Like a bus trip through the Rockies, the Banff Television Festival has its ups and downs – and this year the weeklong industry fete hit more than the usual number of potholes. Attendance was down, especially among key international guests, and a new price scheme irritated many fest-goers, giving rise to security problems and the so-called ‘NATPE syndrome’ of unregistered attendees.

Some 1,600 people came to the small resort town this year, down from 1,800 in 2002 thanks to Alberta’s Mad Cow scare, the strong Canadian dollar, lack of Canadian funding, and SARS. Two major Chinese delegations bailed out because of the mystery epidemic, and the headcount of Americans and Europeans was also down.

Those who showed up did not stay long. By Thursday, the halls and theatres of the Banff Springs Hotel were virtually empty – compared to the massive human traffic jams seen earlier in the week – and that night’s closing barbeque drew much smaller numbers than those of previous years.

Many avoided 2003’s special events because of changes to Banff’s price structure. Popular get-togethers like the barbeque and CBC’s reception for the Rockie Awards were not included in this year’s $1,500 registration fee.

‘It was a year of experiment,’ says festival head Pat Ferns, decked out in a white cowboy hat and bola, as he surveys the modest crowd at the BBQ, held in a giant clearing on the outskirts of town. He’s not sure if the fest will keep the new price plan – that will depend on feedback from attendees – but adds that Banff, already underpriced in his opinion, has to watch its costs. ‘We’re not-for-profit, but we can’t be for-loss,’ he says.

Organizers argue that event pricing, caused by a loss of government funding and major sponsors such as Alliance Atlantis, gives greater freedom to cash-strapped attendees by keeping the registration fee down and the festival accessible to new talent. Few seem to agree.

‘Oh yeah, free at last. Thank God a’mighty,’ joked one producer.

‘We ought not to be charging for some fundamental features of the festival,’ adds Laszlo Barna, newly minted chair of the CFTPA. ‘I got to the CBC [reception], it cost $65 and I didn’t have a ticket. In the end I got comped, but… that’s a part of the festival. You shouldn’t have to pay for, like, two drinks and a couple of shrimp.

‘Forget the shrimp. Just make it more accessible.’

Higher prices also gave rise to greater security problems, as people sought to sneak into events and the conference centre at the Banff Springs Hotel. Security guards were more vigilant this year, and routinely turned people away.

‘I’ve had vast security problems. I’ve got people swapping their delegate badges, I’ve got people crawling through the woods trying to get into this barbeque,’ says Ferns.

Others did not register at all, and did business outside the official pale of the festival – arranging meetings in hotel suites or down at the pub, much like what happened at the last NATPE.

Ferns admits it’s a problem. ‘But you can’t get the full benefit of the fest without being a delegate,’ he says, citing the many panel talks and pitch sessions. ‘And that’s what the majority of people will still do.’

Few deals were announced and participants say business was slow but generally good.

‘Everyone was a lot more cautious,’ says Jesse Prupas of Muse Entertaiment. ‘Broadcasters were playing the game very carefully. They had a lack of enthusiasm for new product and were trying to save old projects, shows that didn’t get CTF funding. But we were still very busy.’

Less business is done at Banff than in the past, says Barna, because the fest is now out of step with Canada’s funding season. ‘You used to get [CTF] decisions in July, August, September. Now all these decisions are locked up by the end of April. There’s not much you can do,’ he says. ‘Now I go to Banff nervous that I’m about to start production and thinking ‘What am I doing in Banff?”

Life’s a pitch

For the first time, an unofficial event also stole some of the spotlight. The Great Canadian PitchFest, at the Banff Park Lodge, put 250 producers together with almost 50 decision makers from CBC, CHUM, A Channel and others on June 8, one day before the main festival. The pitches were one-on-one, for five minutes, ‘like speed-dating but with broadcasters,’ says organizer Signe Olynyk.

Many used the event as a springboard for negotiations throughout the week, says Olynyk.

Back at the Banff Springs Hotel, producers pitched more dramas, docs and kids shows in the cavernous Van Horne Ballroom. Crisanta Sampang of Vancouver’s Crazy Planet Films won $5,000 towards tech services for In Memory of Gloria at the New Players Pitch. Following the International Market Simulation, Russell Hamilton of ORC Productions in New York won $5,000 for his Genesis Inc.

At the CTV ‘documart’ a whopping 50 grand went to EyeSteelFilm of Montreal for George, from Athens to Beijing, about a Greek-Canadian folk singer who’s all the rage these days in China. Fag Hag, from Red Queen Productions, took second place and $30,000, followed by Infield Fly Productions and The Most Dangerous Job, a doc about weapons experts, which took home $20,000.

Nick de Pencier of Toronto’s Primitive Entertainment talked his way into US$15,000 for his high-definition project Four Wings and a Prayer, and Accidental Lovers from Finland’s Crucible Studio topped the new media competition.

The U.K. was the biggest winner at the Rockie Awards on June 9, scoring or sharing seven of the 18 honors, and narrowly edging out the U.S., which won in six categories.

England also scored two jury awards and helped Canada to its only win of the evening when Le Mozart Noir, the high-minded doc from Media Headquarters, made with the BBC, CBC and TV5, took the prize for best performance program.

The Rockie grand prize and $50,000 went to Chavez – Inside the Coup, an Irish doc about the ouster of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and, a ‘wonderful… brilliantly told’ work of journalism, according to jury president Trina McQueen.