The trials and tribulations of TOIFA

When it's all over, will the inaugural Times of India Film Awards in Vancouver be considered a quick win or a case of haste makes waste?

The British Columbia government gave an arm of the Times of India Group a $9.5 million, sole-source contract last December to manage, conceptualize, plan and produce the event. It budgeted another $1.5 million on a fashion show and business conference, among other things. The budget was $11 million. What will be the final tally?

The government doesn't want you or me to see the contract and business case before TOIFA. It could be released under Freedom of Information after mid-April. I'll keep you posted.

I reported on CKNW AM 980 on Jan. 25 that there had been a solid bid submitted for the International Indian Film Academy Awards, but talks broke-off between the government and promoter Wizcraft. Here is the bid book for the proposed June 21-23 IIFA festival, which would have been a regional celebration of Indian culture. It would have also been after the provincial election.

Lux boss Ashok Todi

With only 10 weeks between the Jan. 22 announcement and the event itself, TOIFA failed to land a big-bucks Canadian title sponsor. Big, mainstream, national brands weren't willing to open their wallets for a first-time event at such short notice.

I revealed on the Simi Sara Show on CKNW AM 980 that TOIFA did find a title sponsor, Lux Cozi, which is well-known in India. And not just for the underwear it makes and markets. Listen to The Investigators podcast here.

In a nutshell: Chairman Ashok Todi was implicated in the death of a 30-year-old man who married his daughter, Priyanka, in 2007. Rizwanur Rahman's body was found beside train tracks in Kolkata. Murder charges didn't stick, but Todi and six others (including his brother and three cops) were accused of "abetting suicide."

Tourism Minister Pat Bell's office referred questions to TOIFA spokeswoman Laura Ballance about Lux and Todi. Ballance wouldn't comment because the matter is before the courts.

When I get the contract via FOI, I will be curious to find out if the government really signed it without including a clause requiring it be consulted on the types of sponsors, to ensure they are aligned with the values of B.C.

Bell already put his foot in his mouth when he proclaimed in the Legislature on March 5 that TOIFA was "sold out." That was not true. Thousands of seats remained empty for the Pacific Coliseum concert on April 4. Organizers admitted they sold 4,800 in the arena, which can hold 17,000 for a full concert. There were more than 500 entries on Craigslist from people hoping to unload their tickets to the April 6 awards ceremony at B.C. Place. TicketMaster still has a wide selection across several pricing categories. Various websites have popped up, offering discount tickets. One of them is TOIFA Events. It is unclear whether they are officially TOIFA-authorized.

Clark on her 2011 India tour

TOIFA has claimed it changed the configuration to expand capacity at B.C. Place from 20,000 to 35,000. A 22-page sponsorship prospectus drafted in December shows that the April 6 event was always planned for "35,000 ticket holders and invitees."

One of those who will be there is Premier Christy Clark, in her $750, custom-made sari from Surrey.

Need more? Here is my latest from Business in Vancouver from April 5. And, in The Tyee, a look back at Music '91, a post-Expo 86 tourism promotion throughout B.C. in 1991 that was supposed to help the ruling Social Credit Party, but instead backfired.

Here's hoping the TOIFA awards show is a success, but I can't help but wonder: is history repeating?

Did you receive tickets to TOIFA from a source other than TicketMaster? Do you have questions about the legitimacy of your tickets? Please contact me. 

TOIFA Supporter and Hospitality Package by BobMackin

Toifa Sponsorship Experience by BobMackin

Of Times of India and Taxpayers of British Columbia

A lot is at stake on the first weekend of April in Vancouver, and I'm not referring to Canada's Davis Cup quarterfinal tie with Italy at Thunderbird Arena.

Instead, this post is about the inaugural Times of India Film Awards, which feature a concert on April 4 at the Pacific Coliseum and the gala awards at B.C. Place Stadium on April 6. Thousands of tickets are available, even after Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training Minister Pat Bell said in Question Period on March 5, during an exchange with the NDP's Raj Chouhan, that it was "sold out."

The British Columbia government was bidding to bring the International Indian Film Academy awards to Vancouver in June 2013, but negotiations broke down with producer Wizcraft International of Mumbai in May 2012.

