9-4-2004
An open letter to the executive committee (Piers, Michèle, Noah, et
al.) running the Toronto International Film Festival:
Hey gang,
As the 29th festival gets underway, I'm going to have to ask you all to
do me a favour: would you please stop talking—in the press, at
screenings, wherever—about how great Toronto audiences are, and how
we make the fest what it is? Because the more you say it, the less I
believe that's really what you think... since the policies undertaken by
the TIFF Group seem to be remarkably disproportional to how much you
say you love us.
To your credit, I notice that you're already starting to pull pack on
the praise. In the official welcome letter published in this year's
program book, you thank everyone you can think of—from the filmmakers
to the volunteers to the guy who runs the New York Fries booth at the
Paramount—for helping to make the festival great, but there's one
glaring omission in your list of kudos. The audience. You remember us,
don't you? We're the ones who, in years past, have been repeatedly held
up as some of the best in the world. We were, you said, the reason so
many filmmakers and actors loved coming to Toronto. We were the reason
studios wanted to debut films here. We were thoughtful, intelligent,
insightful, enthusiastic and supportive. You said all these things
before, and Noah even reiterated them to the media a couple of weeks
ago at the August 24th press conference announcing the festival's full
line-up this year.
But, seriously, if you love us so much... if we're really the backbone of
the festival... then why do you go to such great lengths to give us the
collective shaft year after year, and in increasingly insulting ways?
This year takes the cake, by far. You've already got the ridiculous
ticket lottery—something no one will ever convince me (and many, many
others) is remotely fair—in place to give us that initial knee to the
groin. Please don't try to defend it. The fact is, you're essentially
asking us to fork over cash for completely non-refundable
coupons and passes so that we might, MIGHT, maybe, possibly, actually
get to use them for movies we want to see. But maybe not. Depends on
where we land in the lottery. And if we wind up in a crummy box,
without the movies we want, well that's just too bad, isn't it? Money
back? Not a chance. "Suck it up, unlucky filmgoer!" is the message
you're sending. (And please don't try to tell me that we should then
just pick alternate movies, which we may also enjoy. The point is: we
want what we ordered. Just like someone buying a plane ticket to
Florida likely won't be thrilled when he gets a ticket to Minnesota
instead. Sure, Minnesota might be swell, but he wanted Florida!)
As if that wasn't bad enough, you raised the prices this year. At first
glance, it doesn't seem like they've gone up too much... until you read
the fine print and see that, this year, the price doesn't
include taxes. So that's an extra 7% per ticket on top of the increase
right there.
Then, because a price increase obviously isn't enough, you tacked on a
$4.00 "convenience fee" for any returning festivalgoers or VISA
cardholders who wanted to take "advantage" of ordering a week before
everyone else. So, basically, our reward for being repeat customers is
the privilege of paying an extra $4.00. Yes, I know, we could have
waited the extra week... but all phone or online orders would still
be subject to the $4.00 fee. And you made darn sure to scare the
bejesus out of us with the little fear-mongering note on your mailings
that warned us passes and coupons sell out very quickly.
Okay, so fine, you jack the prices and tack on the "convenience" fee.
Why then, without any prior warning, did you also feel the need to add
yet ANOTHER surcharge by making us pay an additional $2 per item
ordered??? That means if someone bought a coupon book, a pass and a
program book (3 items), they'd be paying another $6 on top of
everything else. Of course, none of the mailings mentioned this
surcharge. It just popped up onscreen or on the phone when ticket
buyers were already in the process of ordering. "Take THAT, suckers!"
is what you seemed to be saying.
You also failed to properly inform us that, this year, splitting coupon
books when ordering was a no-no. I only found out because I caught wind
of a rumor and called the box office to check. Nowhere in the original
mailings or ordering website was this outlined, so ticket buyers only
found out AFTER they'd already shelled out the money for the, as
mentioned previously, non-refundable coupons. "We gotcha!" you seemed
to laugh.
This year, the day pass (which also went up in price) is only good for
movies starting before 5:01pm. In previous years, it was open to films
starting before 6:01pm. Sure, you've added several screenings on the
first Friday, but not enough to make up for the dozens of 5pm to 6pm
movies that would have been available for the duration of the fest to
day pass holders in previous years.
Don't even get me started on the new venues. If you're going to use the
Paramount, why not use more than just TWO screens? They have, what, 14?
16? If we have to trek all the way down to John & Richmond, why not at
least make it worth our time by offering enough films that we could
spend the day there? Instead, we have to go back and forth between Bay
& Bloor, praying that the TTC is running smoothly or the streets are
clear enough that we can make it to and from movies on time. What about
daytime screenings at Roy Thomson Hall or the Elgin? I know it means
you'll have to rent those theaters for more money, but geez—surely
you must be raking in enough extra cash thanks to all your freakin'
"convenience" fees.
So, let's review. You've raised prices, added all kinds of surprise
fees, spread out the festival village, reduced the usage of the day
pass and still insist on leaving our ticketing success to fate. All
this to "reward" an audience you say you—and all the visiting
filmmakers—so love. What's can we look forward to next? A $1.00 per
ticket printing fee? A standing-in-line tax of 50 cents per film?
Charging for the schedule or order form? Some kind of monetary penalty
for having a cell phone go off during a screening? (Actually, I'd fully
support that last one.)
See, as the Toronto Film Festival grows in scope and worldwide acclaim
every year, the focus on the all-important audience seems to be fading.
Studios and distributors and corporate sponsors are taking precedence.
Their fest-going experiences are getting better, and ours are
getting worse. Their work is being made easier, and ours is getting
increasingly difficult. My biggest fear is that TIFF will follow in the
footsteps of Cannes or Sundance to become a film festival catering to
the industry, and not the public. Where screenings aren't open to real
audiences or where ticket prices are so outrageous that no human being
could realistically afford to attend. And that would, in a word, suck.
I love the Toronto Film Festival, I really do, and this will be my 14th
year enjoying movies from around the world. But I get more and more
resentful with each passing year, and I know I'm not alone. I've
already had three friends of mine—all of whom are longtime, hardcore
festival goers—tell me that they may not go to the fest next year if
these pricing and policy changes continue. Why bother, they said, when
it's becoming a bigger and bigger financial burden for a diminished
festival experience?
And I have to say, they might be right.
Hugs and air kisses,
Vickie at Moviepie.com
(Agree? Disagree? Let me know at: vickie@moviepie.com)
