Toronto Film CEO Sees $500 Million in Deals From New Market

The Toronto International Film Festival expects to generate seven times more sales of movies, television series and video-game projects within the next five years, after launching a market to facilitate such transactions. 

Unlike the Cannes and Berlin film festivals, which have programs and areas dedicated to selling new projects, the Toronto event — the largest film festival in North America — had focused on exhibiting movies rather than brokering purchases in the 49 years since its founding. 

“Right now we assess the ongoing sales activity at roughly an average of $70 million a year in deals that are done out of our festival,” Cameron Bailey, chief executive officer of the Toronto film festival, said in an interview. “That should grow to between $400 million and $500 million within five years.”

Toronto will become the first film festival in North America to include content sales. The American Film Market, which focuses on production and distribution deals and is held in Las Vegas in November, generates about $1 billion worth of transactions and is attended by more than 8,000 delegates, according to its website. 

Earlier this year, Canada pledged to invest C$23 million in building the content market, which is expected to more than double the number of industry attendees to 12,000, Bailey said. Along with Hollywood’s traditional studios and streaming platforms, Bailey said he expects prospective film buyers to come from countries including China and territories in East and Southeast Asia. 

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