Snort derisively if you must at the poor reviews and box office of Resident Evil, Wing Commander and both Mortal Kombats. But Melanie Friesen, Trade Forum organizer at the Vancouver International Film Festival, says movies and videogames will be doing a lot more business together in the future, and each industry would be wise to learn from the other. To that end, this year’s three-day Trade Forum, running Sept. 25-27, plus a New Filmmakers Day on Sept. 28, will include a panel discussion about the cross-over between consoles and the big screen.

‘Gaming and film are now neck-and-neck in profit,’ Friesen says, ‘and gaming has a lot sharper focus on the group they’re trying to get. So the importance of marketing will be talked about, but also the importance of story in both game and film.’

Danny Bilson, VP of gaming giant Electronic Arts (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone), will fly up for the talk, sharing a table on Sept. 26 with Chris Lee, producer of last year’s game-to-movie hit Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, and producer Shawn Williamson of B.C.-based BrightLight Pictures. They’ll look at the explosive growth of the gaming scene and, likely, game/movie adaptations both successful (Tomb Raider made $131 million for Paramount) and not (E.T. destroyed Atari).

Of the 22 panel talks, it’s one of many that stress the importance of good storytelling. ‘We’re nowhere without a good script,’ says Friesen, a former literary agent. ‘No matter how good everything else is on a production, it doesn’t make any difference without the story.’

At the Great Adaptations table on Sept. 25, screenwriters Ted Tally (Red Dragon) and Larry Gross (Prozac Nation) will go over the finer points of bringing novels to the big screen, with special attention on how to condense a weighty tome into a manageable screenplay by trimming characters, sub-plots and themes.

Later that afternoon, the Series Television talk brings together writers Al Jean (The Simpsons) and Kerry Lenhart (Boston Public) for a powwow about how strong episodic writing has propelled their shows and others – The West Wing, Queer as Folk, Sex and the City – to the top of the ratings. ‘I’m always keen to do more than other symposiums do on writing,’ Friesen adds.

As always, several Trade Forum sessions will go over the importance of coproductions and the international marketplace. Representatives from South Africa and Ireland are expected at the Getting to Know You session on Sept. 26. Reps from the Czech Republic were scheduled but cancelled following that country’s recent floods.

‘I feel that in Vancouver we focus so singly on England, France and Germany that I’d like our community to be exposed to countries we’ve only done a few coproductions with,’ Friesen says. Few Canadian producers, she adds, have cashed in on the ‘very attractive’ opportunities in those countries. ‘I want them to speak not only on how to coproduce but on the many practical aspects of shooting in their countries. How do you deal with the crew? How does casting work?’

Reps from Alliance Atlantis, Telefilm Canada and the BBC will also discuss shifting world markets at Understanding the International Marketplace.

But the real ‘jewel in the crown’ is New Filmmakers Day. Launched in 1994 as a resource for recent film school grads, the annual event has become a popular meet-and-greet for filmmakers of all stripes.

‘Half the audience are now experts, and they’re so keen to meet the new filmmakers,’ says Friesen. ‘And it’s such a tonic for new filmmakers to see these speakers come out, because usually those people say, ‘Okay, we’re coming but we’re not going to speak to a bunch of kids.”

It’s also a good chance to network. ‘A few years ago Sharon McGowan met a German distributor and he put a lot of money into her Better Than Chocolate. He got that project off the ground. And just last year, Jamie Shavick, a local producer, met with another local producer, Kirk Shaw, and they put together a business plan for a package of feature films and documentaries.’

Among the guests will be director Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects, X-Men) and veteran cinematographer Edward Lachman (Far from Heaven) who will talk about how directors and DOPs can build productive and creative relationships.

Screenwriting will be revisited yet again when Girlfight writer/director Karyn Kusama and Monster’s Ball writer Milo Addica talk about rookie writer success stories at Successful First Screenplays. Punch writer/director Guy Bennett will also sit in with his key creatives for A Case Study of Punch, discussing how they worked together to turn out the buzz-making family drama.

‘I’ve always thought 1999 was our best year ever,’ says Friesen, ‘but now I think this year is better still.’