A weekend long festival celebrating the best in contemporary Canadian horror filmmaking.
Matthew Toffolo Interviews Artistic Director Kelly Michael Stewart:
Matthew: Why is the city of Toronto the perfect fit for what you’re showcasing at the festival?
Kelly: In many ways I don’t think Blood in the Snow (BITS) could have happened in any other city. We have a thriving festival culture in Toronto with over 70 festivals in the city including of course TIFF.
The film scene here is very collaborative and filmmakers really do like to help each other here. I’ve been told from filmmakers from other regions that that don’t get along the way that Toronto filmmakers tend to do. It can be competitive but its rarely done in a backstabbing way here. Part of BITS success comes from the other filmmakers plugging and supporting the films playing at the festival, so in a way I wouldn’t want to do the festival in any other city.
Matthew: What is the goal of your film festival?
Kelly: To highlight the best in Canadian contemporary horror genre films for the fans. For the filmmakers, our goal is to give them an ideal place to launch their films. I’ve always said that premiering your film is like your wedding day or giving birth to your child and you only have one chance to get it right. So our job as festival organizers is to throw them one hell of party for them.
Matthew: How has the festival changed since is began until now?
Kelly: We originally had it at rep cinema in the east end but for the past couple of years we have had it at Carlton, which is ideal for us because it is very central in the city and has large lobby for us to have a vendor village and availability to add additional screenings if we need them. Also our team has grown significantly since its inception in 2012. In our first year I basically put the whole thing together and had a few volunteers helping out. Now we have a staff of 10 along with another 15 volunteers. So it has grown into a fairly large operation.
Matthew: How many films are you showcasing at your Film Festival this year in how many days?
Kelly: As I write this, we haven’t announced our 2015 dates yet but we usually have it over three days in late November and showcase about 8 features and 15 shorts.
Matthew: Can you give us a sneak peak of what to expect for the 2015 Festival?
Kelly: We experimented in 2014 in added an educational component with having a seminar for filmmakers. I’d like to expand that more in 2015. Our festival is very filmmaker focused and want to continue that emphasis.
Matthew: Is there going to be an overall theme for the 2015 festival?
Kelly: We don’t really have a theme for our festival each year. It really is just about getting the best Canadian films to show on screen and put on an amazing event for film fans in Toronto.
Matthew: Where do you see your festival in 5 years?
Kelly: I’d like the festival to be creditable cinematic institution in Canada. Somewhere where filmmakers can count on to launch their films and for audiences know that they are getting the best in brand new genre films. I think we are on our way to achieving that already but I hope that it continues on the path that it is on now.
Matthew: What’s the current status of the Film Scene in Toronto?
Kelly: In a word; thriving.
Toronto gets the nickname “Hollywood North” for a reason with so many film productions being shot here. You certainly don’t make much money making films here but everyone seems to be working all the time and the films tend to find an audience which is good too.
Matthew: What film have you seen the most in your life?
Kelly: Most likely The Godfather.
Matthew: What else are you passionate about besides running this festival?
Kelly: I’m also a film producer and writer. I have two film in circulation at the moment, a short called ONE MORE FOR THE ROAD that has played about 20 festivals so far and a new full length film called LATE NIGHT DOUBLE FEATURE that will be playing around the world in 2015. You can find out more info on them both at http://www.threeevilcats.com
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Matthew Toffolo, Interviewer BIO
Filmmaker of over 20 short films and TV episodes, Matthew Toffolo is the current CEO of the WILDsound Film and Writing Festival. He had worked for the organization since its inception in 2007 serving as the Short Film Festival’s moderator during the Audience Feedback sessions.
Go to http://www.wildsound.ca and submit your film, script, or story to the festival.
Go to http://www.wildsoundfestival.com and watch recent and past winning writing festival readings.
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