Inside Out’s Finance Forum kicks off next week after a pandemic in which film festival markets “change quite dramatically,” says Andrew Murphy, interim co-head of the annual 2SLGBTQ+-focused event.

Murphy (pictured below) tells Playback Daily that when the pandemic first hit, distributors and sales agents “just stopped releasing content or making it available to festivals as they were all waiting for a magical theatrical release that would never come — until two years later.”

“That was a hit, coupled with the mess that was Ontario in how it dealt with a world pandemic,” says Murphy. “We went from a proud moment to the worst ever.”

A year into the pandemic, things were looking up as the focus returned to content and the films and “stories were speaking for themselves without the bell and whistles of a marché, etc.,” he adds.

“All that to say though, for specialty festivals like ours, it’s been difficult reconciling, as many of our festival family returned to cinemas last year, so it’s been business as usual for nearly a year now,” says Murphy.

“We are just finally getting back into physical spaces, so in some ways, we’re starting over yet again with studios, who only entertain in-person screenings. But thankfully, over all our reputation precedes us and it’s been a joy for the most part reconnecting on this level for what we hope is a triumphant return to the TIFF Bell Lightbox.”

That return includes the Finance Forum running June 2 to 4 and the overall 32nd annual Inside Out Toronto 2SLGBTQ+ Film Festival, now underway both in-person and virtually through June 5.

The festival, which closes with the world premiere of Amaze’s Ontario-shot comedy The Lake (pictured above) for Amazon’s Prime Video, is unfolding after the departure of executive director Lauren Howes this past February.

Murphy, who has been director of programming at Inside Out, took over as interim co-head with Elie Chivi, who has been director of development.

Asked how it was putting together the festival amid a leadership change, Murphy sings the praises of the Inside Out staff, noting “everyone was up for the task to just get us over the finish line” of a hybrid festival.

“Festival folk are a very specific breed in my opinion, and we are here because we love what we do and we love bringing a finished product to the world, so I feel very lucky to have the team we do,” he says.

Overall, Murphy feels Inside Out has been fortunate during the pandemic, maintaining its core staffing and partnering with filmmakers and distributors “to amplify digital releases of queer films outside festival season.”

“It propelled us into ensuring we were being thoughtful in how we present queer stories, to whom, and how can we strive to continue to be more equitable, accessible, and representative across the board,” says Murphy.

Still, the last two years have been difficult, he concedes. Taking the physical connection out of the equation “just hits deeper as a queer person, as a queer artist, as a supporter of queer work. You have to work that much harder to find that connection elsewhere. To get that business done or networking.”

“Everything has to be done with so much intention on the part of the artists, it can be exhausting,” says Murphy. “What really excites me is having those natural happenstances in a lounge, meet-cutes outside the cinema, members and donors meeting filmmakers and discussing film, returning in 2022.”