This is a ridiculously long rant about this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. If you don’t cover the film festival or are not involved with it, then save yourself some time and skip this post.
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The 38th annual Toronto Film Festival recently ended. It’s the one event that all Toronto news photographers look forward to covering. Yes that was sarcasm.
Being the 38th edition, one might guess that the organizers might be, uh, organized and know what they’re doing. Sadly that guess would be wrong.
What do photographers need to do their job? They need to know who, what, where and when. Guess what information wasn’t given out?
Upon check-in, each photographer was given a bag of stuff, all of which was rather useless except for a pizza coupon :-). The bag contained no information that a news photographer needed.
Sigh.
The film festival did e-mail a press conference schedule but not the version which had the names of people participating. Could they e-mail the full version with the names? No.
The festival didn’t even have a film schedule on its media site. Thankfully the general public site had the full film schedule.
Could they e-mail the full red carpet schedule? No.
Could they e-mail the guest list that had all the names (actors, directors, producers, writers, etc.) plus all the publicists’ contact information? No.
Could we have a printed copy of that guest list? No.
“Photographers aren’t Press. Only Press can have that information. You can have your editor request a copy and they can come and pick it up.”
But my editor is in another country.
“Oh.”
So how can I contact a publicist to arrange a one-on-one portrait shoot?
“I don’t know.”
Got a request from China to photograph a few Chinese actors and directors. But I couldn’t do it because I couldn’t get any contact information for their publicists.
Sigh.
Before the festival started, I spent several hours creating a full list of all the red carpets and coordinating that with the press conferences. This was followed by verifying names of directors, actors, producers and writers. Then information didn’t come from the film festival’s media site but from its public site, various publicists’ e-mails and from IMDB.com. This was the only way to get a concise schedule (who, what, where and when) of all the major events.
A number of photographers asked for a copy of my list and then asked why the film festival didn’t do this. This list made it easy to plan coverage of the ten-day event. Imagine that.
This information filled just four pages (i.e., two pieces of paper). Upon check-in, everyone was given a bag filled with over 82 pieces of paper, none of which was of any use to a photographer except for the previously mentioned pizza coupon.
Sigh.
Every year, my editor asks me to shoot some “getting ready” pictures the day before the film festival starts. Every year I go and every year I get nothing.
Editor always asks why my getting-ready pictures suck. Editor mentions the getting-ready pictures from other film festivals: workers installing red carpets, polishing statues, planting rows of flowers and shrubs, unrolling huge posters and banners on the sides of buildings, installing stages and lights, etc.
I always explain that none of that happens in Toronto. Ever. There’s no signage, no banners, no shrubbery, no massive red carpets, no statues, no stages, no lights. Just slabs of grey concrete sidewalk, grey steel barricades and one small, unmarked white tent.
This year, editor said not to bother with getting-ready pictures. But being keen and optimistic, I went anyways. Got nothing.
Sigh.
On the first day of the film festival, a TV news crew wanted to shoot some video inside the film festival building to go along with their coverage of said film festival. Sorry that’s not allowed.
“What? It’s not allowed?!” The TV guy did a classic double-take when told he wasn’t allowed to shoot inside the building.
The film festival person at desk repeated, “No filming is allowed inside the film festival building.” Yet the general public was busy shooting pictures and video in the building with their cell phones.
Media is also not allowed to photograph or interview anyone who works or volunteers for the film festival or anyone who works at any venue where the film festival is being held.
The good things
1) The red carpet RSVP system, which was implemented last year, worked. It eliminated the need for photographers to line up – as much as 7 hours! – ahead of time to get a photo position. This year, the RSVP system came in a cell phone-friendly format that worked.
In theory, the RSVP system is set up to favour photographers working for international wire services and large-circulation dailies rather than those shooting for themselves. Large news outlets get a front row position and those shooting on spec get back row. Makes sense.
