And That’s a wrap! The 36th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival closes bigger and better than ever

Well, that’s a wrap on another highly successful Toronto International Film Festival. It was a thrill again to ride with Cadillac and cover what has become one of the busiest film festivals in the world. We hope you enjoyed Cadillac Festival Insider coverage as we took you inside TIFF – the press conferences, red carpets, parties, and more!

TIFF seemed to grow again this year as much of the movie-goer action emerged along King street in Toronto. We saw the official home of TIFF – the Bell Lightbox open fully and be a hub of activity. The Festival also utilized a new theatre opening weekend – the beautiful and spacious Princess Of Wales.

But alas, even the best parties have to end. So, the TIFF Cadillacs have been cleaned up and put away for another year. But like us Festival Insiders, we’ll all be back to do it again next year. Enjoy some of our highlights of the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival:

- The Biggest Band in the world kicks-off TIFF’11
- Festival Insider Skye has dreams come true at Hello! Canada party
- Madonna makes a Gala red carpet appearance to the delight of fans.
- “Brangelina” is the number one power-couple of TIFF
- infamous street-artist Mr. Brainwash all over TIFF

and don’t forget, all the Cadillac Festival Insider photographs are permanently archived on our Flickr feed.

[VIDEO] Woody Harrelson’s “Rampart” premieres in a new TIFF theatre – The Princess Of Wales on King street

Full use of the TIFF Bell Lightbox on King street wasn’t the only new theatre to see action during the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival. This year also marked the first time the Festival used the famous Princess Of Wales theatre, located just down the street from the Lightbox.

The Princess Of Wales has primarily been used for Toronto theatrical productions. Named for Diana, the late Princess Of Wales, the theatre opened to the public during 1993 with the musical Miss Saigon. Designed by award-winning Architect Peter Smith, the theatre features a horseshoe-shaped, two-balcony seating plan connected to the proscenium by box seats. With seating on three levels – orchestra, dress circle and balcony – the Princess of Wales is surprisingly intimate for a theatre that seats 2,000. The Toronto International Film Festival consulted on the installation of a new state-of-the-art theatre sound system – optimized for movie viewing in the Princess Of Wales so expect this theatre to see plenty of TIFF action in the years to come.

[VIDEO] Cadillac Festival Insider SKYE reports from a busy King street outside the Princess Of Wales theatre just as Woody Harrelson and the cast of “Rampart” make a 2011 TIFF debut. (photos: Richard Budman. video/editing: Mike Edge.) Cadillac Festival Insider SKYE is wearing designs by Stephan Caras and jewelry by Psalms 91:1

TIFF Cadillac People’s Choice Awards often predict greater things to come for Audience favorite films

Curious to what films might be front-runners to garner awards attention come Oscar season? Paying attention to the Toronto International Film Festivals Cadillac People’s Choice Awards when handed out on the final Sunday is good place to start.

Toronto audiences have become renowned for their good taste in movies and TIFF audience picks have increasingly gone on to greater acclaim – especially during Oscar season. Slumdog Millionaire, The King’s Speech, and Precious are all among Cadillac People’s Choice Winners at TIFF that went on to scoop-up many more critical awards.

“Over the last decade, we’ve been a bellwether for not just best picture wins, but many other of the other awards too – acting awards in particular.” – says Piers Handling, co-director of the Festival. “So many of the films that have Oscar potential, Golden Globe potential, awards potential, actually do platform in Toronto.”

TIFF Cadillac People’s Choice Award is presented to the highest-rated film as voted by the Festival going public. Movie-goers are distributed ballots after every TIFF screening with the chance to rate the film. Votes are tallied at the end of the Festival and an audience favorite is determined. The winning filmmaker is further awarded $15,000 in prize money. In recent years, Cadillac People’s Choice has added categories recognizing favorite Documentary and Midnight Madness features.

So what films did you vote for this TIFF as favorites? What’s going to be the people’s choice when the awards are handed out this Sunday, September 18th?

A Dangerous Method, Moneyball, or maybe, The Artist?

(George Pimentel photos) Freida Pinto accepts the 2008 Cadillac People’s Choice Award on behalf of “Slumdog Millionaire.” The film would go on to capture the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Cadillac Festival Insider is on the official TIFF red carpet with the cast of Killer Joe and Oscar-winning director William Friedkin

[VIDEO] Cadillac Festival Insider takes you on an official TIFF red carpet tonight for the premiere of “Killer Joe” directed by Academy Award winning filmmaker William Friedkin. We chatted with the cast – Emile Hirsch, Gina Gershon, and Juno Temple about performance – and what it takes to achieve your best one. (photos: Richard Budman video/editing: Mike Edge.) Cadillac Festival Insider SKYE is wearing on the TIFF red carpet designs by Stephan Caras and jewelry by Psalms 91:1.

