Vancouver: The business of filmmaking has often been compared to swimming with sharks. The 19th annual Film & Television Trade Forum at the 2004 Vancouver International Film Festival takes that to heart, with a spotlight focus on the US$130,000 shark thriller Open Water and its American writer/director, Chris Kentis, the special guest of New Filmmakers’ Day, Sept. 25.

‘The success of Open Water [US$18.5 million so far at the North American box office] is an inspiring story for independent filmmakers, especially in today’s challenging marketplace,’ says Melanie Friesen, Trade Forum producer. ‘This kind of success gives legs to the practical advice and information that our panelists generously share in Trade Forum sessions.’

New Filmmakers’ Day, a popular highlight of the Trade Forum, closes the business event that begins Sept. 22 at UBC Robson Square in Vancouver in conjunction with the film festival.

Kentis and local filmmaker Michael Dowse (It’s All Gone Pete Tong) will explain how they got their indie films into the marketplace. Rounding out the program of Film 101 workshops will be The Shot List – A Director’s Blueprint, The Business of the Low-Budget Feature and Writing for Low-Budget Features.

Friesen says the theme of the 2004 Trade Forum is ‘assuring Canada’s place in the international market’ and offers more international guests than in past years.

For instance, the panel Co-productions – the International Hunt for Production Incentives focuses on the international coproduction, bringing in representatives from New Zealand, South Africa, Ireland and Germany.

‘The Trade Forum is a key resource for both emerging and established industry pros in the business of film and television production here in B.C.,’ says Friesen. ‘Conditions have changed even since last year, and filmmakers are facing perhaps the toughest year yet, so we’ll offer current information on a range of business fronts, in addition to our creative content.’

The Business of Producing panel revisits the landscape of Canadian feature filmmaking to see how it has changed in the last 12 months in light of Telefilm Canada’s push for domestic films to represent 5% of Canadian box-office receipts.

Meanwhile, the Unabashedly Canadian – Low-Budget Episodic Television panel explores a shift in the market for television due to broadcasters’ and cable networks’ need for more programming at reduced cost.

With the DVD market now generating more revenue than the theatrical market, The DVD Boom panel examines distribution changes and the impact on producing.

The I Got it Made! panel of cinematographers discusses emerging technologies and the renaissance of Super 16 as a format option. The Year of the Doc panel documents the box-office surge of documentaries such as Fahrenheit 9/11 and The Corporation.

The Breaking into the U.S. Market – Television panel looks at the increase in Canadian production companies finding success south of the border with drama, lifestyle, reality and MOWs produced in Canada.

Panels with a more artistic slant include Creating the Mood, about the ‘look’ of a film, which brings back a couple of Oscar nominees: DOP Edward Lachman (Far from Heaven) and production designer Jan Roelfs (the forthcoming Alexander). On the Right Track has composers Benoit Charest, himself Oscar-nominated for The Triplets of Belleville, and Craig Wedren (School of Rock) discussing film scores.

The Trade Forum also offers focused professional development through master classes and international networking in the tete-a-tete meetings.

More details on the Trade Forum are available at www.viff.org.