Village Gamer

Crossing the Atlantic with their luggage full of cinematic ideas, 12 hand-picked and dynamic European producers will meet their 12 talented Canadian counterparts at the Toronto International Film Festival® (TIFF), from September 5 – 8 to find joint film projects. The first two editions of Producers Lab Toronto were so successful that almost all of the participants from 2010 and 2011 are in contact with one another and 27 projects are actively in development. Consequently, the MEDIA Mundus programmeof the European Union has now confirmed financial backing of the platform for the third year running.

“Producers Lab Toronto provided a strong introduction to a group of well established producers from both sides of the Atlantic,” stated 2011 participant Michael Dobbin of  Quiet Revolution Pictures. “Packed into the heart of the Toronto International Film Festival, the venues and events provided an atmosphere that inspired and motivated the participants in a spirit of international cooperation. We walked away with new insights, new relationships… and a co-production deal!”

The forum is organized by European Film Promotion (EFP) in collaboration with the Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC) and TIFF and effectively pools the European and Canadian creative, technical and financial resources of the three organizations.

Thanks to the strong presence of US and international buyers, agents and financiers, the Toronto International Film Festival is known as one of the most dynamic festivals of the year and an important place for producers to do business. The festival also attracts a huge international media presence, and the Producers Lab Toronto programme gives participants and their projects a massive boost in visibility on the film industry’s radar.

The programme enables European and Canadian producers to build relationships, access markets and exchange knowledge to advance their film projects, with pitching sessions, one-to-one-meetings, case studies, and financing and co-production information sessions. As a way of fostering closer relations between the producers, the participants are subsequently invited to alumni meetings during the Berlin and Cannes film festivals.

Led by high-level consultants, Producers Lab Toronto is also an excellent platform for getting in contact with sales agents, leading representatives of European and Canadian film funds, and key people to establish connections with international co-production markets.

The European participants are selected by EFP member organisations and must have attended EFP’s acclaimed Cannes-based programme Producers On The Move. The producers from Canada are chosen by OMDC and TIFF from an open call for submissions.

Producers Lab Toronto is supported by the MEDIA Mundus programme of the European Union and the participating EFP member organisations as well as the Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC) and the Toronto International Film Festival^® (TIFF). The event is supported moreover by Telefilm Canada. In addition, EFP’s promotional and PR activities are backed by the  Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée (CNC). The Hamburg-based office is supported by the German Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM) and the Ministry of Culture of the City of Hamburg.