As TIFF kicks off , Playback checked in with Justin Cutler, senior manager of industry and sales office, on what he’s hearing in terms of delegate attendance, buyer interest and trending topics at this year’s festival. 

PB: Are you seeing a greater attendance from any territories in particular? If so, why do you think that is?

JC: We’ve noticed a significant growth from Asia, particularly from Japan. We have also seen steady growth in our North American numbers over the last three years.  The film programming is a big draw this year for domestic and international buyers, with a significant number of sales titles available playing from around the world.

The introduction of our seven-day Industry Conference has also attracted a significant number of new delegates. There’s palpable excitement for the lineup of speakers, including Jeff Skoll, Dede Gardner, Alison Thompson and John Turturro, who will offer valuable insight into the current trends of the industry.

PB: Are you seeing new buyers attending the festival this year? What genres or types of content are they focused on? 

JC: The significant number of available world premieres has attracted a number of new buyers. We are finding that buying teams are attending with larger teams, looking for content across all genres. The increasing number of international coproductions available in the marketplace has resulted in a flood of global stories that are accessible and meaningful to wider audiences. This trend works well for buyers, making for easier marketing.

PB: Has the number of digital distributors and/or aggregators attending the festival increased this year? Who are some of the new and returning digital distributors? 

JC: The diversification of content delivery platforms has resulted in a growth of new buyers attending the festival.  Online aggregators and online streaming services are now attending the Festival with bigger teams. In addition to the North American regulars like Netflix and Hulu, we now seeing more international services register, such as China’s Yuoku for example.

PB: Regarding the industry programming, can you give us an overview of the trends and hot-button issues?

Micro-budgeting and packaging are the hot topics for our Financing Day. Industry insiders will discuss the most effective methods for reducing financial risk and leveraging talent packages against investments.  Key speakers include: Cassian Elwes (CAA) and John Christou (Prospector Films)

Audience building will be a major focus for the Marketing Day.  Our speakers will offer insight on how to build audiences at the development stage and how to maintain the audience excitement throughout production and distribution stages of the project.  Key speakers include: Nicolas Gonda (TUGG) and Ira Deutchman (Emerging Pictures)

For distribution: Two big topics that everyone wants to learn about are DIY distribution and Theatrical VOD.  Key speakers will include: Jeremy Boxer (Vimeo) and Charlotte Mickie (eOne)

In transmedia, our experts will discuss the ins and outs of using the second screen to market primary project productions.   Key speakers will include: Andy Merkin (Mirada) and Danny Gabai (VICE Magazine).

This interview has been edited and condensed.