Toronto's US Buyers and International Representation at the Festival

This blog was written for Toronto but has been updated to include more U.S. buyers who were not necessarily in Toronto. Its purpose is to list the current U.S. buyers and so it will be updated continually. ---Sydney November 1, 2009.

Of course there are the veterans which includes Sony Pictures Classics, Miramax Films, IFC, Magnolia Pictures, Fox Searchlight, Lionsgate, and perhaps Focus Features if it is still acquiring specialty films. Most of the other veterans have retained their micro size which allows them to exist and even have wider choices today. These include Zeitgeist Films, Kino International, The Samuel Goldwyn Company, Roadside Attractions, Strand Releasing, Regent Releasing incuding Here Films, Wolfe Releasing, Water Bearer Films, Troma, The Global Film Initiative, Indican Pictures, Film Forum, First Run Features, Women Make Movies, Roxie Releasing, Panorama Entertainment, The Criterion Collection/ Janus Film, Seventh Art Releasing, the essentially home entertainment companies Lorber Films, Image, Screen Media Ventures, MPI Media Group, Entertainment One, ArtMattan, or TV's LAP TV.

The new interesting labels are Marc Urman's Palladium Entertainment, Bob Berney's Apparition, Summit and Overture Films whose path seems to be diverging from specialty films.

Distributors who still need to prove their longevity include The Weinstein Company, Senator U.S., Liberation Entertainment , Film Movement, Palisades Tartan who just picked up Lourdes in Venice, Music Box Films, National Geographic , Indiepix , Film Movement, B-Side Entertainment, Oscilloscope, Figa, Gigantic, PorchLight, Indiepix and Cinema Tropical who are also looking to make a profitable deal.

Even the For-Rent-DIY distributors like Susan Jackson's Freestyle Releasing, Richard Abramowitz' Abramorama, Wendy Lidell's International Film Circuit and MJ Pekos' Mitropoulos Films, all run by truly professional vets, will be hunting future relationships.

Links will show all their films now and past.

We'll be watching.

Toronto's Sales & Industry Office director Stefan Wirthensohn reports that a number equa to last year's 3,000+ delegates from 62 countries have signed up this year. Higher numbers are in from Australia, China, Germany, Italy and Denmark. Attendance from Spain doubled this year. Fewer are on hand from Argentina which is gearing up for its new Cannes Market cobranded market Ventana Sur to be held in November after AFM, and from Japan -- though 2 last minute registrations came in just before the festival began -- which has been experiencing meltdown in the last 6 months, from South Korea, Mexico and the US. The number from US is attributable to indie prods staying at home.