Some of our pals in Vancouver have made their way to AFM. Pale Thomas and Daniel Joseph have done some great work together on Vancity Raps, which won Best Canadian Documentary at VIFF and some of their other films like The Guardian have made great progress. The two guys run a business called British Columbia Pictures, and are currently working on something new called The Pitch, where they focus mainly on the film industry, get info form professionals and make their way to the greatest event across the border, AFM where they will pitch their projects to many executives and companies. They are sure to make great partnerships and even better work while out there. Nothing like AFM can strengthen a company with the right kind of people becoming associated. If you’re there for this week, maybe meet up with the guys. You might like their pitches.
Where do you expect to find emerging filmmakers female-led production companies, and local vendors all together? At a film festival, of course! I’ll always enjoy a chance to cover film festivals when I can, or even do announcements on them to spread awareness. However, I can’t cover this one and it’s a shame, because it sounds so exciting. It’s the Brain Scramble Film Festival happening in Toronto. You’re probably questioning the name of this festival so allow me to explain. It’s not about surreal films, or films about brain surgery, it’s called that because one of the two organizations hosting it is the Brain Scramble Magazine. It’s a magazine in Toronto that promotes young artists around the world and in a pretty collective way too. Content includes poetry, art, and other forms of writing and pictures. They’re coming together with a production company called HerHouse, which is run completely by women and operates with the intentions to let underrepresented people in the industry come forth and speak up, getting the recognition they deserve to achieve their goals. Together, the two collaborating companies will host this festival which will be happening November 9th on 3300 Dundas St West. The night will have 8 short films from Canadian filmmakers who are young and just starting out. That won’t be all though, local vendors will be at the spot selling fashion, artworks and photography prints. This sounds like the greatest event ever, I wish I could be there. Readers of Toronto, I advise you to buy some tickets while they last. I may have had to give up mine, but I can’t wait to see the blowup on social media after a successful opening night.