But the problem this year was that some events enforced it and some didn’t. So photographers didn’t know whether they should show up 35 minutes ahead of time as requested, or 1 hour or even 2 hours ahead of time.
One reason for this is that the red carpet schedule can be a bit confusing to the uninitiated. We’re told what time the event ends (which is listed as the start time), when talent will arrive relative to that end/start time, and when we should check-in relative to the talent arrival. Confused?
On top of that, there are two check-in times given: one for media and one for not media. Confused now? Apparently photographers are not media. This confused not only photographers but also the film festival people running the events.
Easy solution: for each event just list the exact times. For example: TV check-in 6:00 pm, still photographers check-in 6:30 pm, talent arrival 7:00 pm.
2) Also implemented last year, press conferences were open only to the handful of international wire services, although this wasn’t quite the case this year. This completely eliminated the overcrowding, noise and other distractions caused by having 30 to 50 photographers in the small room.
3) WiFi in the film festival building worked as long as not too many people were using it.
4) Parking lots didn’t gouge customers by tripling their parking rates as in previous years.
The bad things
1) No media workroom. You’d think that after three decades and having hundreds of media at the event each year, they might have a workroom. Tables, chairs and power. How difficult can it be?
The film festival has a small “media lounge” which is quite useless except if you just want to grab a quick coffee or snack.
During the ten-day event, count the numbers of photographers working on the floor or on a sidewalk.
There is space in the press conference room to add tables for the handful of wire photographers. To be fair, they did bring a table and chair into press conference room just for me :-) but that caused a problem with the film festival’s own photographer who objected to having another photographer sitting near him.
There must be space somewhere in the six-storey building to add a real workroom (and one that stays open past 7PM).
2) Press conference setup:
Enough said?
3) Why do some “reporters” ask such stupid questions?
In all the pressers, there were only about three reporters who consistently asked smart questions. When they posed their questions, you could see the actor’s or director’s eyes light up with enthusiasm.
Other “reporters” asked such gems as, “What was your favourite scene in the movie?”, “What was your favourite costume?”, “How did the movie affect your life?”, “I love you and I love all your movies. You’re my favourite actor. What was it like to be in this movie?”
At one point, when a stupid question was asked (“How did this movie affect your life?”), the director, Steve McQueen, interrupted and said, “It’s just a movie! They’re actors playing a role. They have a script. It’s just a movie.”
It’s no secret that some talent were quite unhappy with their press conference with regard to the choice of moderator, the lack of quality questions and the lack of time.
4) Why do some actors give such meaningless answers?
“This movie was a gift”, “We were like a family”, “The director allowed us to play”, “I wouldn’t have done the movie if I didn’t trust the director”, “It was a joy to work with . . .”
5) Computers exist. And there’s this new thing called the “Internet”.
Please put *all* film festival schedules online and/or e-mail proper information to photographers. Not only does this save paper but, if done right, this electronic information would be searchable! This means photographers and reporters could actually find the names of actors, directors, movies, etc., whenever and however they needed it. There could be an app for that.
6) Can you see any publicist who might be in the way:
At one movie premiere, Warner Brothers brought in at least three busloads of people. Yes, actual buses. As soon as two very popular actors, Jake Gyllenhaal and Hugh Jackman, arrived, Warner Brothers brought in a busload of people and parked that bus – yes, you guessed it – right in front of the photographers.
7) It rained for a couple of red carpets. Everyone knew a day ahead of time that it was going to rain. Yet the film festival was still unprepared.
But a smart third-party business came by and handed out free umbrellas to everyone in the crowd especially those standing right across from the photographers. Of course, those bright red umbrellas just happened to have their company logo printed on them.
The film festival did manage to borrow a few umbrellas and as celebrities arrived, they were covered with an umbrella that had a big Nike logo on it. Why are there no special film festival umbrellas?
