Why Quieter Red Carpets Are Important at this Year's TIFF

By Karen Gordon

It starts with the words.

This year, the Toronto International Film Festival is happening amid one of the longest and arguably most significant labour actions in Hollywood history.

Both the Writers Guild of America and the actors, represented by SAG-AFTRA, are on strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), walking picket lines for months now, even as we're into the fall season and major film festivals.

TIFF Rising Star Cody Lightning, a Canadian, will be a bright light at this year's festival with his film, Hey, Viktor!

TIFF is one of three major festivals impacted. See also Venice, which wraps on September 9, and Telluride in Colorado, which wrapped September 4. Normally, all three give us a preview of what’s coming up as the fall movie season kicks into gear, and Toronto especially — the last of these big three — is considered the launch for the fall season, and the bellwether for the Oscar race.

But this year, TIFF is going to look and feel much different. A festival where the coverage is often dominated by red-carpet interviews is not going to have many identifiable stars on those carpets. There will be actors, writers, directors here — the Directors Guild settled with AMPTP earlier this year.

But most of the actors will be from Canada or non-U.S. countries, where the actors are not members of SAG-AFTRA. There may be some American actors at TIFF, who have been in independent movies made by indie producers who are not part of AMPTP, where the actors have been given waivers to appear to promote their films.

We've already seen this in Venice, where American actors were not present to promote their films. Among them Bradley Cooper, who wrote, directed, and stars in Maestro, missing the world premiere of his film. Also absent was Emma Stone, who drew raves for her performance in Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things.

The few Hollywood actors at Venice on SAG-AFTRA waivers (because their movies were independently produced and not covered by the AMPTP contracts) included Adam Driver, promoting his upcoming film Ferrari. He was vocal in support of his striking colleagues.

TIFF has a terrific program this year, as usual, but many fewer Hollywood films than usual, which will make it look and feel much different. It already has had financial implications for a range of people in the service industry in Toronto who normally pick up business, and make valuable contacts, during TIFF: hotels, limo drivers, restaurants, make-up artists, and so on.

So, in a labour dispute that involves striking workers looking for a fair deal, a changed and changing environment, thanks to technology, it’s worth noting that the movie business makes money for a lot of people, and as the strike drags on, they are losing out on work that sustains them.

But, as important, this is a good time to reflect on the people who create the movies. It all starts with the word. A great movie starts with a great story, captured in a script that builds the kind of story that will hold our attention. Those twists and turns and reveals, the great lines that make us gasp or laugh —the ones we'll repeat for years to come — come to life because of the talent of writers.

When the concepts or the words are down on paper, an entire process is kick-started.

And then of course, someone must breathe life into those words, lift them off the page, build a character around them, explore the subtleties of who a character is, so we feel that person as if we knew them or can believe they exist. Building a character is complicated.

What looks effortless on the screen is the result of a long process for the actor, whose work means sinking into emotions, pleasant or unpleasant, to give us someone we believe in. Sometimes it’s just a look in their eyes, of joy, malice, pain. Actors are so much more than characters. They're bringing the vision of the writer and director to life and providing us with someone who will live with those of us who love movies.

We are at an inflection point in history. Streaming and AI have changed the game. There are, of course, superstars who are not going to be touched by these changes. They make the business look glamorous, which is an image a lot of us have of Hollywood.

But the truth is that a lot of what we love is generated by the gifts of superb writers and actors who are not superstar names, some struggling to make a living. Perhaps as we approach TIFF, with a lineup undoubtedly effected by these labour issues, it’s a good time to take a moment to appreciate the incredible work that the members of SAG-AFTRA and the WGA do.

There’s a tendency to diminish or dismiss things like movie and TV as just entertainment. But imagine life without it? For me, that is not something I can ever take for granted.

As the festival begins, I'm excited about what I'm going to see, but thinking about those great creatives who are still on strike, and the work they've done that has made my life immeasurably happier and better. They make magic. But you can't live on magic.

They deserve a fair deal. And I hope they get it soon.