With less than three weeks until the 21st Toronto International Film Festival takes off, the international buy-and-sell brass scheduled to man the sales office at the Rogers Industry Centre guarantees producers and distributors will be tiff-bound with more than just flick-feasting on their minds.

The sales office, a partnership between the festival and the Ontario Film Development Corporation, will be facilitating meetings between Canadian producers and international buyers and sales agents, as well as providing listings for available rights and attending delegates.

All major distributors from all major territories will be represented, says Jim Murphy of the ofdc. Companies include all the expected players plus increased participation from Germany and Japan, including Germany’s Taurus and Atlas and Japan’s Nippon Herald.

Outside the sales office, the Rogers Industry Centre will be the hub of activity, with new initiatives including the presales desk (which will offer 15-30 advisory sessions for producers) and the videotape library (which will promote festival films with available rights).

This year, for the first time, program and delegate information, as well as registration, is available online. The Industry Centre site can be found at //www. rogers.com/filmbiz.

Symposium ’96 will explore the state of Canadian feature film, how to navigate and negotiate a distribution deal, and will include a panel discussion with first-time filmmakers featured in the festival.

For the first time this year, the National Screen Institute is offering a crash-course pitching workshop being held over four days (Sept. 5-8).

Workshop leaders Jim Burt of the cbc and Jan Miller, executive director of the nsi, will assist 12 participants prep and clarify their pitches. Practice sessions with three industry execs will cap the program. The deadline to apply for the $400 program is Aug. 19.

On the heels of the Perspective Canada lineup, the nfb has announced a total of eight productions and coproductions going to this year’s tiff, including Peter Lynch’s Project Grizzly, Ginette Pellerin’s Evangeline’s Quest, Richard Condie’s La Salla and Philippe Baylaucq’s Lodela.