High inflation is not holding Toronto film buffs back from spending on movie tickets, according to the CEO of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), which is set to kick off on Thursday for its 48th year.

“The response has been at least the same as last year if not a little bit higher,” Cameron Bailey said in an interview with BNNBloomberg.ca.

“We haven’t seen a downturn in terms of tickets and our audience’s interest in attending the festival.”

TIFF, which will run until Sept. 17, is regarded as the world’s largest public film festival.

In past years, cheering fans have gathered at screening venues in Toronto’s downtown to catch a glimpse of film stars attending movie premieres and walking red carpets. This year, the Hollywood star quotient will be a little lower due to the ongoing actors’ strike – but that has not affected ticket sales either, says Bailey.


RESALE PRICES BALLOON

Demand is apparently strong enough for tickets to be offered for resale at high prices by scalpers.

Recent social media users and news reports have pointed out that tickets for some screenings have been listed on resale site Stubhub for hundreds of dollars, as well as on Ticketmaster, the site TIFF has been using to sell festival tickets. 

Bailey said this is part of the resale market reality for popular events, whether it is a concert or a film festival screening.

“I think the resale market for anything that has a ticket has become quite well established for concerts, sports events and different things,” he said.

“This is not the first year when resale prices have been higher than the price we’re charging. And it’s just part of the phenomenon of the most in-demand event, whether it’s a football match or a concert by your favourite artist. There’s a market for those things that sometimes will drive up the price.”

This year, TIFF has set prices for regular screenings between $26 and $32, while premium screenings can set you back anywhere between $39 and $88.

All prices are inclusive of taxes and fees. Bailey noted that TIFF is trying to make tickets more affordable for various sections including young film fans and what the festival calls “equity deserving communities.” People under 25 and community partners can access select screenings from $13.

“There’s also a program which is supported by one of our major partners Visa, which offers free access to a number of different community groups to festival films,” Bailey added.

STRIKE IMPACT

The festival has several workarounds in place to blunt the impact from the ongoing strikes by Hollywood writers and actors. The festival has invited independent filmmakers, actors who will be at TIFF in other capacities as for instance, directors, people with interim agreements allowing them to promote their films, as well as relying on stars from other film industries.


Bailey explained that only 15 per cent of the festival’s lineup is from companies affected by the strike.

“Most of our lineup is independent and international,” he said. “We’ve got people like Andy Lau, Anil Kapoor and others who are coming to town with entirely independent and international films and they’re not affected by the strike.”

Hollywood fans can expect to see actors Sean Penn, Dakota Johnson and Viggo Mortensen, among others.

“No shortage of talent,” Bailey emphasised.

ECONOMIC PRESSURE

Economic pressures are pinching TIFF in other ways, however. The festival will lose its long-time lead sponsor, telecom giant and BNN Bloomberg’s parent company, Bell, after this year.

Other TIFF events have also seen sponsors pull back, Bailey said.

“Some of our partners who are maybe more focused on the red carpet part of the festival have stepped back in some cases, so we are looking to make that lost revenue up and to find new partners who can step in,” he said.

The combination of strikes and rising costs have also hurt TIFF’s hospitality partners and local businesses that rely on crowds of filmgoers and publicity from film star visits.

Bailey said one of the festival’s leading partners estimated they would lose about a fifth of their usual festival business this year.

“It’s not the majority by any means but it’s something that you would certainly feel,” Bailey admitted. 

This year, TIFF will screen over 250 films from 74 countries.

The opening film is Studio Ghibli’s Japanese animated fantasy film “The Boy and The Heron,” directed by Hayao Miyazaki. The Sylvester Stallone documentary “Sly” will close the festival.

BNN Bloomberg is owned by Bell Media, which is a division of BCE.