Lucky box #66

It appears that out of 75 total boxes this year, box #66 was selected. This is a significant increase, considering there were only 40 boxes total last year. Now, if you have submitted your selections remotely, it's my understanding that you can log onto the TIFF website, and under the "Buy Now" section, you can click "Check Order Status", then "View Detail", and it will reveal the selections you were granted. Otherwise, an email will be sent out sometime Monday with your list.

The next day

After reading the multiple comments in the sections below, I must say that I sincerely hope that those of you that did not receive your OOT packages on Wednesday, have received them today. I share your aggrevation.

I had my doubts considering how things stood last night, but I was fortunate enough to receive my package today and get it back out to FedEx just hours later. It still doesn't mean I'll get my selections, nor does it mean the package won't get hung up at customs on it's way back. But, its out of my hands and the work is done for now.

For those of you are still completing your schedules and have given up on the MyTiff tool at the official website, Tiffreviews.com has created an alternative. It's a Google Calandar based tool that works directly with the Tiffreviews film list. You can give it a try here.

If the task of filling out the order forms is a bit confusing for you, the TIFFTalk blog has put together a thorough walk-through of the entire process. Nice work Richard. Just remember that all advance orders must be submitted by 1:00 PM this Friday, August 31, in order to be eligible for the advanced order lottery.

Let's all hope the online ordering system that's been beta-testing, worked out well this week. I know we would all appreciate an alternative to this madness next year. If you were one of the lucky one's to test the online ticket selection system this year, let us know how the experience went, and share your thoughts in the Comments section below.

Not happy...

It's almost midnight, and I'm just completing my tentative schedule, in anticipation that my OOT package will arrive only 24 hours late. I am extremely dissappointed that it did not arrive today, and will be devestated if it fails to arrive tomorrow. FedEx has told me repeatedly that there is no missing information, and that its simply customs that is holding up the shipment due to an excessive amount of packages. Not sure if this is true or not, but its all I have to go on, considering at 11:00 PM EST Thursday, my package was still in Newark, New Jersey. I sincerely hope the festival will at least consider extending the deadline for the advance draw by at least a day, so all of the dedicated and devoted fans that have sponsored the festival with their business over the years, get a chance at the tickets they've been yearning for. Lets see how things develop tomorrow.

True story

As most of you probably already know, the full 10 day schedule for the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival is now online at the TIFF website. But, for those of you that are receiving the Out Of Town packages, I had an interesting experience this evening I thought you might find interesting. About 20 minutes after I get home from work, I get a phone call from FedEx in Ontario. A man named Mark proceeds to tell me he’s sitting on 400-500 packages from the Toronto International Film Festival that cannot move unless he gets some additional information about where they’re going. It turns out, someone at TIFF did not download or submit the necessary information into the FedEx Powership system. This data is needed in order for FedEx to get the “manifest” that’s required so the packages can get to their destinations. So, he gives me the names of the senders on the labels, and asks me to let them know the packages aren’t moving tonight unless he gets the necessary info. Once I scrape my jaw off the floor, I tell him that I really don’t know who these people are, and that I would try and track them down via the website. Unfortunately the box office was closed and I ended up scrambling through phone numbers from the TIFF Industry website until I finally landed on a live human being at 7:30 EST. The kind woman assisted me with the necessary email addresses and phone numbers. Thankfully, the TIFF staff was on the ball, and got my email after-hours, thus contact was made. I received a confirmation email from the staff member and Mark confirmed he was able to get the info he needed. SO, long story short, the packages are slated to arrive ON TIME tomorrow morning. No mention of how FedEx got my phone number though…

TIFF interview from CBC

From CBC news, Heather Hiscox interviews CBC film critic and TIFF jury member Jesse Wente on the upcoming festival and the slate of Canadian films. (Runs: 5:02)
Click here to watch the Real Media file.
Click here to watch the QuickTime file.