UK sellers prefer Toronto’s informal festival meetings over a hard‑selling market and are cautious about the new formal market setup, travel disruption and timing against other sales windows are shaping their plans.
Most established UK sales agents are keeping their traditional, informal TIFF approach rather than fully committing to the new convention‑centre market.
An air traffic control glitch disrupted many UK flights to Toronto, threatening timely arrival for the market’s opening.
Sellers are concerned the earlier TIFF market timing reduces the window to package films after Cannes ahead of AFM announcements.
UK sales agents value Toronto for its "back‑to‑school" energy: an informal environment where finished films screen and conversations happen without the pressure of back‑to‑back selling. For 2026 TIFF has formalised "The Market" at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, but many UK sellers are treating this first year as an experiment rather than a deadline to change their working methods.
How UK agents are responding this year
Most blue‑chip UK sales companies kept familiar TIFF playbooks. A limited number of UK firms took official convention‑centre stands — Kaleidoscope and Architect among them — but many did not. The advertised costs cited for convention centre participation start at US$12,000 for space and go higher for booths, a factor in decision‑making.
Several agencies opted to "float" their meetings rather than base themselves long‑term in either the Hyatt or the convention centre. Bankside and Mister Smith, for example, planned to take meetings near the convention centre or at other hotels like the Intercontinental.
Sellers report a healthy mix of European, Latin American and North American buyers attending. Some companies said they had even more meetings than usual. But on the eve of the market there were relatively few new non‑festival packages announced by UK sellers.
Sellers articulate two linked concerns: preserving Toronto's relaxed environment and the practicalities of timing for packaging titles. Shane Kelly at Mister Smith described Toronto as energising because meetings feel like easing back into work after summer. Grace Carley of Film Export UK and Cornerstone's Mark Gooder raised the specific issue that the earlier market provides less runway after Cannes to set up titles for AFM, which could shift where and when sellers announce plans.
UK agents do not rule out deeper involvement with the new official market, but most see this year as a test. Some say establishing a functioning, fully embraced market in Toronto will take multiple years. For 2026 the pattern is cautious: a mix of traditional hotel‑based activity, strategic use of the convention centre's UK stand for promotion, and selective market launches rather than a wholesale shift to formal market booths.
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