This week on TIFF Long Take, Rob and Geoff speak with Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson, stars and creators of the hit television series 'Broad City'. The show, which launched as a web series in 2009, will end it astonishing run this year after five critically adored seasons on Comedy Central. Glazer and Jacobson talk about the early days of 'Broad City', how they have grown as artists over the last decade, and how they formed a relationship with the show’s Executive Producer, Amy Poehler. ...

This week on TIFF Long Take, Rob and Geoff speak with Nathanaël Karmitz, Managing Director of the mk2 audio visual group, about France's unwavering appetite for the theatrical experience. With many arthouse and independent theatres struggling worldwide to attract patrons, France's culture of movie going seems stronger than ever. Last year – despite the massive growth of SVOD audiences worldwide – French arthouse theatres saw record attendance, selling over 45 million admissions, or about 25%...

This week on TIFF Long Take, Rob sits down with documentarian Bing Liu. Liu’s debut feature film, Minding the Gap, tells the story of three young men (including Liu) in Rockford Illinois, who use skateboarding as a way to cope with their traumatic home lives. The film, which topped several best of 2018 lists, will be playing as part of TIFF Next Wave. Liu discusses how he used skateboarding as a gateway to making his own films, the different iterations of Minding the Gap, and why he decided...

This week on TIFF Long Take, Geoff sits down with filmmaker and producer Jonathan Frantz. A member of ‘Isuma’ – an Inuit media and arts collective founded by Zacharias Kunuk – Frantz recently produced ‘Edge of the Knife’, a 19th century set drama directed by Gwaai Edenshaw and Helen Haig-Brown, which is particularly notable as the first feature length film spoken only in Haidi, an endangered language spoken fluently by fewer than 20 people. The film, which features a Haida cast and was made...

This week on TIFF Long Take, Rob sits down with Shawn Finnie, Associate Director of Member Relations at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, to talk about how the Academy has worked to address concerns over the lack of diversity in its membership, nominees, and award winners. In 2012, the Academy was 77% male and 94% white. In 2018 those numbers shifted to 69% male and 84% white — a sign that, while change is definitely slow going, things are trending in the right direction. ...

This week on TIFF Long Take, Rob and Geoff chat with some of the smartest people in the business to find out what film and television projects we should be looking forward to in the coming year. First, Vanity Fair’s K. Austin Collins calls in to talk about some of this year’s Hollywood films, including James Gray’s 'Ad Astra', Steven Soderbergh's 'High Flying Birds', and Quentin Tarantino's 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood'. Then TIFF International Programmer Jane Schoettle drops by to...

This week on TIFF Long Take, in the second of two parts, Rob and Geoff look back on stories and themes that shaped the year in film and television by revisiting some of their favourite conversations from 2018. Excerpts include: - FiveThirtyEight’s Walt Hickey, Ella Koeze, and Rachel Dottle on whether it’s time for a new Bechdel test - #OscarsSoWhite’s founder April Reign on her plan to make to make the industry more diverse - Actor Steven Yeun on representing Asian Americans onscreen -...

This week on TIFF Long Take, in the first of two parts, Rob and Geoff look back on stories and themes that shaped the year in film and television by revisiting some of their favourite conversations from 2018. Excerpts include: -  Filmmaker and producer Mark Duplass on preserving artistry in the “tent-pole era” -  Filmmaker Debra Granik on the challenges of making “difficult” films  - TIFF’s Thom Powers on why we are living in a “golden age of documentary” - Faculty of Horror’s Alex...

This week on TIFF Long Take, Rob and Geoff look into how blockchain technology and crypto currency could revolutionize the way that we finance and consume films. To guide them, the two welcome Luke Bradley, Director of Communications at the Blockchain Research Institute, as well as Christopher Woodrow, Chairman and CEO of MovieCoin. Bradley discusses how blockchain and cryptocurrency our already impacting our day to day lives, how the technologies could theoretically upend the entertainment...

This week on TIFF Long Take, Rob chats with IndieWire’s Anne Thompson about Netflix’s recent foray into the world of  theatrical releases. Last month the company announced that three of its upcoming films would open exclusively in select theaters in the US and abroad for one to three weeks before they debuted online. The films include director Alfonso Cuarón’s 'Roma', The Coen Brothers’ 'The Ballad of Buster Scruggs'; and Susanne Bier’s 'Bird Box'. Thompson talks about why Netflix strayed...

This week on TIFF Long Take, Rob and Geoff welcome the VP of Creative Affairs at ‘See Saw Films’, Negin Salmasi. Founded in 2008, the relatively small ‘See Saw’ have punched far above their weight in the increasingly competitive indie film landscape, producing critically and commercially successful films like 'The King’s Speech', and 'Lion', as well as the acclaimed television series 'Top Of The Lake'. Their latest film, 'Widows', directed by Steve McQueen, is playing in theaters now. ...

This week on TIFF Long Take, Geoff chats with actor and screenwriter Zoe Kazan. It’s been a busy few months for Kazan. In October, the feature film 'Wildlife' — which she co-wrote with her partner, Paul Dano, and which had its Canadian premiere at TIFF in September — opened to great critical acclaim. Most recently, she starred in “The Gal Who Got Rattled,” one of six vignettes that make up the Coen Brothers’ anthology film 'The Ballad of Buster Scruggs', now playing at TIFF Bell Lightbox. ...

