As Vancouver audiences settled in Thursday night to see buzzed about festival flicks Wild and Foxcatcher, local and visiting industry delegates prepared for a different, new Vancouver International Film Festival experience.

This year, the festival has put a reinvigorated push on the industry side of the annual event, rebranding the VIFF Film & Television Forum as VIFF Industry. The conference  will include programming focused on visual effects, animation and gaming in addition to panels on film and television.

The change is meant to reflect the increase in gaming and VFX studios in the Vancouver area, VIFF executive director Jacqueline Dupuis told Playback Daily. The presence of the gaming and VFX studios in the area, along with significant attendance from guests coming from LA and abroad, can help make the VIFF Industry conference an ideal place to explore business opportunities and grow the screen-based industry in the province, Dupuis said.

As part of a greater ongoing strategic planning initiative, the festival also is also pursuing partnerships with other festivals, and offering industry programming year-round.

Once such partnership is a new collaboration between SXSW and VIFF for a panel on gaming, in which Assassin’s Creed writer Cory May of Ubisoft will talk about writing for video games in a changing industry. VIFF, in turn, will  have an opportunity to present at the 2015 edition of SXSW.

Building up to the 2014 edition of the festival has involved examining “relevant growth opportunities and audience development,” Dupuis said. Of course, underpinning the industry side are the films. In addition to marquee international titles such as Wild and Foxcatcher, several Canadian films will see world premieres, both in and out of competition.

The Vancouver Ashai (Japan/Canada) is slated to get its world premiere in the Special Presentation program at the festival on Sept. 29, where it will screen at The Centre for the Performing Arts in Vancouver. Suzanne Crocker’s All The Time In The World, John Zaritsky’s A Different Drummer and Terrance Odette’s Fall will also get their world premieres in the Canadian Images sidebar.

Daniel Ziv’s Jalanan (Indonesia/Canada) will get its North American premiere at VIFF in the International program, while The Creation of Meaning from Simone Rapisarda Casanova (Canada/Italy) will also see its North American premiere at the festival in the Canada Features program.

VIFF runs from Sept. 25 to Oct. 10.