The Whistler Film Fest is celebrating its 10th anniversary with a host of industry events, not to mention a $5 million Future in Focus campaign to establish the fest and give it a state-of-the-art, permanent home.

“Our vision is to connect the art and business of film,” WFF co-founder and executive director Shauna Hardy Mishaw tells Playback Daily, adding that the fest has contributed $11.2 million annually to the local economy and facilitated $76 million in industry deals over the years.

Half the multi-million dollar campaign is going toward the transforming the now-defunct Rainbow Theatre into a high-tech, 300-seat screening venue that will also serve as a permanent home for the fest, complete with a festival lounge.

The remaining $2.5 million will help boost the fest on an international level, as it strives to be regarded in the company of Cannes, Sundance and TIFF. Hardy Mishaw adds that WFF currently has a partnership with the CFC, and in 2012 will launch a new project with the Centre.

The renovations are slated to be up and running before next year’s WFF.

The fest has been expanded to five days from four to add another full day of programming, and Hardy Mishaw notes that attendance has grown 300% over the last decade.

The schedule is full, having already announced Daydream Nation as opening film, the nominees for Best Canadian Feature announced, and 80 films getting time on the big screen.

WFF is also turning its focus to filmmaking in the digital age with a keynote on December 1 featuring Mass Animation founder and former Sony Pictures Digital president Yair Landau, who will discuss digital collaboration. On the same day, five convergent media projects will go head-to-head in the Merging Media Pitch in front of an international jury of digital content buyers and a live-audience.

Another pitch session on the bill is the MPPIA Short Film Award Pitch on December 5, where five pre-selected filmmakers will compete for a $10,000 cash award from MPPIA and a $5,000 cash award from BC Film.