This week on TIFF Long Take, Rob sits down with director Joseph Kahn. Long considered one of the most prolific and commercially successful music video directors, Kahn has recently made his return to feature films with ‘Bodied’, the story of ambitious graduate student who becomes immersed in the world of battle-rap. Written by Canadian battle-rapper Alex Larsen, and produced by Eminem, ‘Bodied’ won the Toronto International Film Festival People's Choice Award: Midnight Madness at TIFF 2017,...

This week on TIFF Long Take, Rob and Geoff sit down with television writer, director, and producer Sam Esmail. Best known as the creator of the hit television series ‘Mr. Robot, Esmail recently directed all ten episodes of the new series ‘Homecoming’; an adaptation of the extremely popular podcast created by Eli Horowitz and Micah Bloomberg. The series which premiered last weekend on Amazon Video, stars Julia Roberts, Stephan James, and Bobby Cannavale. Esmail talks about why he was...

This week on TIFF Long Take, Rob and Geoff sit down with ‘Faculty of Horror’ podcast co-host Alexandra West, to discuss the ever increasing legitimacy of the horror films. Thanks in part to the overwhelming critical praise of films like Jennifer Kent’s 'The Babadook', Robert Egger’s 'The Witch', David Robert Mitchell’s 'It Follows', and Jordan Peele’s 'Get Out', the perception of horror has changed over the last decade, from a beloved, but relatively niche genre, to one that cinephiles feel...

This week on TIFF Long Take, Rob sits down with director and screenwriter, Dee Rees. Beginning with her excellent semi-autobiographical debut 'Pariah' (2011), Rees has earned the reputation as one of her generation’s most exciting filmmakers. Her most recent feature film, 'Mudbound' (2017), earned 4 Academy Award nominations, including a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination for Rees; making her the first black woman to be nominated for any Academy Award in a writing category. Rees talks about...

This week on TIFF Long Take, Rob and Geoff sit down with renowned documentarian and director, David Gelb. Starting with his critically acclaimed debut film, 'Jiro Dream’s of Sushi', Gelb’s aesthetically beautiful and emotionally rich profiles of great chefs have had a  significant impact on the genre of food documentary. He has since gone on to create the highly influential Netflix docu-series ‘Chef’s Table’, which recently debuted its fifth season. Gelb talks about how he fell into...

This week on TIFF Long Take, Rob and Geoff sit down with Romanian super producer, Ada Solomon. Over the last 10 years, Ada has played a large role in the Eastern European film industry, producing some of the region’s most exciting films including: Maren Ade’s 'Toni Erdmann', Cãlin Peter Netzer’s 'Child’s Pose', and most recently Radu Jude’s 'I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians', which played at this year’s TIFF. When not producing, Solomon serves as the President of the Board...

This week on of TIFF Long Take, Rob and Geoff sit down with South African film producer, and founder of the production company ‘Big World Cinema’, Steven Markovitz. Over his thirty years in the film business, Markovitz has produced over 40 films in on the continent of Africa, and has seen his fair share of challenges trying to get these projects financed, and distributed around the world. One of his most recent productions, the Wanuri Kahiu directed 'Rafiki', was embroiled in controversy...

This week on TIFF Long Take, Rob and Geoff sit down with Kit Steinkellner, creator of the acclaimed new television series Sorry For Your Loss. Since writing the pilot script on spec, Steinkellner has overseen every step of the series’ production, culminating with its recent premier on the new streaming platform Facebook Watch. The series which stars Elizabeth Olsen and Kelly Marie Tran is available now. Steinkellner talks about the experience that inspired ‘Sorry For Your Loss’, television’s...

With another Toronto International Film Festival in the books, Rob and Geoff sit down with the founder of 'The Black List', Franklin Leonard, to talk about the films, performances, trends, and stories that had the industry talking at this year's TIFF. Franklin talks about the most buzzed about films of the slate, how the various studios and distributors faired, and which festival film he thinks has the potential to be a sleeper hit following its release. He also discusses the changes he's...

This week on TIFF Long Take, Rob and Geoff sit down with one of the film’s most exciting young actors, Steven Yeun. Steven is probably best known for his role as Glenn Rhee on 'The Walking Dead', but since leaving the show has leaned more towards independent and international cinema with roles in Bong Joon-ho’s 'Okja', Boots Riley’s 'Sorry To Bother You', and, most recently, Lee Chang Dong’s 'Burning'. The Korean thriller premiered at Cannes to rave reviews and is the first film to feature...

This week on TIFF Long Take, Rob and Geoff speak with Daniel Sawka, director of the timely social drama Icebox. The film, which premieres at TIFF 2018, tells the story of a 12 year old Honduran boy, interned at a US immigration detention centre, and has gained added resonance in the wake the Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance” immigration policy. The group also welcome Karine Jean-Pierre, advisor and national spokesperson for ‘MoveOn’. The progressive policy advocacy group recently helped...

This week on TIFF Long Take, Rob and Geoff welcome TIFF’s Director and CEO, Pier’s Handling. This will be Handling’s final festival in charge of TIFF, having assumed his current position in 1994. He originally joined the festival in 1982.   Handling looks back on the films that made him a cinephile, his first exposure to the Toronto International Film Festival, and biggest challenges facing film festivals now vs. 40 years ago.   He also discusses how TIFF’s philosophy has evolved since it...