by Strand Releasing. The film, starring, directed by and written by Pat Mills, has a premise like a sitcom: an immature former child actor cons his way into a job as a high school guidance counselor and gives typically terrible advice. The protagonist is based on Mills, who appeared on Nickelodeon's "You Can't Do That On Television" when he was a kid. Strand is planning a theatrical release in the Fall. Read More: Watch: Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts Don't Want To Grow Up in 'While We're Young' Trailer...

Laurent Boye has expanded his Los Angeles-based boutique firm into its second Canadian location.

Boye opened a Montreal office in 2012 under the Jazo PR Canada Inc banner and has amassed a stable of local clients such as Search Engine, Telefilm Canada, Cinemavault, Double Dutch International, Lithium Studios, 108 Media.

The roster features the Academy Of Canadians In Sports And Entertainment – Los Angeles and the upcoming Golden Maple Awards.

Individual Canadian clients include actress Emily Hampshire, director Yan England and La Galaxy player Rob Friend.

This year Boye has worked on such Canadian films as Slamdance award-winning documentary Kung-Fu Elliott, I Put A Hit On You, Berlinale entry Aloft starring Jennifer Connelly and Cillian Murphy and Pat Mill’s Toronto selection Guidance.

“Since eOne gave me my first Canadian movie The Salesman, I got hooked,” said Boye. “Canada has one of the most impressive pools of talent, and with our new Toronto office, we will be...

Accompanied by a strong presence of Tap producers at this year’s Tiff line-up, Trans Atlantic Partners (Tap), renowned international co-production training and networking program launches Module 2 of the 2014 edition in Halifax September 8th. Tap Producers will tackle a vast range of training topics and networking opportunities leading into the international coproduction market Strategic Partners, as part of the program.

Potsdam, Germany – After completing Module 1 in Berlin in June, The Erich Pommer Institut – Epi (Germany), new Presenting Partner Canadian Media Production Association – Cmpa (Canada), and the Independent Filmmaker Project – Ifp (USA) proudly present Module 2 of their annual intensive training and networking program for established producers from Europe, Canada, and the United States, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, September 8th- 14th. 22 experienced producers were selected from the target countries including, the UK, Germany, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Greece, Denmark, Canada and USA to participate in the 6th edition.

Looking forward to the upcoming training unit, Tap Head of Studies, Jan Miller, comments, “With the strong presence of Tap producers at Tiff this year, we’re seeing tangible evidence that the training program in Berlin and Halifax is supporting the best in international producer talent.”

The Tap producers’ highlight list of films that premiere at Tiff include:

"Bang Bang Baby" produced by Daniel Bekerman (Tap 2013)

"Big Muddy"produced by Bob Crowe (Tap 2009)

"Cub" produced by Peter De Maegd (Tap 2009) and co-produced by Femke Wolting (Tap 2011)

"Dukhtar" co-produced by Shrihari Sathe (Tap 2013)

"Guidance" produced by Mike MacMillan (Tap 2014)

"Hole" produced by Laura Perlmutter and Andrew Nicholas McCann Smith (both Tap 2014)

"Shelter" produced by Katie Mustard (Tap 2014)

"Tigers" produced by Guneet Monga (Tap 2011)

"Voice Over" co-produced by Nicolas Comeau (Tap 2014)

"Wet Bum" produced by Paula Devonshire and Lauren Grant (both Tap 2013)

In Module 2, producers take part in a multi-facetted training programme including up-to-date topics on marketing and distribution and case studies. The list of experts and trainers is broad: Susan Shopmaker (Susan Shopmaker Casting, USA), Mark Horowitz (H20 Motion Pictures, USA), Mia Bays (Missing In Action Films, UK), Evan Schwartz (FilmBuff, USA), Jay van Hoy (Parts and Labor Films, USA), Marc Almon (Story Engine Pictures), Andrew Noble (Filmoption International) and Belgium producer Jean-Yves Roubin (Frakas Productions) as well as Phyllis Laing (Buffalo Gal Pictures). The Tap training leads directly into Strategic Partners where producers will participate in 3 days of b2b meetings, panels and keynote speakers at one of the world’s pre-eminent international co-production markets.

About Trans Atlantic Partners

Tap offers a unique combination of intensive, hands-on training with effective networking among potential partners, and targeted project feedback from resource trainers.

