TIFF's Cameron Bailey talks moving forward with fewer movie stars during SAG-AFTRA strike a 'critical moment' for Fest's future

The Toronto Film Festival is at a critical juncture after three difficult years following the COVID-19 pandemic, but "the festival will happen," says TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey.

TIFF has generally been a star affair and an awards season staple. However, it's unclear what the red carpets will look like at the gala premieres and tribute ceremonies that have been given to important celebrities like Kate Winslet.

The long-time festival director has stepped up his efforts to push ahead with this year's festival, whether or not the big stars are in attendance. This comes amid ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes that have brought the Hollywood industry to a halt, placing the remaining months of movies and TV shows in uncharted territory.

While Bailey is optimistic about TIFF's plans and its future, he acknowledges the critical moment the festival finds itself in after being heavily impacted by COVID and still trying to regain its mojo.

The controversial labor strikes in Hollywood haven't just affected TIFF, as the entire entertainment industry is feeling the impact. The Primetime Emmys, scheduled for Sunday, September 18, will likely be postponed. The Venice Film Festival lost its "Challengers" festival opener starring Zendaya after MGM delayed its release to 2024. And there are reports of more films coming out of the season, such as Warner Bros. "Dune Part Two" and "The Color Purple."

So far, TIFF has announced the world premieres of Taika Waititi's "Next Goal Wins" with Michael Fassbender and Atom Egoyan's "Seven Veils" with Amanda Seyfried.

As the industry juggles its differences, Bailey spoke with Variety about navigating these tumultuous times and what the festival needs to survive.

The 48th edition of TIFF will take place September 7-17.

Are you having discussions with studios to pull their films from the festival because talent won't be able to participate due to the strike?

Cameron Bailey: Now is a good time for us to check in with the companies bringing these films to us and the filmmakers themselves on a regular basis because things are changing. We are all trying to figure out the situation and what kind of picture we can expect in September. It changes almost daily. We check in with everyone, confirming where they are - people make new plans in some cases, or they confirm plans or have to check with other people before they can confirm plans. So we're in the middle of that. The good news is that we are still planning to announce many galas and special presentations on Monday. We know that.

You were originally supposed to unveil the lineup on July 19, but moved it to July 24. Was it due to the conversations you had with the studios about whether their films would make the trip to Canada?

It was due to wanting to get out of this week's coverage, which was so much about the strike and its impact on productions, negotiations and everything else. We didn't want to make festival announcements in the middle of that. It didn't seem like the right time for that. So we took a step back and decided to go on Monday instead. We have a lot of good news that we want to let people know about, but we thought of g...