http://www.newstalk1010.com/blog/tiff/home.aspxJustine Lewkowicz from NEWSTALK 1010 blogs about her experiences at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festivalen-usCopyright 2012, CFRB-AMFri, 24 May 2013 22:30:05 GMTWed, 12 Sep 2012 23:25:04 GMT1http://emmisinteractive.comIf you've tried to grab a table on restaurant row at King and John Sts during the festival, you may have noticed how difficult it's been because they've been at full capacity. TIFF is like Christmas for many businesses in the area, especially the restaurants feeding all the filmgoers and filmmakers in town. Here's what some of the businesses in the area had to say today:   Todd Sherman, owner of Hey Lucy and Gabby's bar on King St, says business has been up about 25 per cent this past week. Meanwhile, his Yorkville Hey Lucy location has not seen any increase in business since the festival started. For two years now, all official TIFF events have moved from Yorkville to the King and John Sts area where the TIFF Bell Lightbox stands. Sherman also says this has been the busiest TIFF for his restaurants. He says he thinks the festival itself ...http://www.newstalk1010.com/blog/tiff/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10437728jlewkowicz@astral.com (Justine Lewkowicz)http://www.newstalk1010.com/blog/tiff/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10437728Wed, 12 Sep 2012 23:25:04 GMTWhile the stars walk the red carpets and smile for the cameras, most of the action at TIFF happens behind the scenes. Many films came to the festival without distributors and the producers are busy trying to convince potential buyers to screen them and make an offer. Some films have already been successful in landing a deal this week. The Place Beyond the Pines starring Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper has been nabbed by Focus Features. Sarah Polley's documentary Stories We Tell has been acquired by Roadside Attractions. A much talked about film, Dangerous Liaisons, has been picked up by Well Go USA. But some producers are still in the middle of the search, including Toronto's Daniel Iron. His film, Inescapable with Joshua Jackson, Alexander Siddig and Marisa Tomei, premieres at TIFF tonight. Iron says finding a U.S. buyer is a crucial step. "It's the biggest market, so you want to break into the market. ...http://www.newstalk1010.com/blog/tiff/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10437211jlewkowicz@astral.com (Justine Lewkowicz)http://www.newstalk1010.com/blog/tiff/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10437211Tue, 11 Sep 2012 21:37:02 GMTRob Zombie got quite the reception when he arrived at Ryerson Theatre Monday night for the screening of his horror flick, Lords of Salem. It was part of TIFF's Midnight Madness programming that shows genre films. When he got out of his SUV alongside his gorgeous wife, Sheri Moon, his fans erupted with excitement. One fan, Lisa, yelled out, "He's been my god since I was four years old and I just met Rob Zombie!" She then went on to explain how excited she is to have been able to touch his hair. I got a chance to chat with Rob on the red carpet. He says he's grateful TIFF screens genre films like his. "It seems as if they treat the movies with respect, so that's nice." And he says he was looking forward to seeing the audience's reaction to his film first-hand. The reaction he was hoping for? ...http://www.newstalk1010.com/blog/tiff/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10436755jlewkowicz@astral.com (Justine Lewkowicz)http://www.newstalk1010.com/blog/tiff/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10436755Tue, 11 Sep 2012 19:56:32 GMTOn Sunday, Hugh Grant was celebrating his birthday at TIFF. A day later, his Bridget Jones' Diary costar turned 52 in Toronto. Colin Firth walked the red carpet for the film, Arthur Newman. The film is about a man who fakes his own death because he found his life miserable and wanted to start over. Firth says he's never had that urge because acting lets him parachute out of his life every once in a while. Then, he says he enjoys getting back to his everyday life. Watch a video of Colin Firth on the red carpet, along with his costar, Emily Blunt: http://www.newstalk1010.com/blog/tiff/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10436754jlewkowicz@astral.com (Justine Lewkowicz)http://www.newstalk1010.com/blog/tiff/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10436754Tue, 11 Sep 2012 19:55:26 GMTTIFF isn't just about the red carpets and the stars, even though that is what ends up on the front page. There's more action happening behind the scenes, including at the Filmmakers Lounge at the Hyatt. That's where filmmakers and actors from around the world gather. For 10 days, the industry folk are networking, learning from each other and creating contacts. "TIFF is pretty much a home for me, to educate myself and to meet new people," says Kobi Ntiri, an emerging director hoping to get one of his short films on the festival's line up in the future. Steven Dunn, also a