The beleaguered Hot Docs Film Festival says it’s closing its flagship Toronto theatre for about three months and laying off staff amid financial difficulties.
Festival states it will begin temporary layoffs as the organization tries to find a path to profitability
The beleaguered Hot Docs Film Festival says it’s closing its flagship Toronto theatre for about three months and laying off staff amid financial difficulties.
Canada’s largest film festival says it will temporarily shutter the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema starting June 12.
A statement from the festival says that will result in temporary layoffs as the organization tries to find a path back to profitability.
Robin Mirsky, the co-chair of the Hot Docs’ board of directors, says it was a difficult but necessary step for the organization.
The latest iteration of the festival wrapped in early May amid ongoing uncertainty over its finances and concerns over a mass staff exodus.
Hot Docs had warned in April that its future was in jeopardy and appealed for support. Its new president, Marie Nelson, sent out a dizzying number of email entreaties to festival-goers about their dire financial situation, while at the same time 10 employees blamed an “unprofessional and discriminatory environment” for their mass resignation.
After appealing to the Canadian government for emergency funding — which the festival did not receive — two board members resigned just days before the festival began.