It’s the end of the year, a time where we reflect, look back on the 365 days that were…for better or for worse. With hundreds of movies scene and moments lived in this crazy business of film I reached out to a collection of professionals, journalists, filmmakers, festival programmers and bloggers to talk about their favorite moment of this past year, and who better than yours truly to start this off.
David Voigt: Editor/Publisher at In The Seats (intheseats.ca)
“It was the middle of TIFF and everyone was hitting the wall emotionally and physically as it is always a tough and tiring grind no matter how much fun we are all having.”
“Earlier in the day I was lucky enough to participate in a roundtable interview season with writer/director Jean Marc Vallee about his film Demolition which played the festival and opens in April 2016. Being a fan of his work, it was a nice little thrill when he remembered that I had interviewed him the year before for Wild.”
“Everything went well and it was a good session for everyone involved, after which I went home for a quick nap before the Canada party, a big event being held later that night, where Mr. Vallee himself was going to be the guest DJ. A full house and an entertaining event when at the stroke of midnight, he came out to great applause and fan fare to begin his set and rejoice in what was a celebration of Canadian’s and their films.”
“He spotted me in the crowd with a smile of acknowledgment and went to work, and I don’t think I have ever danced so hard in my life. Not only is the man’s taste in music infectious which comes out in his films, but in an industry event where everyone is working, this man was having fun and it showed as the crowd danced the night away. It was a needed tonic and reminder of how fun this business of show can and should be.”
“Then to top it all off, he spotted me again, pulled me aside and thanked me for the interview and mentioned how much he genuinely enjoys talking about the art of filmmaking and how we as a group allowed him to do that, in such a business driven event.”
Christian Burgess: Producer at Latefox Pictures/Programmer, Programming Manager, Communications Manager and PR Assistant at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival
“2015 began as a whirlwind, and ended up essentially feeling the same sentiment.”
“That being said, there were numerous magical movie moments throughout these past three hundred and sixty-five days (where’d the time go?)”
“As usual, I’m embarrassingly behind in my movie watching, but without a doubt, my theatrical moment of 2015 would be, Mad Max: Fury Road. After being wowed with the Comic-Con trailer that Warner Bros. released in 2014, the long and excruciating wait ticked away until May 2015 where George Miller’s ecstatic and dazzling film-making, finally seared my retinas on the big screen and gloriously assaulted my hearing in remarkable Dolby Atmos, and energetically planted a Cheshire-cat beaming grin across my face.”
“2015 also kick-started my interested into actual film production, with myself being involved with an amazing team of collaborators on the independent psychological drama, The Demolisher. I oversaw many aspects of the film which included actual production to various edits to re-shoots to colour-grading to co-producing the soundtrack to marketing to film festivals to publicity. I was practically six-feet deep and up to my eye-balls in work on the film, and it’s something I’m incredibly proud to be a part of. “
“My final movie moment for 2015 would be my continued work for the Toronto After Dark Film Festival, as it celebrated a milestone with its tenth anniversary. Over the course of nine nights, nineteen films served up cinematic madness to amazing crowds. Existing records for screenings were shattered once again for the second year in a row! 2015 will be a tough one to top, but then again, we said that about 2014. It’s equally thrilling and humbling to be a part of something that brings about a love of all things film, and hope to continue this passion as we enter 2016.”
Norm Wilner: Senior Film Writer for NOW Magazine, VP for the Toronto Film Critics Association and host of the “Someone Else’s Movie” podcast.
“On August 11th, I had an hour-long lunch with Noah Baumbach at a French restaurant in Manhattan for a NOW cover on his excellent new comedy MISTRESS AMERICA. We discussed writing farce for the screen, his love for Renoir’s RULES OF THE GAME and the strange career he’s carved out for himself juggling small, personal projects while also doing dialogue jobs on MADAGASCAR sequels.”
“Then I grabbed a flight back to Toronto to put on an Adam West T-shirt and goof around on a stage at the Lightbox with Jason Gorber and Anne T. Donahue for the final night of our summer Versus series, introducing the 1966 BATMAN movie.”