young director, says TIFF is an extremely important event for him. "That's your chance to meet distributors, sales agents, and other filmmakers that you wouldn't get a chance to meet the rest of the year." Actors also spend a lot of time meeting filmmakers in the lounge, including Charlie ...http://www.newstalk1010.com/blog/tiff/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10437112jlewkowicz@astral.com (Justine Lewkowicz)http://www.newstalk1010.com/blog/tiff/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10437112Tue, 11 Sep 2012 18:10:08 GMTFor the past five days, Hollywood stars have been walking the red carpets at TIFF, answering media questions. Every once in a while, a reporter will ask a question that rubs an actor the wrong way. That happened to me today on the red carpet of Arthur Newman starring Colin Firth and Emily Blunt. Blunt seemed offended by my question, which was directly related to the plot. The film is about a man who fakes his own death to start a new life. Watch a video of my question and her reaction: http://www.newstalk1010.com/blog/tiff/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10436753jlewkowicz@astral.com (Justine Lewkowicz)http://www.newstalk1010.com/blog/tiff/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10436753Tue, 11 Sep 2012 06:15:31 GMTIt felt like half of Hollywood arrived in Toronto on Friday. A long list of A-listers were in town promoting their films at TIFF. Bradley Cooper, Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes were on the red carpet for their film, The Place Beyond The Pines: A couple of hours later, Amy Adams and Joaquin Phoenix walked the same red carpet at the Princess of Wales Theatre for their film, The Master: And at the end of the night, dozens of fans surrounded Ryerson Theatre to try to catch a glimpse of one of the many stars in Seven Psychopaths. It was a Midnight Madness red carpet, and it sure turned into madness when Christopher Walken, Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson, Olga Kurylenko and Abby Cornish arrived: http://www.newstalk1010.com/blog/tiff/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10436102jlewkowicz@astral.com (Justine Lewkowicz)http://www.newstalk1010.com/blog/tiff/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10436102Tue, 11 Sep 2012 06:11:18 GMTThe day after walking the red carpet, the cast of Cloud Atlas held a press conference that was full of laughs. It all started when Tom Hanks led them through a rendition of Happy Birthday for Hugh Grant, who turned 52 today. The press had also joined in on the singing. Grant thanked everyone and said, "this is the first nice thing the press has ever done for me." Hanks also brought a few laughs when he impersonated his costar Jim Sturgess. And when Susan Sarandon was asked what small event in her life led her to become an A-list actress, she said, "I'm here because all my plans failed." That also had the room laughing. Watch a video of the birthday moment: http://www.newstalk1010.com/blog/tiff/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10436269jlewkowicz@astral.com (Justine Lewkowicz)http://www.newstalk1010.com/blog/tiff/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10436269Sun, 09 Sep 2012 22:35:31 GMTThere are about five floors of the Intercontinental hotel on Front St that are transformed during TIFF. The rooms house publicists, studios, suites for the press junkets, and suites for media outlets that are used for one-on-one interviews. The Movie Network has a suite, and I visited today. One of the stars to come through was Zac Efron, who is at TIFF promoting the film, At Any Price. Here he is with director Ramin Bahrani. Before leaving, every actor, director and producer is asked to sign TMN's poster. Here's Zac's autograph: http://www.newstalk1010.com/blog/tiff/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10436268jlewkowicz@astral.com (Justine Lewkowicz)http://www.newstalk1010.com/blog/tiff/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10436268Sun, 09 Sep 2012 22:30:06 GMTSaturday was another star-studded day at TIFF. Hundreds of fans surrounded Ryerson Theatre in the afternoon to catch a glimpse of Johnny Depp, who sported sunglasses and a leather jacket. One fan got so excited she jumped the barrier and security had to pull her away! Over at the Princess of Wales Theatre, young fans screamed their lungs out when Adam Sandler and Selena Gomez arrived for the red carpet of Hotel Transylvania. Later in the evening, all eyes were once again on the Princess of Wales Theatre. This time, a long list of stars had arrived for the world premiere of Cloud Atlas. Among those who walked the red carpet for the film were Tom Hanks, Halle Berry and Susan Sarandon. I was there! Check out a video of A-listers on the carpet: http://www.newstalk1010.com/blog/tiff/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10436190jlewkowicz@astral.com (Justine Lewkowicz)http://www.newstalk1010.com/blog/tiff/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10436190Sun, 09 Sep 2012 00:43:13 GMT