BUSINESS
by Dan Spelling
Toronto Pictures; a Profile in Ethical Filmmaking
T
oronto Pictures, Inc. is a company that is difficult to stereotype, This Canadian-based independent film production house has followed the path less traveled since its inception in 1996. It has stubbornly gone its own way, struggling and succeeding to maintain a vision of producing ethical films that provoke thought, not violence. Targeting a global audience, Toronto Pictures addresses topical, often-controversial issues in dramatic format, often combined with the look and feel of documentary genre. With cultural influences from Europe, North America, Asia and, now, Africa, the company has bragging rights as being authentically international in its scope and recognition, as well as in the provocative themes of its films. It was Socrates that said, âAn unexamined life is not worth living.â But it may as well have been Bruno Pischiutta, the passionate founder, President and CEO of Toronto Pictures. Not your typical movie executive, Pischiutta is first and foremost an artist; a man with a voracious appetite for life and learning. He is an award winning screen writer, director and producer who has proven to be a prodigy since his childhood in Italy. Brunoâs vision and inexhaustible energy have guided the company from a fledgling start-up through its lean and leaner times to its current status as a company exploding in all directions with creative and business success. Toronto Pictures is on a roll, with multiple projects in various stages of development, production and distribution. Although his full-length filmography would take up most of the pages of this magazine, a partial snapshot of his body of work to date includes numerous feature-length films and documentaries, as
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well as made-for-television features, halfhour series and musicals. Pischiutta has produced work in North America, Europe and most recently in West Africa, where he just completed directing Toronto Picturesâ newest film, âPunctured Hope.â slated for release in the U.S. in 2006. In addition to directing the film, Pischiutta is also the projectâs Executive Producer. CoProducing the film is Ms. Daria Trifu, who is also the companyâs Vice President. The themes of Toronto Picturesâ properties tend to be toward controversial social messages which address major issues of our time. Examples of this include the feature film ââŚMaybeâŚâ, dealing with sexual obsession and eating disorder; âVirtaryâ, an anthology of stories on lost virginity. The latest project,âPunctured Hope,â is a chilling revelation of modern-day slavery and sexual mutilation that still exists in parts of West Africa. Specifically, the film deals with the age-old tribal practice of âTrokosiâ which promotes the enslavement, mutilation and sexual abuse of West Africaâs young girls and women. The film has an all-African cast and a lead actress who is, herself, a survivor of these dreadful practices that have affected millions of African women over the past 300 years. Although the motion picture industry is not usually associated with high standards of moral behavior, Toronto Pictures is determined to be an exception to the rule. Even off the screen, the company adheres to its own strict code of ethics. As business people, their goal is, naturally, to take full advantage of overseas filming opportunities whenever and wherever they can. However, their goal is also to take a non-exploitive approach by giving back as much as possible. Instead of merely going to a place like Romania and Ghana to save money on casting and film-
ing, they aim to also empower those regions culturally and financially. As part of this philosophy of lifting up communities and supporting young talent, Pischiutta funded the Film Academy of Ghana in May of 2005. The first such institution in West Africa, the Academy of Ghana was established to help West African filmmakers to develop professional cinematic education and to promote their career advancement. âAlthough we are still in the fledgling stages of the Academyâs development, we are positioned to help aspiring actors, writers, directors, producers and other film professionals achieve their goals in a globally competitive arts environment, commented Pischiutta.â âFor West Africa to have a real presence in international cinema, there must an institution that supports professional cinematic education and career development. We are committed to providing that support.â Trifu, who serves as the President of the new Academy also reflected on its importance, âAs cinematic artists representing the continent in general, associates of the Academy of Ghana now have the opportunity to create a nucleus of great talent who can ultimately define the image of Africa the world will come to know and better understand.â Many of the films cast have participated in the Academyâs first professional film symposium which was held in Accra on July 28th. Furthermore, the company is dedicating ten percent of the profits of âPunctured Hopeâ to an established West African philanthropic foundation focusing on education, medical treatment and infrastructure improvements for the village where the film was shot. Another aspect of Toronto Picturesâ uniqueness is the fact that it has always found ways to survive and thrive in a