Fans of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) are raising concerns about the fan experiences, as ticket prices soar and autograph resellers take over red carpets.
Sajna M. is one of the fans calling attention to the issue. She tells Now Toronto that she’s attended TIFF over the past few years, and typically had no concerns. But she says that since the festival partnered with Ticketmaster, she’s noticed a major difference in the fan experience.
“Everyone scrapes [tickets] up right away and then resells them for five times the price. And so now it’s pretty unattainable to go to a premiere, let alone even some of those screenings,” she said.
Sajna said this year she attended a screening for Dust Bunny, tickets for that show alone were more than $100. In previous years, she was able to find tickets for anywhere from $30 to $60.
Sajna says one of her friends even chose not to attend a separate screening for a different film due to the tickets being $110.
“It wasn’t a premiere or anything. It was just like the regular [screeing] at the Scotiabank Theatre… that’s crazy,” she said.
With a few more chances left to see movies at this year’s festival, audiences may have to dig deeper into their pockets to do so. According to Ticketmaster, resale tickets for the documentary Degrassi: Whatever It Takes on Sept. 14 are going for as much as $300.
But Sajna says her biggest concerns are with autograph sellers taking over the fan zone, a spot where fans are supposed to be able to catch stars arriving at the carpets for free.
She says that sellers attempting to get an autograph from a celebrity to later resell has taken away the value of the fan zone, which is one of the only free ways to enjoy TIFF now that it’s become expensive.
“They’re just there to flip that autograph for $100 on eBay,” she said. “You are not here as a true fan, and you’re taking away that experience from somebody who really wants to be there.”
Sajna has since posted about the experience on TikTok, leading to other fans agree and sparking a discussion.
“Preach I thought it was so expensive this year too and I saw empty seats,” a TikTok user said.
“I couldn’t agree more,” another user said.
“What annoys me more is that it’s in their police that you can’t bring big bags and posters into the fan zone area yet all the resellers get away with it,” another user said.
Sajna says the TIFF street festival along King St. has also changed in a lot of ways, including becoming a lot more “commercial.”
“If you look at the activations, there’s Netflix, Volkswagen… it doesn’t feel like they’re supporting a lot of local businesses anymore,” she said.
Overall, despite the concerns, Sajna said she was still able to make the most of the experience this year, but says there is still work to do to ensure resellers don’t ruin it.
“If we want to keep that magic of TIFF, it has to be about the fans; they’re watering down that experience,” she said.
