To coincide with the Canadian Film Fest, an event at Toronto’s luxurious Soho House took place, called How to Fund Your Film. It was incredibly insightful. A few of the panelists included Jessica Edwards, whose personal and fascinating film Stay Awhile will be at this year’s Hot Docs, and Dan Lyon, who brought decades of experience from Telefilm Canada, (and from being a playwright beforehand).

The best part of the night was the location of the event. How to Fund Your Film was held in the top floor of the three storey space at the Soho House Toronto. The bartenders wear charming outfits, and make some pretty fantastic cocktails, (the whiskey sour was made with an actual egg). The location is absolutely well-suited to member events, which this was. Other members events range from screening of movies, (with popcorn in brown bags), trivia nights, cooking classes, Life Drawing with models, lectures on The State of Hip-Hop in Canada, pretty much anything.

As for this event, the answers on stage were absolutely wonderful. Some of our favourite Canadian films were mentioned as success stories, from Lowell Dean’s WolfCop and the CineCoup Film Accelerator process, to the closing night film of the Canadian Film Fest, Pretend We’re Kissing, by Matt Sadowski, to Art of the Steal directed by Jonathan Sobol, to Lindsay Mackay’s Wet Bum, which was heavily praised for achieving the proper tone and mood.

It was an absolute thrill to see the kind of excitement that happens in the Soho House. Memberships are available for just the Soho House Toronto (and Soho House Chicago), and for those that qualify as Under 27s. For the truly adventurous, there is an Every House membership which applies to, you guessed it, each one of the private clubs. It is outstanding to have this kind of access to a rapidly growing roster, (and the club just opened its newest location in Istanbul, Turkey). The Toronto location is situated at 192 Adelaide St., next to the Shangri-La Hotel. It is a converted house, and feels like an old time bar, an Italian accented Canadian restaurant, and a private social club all rolled into one, (with a wall of candy).

The How to Fund Your Film event was emblematic of the type of event that is had at the Soho House. It was a lot of fun but also extremely relevant to the whims of members and guests. There were many film industry personnel in the audience, and quite a few recognizable faces on hand. The experience of getting to mix and mingle was worth it on its own, as there were key contacts present to whom it would be difficult to gain access in any other setting.

Though the original Soho House was in London, England, the Toronto Soho House is a magnificent place exemplary of the spirit of the endeavour.