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Fun at the Hot Docs Forum

Last week I had the opportunity to attend the Hot Docs Forum with a great client from Calgary.

The Forum is part of Hot Docs, North America’s largest documentary festival. Set in the Gothic Revival-style Hart House on the campus of the University of Toronto, it brings together selected documentary producers to publicly pitch their projects to over 180 key international broadcasters and financiers from around the world, and to a gallery of accredited observers. For buyers, the Hot Docs Forum offers a curated slate of projects in development or production by elite international filmmakers.

As observers we were there to gain prime industry intelligence and valuable networking opportunities with commissioners, buyers, financiers and other filmmakers. We saw a lot of amazing pitches, heard a lot of poignant feedback from the broadcasters, and met a lot of nice people.

Thoughts on NextMedia Toronto

Michael Wolff at NextMedia 2010 in Toronto

I’ve been lucky enough to attend NextMedia almost every year since 2005. This usually means heading to the Rockies in June where the conference is part of the Banff World Television Festival. It’s always great getting back to one of my favourite little towns in the world, seeing friends in the biz, meeting new ones, and getting exposed to a lot fresh mountain air and fresh ideas.

A couple of years ago Achilles Media, the company that puts on the conference, decided to make it a bi-annual affair and to hold a NextMedia event each year in Toronto. I’d never been to the new big city version until this year and am really glad I went.

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