Hot Docs Announces Industry Conference/Market Line-up

The Hot Docs Industry Conference and Market has a new home as it moves to the Yorkville Royal Sonestra Hotel and Innis College Cinema. The venue changes put the Industry Conference at a walkable distance from Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema and along the subway line with TIFF Lightbox as the festival shrinks the number of screening locations for this year’s festival.

The conference, running mid-fest April 28 to 30, will include work-in-progress screenings for 10 documentary projects. As noted by Hot Docs’ Director of Industry Programs, Elizabeth Radshaw, during yesterday’s main press conference, the event will feature a temporary swing of support by the first look funders who traditionally fuel the Hot Docs Forum, which is on hiatus this year. The work-in-progress screenings will allow teams to present their projects in various stages production and engage with discussions from peers who attend.

“We are committed to showcasing extraordinary storytelling and creating a welcoming space for film business development and industry connections,” Radshaw said in a statement from the festival. “Our 2025 Industry Conference and Market is designed to be an intimate yet impactful gathering where diverse filmmakers of all career stages are supported, and emerging voices are uplifted. From networking with industry leaders to collaborative learning, we’re building a vibrant community for authentic connections and meaningful exchanges in the documentary space.”

The one-on-one pitch sessions of the Hot Docs Deal Maker are back in business, too, with 52 filmmaking teams having the opportunity to connect their projects to funders, distributors, and broadcasters from territories across the world. The Meet the Broadcasters series will let doc professionals learn about the current needs and trends on the TV side of the screen sector.

The slightly more intimate scale of the industry side of Hot Docs includes conversations with journalist Anna Maria Tremonti about making documentaries in the age of polarised politics, while CBC’s Takara Small will moderate a discussion about the use of AI in docs. Small will also moderate an extended conversation with YouTube Canada’s Andrew Peterson.

Meanwhile, members of Broken Social Scene will join in a conversation about licensing music for documentaries. A panel on positioning and marketing will give a chance for filmmakers to learn how to release their docs into the wild as marketing and PR specialists offer advice on a competitive field.

Additional speakers include the Hot Takes series, which offers micro-talks and case studies. The Nest directors Chase Joynt and Juliette Singh will share their perspectives on collaborating across different communities, while the Canada Media Fund’s Emmanuelle Petrakis takes the question on everyone’s mind: money! Finally, impact producer Sholeh Fabbri will offer a case study on the impact campaign for Plastic People, which scored three Canadian Screen Award nominations this morning.

Hot Docs announced its full programming line-up yesterday. It will open with the NFB doc Parade and include marquee names like Oscar winner Marlee Matlin on the guest list during the festival.