Tap alumni include internationally acclaimed producers such as Sol Bondy, Germany (Youth – bfi Award-nomination 2013), Peter Bouckaert, Belgium (Bullhead – Oscar®-nomination 2012), Marc- Daniel Dichant, Germany (In Darkness – Oscar®-nomination 2012), Anne-Marie Gelinas, Canada (Mars and Avril – Canadian Screen Awards 4 nominations 2013), Alexandra Johnes, USA (The House I Live in – Sundance Grand Jury Prize 2012), Bob Moore, Canada (China Heavyweight – Sundance Grand Jury Prize nomination 2012), Guneet Monga, India (Gangs of Wasseypur– Toronto & Cannes 2012, The Lunchbox – 2013 Cannes Critics’ Week Grand Rail d’ Or), and Ryan Zacharias, USA (I Used to Be Darker – Sundance & Berlin 2013). Presenting

Partners

The Erich Pommer Institut (Epi) is one of the leading centers in Europe for media law, media management, and media research. As a non-profit independent institute, our curriculum follows the process of media convergence through research, consultation and advanced training. Each year, Epi organizes and hosts close to 40 seminars, workshops, conferences and panels – for the German as well as the European media industry. www.epi-medieninstitut.de

The Canadian Media Production Association (Cmpa) is Canada's leading trade association for independent producers. The Cmpa represents more than 350 companies engaged in the production and distribution of English-language television programs, feature films and digital media. Together, the production sector generates almost $6 billion of activity annually and sustains 127,700 high-quality, full-time jobs. The Cmpa works on behalf of members to promote and stimulate the Canadian production industry to ensure the continued success of Canada's independent production sector and a future for Canadian content. www.cmpa.ca

The Independent Filmmaker Project (Ifp) is the U.S.'s oldest and largest not-for-profit advocacy organization for independent filmmakers. Ifp represents a network of 10,000 filmmakers in New York City and around the world, with a mission of ensuring that independent films enrich the universal language of cinema, seeding the global culture with new ideas, kindling awareness and fostering activism. www.ifp.org

Tap is supported by Telefilm Canada, Vff (Verwertungsgesellschaft der Film- und Fernsehproduzenten mbH) Germany, and Creative BC, Canada. Associate partner: Strategic Partners...

Edyson Entertainment has closed a deal with Andrew Herwitz’ Film Sales Company for world sales rights to Guidance, which received its world premiere in Discovery last night (Sept 5).

Pat Mills wrote and stars in his feature directorial debut about a self-delusional, alcoholic former child star who lies his way into a high school guidance counsellor job.

Zhara Bentham, Eleanor Zichy and Tracey Hoyt also star in the dark comedy.

“Guidance is funny and irreverent but also has a big heart,” said Herwitz. “There is so much great material in the film, that whoever buys it will be able to cut a great trailer. I am confident this is one buyers and ultimately audiences will go for.”

Producers Alyson Richards and Ed Gernon launched Toronto and Los Angeles-based Edyson Entertainment and cut a first-look deal with Content Media in July 2013.

“When it comes to finding a sales agent, above all else, we look for...

“Everybody knows that teenagers are going to drink and smoke drugs. If you do it with them, everybody has fun!”

Today I raise a shot glass of vodka to the Tiff Official Selection "Guidance", which is also the directorial debut of Pat Mills. It's the story of David Gold , an alcoholic, sexually repressed 36 year old guy who still hangs on to his long ago success as a child actor. After being axed from his job as a voice over on self-help soundtracks made for women who need to up their confidence, David fakes his resume to land a job as a high school guidance counsellor. A natural transition, of course.

"Guidance" is a must-see and a moving, laugh out loud romp from start to finish. The brilliant comedic timing hits within the first moments as the sound engineer at David’s voice over job says, “Apparently our female customers would like the voice of a heterosexual man feeding them their affirmations.” David replies with the perfect beat, “No, I’m not gay. I just have a gentle voice.”

David poses as “Roland Brown”, a high school guidance counselor he finds on Youtube, to play the part of Grusin High’s new guidance counselor. His emotional and hilarious journey is refreshing, as he’s honest with his students about his drinking problem (while offering them shots like a good bartender would) and coaches his teenage girls how to flirt and be sluts with the guys. It’s the kind of character that makes you wish your high school counselor was upfront about being an alcoholic, because you know he really was.

