#199 TIFF Is A Monster That's Eating Itself

September 17, 2017

SHARE

CANADALAND

#199 TIFF Is A Monster That’s Eating Itself

Every year, Toronto hosts some of the biggest stars in Hollywood as they debut their new films. But is the Toronto International Film Festival actually good for the city?

Jesse Brown

Host & Publisher

Kevin Sexton

Producer

For one week every year, the Canadian press transforms into movie industry experts. Our newspapers run glossy red carpet photos of Hollywood stars and stories about which movies penned distribution deals with who. But who’s benefiting from all this?

Norm Wilner has been covering the Toronto International Film Festival for 30 years. As a film critic at NOW Magazine, he’s seen it grow into the monster it’s become.

If you want to read more, the Globe and Mail published this investigation (paywalled) into TIFF’s business over the weekend.

More from this series

#1326 A Reality Check with Iranian-Canadians

“There are many agents from the regime within Toronto and other cities documenting our faces and our presence.” -Bahar Almasi

March 9, 2026

BONUS: Extreme Body Mods, Christian Nationalists, and Other Rabbit Holes

"You take the red pill - you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes." -Morpheus

March 5, 2026

#1322 Scoop: AI Slop Training for Aircraft Mechanics

“Everybody needs to know about this. We need to shut this down. This is aviation. This is training. There are safety issues here.” -Jeff Weeks, Aviation Executive

March 2, 2026

#1318 The Only Reporter in Tumbler Ridge

“I knew that the swarm of reporters was going to descend and that everybody wanted a little piece of somebody. So I was like, well, I will allow myself to be the bone that the news hounds chew on.” -Trent Ernst, Reporter/Editor/Publisher at Tumbler RidgeLines

February 23, 2026

#1314 Jay Baruchel’s CanCon Manifesto

“ If you think the world is better with Canada in it then you have to accept that certain things have to happen for that to continue.” -Jay Baruchel

February 16, 2026

#1310 Was New Brunswick’s Medical Mystery a “House of Cards”?

“ That is not what we were promised. That's not what our patients expected.” -Dr. Alier Marrero

February 9, 2026

BONUS: The Buddhist Monks Buying Up PEI and Other Hot Gossip?

We wanted to know all of your local gossip. How toxic is your subreddit? How angry are your community Facebook groups? And boy, did you deliver.

February 5, 2026

#1306 The Freelancer’s Guide to Getting Revenge When You’ve Been Ripped Off

This is a tale of revenge. It’s also a David and Goliath story, about one man going up against giant corporations and winning.

February 2, 2026

All Podcasts

CANADALAND