Harvey Weinstein to Emcee Closing Night of Toronto Film Festival

The Toronto International Film Festival® today announced additional details for the TIFF Asian Film Summit, including an international guest list of notable industry experts and specialists as well as programming that explores the relationship between East and West. Harvey Weinstein, Co-Chairman of The Weinstein Company, will act as master of ceremonies for the closing banquet. Previously announced guests include international star, producer and director Jackie Chan who will attend the Summit as guest of honour and Senator Chris Dodd, chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). The TIFF Asian Film Summit will take place on Monday, September 10 at the Shangri-La Hotel, Toronto.

"The TIFF Asian Film Summit is an event we've been working on for a long time and we're thrilled to see it come to life this year," said Piers Handling, Director and CEO of TIFF. "We've received tremendous support and interest from the industry and we're confident this event will help foster deeper relationships and generate new business opportunities between key film players in the East and West. And as Canada reaches out across the Pacific, we're glad to have officials such as Telefilm Canada's Executive Director Carolle Brabant and Ontario Media Development Corporation's Karen Thorne-Stone join us for the Summit."

"In a year when our Opening Night Gala Looper is a US-China co-production, we're pleased to provide a platform in Toronto for industry leaders in both Asia and the West to get to know one another better. It will be an honour to be in the room as people like Senator Dodd, Ashok Amritraj, Bill Kong, Mira Nair and Stuart Ford share ideas with Summit delegates," said Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director of the Toronto International Film Festival. "And I can't wait for the banquet that ends the day. With Jackie Chan as guest of honour and Harvey Weinstein as MC, it will be a night to remember."

"This is another great example of TIFF bringing the world to Toronto and showing Toronto to the world," said Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance and Minister Responsible for the Greater Toronto Area. "Our government works hard to foster and strengthen our relationship with the dynamic emerging economies of Asia, and it is great to see TIFF doing so as well."

The Summit's programming will include: a discussion on film policy featuring Senator Chris Dodd, chairman of Motion Picture Association of America; a dialogue on film financing featuring Bruno Wu of the Seven Stars Entertainment, Stuart Ford of IM Global and Kenneth Tan from Media Development Authority Singapore; a global talent panel featuring ICM's David Unger, Echelon's Andrew Ooi and Loeb & Loeb's Stephen Saltzman; a discussion on production with Ellen Eliasoph, Village Roadshow Asia, Jeffrey Chan of Bona Film Group, Isabelle Glachant (11 Flowers) and Lemore Syvan (Man of Tai Chi); a panel on Japanese culture with Kayo Yoshida of Asmik Ace Entertainment; an exclusive conversation with Ashok Amritraj of Hyde Park Entertainment; a exploration on sales with Kini Kim of CJ Entertainment, Etchie Stroh from Moonstone Entertainment and Michael Werner of Fortissimo Films; a study on genre films with Bill Kong of Edko Films, filmmaker Eli Roth, Tom Quinn from Radius-TWC, and Stephen Fung from Diversion Pictures; a panel on exhibition with Ellis Jacob of Cineplex Entertainment, Larry O'Reilly of IMAX and Ivy Zhong of Beijing Galloping Horse; and a focus on India: Bollywood & the Independents that will hear from Shailja Gupta, Red Chillies, Guneet Monga, Anurag Kashyap Films and Mira Nair (The Reluctant Fundamentalist).

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