Without a doubt, "Guidance" will get the nods it deserves at Tiff, and will continue to bedazzle viewers with it’s vodka guzzling, self-help affirming hilarity at other significant festivals down the road. My suggested affirmation for the creators of Guidance: I am worthy of awards, international festivals and distribution, because I am funny, touching, and gosh darn it, festival goers like me.

Executive Producer/Producer Alyson Richards and Producer Mike MacMillan share what went into making this unique and outrageously entertaining film:

Alyson Richards talks about how Guidance was unexpectedly sold. A good example of why it’s necessary to have more than one project to pitch:

I originally went in to pitch a different project to Telefilm Canada, but the person I met with felt that project wasn't yet ready. Just before I was leaving he asked "What else do you have"? I mentioned Guidance and his eyes lit up. He was totally into it.

What makes "Guidance" unique compared to other projects you’ve worked on?

Mike MacMillan: I really love working on black comedy, more than anything because I find it really great when people are laughing on set. For this, I was really drawn to this script, because it was hilarious - I actually laughed out lout when I read it. The team was amazing as well - we really had so much fun and became a film family. That’s hard to find, and it’s really something to hold on to for other projects.

Has Pat Mills directed other films?

Alyson: He has directed shorts, but this is actually his first feature, and I think he did an amazing job transitioning to long form. Funnily enough, he wasn't originally going to play the lead, but we forced him to audition - now I can't picture anybody else playing the role. He hasn't acted professionally since he was a kid, but you'd never guess it from his performance.

What has been the overall response to Guidance so far?

Mike: Everyone has laughed really hard at our test screenings, and has really enjoyed it. It’s really fun, which I think is great.

What's next?

Alyson: Up next is another comedy called "Don't Talk To Irene" that is written and will be directed by Pat. The script is hilarious, and recently won best comedy script at the Austin Film Festival. We are in the middle of putting together the financing, and plan on shooting next summer.

For the first time ever, Toronto International Film Festival along with Telefilm Canada had a pre-Toronto reception for the trade. Held at Soho House on a flawless L.A. day, with views of West Hollywood and Beverly Hills all the way to the Pacific Ocean, the trade had the happy hours to greet and catch up with each other and to preview trailers of the films Canada will be showing at the festival. And best of all, Tiff gave everyone a 2 lb. 4 oz. catalog (even more than one to gift to other colleagues) to take home instead of having to pack them into our suitcases to take back from Toronto.

Maybe it’s the drought here in L.A. that gives me the yearning for rain, but the films on my must-see list include a couple about rain: the Tiff Doc, “Monsoon” by Surla Gunnarsson and “October Gale” by Ruba Nadda (“Cairo Time”) starring Patricia Clarkson and Scott Speedman, a Special Presentation being sold by Myriad.

Canada has the most coproduction treaties of any other nation, and Seoul Korea is the chosen city in this year’s City to City program. The coproduction between Canada and So. Korea, “In Her Place” by writer-director Albert Shin, showing in the Discovery Section looks very compelling. Elle Driver is selling this drama about a wealthy couple secretly seeking to adopt the unborn child of an impoverished and troubled rural teenager.

Other trailers we watched included Contemporary World Cinema entries, “Felix and Meira” by Maxime Giroux, being sold by Udi – Urban Distribution International, “Love in the Time of Civil War” by Rodrigue Jean (Isa: Les Films du 3 Mars) and “Heartbeat” by Andrea Dorfman.

In Midnight Madness, “The Editor” looks pretty good. Park Entertainment is selling it. Xavier Dolan, Bruce Greenwood and Catherine Keener star in “Elephant Song” by Charles Biname which is a Special Presentation. Another Special Presentation is “Preggoland” by Jacob Tierney (“The Trotsky”).

Trailers from Discovery included “Guidance”, the debut film by Pat Mills, “Big Muddy”, “The Valley Below” by Kyle Thomas, “Wet Bum” by Lindsay Mackay, (Isa: Traction Media), “Backcountry” by Adam MacDonald, (Isa: Event Film Distribution, Us: contact Cinetic), “Bang Bang Baby” a surreal, fever-dream fusion of small-town musical and 1950s sci-fi debut feature which writer-director Jeffrey St. Jules developed from his own short at the Cannes Film Festival Residence Program.

Peter Goldwyn of The Samuel Goldwyn Company and Matt Dentler of iTunes, talked up the unprecedented (for a foreign language film) success reaching the top 20 films on iTunes of “ The German Doctor” directed by Lucia Puenzo.

