FESTIVAL INSIDER » Style

Who Wore It Well? 12 Best Dressed Ladies at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival

Richard Budman — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 21:34:19 +0000

The films are not the only things critiqued and talked about during the Toronto International Film Festival – so too are the red carpet fashions. We had some top-tier star style on display during the 36th edition of TIFF. So who caught our eye (and camera lens) in Toronto? Keira Knightley, Megan Fox, Anna Feris, Angelina Jolie, Sarah Gadon, Emily Blunt, Michelle Monaghan, Rebecca Hall, Wendy Crewson, Ashley Greene, Jennifer Garner and Madonna. (George Pimentel photos)

Hundreds of party goers kicked off TIFF opening weekend at The Artists For Peace And Justice fundraiser

Richard Budman — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 10:13:01 +0000

Hundreds of party goers kicked-off the opening weekend of the Toronto International Film Festival in fine style at the Artists For Peace And Justice fundraiser held at Ame. Guests mingled with the likes of Gerard Butler (in Toronto to support two films during TIFF,) Paul Haggis, Jason Reitman and Toronto’s own George Stroumboulopoulos came out to show their support of APJ and the worthy work it’s doing.

“This event was really unique,” said Haggis, Academy Award-winning director (Crash, Million Dollar Baby) and founder of APJ, which supports health, education and dignity initiatives in Haiti. “While many film festival events are restricted to film industry professionals and sponsors, this year TORO After Dark provided an opportunity for APJ to generate awareness and engage a new audience in a relaxed setting, while providing the opportunity to meet some of Hollywood’s biggest personalities.” Since 2009, events held during the Toronto film festival benefiting APJ have raised over $300,000, with a 100% of proceeds going directly to Haiti.

(Richard Budman photos) Cadillac Festival Insider SKYE is wearing designs by Stephan Caras and jewelry by Psalms 91:1 at the Artists For Peace And Justice fundraiser.

Hello! Canada celebrates Hollywood Style at Ritz Carlton hotel during the 2011 Toronto Film Festival

Richard Budman — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 18:53:33 +0000

(September 10, 2011) Cadillac Festival Insider was at the grand new Ritz Carlton Hotel in Toronto as Hello! Canada magazine celebrates Hollywood Style. Held during the opening weekend of the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival the event brought out the best in Canadian media talent and an international star or two, including Backstreet Boys’ Howie D. Festival insider reporter SKYE even had her dreams come true when she got to duet with Howie.

Cadillac Festival Insider SKYE is wearing designs by Stephan Caras and jewelry by Psalms 91:1 at the Hello Canada! celebrates Hollywood at the Ritz Carlton hotel.

[Video] Cadillac Festival Insider gets ready for the TIFF red carpets at the gifting suites

Richard Budman — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 23:30:28 +0000

[VIDEO] Cadillac Festival Insider got a taste of what the celebrities and VIP’s of the Toronto International Film Festival get to experience – a visit to the two top gifting suites that happen during every TIFF – The Tastemakers Lounge and the IT Lounge. The insiders came away pampered, ready for the red carpets and parties, and, with a big bag of swag!

Thank you!

Infamous street-artist Mr. Brainwash creates new installation for TIFF (Brad Pitt and Madonna are collectors)

Richard Budman — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 18:49:47 +0000

The Toronto International Film Festival has proven the last few years to not just be about films. TIFF has shown it’s about music with attracting to the Festival some of the biggest pop acts in the world (Bruce Springsteen, U2.) The Festival has also very much shown it’s about art. In the case of the 2011 edition – TIFF is embracing a street-art style with commissioning none other than Thierry Guetta, aka Mr. Brainwash, to install works around Gala red carpets.

In celebration of the installation, Gallery One in Yorkville opens an exhibition to the public of Mr. Brainwash original works the day TIFF starts and running through to the end of the Festival (September 18th.)

The elusive street-artist Guetta even made an appearance at the private opening on September 7th. Guetta works in the same street-art style as masters in the field like Shepard Fairey – the artist behind the iconic Obama “Hope” poster, and of course, the infamous Banksy, the British star street-artist who pioneered the explosive interest in their types of works. Banksy directed the Oscar-nominated documentary Exit Through The Gift Shop last year which featured Mr. Brainwash at work.

The Gallery One exhibition is sure to attract some TIFF celebrities. Brad Pitt, George Clooney, and Madonna are all known to actively collect the works of Mr. Guetta.

