TORONTO — This year Heroes Reborn will enjoy the Hollywood glow typically reserved for big budget features at the Toronto International Film Festival. The TIFF’s Television Programme features the sci-fi drama, and five other series, alongside hundreds of acclaimed international features.
“It means a lot that we’re at TIFF. TIFF is kind of a creative hub of really interesting films,” said series actor Henry Zebrowski. “And I think the fact that they’re allowing us to sort of break the seal on TV is great.”
“I think TIFF decided to go that route because they acknowledged the presence of TV and that we really are in the golden age,” said Toronto Star TV critic Tony Wong.
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“TV stars have always gone on to Hollywood. Think Jennifer Aniston, think George Clooney. But now more than ever you have film stars moving back to TV, which is an interesting trend. You have Matthew McConaughey doing True Detective. You have Kevin Spacey doing House of Cards. That’s a significant move,” he said.
The increase of access across multiple platforms seems to underlie the growth in television production according to Wong.
“There are going to be 400 dramatic series this year alone. One of the reasons is because we have all these online purveyors that didn’t exist before.”
The borders between the small and big screen are breaking down and fans seem not to care where they see their stars, so long as they see them.
“I think that’s awesome when the stars are in television series as well. It allows us to see them in both ways,” said Cody Dube, who was among the hundreds of fans crowded outside the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre Tuesday afternoon hoping to catch a glimpse of Penelope Cruz.
“I think it actually makes me like them a little bit more, they’re more diverse and can do both,” he said.
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