[Video] Cadillac Festival Insider gets ready for the TIFF red carpets at the gifting suites

[VIDEO] Cadillac Festival Insider got a taste of what the celebrities and VIP’s of the Toronto International Film Festival get to experience – a visit to the two top gifting suites that happen during every TIFF – The Tastemakers Lounge and the IT Lounge. The insiders came away pampered, ready for the red carpets and parties, and, with a big bag of swag!

Thank you!

First seen at the Canadian International Auto Show – Cadillac is a proud supplier of more than 36 luxury vehicles to TIFF 2011

Before the official vehicles of the Toronto International Film Festival – Cadillac take to the streets they are on display at the 2011 Canadian Auto Show. Cadillac supplies more than three dozen luxury vehicles that transport Festival executives, celebrities, and VIP’s around the city during two weeks in September when TIFF gets into gear.

The curtain falls on the biggest Toronto International Film Festival ever – the BELL LIGHTBOX opens and icons DeNiro, Redford, Springsteen, and Eastwood all visit Toronto for the 35th edition of TIFF

What a year the 35th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival turned out to be. A new home for TIFF opened and Hollywood icons like Robert Deniro, Clint Eastwood, and Robert Redford, all visited TIFF this year. But alas, like all great parties this one had to end and it’s time to rest the Cadillacs for another year.

But we’ll be back – bigger and better than ever in 2011 as Cadillac continues its proud association with TIFF as the official vehicle of the Toronto Film Festival red carpets.

And we Festival Insiders were certainly treated to quite the ride during the eleven day festival. Some of our fondest memories of 2010 Toronto festival would have to include;

• Martin Sheen teaches us the Fishburne Handshake
• The look Megan Fox gives our photographer George’s camera
• A packed press conference room hanging on every word of Robert Deniro
• The TIFF ticket giveaways our twitter followers and bloggers enjoyed
• A drink at the Blackberry lounge before our first movie at the Bell Lightbox
• Jon Hamm charming a room full of journalists – much like Clooney did the year before.
• THE BOSS on College St.

Follow @Festivalinsider on Twitter for the latest news and celebrity sightings during TIFF

Our FLICKR stream has all the Cadillac Festival Insider RED CARPET photos

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THE KING’S SPEECH wins Cadillac People’s Choice Award for favorite film of TIFF 2010 – will Oscar nominations come next?

Director Tom Hooper’s lighthearted royal drama, The King’s Speech won the Cadillac People’s Choice Award as the audience favorite during the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival.

The period film has Colin Firth playing England’s King George VI who just happens to have trouble speaking in public. Geoffrey Rush stars as his speech therapist. Both actors were in Toronto for the Gala festival premiere at Roy Thomson Hall.

Winning the People’s Choice Award at TIFF is usually a good predictor of other awards to come. The last two winners of the audience award in Toronto, Slumdog Millionaire and Precious, went on to multiple Academy Award nominations.

Test Drive the Ultimate ride – the TIFF’10 Cadillacs at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto

Did you know you can TEST DRIVE the type of Cadillac’s all those Toronto Film Festival celebrities get dropped off on the red carpet in. From Tuesday September 14th to Friday September 17th (11am to 4pm) Cadillac is giving people the chance to test drive the ultimate ride outside the Cadillac display at Roy Thomson Hall on King St. in Toronto.

And Keeping in the TIFF movie spirit – you’ll also walk away after the test drive with a pair of FREE Cineplex screening tickets.

We’ll be back next year with more Cadillac Festival Insider TIFF Premiere ticket giveaways – they were lots of fun!

The Cadillac Festival Insider had lots of fun this year giving away TIFF screening tickets to our followers and friends. We know what a hot ticket TIFF premieres can be and how fast Toronto Film Festival screenings sell-out.

Cadillac was also thrilled to offer some nights out on the TIFF town for a select few this year. We love hearing how we help make amazing TIFF nights come true for nice people. We look forward to doing more of the same next year.

Follow @Festivalinsider on Twitter for the latest news and celebrity sightings during TIFF

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If the 35th edition of the Toronto Film Festival will be remembered for anything – it’s the opening of the BELL LIGHTBOX – Toronto’s new home for film and culture

photos: Cadillac Festival Insider SKYE on arrival at the newly opened home of TIFF – The BELL LIGHTBOX. SKYE is wearing a dress & accessories by Pam Chorley’s Fashion Crimes (photo: September 16, 2010 / Richard Budman)

Over a decade in the making, if there is one thing the 2010 edition of the Toronto International Film Festival will be remembered for – it’s the opening of the BELL LIGHTBOX.

