Interview with Piers Handling, Director and CEO of TIFF
Piers Handling PHOTO CREDIT: George Pimentel, WireImage/Getty for TIFF
What’s it like to be the head honcho of Toronto’s biggest, most glamorous, and most highly anticipated arts festival of the year? Holding this position for nearly twenty years now, Piers Handling oversees TIFF’s programming and multi-million-dollar operating budget. He travels far and wide to select films for both the festival and for the TIFF Bell Lightbox year-round. I was fortunate enough to speak with him about both his job and the fall festival—and he threw in an interesting little tidbit: he lives just off the Danforth, and he says it’s a wonderful neighbourhood!
How do the staff at TIFF spend the summer preparing for the Festival?
Most of TIFF’s departments start preparing for the Festival around March and are working in full swing throughout the summer. Marketing and Creative teams start rolling out promotional materials and ad campaigns, the Sales and Industry Office spearheads leading-edge industry initiatives, and the Press Office begins accrediting media from around the globe. Year-round, our programmers travel all over the world searching for the best films to showcase during the Festival.
How can audiences spend the summer preparing for the Festival?
