Hot Docs market shifts online

Commissioning editors around the table at the Hot Docs Forum 2019

Canadian non-fiction festival Hot Docs is shifting its industry market online in place of April’s live event which was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

This year’s Hot Docs Forum pitch-fest event will continue by having pitch teams present their projects online via a remote conferencing service to commissioners, financiers and decision makers, who will then provide comments and feedback.

Afterwards, the video-captured pitches and feedback will be posted on Hot Docs’ online Doc Shop for industry pass holders to view.

Meanwhile, Hot Docs’ one-on-one pitch meetings, Deal Maker and Distribution Rendezvous, will both move online with Hot Docs staff facilitating match-made meetings between participants.

Elizabeth Radshaw, industry programmes director for Hot Docs, said: “Although it will never replace the powerful human connection of coming together in community, we’re grateful to be able to host our industry activities virtually, allowing all of us to support outstanding and outspoken films getting made.”

The news makes Hot Docs the latest industry event attempting to recalibrate in the wake of the devastating coronavirus pandemic.

Festivals such as CPH:DOX and the Cleveland International Film Festival are among those shifting content online in the wake of cancellations, while markets such as MipTV, Series Mania and Sunny Side of the Doc have all launched virtual offerings.