Stars have faith in Toronto teen fest

TORONTO -- Young screen stars from Canada and the U.S. are hoping a new movie festival will revolutionize an entire genre.

During a Wednesday press conference to announce the Toronto International Teen Movie Festival at the Playdium in Toronto, stars Gabrielle Union, Robin Dunne, Eric Lively and Emily Hampshire spoke of their lofty goals for the latest film showcase to hit the city.

Emily Hampshire is a Canadian starlet whose credits include "The Life Before This" and the TV show "Made In Canada". She's looking at the festival as a haven from teen slasher pics.

"You can watch one teen movie, i.e. 'I Know What You Did Last Summer', and literally it's a formula," Emily says. "It's brainless, it's kind of underestimating teenage brains. I think that's what this festival will eliminate - the teen fluff of it."

Emily Hampshire Photo: Stephanie McGrath

Emily told AllPop that she "totally, definitely" wants to see the winning films at the festival in the fall (Oct. 27 - Nov. 4).

Eric Lively, star of the Family Channel's "So Weird" (which he describes as "X-Files" meets "Harriet The Spy"), posed with a group of very young female fans after the press conference.

The young girls adore him, as do his countless fans, who write him asking for advice on getting into the entertainment business, and send him scripts.

"I get things from like six year olds," Eric says about some of the scripts he's received. "Some of them will be like 'Neve Campbell is starring in it and you'll be my boyfriend and we'll get married and then the ghost tries to break us up but you eat him.' It's great."

Eric Lively Photo: Stephanie McGrath

Eric is relieved that he finally has a place to refer young scribes and directors to. Film buffs can now enter their submissions online at http://www.hiltz2.com, which will be accepting projects for the festival from anyone ages 0-19, until the submission cut-off on Aug. 1.

Like Emily, Eric thinks the festival will be a breeding ground for fresh ideas and visions in movies.

"As the teen festival grows, teens will start creating an awareness for what it is they like," he says. "We watch TV and we know we like it but why? Teens will start saying 'Why do I like it? How was this shot?' you know, a question that's not normally asked by a teenager, and then they'll start being able to put their new ideas with the way they like to shoot and create a whole new type of cinema."

Toronto-raised actor Robin Dunne, known best as A.J. Moller on the WB's "Dawson's Creek," will return to his hometown to shoot "Skulls 2" in March. Today though, Robin is eager to talk about his hopes for the festival, which will draw film submissions from across the world.

"I think generally what we're seeing right now is 45-year-old men who are executives making what they think teenagers are thinking and saying," says Robin, who's starred in his share of teen material written by an older crowd.

Robin Dunne Photo: Stephanie McGrath

"There's nothing wrong with that, there's many occasions where that really works and it's really accurate, but I think what's going to be great about this festival is you're going to be able to see films that young people are making from their own voice. I mean, it doesn't get any more real than that. I think it's going to be interesting to see the juxtaposition between what we now know as the teen genre and what films come out of this festival. We'll see what the difference is."

During the press conference, a one-minute trailer of a teen-made movie titled "Delport Haunting", by high school student Nikai Lamb, is shown to demonstrate the accomplishments of teen filmmakers. The film lacks the slick look of Hollywood teen picks, but it's the sheer, raw nature of the films that will be screened at the festival that Robin's excited about.

"I think one of the greatest things about this festival is they're accepting films on any format, so you know, the grittier, grainier with the family handy-cam," he says. "I wanna see what people make with limited budget but just all imagination."

Gabrielle Union, star of last year's hit teen flick "Bring It On", shares Robin's desire for edgy, fresh films.

"I wanna be appalled and disgusted and shocked and amazed and enlightened," Gabrielle says after the press conference where she's just asked the creators if the teen movie-makers will be censored. (They say no). "We need to give kids an open forum to be real."

As an African-American actress in a Hollywood peppered with blond teen stars, Gabrielle is almost counting on that open teen forum to break new ground for actors who find it difficult to find roles due to their heritage, and encourage filmmakers to discard stale story-lines for original, imaginative concepts.

Gabrielle Union Photo: Stephanie McGrath

"Kids aren't so closed-minded, kids don't think about demographics and ad rates," she says. "I live around the corner from a high school in L.A. and I see kids walking down the street and there might be a white guy, couple black guys, a Latino, an Asian guy. What brings them all together is like what kind of music they listen to or how they dress or what girls they like to look at, whatever. I don't think they were like 'Well, we can't accept you into our group cause we've reached our quota of Latinos so you're gonna have to wait until next year when a spot opens up,' and that's how Hollywood works. It's like they only let in a couple for a whole minority. That's why it's always nice to see the new Reese Witherspoons but I'd also like to see the next John Woo, Kevin Smith, Spike Lee, people who are a little bit open-minded about casting, and ideas and they're not so committed to the tried and true formula."

Gabrielle thinks the young, new filmmakers could jolt Hollywood writers and directors back into reality by showcasing scenarios in fresh ways with new, varied faces and age-appropriate dialogue.

" 'Bring It On' was the number 1 movie in the country for three weeks, but is it an accurate reflection of what really goes on ? No," she says. "Are those the words that kids use? No. I'm hoping this festival provides that kind of forum to see their vision come to fruition and have people have to pay attention to what really goes on."

Next up for Gabrielle is a guest-star role on NBC's "Friends" as the girlfriend of both Ross and Joey.

"I'm the first African-American female in a guest-starring role, in a major plot-line on 'Friends'," she says. "It means a lot to the minority communities because of what it is and the fact that it's been on the air for seven years. I mean, a lot of minority people watch 'Friends'. I've watched it religiously since the beginning. Part of the reason I watch it is to see if maybe this week there will be a black person on or some kind of minority. I think the last lady we had was Ross's Asian girlfriend, and we haven't seen anybody since!"

For more information on the first annual Toronto International Teen Movie Festival, read AllPop's previous article here, or go to www.hiltz2.com, which will connect you to the festival's official site.