8) The main corporate sponsor, Bell, spent six-figures(?) on a wrongly located outdoor movie screen with a strange seating thing for the audience. The seating actually had warning signs on it. The plan seemed to have been that movie fans would stay after the red carpet to watch a free movie. I didn’t see anyone stay to watch the movies.
9) Photographers and TV crews couldn’t leave a red carpet after the celebrities had long since passed by, even if the exit was behind the photo pit. But film festival people and publicists were able to leave via the red carpet any time they wanted.
TV crew to film festival person (at 9:15 PM): “We have to leave. We have to get back to the office to edit for our 11 o’clock newscast.” Film festival person: “No one can leave. You have to wait.” The TV crew ended up standing and waiting for another 20 minutes.
Photographers were standing in direct sun in 34-degree Celsius heat, (over 40 degrees with the humidity), for two hours in packed photo pit. One photographer nearly passed out. Fortunately two other quick-thinking photographers noticed that something was wrong and helped the photographer. Film festival person, “Sorry, you can’t leave the photo pit.” Another photographer yelled, “My god, it’s 40 degrees! Let us out!”
10) The film festival continued to prevent some passersby from taking pictures from the sidewalk even though they have no legal authority to do so. They also blocked people from standing and watching from the sidewalk even when they’re standing out of the way.
The film festival also blocked cars from (legally) parking in some areas (e.g. near the film festival building) even though they have no legal authority. Overheard: “If it’s not an expensive-looking car, have it towed.”
11) As always, the fans were completely ignored by the film festival. People line up many hours ahead of time to get a glimpse of their favourite movie stars. Why not hand out free movie popcorn, movie posters, film festival t-shirts, movie tickets . . .? Why not promote each day’s red carpets in the morning newspapers? Why not make the event fun?
Why doesn’t the billion-dollar company that sponsors the event do anything for the fans (beyond that silly movie screen)?
12) Entertainment events in Europe seem to be concerned with getting good pictures: large red carpets, clean backgrounds, no publicists in the way and no sponsor logos. But in North America, it’s the complete opposite. Here it’s all about corporate logos and headshots.
A few celebrities were visibly concerned about posing in front of all the advertising. Some also made jokes about the black “X” marks that were on the concrete at Roy Thomson Hall. A publicist had to explain to her talent why the red carpet had rainbow stripes (i.e. the Hudson Bay department store logo colours), “It’s a department store in Canada.”
13) All the red carpets at the Toronto Film Festival were set up wrong. Everyone, except the film festival, could see this.
Can you see the red carpet:
Other Toronto events and other film festivals have no problem rolling out the red carpet. But for some reason, the Toronto Film Festival refuses to dress up its event.
This is what a night event looks like at Ryerson Theatre:
This is what sodium vapour + fluorescent light looks like at night:
Some lights, a real red carpet and some crowd control would go a long way towards helping Ryerson. Most important, keep the publicists out of the way!
Suggestions for next year
Elgin Theatre
The Elgin Theatre building is so small and it gets packed with so many people, one wonders when the fire department will shut down film festival use.
On the first Friday, there were 68 TV crews packed into the one and only hallway, (the same hallway used by the hundreds of people who were at the theatre), and 38 photographers were jammed into the front entrance which has enough space for about 18 photographers.
Although it won’t fix all the problems, the setup at the Elgin must be changed to something like this (barricades not shown):
Another even simpler solution is to rotate the current setup by 180° and let actors enter only through the most southerly door. This would allow for a wider red carpet and a bit more space between photographers and actors.
A second option for the Elgin is to close both northbound lanes of the street, which is already done on some days, put the photo pit on the road and, very important, cover it with a temporary tent. This way, the arriving talent can be photographed in front of the lovely theatre entrance and no doors are blocked.
A third option is to not use the Elgin Theatre for red carpet events. Can the nearby Sony Centre be used? It’s large entrance was made for red carpet events.
Most important, keep the publicists out of the way!
The Walk of Fame happens just one week after the film festival and it uses the Elgin Theatre. Please go and see how they do it because they always do it right.
