Montreal: The heart of the Banff Television Festival is its up-front market for content and financing, the comparatively easy access to all orders of international commissioning editors and a general business and social environment aimed at fostering national and international coproduction.

The official opening ceremonies for the festival's 22nd edition, June 10-15, take place Monday, June 11 with the scheduled participation of Canadian Heritage Minister Sheila Copps, Telefim Canada chairman Laurier LaPierre, CTV president and COO Trina McQueen and Banff Television Foundation president and CEO Pat Ferns.

International coproduction continues to evolve. Ferns says dramatic coproductions may be becoming more difficult as domestic programming strengthens its hold on primetime schedules. "But I think in factual programming, children's and in formats the world is becoming more and more international, and Banff has played its part in all of that.

"Most of the big markets - MIP-TV, MIPCOM, NATPE - are in the business of selling finished goods," he says. "It's about volume because that is the efficient way to sell product around the world. Each of them has dimensions of trying to be an up-front market for financing new projects. But I think the advantage of Banff is that we are focused on that and that this is a marketplace of ideas. You can find partners here, whether it's creative partners or financing partners. And frankly, the big bucks are in people financing new projects rather than in the post-production selling of international product."

Banff - a time and a place

Ferns says Banff's new branding proposition, or mantra, is "Innovation, Excellence and Opportunity, and I think pitching represents the opportunity side of that. We're trying to live up to the innovation [claim] by creating new formats to get new players out in the field."

Banff's relative isolation and active social calendar gives the festival its democratic and accessible business character.

As for the festival's dates and location, Ferns says, "We are at the right time of the year, and while some people might say, 'Are you in the right place hidden away in the mountains?' I think we're absolutely in the right place because the quality of isolation means people actually do see each other and they talk. If we were in a big city half the executives would be in their own offices and not in the marketplace."

Banff features both wide-open and by-appointment-only venues.

"People want some small quality experiences and what we've got now with our Decision-Maker Breakfast and Lunches and Master Class series is a chance for people to be in a small group hearing from great people, because when they go away that's what they'll remember. The line-up of Masters (24 classes) including six strands - directing, new media, documentary, writing, producing and children's - means if you are in any of those specialty areas you are getting to hear from some pretty spectacular people," says Ferns.