For the film industry, the frenzy of the Vancouver International Film Festival will be over on Oct. 12. But for VIFF Trade Forum producer Melanie Friesen, the pace won’t slow down until late in December when the last of hundreds of VIFF participants have been called and polled for their views on the industry conference component of the fest.

Partly in response to suggestions made last year and also in response to the B.C. film industry’s move toward diversification outside North American markets, this year’s Trade Forum will feature several panels dedicated to international copros, with many guests coming from European houses. ‘As films get more expensive, we need to take a look at coproductions; in such a global marketplace, there isn’t an alternative,’ Friesen says.

With moderator Deborah Drisdell, VP, acquisitions and coproduction for Sextant Entertainment Group, the ‘Co-Production’ panel will focus on how to link up with a foreign producer, and how to remain relevant to national audiences. Guest speakers will include Andreas Bajohra, producer, Phantom Pictures; Jamie Brown, producer, Studio Eight; Dominique Green, head of coproduction, U.K./Northern Europe, StudioCanal; Christine Haebler, producer, Crescent Releasing; and Kees Kasander, producer, The Kasander Film Company.

A second panel, ‘Where do we go from Here? Understanding the International Marketplace,’ is divided into two parts, Selling for Theatrical and Selling for Television. A who’s who of the international production and distribution community will attend. The moderator will be Peter Broderick, president, Next Wave Pictures, and guest speakers include Pierre Brousseau, president, Seville Pictures, and Micah Green, producers representative, Cinetic Media. The latter panel will be moderated by Jacques Bensimon, chairman of the National Film Board/Government Film Commissioner, and will feature Nick Jones, head of film programming, Channel Four/Film Four; Don McGregor, financial analyst, worldwide sales and distribution, Canal Plus U.S.; and Paola Freccero, VP, film programming and acquisitions, Sundance Channel.

Coproductions between Canada and China will be encouraged through a half-day working session sponsored by Telefilm Canada where Canadian producers will discuss projects in development. Telefilm is also sponsoring prearranged half-hour private meetings with international producers, broadcasters and sales agents dubbed International Sales and Co-production Tete-a-tetes.

The Trade Forum will also facilitate meetings between a delegation of British producers looking for partners and Canadian filmmakers.

On a related business angle, ‘Financing Independent Film’ will provide filmmakers with a guide to potential buyers in the areas of broadcasting and distribution, what banks and other financial partners are looking for, and what new government and private-sector initiatives are in the offing. Andrew Atkins, president, Atkins & Company, will moderate. Offering words of advice will be Carrie Chase, senior manager, Western Canada, CIBC Entertainment Financing; Brad Danks, lawyer, Davis & Company; Micah Green, producer’s representative, Cinetic Media;

Steve Hegyes, executive producer, Last Wedding; and Robert Vince, CEO, International Keystone Entertainment.

Meanwhile, diversification of a company’s business is the topic of ‘Staying Alive,’ moderated by James Livingstone, chartered accountant at MacKay LLP. Guest speakers are Robin Cass, producer/partner, Triptych Media; Derek Mazur, president, Credo Entertainment; and James Shavick, CEO, Shavick Entertainment.

Diversification doesn’t just affect the producing side of the industry. For actors, it could mean being able to stay home and still get a foot in the Hollywood door. The panel for ‘Drawing Hollywood North’ will talk about the increasing trend of L.A. scouts searching for talent in Vancouver for productions that will shoot in the city and in the U.S., and how it impacts on strategies for an actor’s career.

The discussion will come straight from some of the casting

directors themselves, with Christian Kaplan, VP, features casting, Twentieth Century Fox Filmed Entertainment; Meg Liberman, partner, Liberman/Patton Casting; Coreen Mayrs, casting director, Coreen Mayrs Casting; and

Russ Mortensen, president/partner, Pacific Artists Management, speaking. Bruce Marchfelder, writer/director, The Artist’s Circle, will moderate.

While seasoned industry players will particularly welcome these panels, another day is devoted to emerging industry talent. Called New Filmmakers’ Day, it comes out of conversations Friesen has had with students and staff during her visits to the province’s film schools in the course of the year.

Peter Broderick, president, Next Wave Films, will present Reinventing Moviemaking, a discussion about digital filmmaking, while Lola director Carl Bessai and waydowntown producer Shirley Vercruysse will participate in a discussion called ‘Know your Limits – Make your Script Shootable.’ The panel will be moderated by Sharon McGowan, producer for Better Than Chocolate, and will examine how to fix mistakes in the script before they become expensive lessons during the shooting.

Friesen herself is interested in the creative aspects of filmmaking and her choice of non-business-related panels reflects this. ‘The Creative Independent: The Producer as Artist’ features a discussion of how to produce films that maintain a project’s artistic integrity. It will be moderated by Bruce Marchfelder, writer/director of The Artist’s Circle, and feature guest speakers Chris Hanley, producer of Virgin Suicides, and Jim Stark, Night On Earth producer.

On the documentary front, Friesen is focusing on one-offs which express a filmmaker’s vision. The NFB’s Bensimon will moderate, with Rudy Buttignol, creative head of documentaries, drama and network, TVOntario; Christina Pochmursky, program director, The Documentary Channel; and Robin Mirsky, executive director, Rogers Group of Funds, Rogers Communications, providing insight into the market.

Programs of interest to both experienced and novice filmmakers include ‘Writing for Episodic Television; Creating the Mood’ (a panel on collaboration between the DOP and the production designer), which will include Jan Roelfs, production designer on Flawless.

‘Big Movies for the Small Screen? An Endangered Animal’ will be moderated by writer/producer Suzette Couture of Sarrazin Couture Entertainment.

After all the deals are signed, filmmakers will be invited to get hot under the collar with a panel called ‘Are there any sexual boundaries left?’ Friesen says the idea for the panel came out of the recent wave of films such as Romance, Baise-Moi and The Idiots that push sexual boundaries. But few of the current crop deliver the smolder of older titles like Last Tango in Paris, she says. ‘The biggest tragedy of our generation is that Brando weighs 300 pounds and does nothing,’ Friesen jokes.

It could be a good panel to make connections at. After all, like the festival, part of the attraction of the Trade Forum is the people one meets in between sessions. ‘The film festival is such an inspiration that to buckle down and go to the Trade Forum and get ideas on how to make films is a great synergy,’ Friesen says.

-www.viff.org