TORONTO — For longtime Toronto International Film Festival regulars, the thrill of brushing shoulders with Hollywood stars on the red carpet is becoming harder to capture. What was once a relatively open space for fans has, in recent years, been carved up by corporate booths and sponsor-only viewing areas, leaving many festivalgoers feeling pushed aside.
Sandi Leung, who has attended TIFF red carpets since 2015, remembers being able to walk up to almost any part of the barricade and wait for a selfie with A-list names. “It’s a lot of obstacles and variables nowadays compared to where it used to be,” she said, noting that corporate fan zones now dominate much of the prime space.
TIFF’s 50th edition, opening next week with premieres of Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein and the latest Knives Out film, will welcome stars like Ryan Reynolds and Dwayne Johnson. But access to those stars has shifted. Rogers and RBC, two major sponsors, run multi-level viewing spaces that often prioritize their customers and loyalty program members, while alcohol brand Peroni offers another booth farther down the carpet.
TIFF says it remains “committed to creating unique, memorable opportunities” for audiences, and has introduced free fan zones at key venues, with passes now distributed daily on Ticketmaster. Still, competition is fierce, with fans lining up hours early just for a front-row glimpse.
Sociology professor Paul Moore notes the changes reflect the financial realities TIFF faces after the pandemic, Hollywood strikes, and the loss of Bell as a major sponsor. “Anyone who’s nostalgically complaining about TIFF not being like the old days also needs to recognize…the financial situation is not like the olden days either,” he said.
For fans like Leung and fellow TIFF veteran Serena Tung, the new system means more effort and less certainty. “You’ve got to leverage restaurants and hotels now,” Leung said. “It’s not like you can rely on the red carpets anymore.”