Latest in 2011 Toronto Film Festival

Was the 2011 Toronto Film Festival a good one for dealmaking? Even after organizers announced a 20% uptick in film deals last Friday (the festival includes foreign territories in its count), the sales kept coming. A long-expected deal with Lionsgate on the Jennifer Westfeldt-directed comedy Friends With Kids finally…

The 2011 Toronto Film Festival is drawing to a close, and the festival just handed out its prizes. The winners: Cadillac People’s Choice Award Nadine Labaki-directed Where Do We Go Now? Cadillac People’s Choice Award For Documentary Jon Shenk-directed The Island President Cadillac People’s Choice Award For Midnight Ma…

Toronto, CANADA (September 16, 2011) – NY based ATO PICTURES proudly announced today that it has acquired all North American rights to THE ORANGES, one of the most buzzed about Toronto titles directed by Julian Farino making his feature film debut. Hugh Laurie, Catherine Keener, Oliver Platt, Allison Janney, Alia…

I have my own thoughts about the acquisition activity that took place over the past week at the 2011 Toronto Film Festival, and will provide it Monday. For now, festival organizers are banging the gong and claiming victory. TORONTO – The Toronto International Film Festival is pleased to announce significant sales have…

Woody Allen isn’t here at Toronto, but a documentary about him will screen here. An invite has gone out for buyers to take in a “sneak peek screening” of an unfinished version of the documentary about Allen’s creative process that was directed by Curb Your Enthusiasm‘s Robert Weide. The screening will be held…

UPDATE 2, 7:03PM: CBS Films has just issued a press release confirming the acquisition: TORONTO (September 12) – CBS Films announced today that they have acquired the U.S.distribution rights to SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN which made its world premiere at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival this week. The…

Sunday, September 11, 2011, Toronto….. Myriad Pictures will handle sales outside North America for Academy® Award-winner Bill Guttentag's political drama Knife Fight, starring Rob Lowe ("The West Wing", "Parks & Recreation", Breakaway), Julie Bowen ("Modern Family", Horrible Bosses, "Boston Legal"), Jamie Chung…

Crime Scene Pictures partners Adam Ripp and Rob Paris will partner with Nick Wechsler on Man With a Gun, a Robert Hewitt Wolfe-scripted action thriller. They’ve just set up the picture for Crime Scene to fully finance, and they’ll talk it up here to get a director and a foreign sales agent. The title character, Ike…

EXCLUSIVE: Although Paramount is represented in Toronto this year by its Sundance pickup and awards hopeful Like Crazy (10/28), which will have its premiere here Tuesday night, and also by Steven Spielberg’s motion capture animated film The Adventures of TinTin (12/23), for which they will have preview showings Monday…

Just as it did last year, the 2011 Toronto Film Festival has gotten off to a slow start on the acquisitions front. I spoke with many buyers after last night’s onslaught of acquisition title premieres, and the common feeling was these distributors need to fill slots in their schedules and they want to fall in love, but…

Fox Seachlight’s annual party at the Thompson Hotel for the Toronto International Film Festival seemed especially ebullient Saturday after its growing Oscar contender, The Descendants, premiered to a standing ovation. Exactly a week earlier, the film received a similar enthusiastic response in Telluride. On top of…

UPDATE: Fox Searchlight toppers Nancy Utley and Stephen Gilula have confirmed the acquisition of Shame at Toronto. Searchlight’s official release is after the jump. EXCLUSIVE: In the first major deal of the Toronto Film Festival, Fox Searchlight has acquired Shame, the Steve McQueen-directed NC-17 drama that was the ta…