TIFF’s new home will be all things to the festival – a state-of-the-art screening facility as well, as place to meet and discuss the art and culture of film.

We couldn’t let the 35th edition of the festival end without a visit to the new Bell Lightbox. And it was as beautiful and spacious as one could imagine. We Festival Insiders especially loved being able to begin our night with a drink before a TIFF screening in the Blackberry Lounge. The lounge even had Blackberry charging stations so we could give our batteries a quick charge before tweeting into the night.

The esteemed film critic, Roger Ebert who annually covers TIFF couldn’t help but comment while in Toronto visiting the new facility, “The Bell Lightbox is superb. No other word for it.”

Oscar winning Slumdog Millionaire alumni Freida Pinto and director Danny Boyle are returning to the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival – but in different films this time

While they’ll be in Toronto to support different films this year during TIFF, Slumdog Millionaire actress Freida Pinto and her former director Danny Boyle are expected to reunite at sometime during the 2010 edition of the Toronto International Film Festival.

It was just two years earlier that their film, Slumdog Millionaire took the festival (and by extension, the world) by storm. When SlumDog captured the Cadillac People’s Choice Audience Award it would be just the first in many accolades to come for the film, culminating in the highest honor of them all – the Academy Award for Best Picture.

It’s been quite the whirlwind couple of years since Slumdog Millionaire introduced Freida Pinto to audiences outside her native India. Freida comes to the 2010 Toronto Film Festival in support of not one, but two films this year.


And those films are helmed by powerhouse directors. Pinto will first join director Julian Schnabel on the red carpet for the TIFF premiere of Miral. A few days later, we’ll see Freida join the iconic writer and director Woody Allen when You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger makes a TIFF debut.

Also happening during TIFF, Pinto’s Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle will premiere his follow-up directorial effort, 127 Hours. We just need now Freida’s Slumdog co-star, and real life boyfriend, Dev Patel to come to TIFF’10 for a true cast reunion.

Fade to Black – The Cadillacs have wrapped their starring role in the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival

We have wrapped! And what an amazing TIFF’09 it has been. We put our best shine on and traveled to 21 Gala film premieres at Roy Thomson Hall and hundreds more at other Toronto theatres. We have met wonderful people from the United States, Europe, India, Asia, The Middle East, and Australia. We got numerous movie stars, TIFF helpers, worried publicists, (and one particular tiffinsider) to their screenings and press engagements on time. We even occasionally got that curious “what stars are you riding with?” look from Toronto bystanders. We have been left with the enchanting scents of beautiful actresses and actors – and even the occasional mess of an entourage. Our GPS was kept busy – often racing from red carpet premieres to trendy Toronto hot-spots. And yes, we even found time for an exotic drink or two (non-alcoholic of course, we were driving after all.) And we’ll be back to do it all over again. Perhaps in a slightly different shape, size, or colour next year. See you on roads in 2010!

Why PRECIOUS: Based on the Novel Push by SAPPHIRE is an important film to see – press conference for Cadillac People’s Choice Award winner in Toronto

The Toronto Film Festival Galas at Roy Thomson Hall was a great place for TIFF celebrity sightings

(festivalinsider.ca) If there was one change that proved popular this TIFF – it was the new red carpet set-up at Toronto’s Roy Thomson Hall. In years previous, The red carpet was on one side of the tight Simcoe St. and fans were stuck waiting on the OTHER side of the street. For 2009, the red carpet Cadillac drop-off of TIFF guests was brought into a park on the east side of the theatre, allowing the fans wanting a glimpse of their favorite TIFF stars a much closer look, and an excellent chance for a photo or autograph.

Sean Byrne’s THE LOVED ONES wins 2009 Cadillac People’s Choice Award – Midnight Madness at Toronto International Film Festival

TIFF midnight madness programmer Colin Geddes accepted the Cadillac People’s Choice Award from Frank Trivieri of GM Canada for best Midnight Madness feature on behalf of director Sean Byrne’s The Loved Ones at an awards reception hosted by Toronto’s Intercontinental Hotel.

