The Banff World Television Festival has never seen a prolonged economic slump on par with the current recession, but organizers of the 30th anniversary edition plan to address the challenging times head-on at this year’s conference.

Attending the fest, this year running June 7-10, has never been a cheap proposition. All in, the whole venture can easily run each delegate $4,000, which flies in the face of freezes on travel and discretionary expenses currently in place at major broadcasters.

CBC says it will have a ‘small presence’ at the fest, while Canwest will have a ‘smaller team,’ Astral is sending ‘a few’ execs, and CTV only one. But while delegations may shrink and there will almost certainly be a dip from last year’s head count – around 1,300 – Achilles Media, which operates the event, expects a healthy turnout of decision-makers.

‘Hundreds of companies from around the world will be represented by their top executives,’ says Peter Vamos, newly minted executive director of the fest who, until last December, was the publisher of Playback.

‘The broadcasters are coming from across Canada and from the U.S. and from the U.K. The key people who usually come to do deals that generate the hundreds of millions of dollars in business are still coming, so all that business is going to get done… It’s a little more intimate – that’s better for everybody.’

One way to attract cash-strapped producers is to offer them return-on-investment tips – impart the business insight to help them navigate out of these choppy waters.

‘Everyone this year needs to focus on making money,’ Vamos says. ‘They need to focus on the business aspect of what they do, and so everything we’re providing – from the content of the conference to the Face-to-Face sessions to the kind of people we’re reaching out to – is business-themed.’

It couldn’t be more plainly laid out than in a session called The How To Guide to Survive (Thrive) the Recession. Moderated by CBC programming boss Kirstine Layfield, panelists include David Baldwin, HBO’s EVP program planning, and representatives of hot Canadian prodcos – Allan Novak (VP, factual and reality at Temple Street Productions), David Paperny (president of Paperny Films) and Jon Rutherford (director of sales and acquisitions at Portfolio Entertainment). They will address where to find ‘unexpected opportunities.’  

It is part of a strand of producer-aimed panels called The Biz, also including Thinking Outside the Bank: Reinventing Ways to Finance Your Show, which will feature 9 Story Entertainment’s Steve Jarosz moderating Cream Productions’ David Brady and Incendo Productions’ Gavin Reardon as they discuss coproduction, the forthcoming Canada Media Fund, and cross-platform financing options.

The Canadian Television Fund, which will change over to the CMF moniker for the next funding cycle, will be holding an end-of-day Town Hall on June 9 during which, if all goes according to plan, it will have its new board in place – a source of great anxiety in the production community, as five of the seven board members are to be nominated by the top cable and satellite companies, and the remaining two by Canadian Heritage.

One of Banff’s big new pushes is Kids & Animation Day, also on June 9, putting the spotlight on a genre that often takes a back seat to drama in terms of cachet, yet which accounted for $250 million in Canadian TV production in 2007/08, according to the CFTPA’s Profile 2009.

‘There’s the U.S. market, which is very drama-driven, but in Canada, like so many international production centers, it’s kids and factual,’ says Vamos. ‘That’s where the international market makes hay.’

The day will begin with the unveiling of a study from the CFTPA in association with the Shaw Rocket Fund and the Alliance for Children’s Television, and end with a keynote address from Brown Johnson, president, animation, Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group.

The event’s 30th anniversary will be celebrated at the June 9 Banff BBQ, put on with the Alberta government, and at the previous night’s awards reception, which will honor some of the fest’s key builders, including founding chair Fil Fraser, former fest CEO Pat Ferns, former president Jerry Ezekiel, and former executive director Jennifer Harkness.

Special awards winners this year include The Kids in the Hall’s Mark McKinney (Sir Peter Ustinov comedy award), actor/filmmaker Paul Gross (the NBC Universal Canada Award of Distinction), former CTV head Trina McQueen (Lifetime Achievement Award), Lionsgate Entertainment CEO Jon Feltheimer (Outstanding Achievement Award), Shaftesbury Films (Lionsgate/Maple Pictures Innovative Producer Award), Canadian thesp Victor Garber (Cineflix Award of Excellence), and German post-production manufacturer DVS Digital Video Systems.

And then there are the competitive international awards, which this year fall under the direction of Georges Leclere, who previously ran the International Emmys.

While there is a Banff legacy to commemorate, fest organizers don’t want to dwell on the past. In fact, Vamos says he is eager, right after this year’s installment, to engage the industry regarding the event’s continued evolution. One idea is to not only bestow trophies on established programs, but also be more active in showcasing content from emerging talent.

‘The next Jerry Bruckheimer doesn’t have to sit there trying to get a deal with a broadcaster,’ Vamos notes. ‘The cameras are there; the technology’s there. These guys are going out and shooting short little shows and posting them [on YouTube]. And then how do broadcasters actually find the future stars of this industry? There really is an opportunity for a television festival to be that filter.’