Paul Federbush and I spoke of new horizons of the international labs of Sundance Institute. Sundance Industry’s Rosy Wong introduced me to Lisa Ogdie, Sundance Ff’s Shorts Programmer. Strand’s Marcus Hu, who has two films in the festival (Films Distribution’s “Girlhood” and Pyramide’s “Xenia”) was there, Frank Wuliger looking at the Gersh trailer of “October Gale”, Rebecca (Bec) Smith of UTA as were so many others.

New acquisitions gigs were discussed: Bobby Rock looking for international sales agent,Cinema Management Group ( Dene Anderberg, Cmg’s VP of Sales and Operations, was also there schmoozing) and for Random Media, the new U.S. distribution company founded by Eric Doctorow (formerly head of Paramount Home Video) in November 2013, which will release films through Cinedigm.

Telefilm and Tiff have held a similar soiree for four years in NewYork. I’m sure Andrew Karpen, former Co-ceo of Focus Features, who is launching the new distribution company Bleecker Street was there in N.Y.

Rachel Shapiro, also happily working on many projects at once and her friend, producer Melanie Backer, Laurie Woodrow of RightsTrade a global online marketplace for film, television and digital rights licensing whose “Market On Demand” streamlines film, television, and digital rights sales and acquisitions for content owners, sales agents and distributors who can reach thousands of industry buyers, and buyers can search, screen, and license rights from sellers of thousands of titles.

Bonnie Voland with her hands full for Im Global and its many lines, reminisced with Carolle Brabant, Executive Director of Telefilm Canada and Brigitte Hubmann of Telefilm about the five (!) regimes of the Toronto International Film Festival she has known…from before Helga Stephenson all the way to Cameron Bailey who was there talking up the upcoming festival and hearing peoples’ raves or rants.

Also reminiscing with Brigitte about their days at Goethe Institut was Margit Kleinman who is now director of Villa Aurora, the artist-in-residence program for artists in Germany housed in the Pacific Palisades former home of German émigré, the novelist Lion Furchtwanger. I didn’t have time to ask if they would host the German Academy Award party this year for their submission for Best Foreign Language film, Dominik Graf’s “Beloved Sister”. Since its premiere at the Berlinale this year, international sales agent Global Screen has sold the rights to Music Box for U.S. who will release it in December, and to Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Poland and Croatia thus far.

Our dear friend, Ian Birnie, programmer for Mumbai Film Festival and the Louisiana International Film Festival was there with so many others. It was a wonderful moment to catch up and to forget the pressure we are all under preparing our screenings and meetings for Tiff.

Even though he wasn’t there, I want to mention a brief interchange I had with producer rep Cassian Elwes of Elevated Film Sales, who is repping “Black and White” with Kevin Costner and co-repping the Paul Bettany movie with Jennifer Connelly, “Shelter”, with UTA at Tiff. “In Venice I have Bogdanovich’s ‘She's Funny that Way’ which is in a three way split between me, CAA and UTA and Joe Dante's movie ‘Burying the Ex’ which I'm doing with CAA.”

Steven Raphael and Mj Pekos were fronting for the reception and also are repping “Voiceover” and “Dark Horse” at Tiff.

There was no need to show trailers to the buzz films like the Gala film “Foxcatcher”, which has Oscar expectations are already swirling around it and which premiered in Cannes and is being sold by Kimberly Fox’s Panorama Media and Annapurna (already sold to Sony Pictures Classics for U.S. as well as to Canada-Métropole Films Distribution and Mongrel Media Inc., France-Mars Films, Germany-Koch Media Gmbh, Japan-Longride Inc. So. Korea-Green Narae Media, Switzerland-Ascot Elite Entertainment Group, Taiwan-Long Shong International, United Kingdom- Entertainment One Uk. The film has already earned Bennett Miller the Best Director prize at Cannes.

Another not previewing was Benedict Cumberbatch starring in the much talked about Alan Turing biopic “ The Imitation Game”, and his portrayal of the legendary British code breaker and mathematician is generating talk of a Best Actor nod at this year's Academy Awards. FilmNation is repping this and has already sold it to The Weinstein Company for U.S., Belgium to Paradiso Filmed Entertainment, Greece to Seven Films, Hong Kong (China) to Edko Films Ltd, Israel to Lev Films (Shani Films), Italy toVidea - Cde S.P.A., Japan toGaga Corporation, So. Korea to Medialog Corp., Sweden to Svensk Filmindustri, Ab, Switzerland to Ascot Elite Entertainment Group, Taiwan to Applause Entertainment Ltd. Taiwan Branch, Thailand to M Pictures Co., Ltd.