“This actually sums up my entire career, as well as my year in film. I still wish I knew how I got here.”
Jesse Wente: Director of Film Programmes at TIFF Bell Lightbox
“That time Michael Mann phoned me while I was coaching a t-ball game.”
“We won.”
L Gustavo Cooper: Writer/Filmmaker/Producer: June, The Devil Incarnate, Velvet Road
“I got the chance to catch both Child’s Play and Fright Night at the Egyptian Theatre here in Los Angeles and in 35mm no less, with a Q & A with writer/director Tom Holland afterwards. That was the night I learned Fright Night was a damn near perfect script and left in awe of the power of seeing movies that have come before me.”
Brad Deane: Senior Manager, Film Programmes, TIFF
“My greatest moment this past year was welcoming Iranian filmmaker Amir Naderi to present his classic, The Runner (1985). Mr. Naderi thought his film had been lost on 35mm and he was resigned to only ever see it again on poor quality video copies. It was amazing to see how moved he was watching his own film on a beautiful 35mm print we discovered, forgotten in storage in the US.”
Dominic Messier: Editor/Founder at Pop Culture Landscape (popculturelandscape.com)
“Was reading Andy Weir’s The Martian and realizing just how bang on Ridley Scott was touching the salient points of the novel. Watching Matt Damon dominate the screen for the better part of two hours plus change? Man, forget the Bourne films, forget Good Will Hunting (okay, don’t do that), forget everything you know about this Boston kid. He rules Mars in every great way.”
Kelly Michael Stewart: Festival Director at the Blood In The Snow Canadian Film Festival/Writer, Director, Producer at Three Evil Cats Productions
“As the Festival Director of BITS, I have the unique privilege of witnessing each year a special moment in their lives. Filmmakers will spend sometimes years making their films and I get such joy seeing them put away the trials and tribulations of their lives to get dolled up for the red carpet and be a movie star for a night.
The highlight this year though was giving Larry Kent his award for Best Feature for She Who Must Burn. He had to skip out early before the awards and had to catch his bus back to Montreal, so I wanted to make sure he had his award with him. He had mentioned that it might be last film during his Q&A but when he was told that he won Best Picture and would receive 50% off his post production for his next feature he lit up and said “Maybe I have time for one more.”
Gabriel Carrer: Writer/Director/Producer: The Demolisher/Co-Founder: Latefox Pictures
“The year 2015 further exemplified the undying quest to make films for the cinema that round the edges of horror and action with some more art house sensibilities.
The entire year was a highlight, bringing The Demolisher to audiences across the world and I couldn’t be more thankful for the reception, the positive and the negative. It’s been five years since a film of mine played at the Fantasia International Film Festival, and I was both nervous and happy to showcase the film to a sold out audience. Genre films are a risk, and the audience is always taking a risk when purchasing a ticket to see one. The Demolisher is a landmark film for Latefox Pictures Inc, because it encompasses complete 100% independence and puts the art first. When we landed our sold out hometown premiere at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival, we were happy that the genre film community was taking a chance on us and supported the type of films we want to make and move forward with. It’s a fantastic time to be producing genre films in Canada, and 2015 was a testament to the openness and heavily smart opinionated audiences we have.”
Cameron Bailey: Artistic Director, Toronto International Film Festival
“We hosted our second annual Ebert Tribute at the Festival this year. Last year, Roger Ebert’s widow Chaz joined us to honour Martin Scorsese. This year the honour went to Selma director Ava DuVernay. To see people like Michael Moore, David Oyelowo and Academy chairperson Cheryl Boone Isaacs come together to pay tribute to the inspirational force that is Ava DuVernay was a highlight of the year. And now Ava has a Barbie doll made in her likeness. I don’t even think Mattel made one for Marty.”
That’s it and that’s all, keep it locked here at In The Seats as we get ready to name the best 50 films of 2015.
