Academy-Award-winning independent producer/director Jeremy Thomas (All the Little Animals) has been named the keynote speaker for this year’s Rogers Industry Centre sessions, which encompass all industry initiatives at the Toronto International Film Festival.

One of the most prolific exec producers in the industry, Thomas has worked with such renowned filmmakers as Bernardo Bertolucci, David Cronenberg, Stephen Frears, Takeshi Kitano and Nicolas Roeg.

This year’s ric returns with an expanded mandate. In addition to renewed sessions, universal registration, the ofdc sales office, and more Telefilm Canada Micro-Meetings, there’s the Telefilm Canada Pitch This! program, which offers six Canadians the opportunity to pitch their feature film ideas in six minutes to a prestigious group of executives and an attending audience.

tiff runs Sept. 7-16.

-www.bell.ca/filmfest