Two other hot films are Lone Scherfig's “The Riot Club” repped by Hanway and already sold to Universal Pictures for No. America, Belgium-Lumière, France-Selective Films, Germany-Prokino Filmverleih Gmbh, Hong Kong (China)-Golden Scene Company Limited, Italy-Notorious Pictures, Benelux-Lumiere, Poland-Kino Swiat, Switzerland-Pathe Films Ag, United Arab Emirates-Front Row Filmed Entertainment and the U.K. Kingdom-Universal Pictures International and Noah Baumbach's “ While We're Young”, produced by Scott Rudin and repped by FilmNation (again!), with no sales on record yet.

See Cameron Bailey on CBC News discussing Tiff:

Video | TIFF2014: 4 buzz-worthy films at the fest If you want to know more about sales in Toronto, please check back with www.SydneysBuzz.com/Reports for the Toronto By Numbers Report and after the festival for the Toronto Rights Roundup.

Bill Murray starrer St. Vincent will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival as part of this week’s wave of programming that includes Discovery.

The Discovery section includes the upcoming world premiere of Stories Of Our Lives, a portmanteau of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex testimonies by anonymous filmmakers from Kenya.

Selections include first-looks of Ross Katz’s Us comedy Adult Beginners, Sarah Leonor’s French Legion drama The Great Man, Isidora Marras’ Chile-Argentinian psychothriller I Am Not Lorena and UK drama X + Y.

“Christopher Nolan, Steve McQueen, Lynne Ramsay and David Gordon Green all presented their first features in our Discovery section,” said Tiff artistic director Cameron Bailey. “It’s a great place to spot new talent first.”

Besides St. Vincent, Festival Additions includes concert film cum road movie Roger Waters The Wall, while the world premiere of Krzysztof Zanussi’s Foreign Body takes its place among the Masters strand.

Tiff Docs arrivals...

The luxurious banquet hall in Toronto’s Royal York hotel was electric with excitement as Tiff senior programmers including Steve Gravestock and Agata Smoluch Del Sorbo announced the robust lineup of Canadian films (several world preems) at this year’s Tiff plus the 40+ short titles (out of an astounding 840 short films — an increase of over 200 titles from last year) that will screen at the prestigious festival. With features populating almost every section at the fest, among the headliner items from English Canada, Cairo Time‘s Ruba Nadda returns to the fest with October Gale, while also world preeming is Bang Bang Baby — Jeffrey St. Jules marks his feature film debut with a film that is equal parts Rocky Horror Picture Show and early Cronenberg. Starring Jane Levy of the recent About Alex, it revolves around a small-town teenager in the ’60s whose dream of becoming a famous singer is dashed...

New work by Sturla Gunnarsson, Denys Arcand, Ruba Nadda and Xavier Dolan are among the selection set to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff) next month.

“These are filmmakers at the top of their craft, bringing fresh perspectives to traditional genres like comedies and less traditionally Canadian genres, such as musicals,” said Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff) senior programmer Steve Gravestock. “This year’s slate truly showcases the diversity of talent in our country, featuring films from coast to coast.”

“We are inspired by the number of exceptional debut features from Canadian directors, reflecting the depth of talent in this country,” said Tiff’s Canadian features programmer Agata Smoluch Del Sorbo.

“Extremely exciting is also the fact that female-driven narratives play a significant part in this year’s programming, highlighting the strong, rich tapestry of our storytelling.”

The Canada Goose Award for Best Canadian Feature Film is up for grabs, as is the...

The Toronto International Film Festival expanded their lineup today, announcing a batch of homegrown films that will walk the red carpet in September. And set for the Discovery slate is "Guidance," the feature debut by Pat Mills, who wears a variety of hats in bringing his dark comedy to the big screen. Writing, directing and taking the lead role in the film, "Guidance" follows a mid-30s former child actor whose life is spinning out of control. He's been diagnosed with skin cancer, he just got fired from a recent acting job, and things look like they can't get any worse. He winds up landing a job as a high school guidance counselor, but even then, it's just another step in a downward spiral that will lead to a ridiculous crime. Having previously shown two shorts at Tiff, organizers and programmers see lots of potential in Mills, as "Guidance" will...