“This is a candy-coloured popcorn film that invites the audience into a fun, pop-horror world that seems familiar. People will be in their seats, kind of comfortable, feeling like they’ve been here before and then we’ll sneak up and drop acid into their soda.” – SEAN BYRNE

It’s Leanne Pooley’s TOPP TWINS over Michael Moore’s CAPITALISM for Cadillac People’s Choice Documentary Award at 2009 TIFF

In a little bit of an upset, director Leanne Pooley’s TOPP TWINS has won the Cadillac People’s Choice Award for documentary at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. Michael Moore’s CAPITALISM was the runner-up.

“I have been making documentaries for twenty years, and usually they are dark. That is often the world a documentary filmmaker moves in, a dark world. This is a film about joy, and laughter, and love. And its just so special to be able to bring a film like that to audiences like yours. I have to thank the TOPP TWINS. who are a force of nature. Thank you so much.” – Leanne Pooley, director TOPP TWINS

STATEMENT from director LEE DANIELS on winning the CADILLAC PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD for PRECIOUS at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival

“I like to dedicate this award to Cameron Bailey. Cameron your support of me and belief in my work from the beginning of the The Woodsman, Shadowboxer and now Precious is unparalleled. For that, I give you my fullest gratitude. I wish I could be there myself to accept the award on behalf of the film but I just landed in San Sebastian, Spain and I’m on the way for the films premiere here in a few hours. I can’t begin to express my gratitude. The audience award holds such an important meaning. I made this film for every person out there who ever looked in the mirror and felt unsure about the person looking back. This is not an art film for a select few. This is a movie that everybody can relate to. This film is for all precious girls and for everyone who has a little precious on the inside. Thank you so much, I am so honoured with this award there is nothing more special then being honoured by the public, by my peers. Again, I send heartfelt thanks to Maple Pictures and Lionsgate and somebody I forgot to thank at our premiere – a friend, an ally, a mentor, our co-executive producer Simone Sheffield. Thank you everyone.” – LEE DANIELS

KEANU REEVES opens the DOOR on second chapter of acting career with Rebecca Miller’s The Private Lives of Pippa Lee premiering at TIFF

(festivalinsider.ca) Keanu Reeves made a rare film festival appearance in Toronto this week with Rebecca Miller’s The Private Lives of Pippa Lee which premiered at TIFF to very good reviews (especially for Reeves’ co-star in the film Robin Wright Penn.) Reeves touched upon a number of subjects during a day of press leading up to the films Gala premiere. He shared his thoughts on the recent passing of a friend Patrick Swayze, “he was a beautiful person and honest.” Keanu also talked at length about how his career is in transition from the earlier action oriented parts he had become known for. “I feel I’m starting the second chapter of my career. It’s a property of age. Certain roles and what you’ve done in the past just don’t hold the same power…” said Reeves during the press conference for the film.

“I know I’ve been very lucky, and at this point, I don’t really have to work for dough.” – Keanu Reeves

A TIFF IT GIRL – MELANIE LYNSKEY has 3 films during 2009 Toronto festival – including BOTH Clooney films

With so many films playing in festivals this year for Melanie, she was asked if there is anything she likes to travel with to make her more comfortable away from home, “my dog and my husband… well, maybe NOT in that order.”

A Gorgeous George Clooney, Jeff Bridges and cast of Men Who Stare At Goats arrival at Roy Thompson Hall Red Carpet

(festivalinsider.ca) One of the most anticipated guests of the Toronto International Film Festival – Mr. George Clooney made his first (of two!) red carpet appearances on the first Friday of TIFF for The Men Who Stare At Goats.
Even with a banged up and bandaged hand, Clooney still spent a good fifteen minutes taking pictures with fans and signing autographs.

We want to make you feel like an INSIDER this TIFF – We got FREE SCREENING TICKETS and CADILLAC rides to give away – FOLLOW US on twitter for the details to win

The Cadillac TIFFinsider will be giving away FREE SCREENING TICKETS to many of the most popular films playing the Toronto festival this year. But your going to have to FOLLOW US on twitter (@tiffinsider) to really have the best chance to win.

Each day, we’ll be giving away FREE tickets at secret locations around Toronto. We’ll be revealing these locations and SECRET PASSWORDS exclusively on Twitter. SO YOU MUST BE FOLLOWING ALONG TO HAVE A GOOD CHANCE.

And it’s not just film tickets you can win. You’ll also have a chance to ride like that stars do and test drive a Cadillac.

(Sorry folks, you will have to be at least 19 years of age to win tickets and hold a valid drivers license if you want to cruise around in a Cadillac.)

Our first sets of complimentary tickets will be for screenings of JENNIFER’S BODY and ANTICHRIST on THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10TH. Details to follow very soon at www.twitter.com/tiffinsider