Hollywood and other global entertainment stars will return to this year’s Toronto Film Festival in pre-pandemic numbers and glory, says local restaurant and nightclub kingpin Charles Khabouth.
“I do feel TIFF is coming back to 100 percent, if not 110 percent. Everybody’s been looking forward to this for so many years,” Khabouth told The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday. That’s in stark contrast to the 2023 edition of TIFF, where striking Hollywood actors were no-shows and local party spots, restaurants and their suppliers had to take financial hits.
And before that, Toronto faced two years of pandemic disruption with slimmed-down digital editions in 2020 and 2021. “TIFF is the most exciting time of the year in Toronto, and we’ve missed it,” Khabouth added as Toronto’s latest festival, running Sept. 5-15, gets set to launch.
As CEO of Ink Entertainment, Khabouth is in close contact with reps for major studios and streamers headed to Toronto with movie premieres and will see his downtown Toronto venues like Bisha Hotel, Pink Sky, Kost, the Mister C Bar Room and the private member club Clio return as prime locations for Hollywood star-watchers during TIFF’s 2024 edition.
The 10-day event with Venice and Telluride helps kick off the awards season as Hollywood A-listers in Toronto will toast or tout their latest movie, whether at traditional press junkets, talent dinners and pre- and post-screening parties. Among the TIFF events Khabouth’s venues will host are an opening-night party at Daphne on Richmond Street, and a premiere party for Ben Stiller’s Nutcracker, the TIFF opener, at Mister C Bar Room in the Bisha Hotel.
“Right now, what’s confirmed to come to town are people like Angelina Jolie and Selena Gomez and Pharrell Williams, we’re doing an event with, and Ben Stiller and Jude Law,” Khabouth said, listing off his assembled guest list to date.
The return of Hollywood actors to help directors and producers launch their movies in Toronto also means a financial boost for local businesses that transport, feed and honor American celebrities in town for the film festival.
Khabouth will also host opening weekend premiere parties for The Penguin Lessons, the Steve Coogan-starring dramedy from director Peter Cattaneo, and at Clio, the Billboard Women in Music event honoring Alanis Morissette at the DPRTMNT nightclub on Adelaide Street, and a first-ever BAFTA event at Mister C that promises a slew of Brit film and TV stars in house.
And Khabouth’s Pink Sky restaurant on King Street will host premiere parties for Amy Adams’ Nightbitch, Dakota Johnson’s Loser Baby, Jude Law’s The Order and Friendship, with Paul Rudd.
Khabouth adds having Hollywood uber-stars in his restaurants and nightclubs is exciting for his staff and boosts morale. But he adds his wait staff are trained to treat Hollywood A-listers with care and discretion, which includes not gawking or asking for selfies or autographs.
And while servers may know big-name Hollywood actors because they live in the public eye, Khabouth says movie directors and producers are not as instantly recognizable, and yet remain key VIPs servers are made aware of beforehand.
Food and alcohol suppliers, limo drivers, extra wait staff hired during TIFF and specialists installing drapery, lighting and red carpets in the city’s downtown in and around TIFF Lightbox depend on the annual film festival to sustain their businesses.
Khabouth adds he always orders extra champagne and wine, plus tablecloths and glassware, ahead of TIFF to ensure he doesn’t run short of supplies. And he keeps a box of choice cigars and cognacs on hand just in case someone has a request for the finer things in life.
“People are allowed to be a certain way and ask for certain things and we try the best we can,” Khabouth said.