Top Toronto Film Fest Programmer Talks Sales Titles and 2026 Official Market Plans

Unlike Cannes or Berlin, the Toronto Film Festival has never had an official bazaar where buyers and sellers can set up shop to sell movies under one roof.

That’s about to change after TIFF unveiled plans for a first-ever formal content market for 2026, an innovation spearheaded in part by TIFF’s chief programming officer Anita Lee.

Ahead of Toronto’s 49^th edition kicking off on Thursday, Lee talked to The Hollywood Reporter about launching an official market alongside its festival program, and what that will mean for U.S. and international film buyers and sellers who have long done business at TIFF informally, while circulating around the festival or in dedicated hotel rooms and lobbies.

Toronto has a lot of sales titles in its 2024 lineup. Is that a deliberate nod to 2026 when TIFF launches a first-ever formal content market alongside your traditional film festival?

Absolutely. We’re actually in the process of quantifying the number of sales titles we will have this year. What’s interesting is last year, because of the (Hollywood) strikes, we actually did more sales titles last year than previous years as well. Because of the strikes, the sales titles became more relevant for us. That was also no accident. This is a direction we have intentionally focused on. Because we were already in the planning stages of launching an official market, which we have announced. So yes, there is a greater prioritization of sales titles.

You’re also looking to transform TIFF beyond your traditional film lineup and unofficial market to launch an official bazaar where buyers and sellers can set up shop?

We have been really looking at diversifying what TIFF becomes, just what role we’d like to see TIFF playing as we move forward. And we believe that TIFF has really established itself well as a really important destination for launching and marketing films. We would like to also become a robust festival and event for the buying and selling of films as well.

The major Hollywood studios and U.S. specialty distributors have long come to Toronto and done business for the most part on their own. Are you looking with the official market to bring new companies from new international markets to TIFF?  

Yes. We’ve had very good consultations and discussions with international companies, national promotion agencies and markets. They have clearly told us that TIFF is a very valuable gateway to North America. As you said, the major American companies have been coming historically to TIFF for many, many years to do their business. They’ve also told us that works very well for them and continues to. So what we really see as the sweet spot for us is we become that hub, where not only North American companies and the major studios do business at TIFF, but we are able to create a platform and infrastructure for new companies, new producers and new regions to participate more fully and bring their full business to TIFF every year beyond a film in the official selection.

You also want to go beyond film sales to allow companies to package and finance projects?

Packaging and finance is going to be a key part of the official market. Those announcements will be made you know as we move forward. But within the market, there will be a co-producing forum. There will be a project market. There will be a works-in-progress salon. And so all these what we call market initiatives to specifically support the packaging and financing and talent development and talent matching will be a core part of what we feel that TIFF can do well, being a festival that has already been established for 50 years, next year. We feel we’re leveraging the talent and those who are already in to really provide a platform for financing and packaging and talent development to occur.

You mentioned next year’s 50^th anniversary of TIFF. Why has it taken so long to follow Cannes and Berlin and put under one roof what has long been an informal market?

My understanding is the origins of TIFF was as a Festival of Festivals, with a real focus on world cinema and bringing the best of the world’s cinema here to Toronto and to Toronto and Canadian audiences. But with so many major companies coming to TIFF already and doing business, and that having been quite robust for quite a while there wasn’t perhaps the essential need to officialize the market. Since that time, the landscape has changed significantly. The international industry and what it needs has shifted greatly. And we have heard from the international industry after a series of consultations that TIFF, being the largest public festival in North America, is really perfectly positioned to become an official marketplace where all these stakeholders can converge.

How does the American Film Market shifting from Los Angeles to Las Vegas figure in your own official market plans?

What we are establishing as an official market at TIFF is very different from the AFM. The AFM is not a festival market. And in many ways, it’s something that is much broader in its focus, with its own history. TIFF very much like Cannes or Berlin will be a festival market. And in many ways the market too will reflect the identity and vision of TIFF as a film festival. There will be many parts of the market designed to expand on what TIFF does already, as well as lean into curation, everywhere from market screenings to initiatives. So, in many ways you will see it will be a very different market from the AFM.

What’s the future for Toronto’s Industry Selects program, launched two years ago?

Yes, Industry Selects was a program [of] films in the market that we curate, and we worked with the stakeholders to really platform those market films to be seen by specific cohorts. And it really worked very, very well for us. Of course, The Holdovers most recently was a big success out of Industry Selects. We have heard a lot of very, very good feedback from companies who have had their films in Industry Selects. And that model is one that we will be expanding in our official market.

Your official market will see content and IP well beyond films sold?

Absolutely. So Primetime, our TV series section at the festival, has been growing. We have been launching some very exciting series every year. For example, last year, (Lulu Wang’s) Expats and the conversations that we had is a real example. We will also make sure that (TV) series plays a significant part in in our official market as well. As well we will also be looking at XR (Extended reality) and immersive content in the market. I think this is a space that Canadians really lead and we have a lot of very talented industry here in Canada that we feel do not have an international platform. The TIFF market will be able to provide this. So absolutely, it is a content market, not a film market. And this really allows us to provide a boost and a place where Canadian cultural industries can really converge and be spotlighted on the international stage.

Will there be an online side to your official market to accommodate those not on the ground in Toronto?

Excellent question. I can just say we recognize that year-round communication and year-round access to do business is really key. And we will be developing new technology that will be customized for the official market to really allow what we hope a seamless, business to happen, not only in person during the festival but year-round.

Will your formal market have a focus on films and content from Canada?

Canada will play a central role in the official market. We are currently designing a Canadian pavilion to house as many Canadian companies, producers and stakeholders as possible. We will be ensuring various Canadian stakeholders, big and small, will really be supported and included in the Canadian content market. That’s one of our core commitments. And we’ve already started consultations with Canadian companies, Canadian organizations, Canadian associations – those conversations and consultations will be a key part of the industry part of the festival this year. And we will have exciting announcements to come and some of that will be very, very specific opportunities for Canadians in the market.