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You can’t drive down the streets of Vancouver anymore without encountering the telltale signs of production – blockades, trailers, trucks, walkie-talkies and lights. Today, nearly 6,000 people are employed directly in the b.c. film industry, which this year will bring an estimated $400 million into the province. But such was not always the case.

There was a time in the not too distant past when the producers of the Vancouver International Film Festival’s Film and Television Trade Forum had a hard time attracting high-powered, out-of-towners: The ‘names’ had been to the Montreal festival, had continued on to Toronto, and weren’t about to trek out to the Coast for the lesser known Vancouver affair, especially with mipcom nipping at its heels.

‘That’s definitely changed,’ says new Trade Forum producer Melanie Friesen. ‘We had a resounding `yes’ from all our invited guests this year.’

Friesen, a one-time literary agent in London, Eng. and former vice-president of development for Scorsese Productions in New York, has a broad international background in the industry. Vancouver the bridesmaid, she says, is finally the bride.

‘Vancouver is now in a perfect position for growth, with the u.s. pouring in money and the indigenous community getting stronger,’ says Friesen. ‘Western Canada, and Vancouver especially, has become the place where the world’s best filmmakers simply want to visit and work.’

Despite the overwhelming presence of service production and the impressive statistics, Vancouver’s local production community, though maturing, is still in its adolescence and a bit short on creative and financial expertise.

‘Our primary aim at the Trade Forum this year,’ says Friesen, ‘is to help increase the output of local filmmakers, not just attract more production for the service sector.’

The panels at this year’s Trade Forum, which runs Oct. 6-8 at Hotel Vancouver, have also been been structured to appeal to a more sophisticated and knowledgeable audience than in previous years. Friesen says after reviewing research on past festivals, she found the industry wanted sessions with more focused and advanced information.

To address the specific needs of emerging filmmakers, a New Filmmaker’s Day is held one day prior to the main event, this year on Oct. 5.

The day consists of panels and seminars specifically geared to this audience and will include sessions on Resources – Funding Agencies and Organizations, Preparations and Pitches, Developing Your Portfolio, Unions and the No Budget Filmmaker, and Resources – Publications, Books and Software.

British producer Richard Goodwin (A Passage To India, Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile) will open the main three-day event with a keynote address on the morning of Oct. 6.

Goodwin is one of the few producers to move from blockbusters back into smaller independent films. Currently writing his autobiography, Goodwin will offer up his ‘golden rules’ for filmmaking, based on more than 20 years in the industry.

Tony Safford, executive vice-president of acquisitions and West Coast production at Miramax Films, a subsidiary of Walt Disney Pictures and one of the world’s leading distributors of independent films, will speak on independent film distribution at the Trade Forum’s opening-day luncheon. Safford has been involved in the acquisition of such films as The Piano, Bob Roberts, Strictly Ballroom, Like Water For Chocolate and The Snapper.

l.a.-based celebrity entertainment lawyer Peter Dekom is the speaker at the hot-ticket Entertainment Law luncheon on Oct. 7.

‘Attracting Dekom was our major coup for the Trade Forum this year,’ says Friesen. ‘I think he’s the most important and best entertainment lawyer working in the u.s.’

Dekom, who graduated first in his class from the ucla school of law and was listed by Forbes Magazine as one of the top 100 lawyers in the u.s., is a partner in the law firm Bloom Dekom, Hergott and Cook, which represents the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Tom Hanks, Ron Howard and Ivan Reitman. Dekom will speak on the economic state – present and future – of the film and television business.

Quips Friesen: ‘I asked him whether we should bring our sleeping bags and a living will but he assures me he can do it in a couple of hours.’

Fourteen panels are featured over the three-day event. Following are a few highlights.

Interprovincial Co-productions

Thursday, Oct. 6, 10 a.m. to noon

moderated by Bill Gray, executive producer at Toronto-based Atlantis Films, this panel will feature four Western Canada producers – Richard Davis of Vancouver’s Once and Future Films, Derek Mazur of Winnipeg’s Credo Group, Glynis Whiting of Edmonton’s WDC Entertainment and Rob King of Regina-based Minds Eye Motion Pictures – who will discuss their experiences with, and the advantages/pitfalls of, coproductions.

The New Specialty Channels

Thursday, Oct. 6, 10 a.m. to noon

moderator Gary Randall, president of Paragon Productions us, will quiz new specialty channel reps Trina McQueen of The Discovery Channel, Paul Gratton of Bravo!, Phyllis Yaffe of Showcase Television and Barbara Barde of Lifestyle Television on what opportunities the new services hold for producers.

Fitting Into a Network’s Requirements

Friday, Oct. 7, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

moderator Colleen Nystedt, president of Vancouver’s New City Productions, will try to cut to the chase on what network buyers really want. Panelists include Andrew Richter of World International Network, Jeff Silberman of Showtime Networks, Trevor Walton of cbs and Loren Mawhinney of CanWest Global.

How The Brits Do It

Friday, Oct. 7, 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

melanie Friesen moderates this panel of independent British producers who have scored big film successes on small-to-medium budgets and with considerably less access to public funding than their Canadian peers.

Among those who will tell all are Richard Goodwin (Passage To India), Lynda Myles (The Commitments, The Snapper) and Nik Powell (The Crying Game).

The Director’s Panel

Saturday, Oct. 8, 1:30 p.m. to 3:15 p.m.

this panel, moderated by Variety and Georgia Straight film critic Ken Eisner, features a panel of prominent directors with very different styles who will describe how creative talent, business sense, tenacity and timing put them on the map.

The panel consists of Nick Broomfield (Eileen Wournos – The Selling of a Serial Killer), Charles Burnett (To Sleep With Anger), Atom Egoyan (Exotica), Penelope Spheeris (The Little Rascals) and John McNaughton (Mad Dog and Glory).

Pulling the Financial Strings

Saturday, Oct. 8, 10 a.m. to noon

moderator Arthur Evrensel, a partner in law firm Heenan Blaikie, Vancouver, examines how a motion picture financing structure evolves and how it is ultimately used by the banker, agent, distributor, producer, completion guarantor, sales agent and lawyer.

Panelists are Tony Allard, chairman and ceo of Pacific Motion Pictures; Anna Bagdasarin, vice-president Entertainment Specialty Unit Bank of California; Thomas McQuire of Beverly Hills law firm Hansen, Jacobson, Teller and Hoberman; and David Saunders of Triumph Releasing Corporation, l.a..

Technologies For Post

Saturday, Oct. 8, 10 a.m. to noon

moderated by Curtis Staples of Vancouver’s Gastown Post and Transfer, this session explores the latest computerized technology available in post-production and how these new tools can affect the creative process and budget of a production.

Panelists, all from Vancouver, are David Dewar, a post-production supervisor; John Gajdecki, a special effects director; and Mark Pounds, president O.L.E. Canada.

Passes and tickets for any Trade Forum event can be ordered by calling the tiff box office at (604) 685-8298 from noon to 7 p.m. daily.