Producers, studio executives, and agents are hoping that when they touch down in Canada this week for the Toronto International Film Festival, things will look a lot like they did in 2019. That was the last time that the annual celebration of all things movies was at full capacity, with star-studded red carpets, packed premieres, and the kind of late-night parties and boozy dinners that help grease the wheels for dealmaking writes Variety magazine

COVID changed all of that, leading to a nearly three-year hiatus for one of the major hubs of film sales and awards season launches. Last year, TIFF returned in-person, but at a limited capacity, and most Hollywood players skipped it. But this time, the film industry is returning in force, hoping to sell movies, spot talent, and make sense of a landscape that’s been altered by the global pandemic.

“People are a little more risk-averse,” says Mimi Steinbauer, president, and CEO of Radiant Films Intl. “COVID accelerated a shift that was beginning to take place before the pandemic. But it’s made people more aware that something has to be uniquely cinematic in order to work. It’s gotten harder to get people off their couches. Audiences have become more comfortable watching a lot of things at home.”

Marketable Star Power
On paper, there are plenty of projects for sale that seem to offer the kind of star power, marketable hook, and directing talent necessary to spark bidding wars. Highland Film Group is offering up “Sleeping Dogs,” an action thriller with Russell Crowe as a detective who struggles with Alzheimer’s while trying to solve a mystery from his past; CAA is selling “How to Blow Up a Pipeline,” a feature about a group of climate change activists undertaking a daring plot to stop an oil pipeline; UTA is bringing “Prisoner’s Daughter,” a drama about an ex-con struggling to reconnect with his family that stars Brian Cox and Kate Beckinsale; and Capstone Global is selling “Sympathy for the Devil,” a psychological thriller with Joel Kinnaman and Nicolas Cage, who is undergoing a career resurgence thanks to well-reviewed turns in “Pig” and “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.”

But the business looks a lot different than it did in 2019. Netflix isn’t the only major streaming service, and, in fact, it’s looking at a diminished following a recent stock swoon. Now, it faces competition from Apple TV+, Prime Video, HBO Max, and Disney+. At present, most producers believe the rash of new players is a good thing, though that comes with caveats.

“Usually the more buyers that are out there, the healthier it is,” says Christian Mercuri, chairman, and CEO of Capstone Global. “But it’s still in the settling stages. I think there’s going to be more mergers and changes.”

And the reality is that while the theatrical market is recovering, with blockbusters like “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Spider-Man: No Way Home” setting records, it has yet to rebound to pre-pandemic levels. Plus, dramas, comedies, and movies aimed at adults, the kind of films that are often highlighted at TIFF, have had a tougher time drawing crowds.