Venice Market Chief Pascal Diot Says He’s Not Affected by New Toronto Market: ‘Not What the Industry Wants Now’

Venice’s informal indie market, the Venice Production Bridge, kicked off Sept. 4 with some 4,000 film industry executives — almost half of which are producers — in attendance on the Lido, where 37 feature-length fiction and documentary projects, and 14 immersive projects, will be on display at the VPB’s gap-financing platform.

A new addition to the calendar is the Toronto Intl. Film Festival’s high-profile film market, known as TIFF: The Market, which debuts Sept. 10, the day after VPB ends. It could expand the fierce competition for prime film premieres between the Venice and Toronto fests into the film market space.

But VPB chief Pascal Diot seems unperturbed.

“So far, the Toronto market has not had any impact on our numbers,” said Diot, who specified that, besides attracting plenty of producers, he also has the same number of sales agents and distributors coming to the Lido this year.

Diot added that he knows that some executives who are now in Venice have also been invited to Toronto, noting that “we will see what happens next year.”

But Diot is not too worried about TIFF: The Market going forward.

Toronto market chief Charles Tremblay “is really trying to create a sell-and-buy market,” with lots of stands, said Diot, adding, “I am not entirely pessimistic about his prospects. But I think it’s not what the industry wants now.”

The Venice Production Bridge’s focus is on production, in all its stages, from development to distribution. This differentiates VPB from sales and distribution markets such as the Cannes Marché du Film or the Berlinale’s European Film Market.

The 37 feature film projects in final stages of development and funding at VPB include new works from name auteurs such as Jessica Hausner, Lav Diaz, Ursula Meier and Asmae El Moudir.

This year’s VPB’s Book Adaptation Rights Market, meanwhile, features 30 international publishers and literary agencies meeting with producers looking for literary IP. The Meet the Streamers program comprises meetings with seven platforms, including Netflix, HBO Max, Greece’s Cinobo and Switzerland’s SRG SSR.

Meanwhile, there will be spotlights on Greece and Switzerland, with both countries launching new incentives to try and attract more international shoots.

Venice may lack the formal market infrastructure that Cannes has, but for the French film industry it has become a major showcase for French and international cinema and a meeting point for the country’s producers, distributors and sales agents as the fall season gets underway. This year marks a milestone with four French movies slated to compete for a Golden Lion on the Lido.

“There are a lot of French films selected, so naturally you have sales agents and producers coming to accompany those films. But it goes beyond that,” says Gilles Renouard, deputy managing director of French film promotion org Unifrance. “There are projects that are interesting for French distributors, films they want to see. Venice isn’t very big, so there are always people around, there’s a lot of traffic and you constantly run into people.”

Renouard points to strong French representation not only across the festival selections but also the Venice Production Bridge and other industry programs.

Daniela Elstner, Unifrance’s managing director, says Venice’s importance also stems from its position on the calendar. “You have Cannes and then, to kick-start the fall season again, you have Venice,” she says.

Crucially, Venice remains a launchpad rather than simply a place to do business. “If all we needed were markets, that would be different. But this is a festival that launches films,” Elstner says, pointing to the international press presence and visibility it provides French movies.

Cost is another factor, particularly as companies scrutinize travel budgets. While Venice itself is expensive, Elstner notes that “it’s not a festival on the other side of the world. You can go for a few days. It’s still a festival in Europe.”

That purse-tightening is impacting how industry players are navigating the fall circuit. “Before, the Venice-Toronto combo was absolutely obligatory. You couldn’t launch a film in Venice without going to Toronto afterwards,” Elstner says. “Today, I don’t think it’s necessarily required.”

She says Venice also offers something increasingly valuable: time. Elstner describes “sales, meetings that are quite relaxed because you have more time.”

The 13th edition of the Venice Production Bridge will run through Sept. 9.