TIFF: Diaries of a First Time Reporter

When I was creating my application to host a show on CFMU last year – a way I wanted to share my love of film and cinema – I had little hope that it would be picked up. I never imagined enough people would listen and interact with it that I'd have a shot at any kind of official press status, let alone earn accreditation.

Yet, here I am, sitting in the press office at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), in between industry screenings, writing about all the things I've learned as a first timer to this entire experience.

Because, while it's an incredible privilege and opportunity, it's also a heck of a learning curve. There's a saying that no one will train you for your dream job, and I'm here to tell you it's true. I'm a university student, coming at all of this through the lens of film studies more so than journalism, but I’ve picked up a lot – quickly.

I’m basically that star-struck kid in Almost Famous, learning everything on the fly in a way I never expected to. It’s amazing, and it’s scary, and I love every second of it. So, here is everything I've learned in this trial by fire that I wouldn't trade for the world.

Shoot your shot

There is an alternate reality where I didn't apply for this. I thought I wouldn’t have a chance, and it would be a waste of time, and it was only through extensive encouragement from friends and family that I even tried. I couldn’t imagine a world where publicists would care about what I have to say about their movies. In that reality, unlike this one, my last week was much more boring, and I missed all these invaluable firsthand experiences.

There's another reality where I didn't apply for red carpet interview access. That's way above my level, and what movie star or director would want to talk to some newbie radio host who's never done a thing like this before? In that reality, unlike this one, I didn't get the opportunity to speak to Brett Goldstein, Imogen Poots, Joel Oulette, or Keira Jang about their respective films. In that reality I had neither the confidence to think I could do those things, nor the strength to be okay if I got rejected (which I've also learned that I have).

Red carpet questions

Speaking of red carpets, I had a lot to learn about good, quick interview questions. These places are busy, sometimes with over sixty outlets on one carpet. This means maybe one full question to each interviewee. Each carpet only tells the press that they've been approved to attend a couple of hours in advance, and for my first one I scrambled to find good, personalized questions for each of the attending talent - something I've since learned is a massive mistake. Maybe this kind of interview style is good for sitting down and having a conversation, but when things are so chaotic and you're not 100% certain of who you’re talking to, you might end up saying that very specific question to the wrong person - which I did.

The second carpet I attended went better, and it wasn’t a coincidence that the people beside me were both veterans in the field and willing to share their expertise with a newbie. They helped me nail down a standard system - ask for their name, then ask them to explain their film in their own words. I like to find a character they’ve played before, and ask how that character would review this movie (a particularly great response from Brett as Roy Kent), but those are additions. Keep it simple. Real conversations can arise from the smaller questions.

Talk to people

This stems from my red carpet learnings, but more often than not people want to talk – about movies they've seen, about movies they will see, about movies they want to see, or about movies in general! We're all at TIFF because we love film. It doesn't matter if they're a guest or press, industry or public. No one coming to an event like this won't have strong opinions on cinema. This one was harder for me to adjust to, as I feel like an introvert most of the time. I had a few nice five-minute chats here and there, but nothing super big.

Then, one day between screenings, I was in the Press and Industry office getting some coffee. Picture it - I'm in line, looking at my phone, waiting quietly, when I look up and see Iman Velanni standing a few feet away: Ms Marvel herself. As an actress in the press room, I knew she wasn't looking to be a famous person right now. I wasn't about to be a jerk and go up to her, gushing about how much I love her work.

So, I get my coffee, walk out, and head to my next screening playing it super cool (and excitedly calling my friends to tell them that I was in the same room as Ms Marvel). I'm about half an hour early to the film, so I'm sitting, minding my own business, and I'm sure you can guess who walks in five minutes later. What am I left to do?

I psych myself up, take a deep breath, and introduce myself. I apologize for interrupting her, saying that "I just wanted to tell you that I love your show and your comics," and she... talks back. Like a person. Who also loves movies, and is also here to appreciate cinema, and is willing to have a real chat about her favourite films she's seen at the festival so far.

Maybe this story also falls into the category of shooting your shot, but forcing yourself outside of your comfort zone and trusting that people at a film festival also love films means that you get to meet a lot of really cool people.

Bring only what you need

TIFF is a busy place, and more often than not you'll be sitting in a packed theater, sharing armrests with strangers on each side. Travel light, and if you bring a bag, make it one you won't mind putting on the floor.

That being said, I reached out the senior film critic at That Shelf before the festival, and she gave me some of the greatest advice I could have receive: bring your own food. Normally, that's a cardinal sin for any kind of theater. But if you're in a situation where you're watching five movies in one day, you just can't survive on popcorn and Cineplex nachos.

Pack some granola bars, make a sandwich, bring a water bottle. If you find yourself left hungry between screenings, you'll be forced to stop into one of the coffee shops on the streets around the festival that hike up their prices just for people like you. Don't make that mistake and end up with a $15 salad.

Ask questions

I've mentioned before that almost everyone at the festival is willing to talk, and that includes the staff. Of the 20-plus screenings I've attended so far, I've made time before probably 15 of them to have a chat with the volunteers standing outside of the theater. What kind of people volunteer for TIFF? People who love movies too! I have yet to meet a single volunteer not willing to chat, direct me to a screening, or answer my protocol questions.

Coming into a festival like this with no prior experience, as a university student whose only hosted her radio show for a year, I started the festival terrified that they'd call me out for not belonging alongside industry professionals who have real jobs and LinkedIn accounts. If I ever had a question about where I was supposed to go, how I was supposed to act, how early I should be, those kind and knowledgeable volunteers in yellow always had a good answer for me.

Get obscure

Before the festival, there are always movies that are coming in with more buzz than others. If you pay attention to film news, you probably know that the ones to watch out for this year at TIFF are
We Live In Time, Anora, SATURDAY NIGHT, and Nightbitch, to name a few. But those aren’t even close to all of what the festival has to offer.

Watch a documentary, watch an indie horror, watch a series of short films, watch something in another language. These bigger movies might be the ones getting all the attention, but that also means that they’ll probably get picked up by a big distributor and end up in theaters all over the country.

They’re still great, don’t get me wrong. But at a festival like this, take advantage of what you can only see here. Then you can impress people by only knowing the obscure stuff.

Covering TIFF has been an insane way to start a semester. I don’t know if I’ve ever been busier in my life, with trips into Toronto every few days to watch five movies in a row.

It’s also pretty life changing, though. These are experiences I’d never trade, and not just in the core memory sense. I’ve learned how to be a member of the press, and what this side of the industry is like. Getting to do it under the banner of CFMU, an organization that has done so much for me in such a short amount of time? Even better.

But I digress. The festival is on its tail end, and there’s still so much to see. Off to the next screening!