Using VOD to Promote Inclusion

A trusted VOD platform allows Toronto International Film Festival to uphold their commitment to inclusion and accessibility by making their festival’s content available to audiences who wouldn’t otherwise be able to attend in-person.

“TIFF is a not-for-profit organisation - we have serious mission objectives around inclusion and access for all that was never possible at an expensive movie theatre in downtown Toronto. There is an opportunity here [with VOD] to reach communities that we never could have gotten to our cinema downtown.”

Matt Brown, Digital Experience Lead

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About Toronto International Film Festival

Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has been the center of Canadian cinema for 46 years and reigns as one of the leading film festivals in the world. Drawing in massive crowds each year and attracting filmmakers of every genre, scale, and scope, TIFF has cultivated a festival that could easily rest on its laurels, but instead chooses to continually recommit to its mission of inclusion, diverse representation, and accessibility in film.

But as physical, social, and economic barriers make it difficult for many to attend the festival in downtown Toronto, TIFF recognised the need to bridge the gap between their mission statement and the audiences they champion. All they needed was a partner to help them make it happen.

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Opportunity to Champion Accessibility and Diversity 

Recognising the opportunity a video-on-demand (VOD) platform has to increase accessibility to their festival, TIFF partnered with Shift72 to create the digital Bell Lightbox to accompany their cinema of the same name. No longer dependent on the financial, time, and geographical restraints preventing them from participating in the festival, TIFF’s growing audience can access a wealth of highly-curated, diverse, and transformational films.

TIFF’s 2021 digital Bell Lightbox featured:

• Collections of films highlighting Indigenous, Queer, Black, and Asian filmmakers and stories
• Films by TIFF’s Share Her Journey Ambassadors
• Closed captioning for all films
• TIFF’s In Conversation With ... series featuring prominent actors and filmmakers
• TIFF’s Books on Film series featuring in-depth conversations with authors, screenwriters, and filmmakers about the adaptation process

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Looking Forward

Toronto International Film Festival is committed to increasing accessibility to their programming and their VOD platform can lead the way in discovering new possibilities in cinema and the festival experience. 

As the largest public film festival in the world, TIFF’s unique platform, both in-person and online, allows them to shine a light on the artistic visions of a broad variety of voices.

“Napster and digital streaming for music seemed like the end of the world, and Kobo seemed like the end of the world for the publishing industry. Well, now more people listen to more music and they buy more books, and the fact that it can be format agnostic only widens the reach of what [festivals] can do [with a VOD platform]..”

Matt Brown, Digital Experience Lead

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