Geoff Macnaughton has been appointed TIFF’s director of industry. Macnaughton will oversee the organization’s industry programming and talent development initiatives, as well as industry-related sales and services. He will continue to act as lead programmer of Primetime, the Toronto International Film Festival’s program highlighting the best in international television series.
Macnaughton has been with the organization for 12 years, as a sr. manager on both the industry and festival programming teams. His balance of artistic vision and business acumen has allowed him to build strong and strategic relationships with partners, including distributors, sales agents, producers, and promotional agencies, both local and international.
“Geoff worked his way up on TIFF’s Industry team, winning the trust of buyers, sellers and creators as he helped grow our reach and impact every year,” said Cameron Bailey, artistic director and co-head of TIFF. “He brings a wealth of experience to his new position as director of industry, and recently adding Festival programming to his portfolio has expanded his expertise and network.”
“I am extremely excited for this opportunity to help shape what TIFF offers to the local and international industry,” said Macnaughton. “The film and television landscape is constantly changing, and it’s important for us to be mindful of these developments in order to provide meaningful business, talent development, and networking opportunities for all.”
Macnaughton will begin his new post immediately, reporting to Bailey, and will work closely with the Festival programming team on transition plans.
Review: Writer-Director Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance”
In its first two hours, "The Substance" is a well-made, entertaining movie. Writer-director Coralie Fargeat treats audiences to a heavy dose of biting social commentary on ageism and sexism in Hollywood, with a spoonful of sugar- and sparkle-doused body horror.
But the film's deliciously unhinged, blood-soaked and inevitably polarizing third act is what makes it unforgettable.
What begins as a dread-inducing but still relatively palatable sci-fi flick spirals deeper into absurdism and violence, eventually erupting — quite literally — into a full-blown monster movie. Let the viewer decide who the monster is.
Fargeat — who won best screenplay at this year's Cannes Film Festival — has been vocal about her reverence for "The Fly" director David Cronenberg, and fans of the godfather of body horror will see his unmistakable influence. But "The Substance" is also wholly unique and benefits from Fargeat's perspective, which, according to the French filmmaker, has involved extensive grappling with her own relationship to her body and society's scrutiny.
"The Substance" tells the story of Elisabeth Sparkle, a famed aerobics instructor with a televised show, played by a powerfully vulnerable Demi Moore. Sparkle is fired on her 50th birthday by a ruthless executive — a perfectly cast Dennis Quaid, who nails sleazy and gross.
Feeling rejected by a town that once loved her and despairing over her bygone star power, Sparkle learns from a handsome young nurse about a black-market drug that promises to create a "younger, more beautiful, more perfect" version of its user. Though she initially tosses the phone number in the trash, she soon fishes it out in a desperate panic and places an order.
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