Every great unscripted project begins with a leap of faith — you might not know where the story will go, but you know it’s worth following. Turning that uncertainty into a sellable pitch is both an art and a strategy.

In PITCHING THE UNKNOWN, our guests break down how to build trust, shape story arcs in real time, and pitch a project when the ending hasn’t been written yet.

Cheers 🥂 to Billie Mintz, Mike Lobel, Yasmine Abbasakoor, Steve Gamester, and moderator Paul Gratton for sharing their sharp insights and behind-the-scenes expertise.

🎙️ Episode 20: Pitching the Unknown on CFF’s Cheers & Chats Podcast just dropped!

Listen now on Spotify & Apple Podcasts.

Adapting a novel for the screen is a delicate dance of reverence and reinvention – honouring the words while discovering their visual heartbeat. Today, we’re stepping inside that creative alchemy with a team who’s done exactly that.

Join us for THE ART OF ADAPTATION: Making Darkest Miriam – a conversation about translation, transformation, and the storytelling choices that shape a page-to-screen journey.

Cheers 🥂 to celebrated writer Karen Walton in conversation with director Naomi Jaye (Darkest Miriam) and author Martha Baillie (Incident Report) for sharing their craft, challenges, and insights.

🎙️ Episode 19 on CFF’s Cheers & Chats Podcast just dropped!

Listen now on Spotify & Apple Podcasts.

Big thanks to our community partners at inkCanada for co-creating and presenting this panel at CFF.

Today, filmmakers are rethinking how to stand out, stay seen, and truly reach their audience, and this episode pulls back the velvet rope to go BEYOND THE CARPET, diving into shifting publicity strategies, evolving platforms, and what it really takes to cut through the noise.

Cheers 🥂 to Barry Hertz, Alma Parvizian, Danish Vahidy, and moderator Rakhee Sapra for breaking down the new realities of film promotion in 2025 and beyond.

🎙️ Episode 18 on CFF’s Cheers & Chats Podcast just dropped!

Listen now on Spotify & Apple Podcasts.

Big thanks to our community partners at the Canadian Film Centre for co-creating and presenting this panel at CFF.