Princess of Wales Theatre
Assuming The Princess of Wales Theatre is still standing next year, (the plan is to replace it with high-rise condos), here is a simple fix (barricades not shown):
Notice the space between the photo area and the red carpet. Note the red carpet is three-doors wide (and it could even be wider) and it extends under the background. This setup requires nothing more than the current setup except a wider red carpet and it increases usable space by 25%. Everyone benefits:
• Photographers: better camera angles, more distance from talent (i.e. better pictures), better security (i.e. no public behind them).
• Talent: more distance from photographers, more space to work, better for groups.
• Fans: can see more of the action.
• Theatre-goers: still have two entrance doors.
The other option is to put the photo pit on the road and, very important, cover it with a tent.
Very important: keep the publicists out of the way!
Roy Thomson Hall
Forgive my lousy graphics which are not drawn to any scale:
This venue has the most space available of any theatre in the city, yet the film festival refuses to take advantage of it. For some unknown reason, the film festival literally wedges everything between two rows of trees and ignores the gigantic open space which other events use.
This proposed setup (pictured above) means: much larger photo area and larger TV interview area, better potential for pictures for everyone, better viewing for more fans and more space for talent.
For some silly reason, the current setup at Roy Thomson Hall is such that once a celebrity is dropped off, the car drives on the red carpet while people are walking on that same carpet and exits north (to the right) and has to cross a busy sidewalk. A bit of a hazard, wouldn’t you say? Not to mention that the car is in the way for many pictures. This new setup eliminates all of that. Plus, since the cars would use only one entrance/exit, fewer police officers, if any, would be required.
Buy some red carpet and cover all that grey concrete. If the Walk of Fame can carpet a road for an entire block then surely the film festival can cover a hundred feet of driveway. Maybe the Walk of Fame has some leftover carpet for sale?
The red carpet under the tent should be at least three times wider but only in front of the photographers. The TV red carpet can remain the same narrow width. Also under the tent, add more space between the talent and the photographers. If you can reach out and touch the person you’re photographing, you’re too close.
Install *proper* photo risers. It’s idiotic, and a liability, that photographers have to bring ladders and set them up on the grass.
Cover the area with a much taller and wider tent. Other events have no problem doing this. The white tent shown in the above photo might be nice.
Install lights. At night, the place is dark and depressing. Think Hollywood, think glamour, think excitement. All of this requires lighting. Lighting means better pictures, better TV, better security, better for fans and better for arriving talent.
Add bleachers for the fans (the blue areas in the photo above). Without bleachers, when the crowd is many rows deep, most people see nothing and leave disappointed. Having bleachers also means that the talent can see more of their fans. Sponsors could easily take advantage of this if they’re on the ball.
Bleachers also mean better crowd control, better event security, better viewing for the public, better viewing means more people will show up, easier autograph signing for the celebrities (i.e., less walking) and better pictures for photographers. Everyone wins.
And while we’re at it, add a photographers’ workroom near the photo pit. Tables and chairs under a tent. The area already has power so just some extension cords and power bars are necessary. WiFi already exists in the space. Better yet, the corporate sponsor, which happens to be the country’s largest ISP, could set up Internet access onsite or use its already-existing network that’s 160 feet away.
Most important, keep the publicists out of the way!
Finally
Please understand what photographers do. We do not go to events like this for our own amusement. Many, but sadly not all, of us are actually working news photographers (i.e. Press). Yet we’re treated like a nuisance as if we’re intruding on the event which, as you may recall, is a media event.
More people will see our pictures than read the text articles or watch the TV coverage. Our pictures will be used and reused throughout the year far more than any other type of coverage.
There’s a reason why TV uses still photos from the film festival. There’s a reason why some talent will skip TV and print interviews but won’t miss the photos. There’s a reason why talent will fly in just to be photographed on the red carpet.
Photo coverage is the number one way to reach audiences.
