Plenty of films go into Venice, Telluride, and Toronto with North American distribution already in place, particularly when you have the backing of a distributor like Netflix (which had four world premieres this fall) or Focus Features (which brought the house down with the likes of " Hamnet" and " Bugonia "). But with more than 300 features premiering at this year's Toronto International Film Festival, and a swath at Venice, Telluride, and now headed for New York, many venture in without distribution support.
"The secret to his success? Instead of begging for development deals, he decided to chase something more practical: money. I found it way easier to find people with money than it is to get a company to say 'Yes,' Grashaw said."
