VFF held Press Conference today sharing some great news. In the meantime, VFF decided to still use the Drive-In format used successfully last year.

• VFF teamed up with Netflix and created a Webinar Series 
• One of the Festival weeks will be Sony Picture Films 
• VFF formed a local charity partnership with Little Pear Garden Dance Company 
• … and much more. 

The Drive-In will also feature three other uniquely programmed weekends, including the best of
the fest, the postponed 2020 international lineups, as well as a feature film block playing the
Sony Pictures classics Men in Black, Jumanji, and Jerry Maguire.

After the success of the partnership with the NIA Centre for the Arts at last year’s Drive-In, VFF
has once again partnered with another local charity, Little Pear Garden. This Dance Company
develops and promotes both contemporary and classical Chinese dance in Toronto.

Many other of VFF’s initiatives were also discussed at today’s press conference, including their
newest educational webinar series collaboration with the Creative Technologies Team at
Netflix. This five-part weekly webinar series launched on July 29th with a session on program
management, and remaining topics include colour science, editorial, visual effects, and sound.
Each webinar will feature panelists from the Netflix team discussing these topics in detail and
giving registrants an insider view of what it is like working behind the scenes on popular Netflix
Original titles.

Yet another educational initiative VFF spoke about was how their partnership with the US-
based organization Entertainment Industry Professionals Mentoring Alliance (EIPMA) led to a
collaboration with Space Games Federation (SGF) and the development of the #Nobel4ISS
Equal Space Challenge. Beginning in March, this competition has invited both new and
experienced filmmakers to create a public service announcement to foster public support for
awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to the International Space Station (ISS). In total, the challenge
has garnered 129 submissions from over 33 countries. VFF revealed the top four finalists, which
included filmmakers from Mexico, Hungary, and the US. The winner of the first place PSA will
be announced later this month.

VFF’s 2021 nominees and specialty awards were also revealed at the conference. Highlights
include the Canadian film, Age of Dysphoria, being nominated in the best film category and
VFF’s Independent Leadership Award being bestowed to Ivan Reitman, the filmmaker whose
humble beginnings started out by producing and directing his own short films right here in
Ontario.

The VFF Drive-In will run every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in September. Tickets are available
at vaughanfilmfestival.com.