Vancouver producer Rob Merilees was surprised to come out on top at the CFTPA’s third annual Producer’s Award ceremony, where he was feted for his work on the adventure comedy Stone of Destiny and other noteworthy features including Oscar winner Capote.

If you live in Toronto and you love movies, the construction site at the King and John Streets is more than just an expanse of concrete and exposed reinforcing rods. True, there is a condo involved, but the main space that is slowly rising is the Bell Lightbox, the much-anticipated new home of the Toronto International Film Festival Group.

The Vancouver International Film Festival has built its reputation on an extensive program of international documentaries, East Asian cinema and Canadian films. And as the old adage goes, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’, so those specialties will remain the cornerstone of the 27th annual festival, running Sept. 25 to Oct. 10.

‘It’s a delicate balancing act,’ admits VIFF programmer Terry McEvoy of handpicking the 90 films from among the more than 600 submissions to Canadian Images.

The artistic process is clearly front-and-center at this year’s Film and Television Forum, as creators of U.S. cable series such as Weeds and Dexter and innovative filmmakers from the international scene have been tapped to take part, Sept. 24-27.

Dragons and Tigers: The Cinemas of East Asia is a cornerstone of the Vancouver International Film Festival, and this year’s selections showcase work by young, first time filmmakers from East Asia even more than usual.

‘If I was going to be completely selfish, I’d tell my programmers…’I’m going to stick to the nonfiction films,” says Alan Franey, executive director of the Vancouver International Film Festival.

‘Frankly, I told colleagues that I could program a whole festival with docs this year,’ enthuses Terry McEvoy, Canadian Images programmer for the Vancouver International Film Festival. ‘That’s how many good ones crossed my desk,’ he adds.

There’s a hat trick of films at VIFF that were produced with ‘windfall’ or prize money – including Denis Villeneuve’s Cannes-winning short Next Floor, Carl Bessai’s Mother & Daughters and the world premier of Tom Scholte’s debut feature Crime. In each case, the no-strings-attached-tiny-budgets provided the filmmakers enormous creative freedom, unencumbered by any business or market restrictions.

The Ottawa International Animation Festival kicks off on Sept. 17 with a goal to co-mingle animators with audiences and business executives. The five-day event is the only one of its kind in North America and expects to welcome about 25,000 people who will screen over 135 animated films (including shorts) and attend a slew of special events geared to celebrate the toon.

‘Speed-dating’ is when job-seeking animators meet potential employers at Animators for Hire sessions during the 2008 Ottawa International Animation Festival. A regular feature of the annual OIAF, the all-day sessions begin Sept. 20 at 8:30 a.m. at the Chateau Laurier.

Economist Richard Florida claimed in Rise of the Creative Class, ‘creativity has become the driving force of economic growth’; it was a breakthrough concept. And in the six years since he wrote the book, this idea has taken root throughout traditional creative industries, including this one.