Event Preview: Hot Docs

With its mix of public and professional events, the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival has positioned itself as North America’s largest conference dedicated to the nonfiction genre. Even the tough economic times haven’t stifled the turnout, as the event gears up for its biggest outing to date. "Our box office is booming and attendance is projected to edge over 100,000 for the first time, a 20-percent-plus increase over last year," says Chris McDonald, the executive director of Hot Docs.

And the growth is widespread for the event. The Doc Shop videotheque now has more than 1,500 digitized titles available online to international buyers year-round, Hot Docs launched a $4 million production fund for Canadian doc makers, and the popular Doc Soup screening series has expanded into Vancouver and Calgary. "While our growth has been rapid—attendance has been doubling every three years—we’ve made it a priority to maintain as intimate, friendly and professional an atmosphere as possible. So, as an example, while the growth has been quite steady, we’ve maintained the same percentage of guest directors at our screenings, the same buyer-to-seller ratio at our market events, and grown the number staff and volunteer support teams throughout the festival."

The importance of face-to-face networking was a key consideration as the event was being planned, notes McDonald, as dozens of social events are lined up throughout the festival to "encourage guests to loosen up and get to know each other." Other networking opportunities come in the way of conference sessions, master classes and panel interviews designed to support filmmakers at all stages of their career, including a roster of programs for high school and university students. Hot Docs is also keen to open up development opportunities for documentary filmmakers, with a number of micro-meetings led by funding sources, broadcasters and equipment suppliers, along with hundreds of one-on-one meetings between commissioning editors and creatives. Conference sessions this year include "Writing for Documentary," "Creative Film Financing," "Distribution for a New Era" and "Growing a Creative Business in Turbulent Times."

The Toronto Documentary Forum (TDF) is Hot Docs’ flagship market event, and raises more than $5 million per year, on average, for producers. Some 150 broadcasters attend the TDF each year, along with another 400 producers and directors, explains McDonald. "The TDF’s dramatic growth has been in lock step with the festival’s, and has helped make Hot Docs a calendar event for the documentary industry." The TDF is launching a new initiative this year, the Good Pitch, in association with the Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation and the Sundance Institute, putting the spotlight on five human-rights-focused documentary film projects.

With its continued growth and new additions to the lineup, Hot Docs remains a vibrant market, despite a challenging economy and unstable marketplace. "The [documentary] market is in flux again—but what else is new?," McDonald admits. "Documentary-making has never been for the feint of heart. There are fewer channels for producers to pitch and budget cuts have decreased the number of commissions and price for acquisitions. Co-productions have become an essential reality for most one-off documentaries. At the same time, docs have never been hotter, and technology and distribution models continue to evolve in exciting ways. Successful producers will continue to adapt along with the marketplace and smart directors will continue to make provocative work."