I remember my first lecture at college. I was in the Cinema, Television, Stage and Radio Arts program at SAIT. It was 1979. The Dean was telling us how lucky we were to get into the program, one of the most sought after in Calgary. He was a film guy, with an animation background at Disney, but what he was really excited about that day was the buzz around a brand new festival held earlier that year at the prestigious Banff Centre.
Fil Fraser, a celebrated Broadcaster and Film Producer from Edmonton, teamed up with Horst Schmidt, Provincial Cultural Minister, David Leighton, Banff Centre President, and Carrie Hunter, a Freelance Journalist. They wanted to create an annual Canadian television industry event and brought in Jerry Ezekiel, a Civil Servant with Alberta's Film & Literary Arts department, as the Festival's first Programmer.
Fraser had a number of similar credits to his name including organizing the first film festival in Alberta (which evolved into the Alberta Film & Television Awards) and the 1978 Commonwealth Games Film Festival in Edmonton. The Banff International Festival of Films for Television was launched with a small but enthusiastic throng of International delegates. Alberta's Premier, Peter Lougheed, was fortuitously invited to unveil the festival's statuette, the "Rockie Award", with his wife, Jeanne.
Although the Festival's premiere was a financial failure, without a 1980 reprise; it was revived in 1981, thanks to Premiere Lougheed's belief in the concept. The Board of the Banff Television Festival Foundation acted as the steering committee. Fraser - who was the first Executive Director - stepped aside and Hunter became his successor. Leighton was President of the Banff Television Festival (BTVF) for the first five years. Another early leader of the Festival was Independent Producer, Pat Ferns, who became the Chairman of the Board in 1985.
In the early 1980's, the BTVF was truly promoted by word of mouth. Globetrotting to the established festivals, Executives - Hunter and Ezekiel - were spreading the news about the content in the little tourist town that could, to those who had never heard about it. The venue moved to the Banff Springs Hotel which elevated the Festival's cachet. There were seminars with an International flair and many screenings, but the social atmosphere drew participants in over the programming.
Banff was the new place where Writers, Producers, Actors, Broadcasters and Investors gathered together in a community of like-minded businesses; competitors and allies learning to collaborate and build projects from coast to coast and around the world. Television Festivals had been a mainstay in Europe and the UK, with Monte Carlo, Prague, Lyon (MIPTV) and Edinburgh all running successful events.
It seemed the Festival would be in good company and enjoy a prosperous future. Whereas in 1985 a mere 350 attendees turned out for the annual June event, by 1997 over 1,500 delegates were registered. Close to 1000 submissions, from more than 40 countries, set new records the following year. The hype I'd heard at SAIT, some 20-years earlier, had surpassed expectation.
Reflecting upon the mindset of the formative years, Ferns - who became the Festival's President and CEO in 1996 - was quoted by the Canadian Independent Film & Television Publishing Association as saying:
"The industry in Canada was changing in the early 1980's. The independents were discovering that there were the beginnings of a market, but productions couldn't be financed without co-production dollars," he says. "We knew we'd have to look for partners, and an international festival could attract the players."
I made my first foray into the realm of the Banff Television Festival by submitting a pitch, albeit a premature attempt, in 1998. I was, like many others who began their career in radio, testing the possibility of transitioning from one media to the next. I had dabbled in film and then theatre, followed by upgrading my education with the newly emerging field of multimedia production.
The times, they were a changing. And so too was Banff. The new millennium and digital era was dawning, and the Festival was riding a rocky road of erratic attendance, despite increasing familiarity in the international community. The name changed over the years evolving into the Banff International Television Festival, then "International" was elevated to "World".
But the world stayed away in 2002 with Alberta’s Mad Cow scare, and again in 2003 with the SARS Epidemic striking panic into the hearts of tourists and would-be delegates, despite thousands of miles between the Rocky Mountains of Alberta and the afflicted city of Toronto. Troubled times had caught up with the Festival. Still, it wasn't solely due to external influences; the pricing jumped in 2003 and the number of international delegates dropped off noticeably in response.
Celebrity attendance helped the following year when Michelle Pfeiffer arrived on the arm of her television super-producer husband David E. Kelly. But it wasn't enough to turn the Festival's fortunes around. In April 2005, the Banff Television Foundation sought protection from its creditors and filed for bankruptcy in a Calgary courtroom.
Achilles Partners, an Investment firm with an interest in media conferencess, bought the assets of the Banff Television Foundation. Pat Ferns stepped away from his dual role of President and CEO. Achilles’ Robert Montgomery took over as the Foundation’s new CEO.
The first year I attended the Banff International Television Festival was 2005. I was covering the event for a community television station and loved listening to all the Pitches, Documentary was the top prize and the final competition was to a packed house. The following year I was there again as a broadcast journalist, earning kudos for a news feature story I did which was nominated for two Rosie's - Best Producer and Best Narrator at the Alberta Film & Television Awards. I was making the transition I had envisioned, guided by what I had gleaned from attending Banff.
The latest re-brand swapped the moniker "Television" in favour of the all encompassing "Media". The change in ownership also saw the creation of the new nextMEDIA conference - a digital showcase for the explosion of content for online and mobile interface producers. The combined television and convergent media event is now under the single banner of the Banff World Media Festival - bridging both as the screen-based industries become increasingly a 360 entertainment medium.
The Banff World Media Festival continues to inform me of the challenges and opportunities in the industry. Having attended the Festival five times now, I try to venture up for at least one day and a social event, on site as well as off - such as the Women in Film and Television Alberta (WIFTA) Martini Madness, which I proudly organized from 2007 through 2009. I know 2012 is going to be an interesting event and I can't wait to meet and mingle with everyone.
I am taking greater strides into the world of writing and producing and have launched The Media Maven to share some of the insights and happenings in my world with you. Stay posted. Check out who's attending and what's planned for this year's festival at: http://www.banffworldmediafestival.com/