At the exhibition opening, prices for some of Guetta’s pieces exceeded $25,000 – and they were selling. Mr. Brainwash art has been described in the past as “throwing modern cultural icons into a blender and turning it up to eleven.”

Thierry Guetta, aka Mr. Brainwash, at his Gallery One exhibition opening.

Who wore it well? 12 Best Dressed Ladies at the 2010 Toronto Film Festival (George Pimentel photography)

Richard Budman — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 05:32:50 +0000

Couldn’t let our BEST DRESSED LIST end without a mention of at least one gentleman. ED HARRIS looked very dapper and cool on arrival for his premiere.

Duchess of York SARAH FERGUSON spent 15 years producing The Young Victoria – Toronto Film Festival’s closing night Gala film

Richard Budman — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 14:31:54 +0000

The Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson spent a few days in Toronto during TIFF week on a couple of different missions. First, The Duchess and her two daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie of York spent an evening at Ultra on Queen St. to launch the Canadian arm of the Sarah Ferguson Charitable Foundation. The next evening, The Duchess would be walking the TIFF red carpet to support a film she produced, the closing night Gala THE YOUNG VICTORIA featuring Emily Blunt in the starring role. Producing the film has been a 15-year labor of love for Ms. Ferguson as she first became fascinated with Royal life and its unique history when she spent time in Buckingham Palace after marrying Prince Andrew in 1986. The Duchess said in repeated media interviews during her week in Toronto that she related to the story of at least one character in the film, not the Queen herself, but Albert, the beloved consort who was after Queen Victoria’s heart.

“But if you’re not born into royalty, you never really belong there.” – SARAH FERGUSON

Tom Ford’s A SINGLE MAN comes to TIFF on Colin Firth’s BEST ACTOR Venice honors – Weinstein Co. acquire distribution

Richard Budman — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 21:50:59 +0000

Actors Julianne Moore and Colin Firth joined TOM FORD at the very well-dressed and attended A Single Man after-party held at the Gardiner Museum. Fashion designer turned director-writer FORD proved during the 2009 Toronto Festival he will be a force in the film business. Riding an impressive wave of positive buzz from the Venice Film Festival where Colin Firth’s performance from Ford’s film won BEST ACTOR honors. A SINGLE MAN came out of the Toronto Festival with TIFF’s largest deal as the Weinstein Co. paid a few million dollars to secure U.S. distribution rights for Ford’s directorial debut.

IT LOUNGE gifting suite at Windsor Arms Hotel plays host to TIFF celebrities and contributes to a roster of charities

Richard Budman — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 05:28:16 +0000

The IT Lounge, hosted by NKPR at The Windsor Arms Hotel during TIFF week is proud to have broken new ground as the first gifting suite in North America to have had each participating brand contribute to a charity or cause.

A who’s who of celebrities visited the IT Lounge during the week to lend their support. For each of those visits, a special donation was made to the 12 charities. Brooks, Fila, Goody , Sharpie, Universal Music, were just some of the gifting companies contributing to the program.

Some of the many celebrity guests that visited IT Lounge: Paul Haggis, Olivia Wilde, the entire crew from So You Think You Can Dance Canada, Jason Bateman, Marlon Wayans, Sissy Spacek, Saukrates, James Purefoy, Divine Brown, Kat Dennings, Jimmy Jean-Louis, Jennifer Garner, Russell Peters, Kyle MacLaghlan, Ivana Santilli, Marci Playground, Edward Norton, Ricky Gervais, Kardinal Offishal, Samantha Morton, Kristin Booth, Colin Mochrie, Deb McGrath, Eva Avilla, Lyriq Bent, Monika Schnarre, Caitlin Cronenberg, Lisa Ray, Verne “Mini-Me” Troyer, Terry Gilliam and many, many more!

rising star Amber HEARD at TIFF’09 with THE JONESES – Next up is THE RUM DIARY with Johnny Depp

Richard Budman — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 19:41:32 +0000

Rising star AMBER HEARD was in Toronto for the world premiere of The Joneses. The film also stars Demi Moore and David Duchovny. Heard was channeling old-school Hollywood glamour during her stop at the after-party at AME on Mercer St. for the TIFF premiering film which has been earning strong reviews. Next up for Amber is a movie based on Hunter S. Thompson’s The Rum Diary, opposite Johnny Depp.