Elephant in the room: Clark clutching the TOIFA trophy.

So Premier Christy Clark created a pre-election Bollywood awards show under the guise of promoting B.C. as a tourist destination for Indians with a broadcast on Sony Television in India. It was announced Jan. 22 -- just 72 days before the event.

I took a critical look at the $11 million-plus, taxpayer-subsidized event on The Investigators on CKNW AM 980 on Jan. 25. Here is the podcast.

Depending on how you look at it, TOIFA is the scandal-plagued BC Liberals' last hurrah before an election they're expected to lose or a desperate, multicultural outreach ploy to gain votes from the 260,000-plus Indo-Canadians in B.C. Not surprisingly, no mainstream, Canadian brand has sponsored TOIFA; sophisticated companies tend not to invest in unproven properties, especially when faced with such little advance notice.

Only five companies well-known within the Indo-Canadian community have come forward. The values and structures of the deals have not been disclosed. Toronto's 2011 IIFA had 18 months lead-time and was able to compile an impressive sponsor roster, topped by CIBC, one of Canada's biggest banks.

As much as Bell and Clark try to downplay, distract or deny, they refuse to show British Columbians in a timely manner whether due diligence was applied to this venture before Treasury Board approved. I asked, via Freedom of Information, for the business case and contract. If it exists, the government won't give it to me before the awards. (See the bottom of this post.)

I did get confirmation, via a separate FOI request, that the government made a sole-source award of a $9.5 million contract to BCCL International Events Private Ltd., the Times of India Group's events arm. That contract was effective Dec. 12, 2012. (See below.)

What does this mean?

Quite simply, we may never know how our money was spent. Times of India Group is a private, foreign company. As such, it is outside the FOI law. The government's contractual sleight of hand is a likely legacy of the 2011 IIFA event in Toronto, where the CBC and other media outlets eventually got detailed spending reports via FOI.

The news only gets worse for TOIFA, after the Surrey Board of Trade issued a March 28 news release slamming the promoter for failing to schedule an event in Surrey, where 30% of residents are South Asian. The bid book for IIFA (which you can read here) included letters of support from Mayor Dianne Watts and Surrey Board of Trade CEO Anita Huberman. Suggested events included a Bollywood film festival at Surrey's Strawberry Hill cinemas. I broke the news about the imminent Surrey snub on March 6 in Business in Vancouver.

Blaming the Times of India Group for the snub doesn't add up. The BC Liberals let the contract and hold the purse. As the saying goes, he who pays the piper calls the tune. Might Clark and co. have punished Surrey for turning down the Gateway Casino application to city council the weekend before the TOIFA news conference? According to Vancouver Desi, Surrey's Sikh community played a key role in the anti-casino lobby. A March 2 TOIFA fashion show was held at the River Rock Show Theatre in Richmond -- a casino in a municipality other than Surrey.

TOIFA has also stirred anger within the Indo-Canadian community. Vikram Bajwa, a disenchanted BC Liberal in Surrey, has announced plans for a protest outside TOIFA events to oppose the taxpayer-subsidy.

Much more to come on TOIFA...

Have you obtained TOIFA tickets from a source other than TicketMaster? How much did you pay? Did you get them for free? Please email me and tell me your story. 

Times of India, Taxpayers of British Columbia

Times of India Film Awards -- The Cliffhanger

"Copycat" Indian Oscars coming to B.C. Place

The International Indian Film Academy awards aren't coming to Vancouver in 2013, but an event that IIFA organizers deemed a "copycat" is. 

Clark and actor Anil Kapoor announcing IIFA bid in 2011.

During a November 2011 trade mission to India, Premier Christy Clark announced a bid for the 2013 edition of the IIFA awards. The event, which was referred to as the "Oscars of Indian film, was held in 2011 in Toronto at Rogers Centre. The 2013 host remains to be announced.

The Surrey Board of Trade was part of the IIFA bid. Its president, Anita Huberman, said via email on Jan. 18: "It is not going to be IIFA but something better. I am not allowed to say at this time -- but an announcement will be made on Tuesday."

UPDATE (Jan. 21): Clark will be appearing at a 10 a.m. news conference on Jan. 22 in the Vancouver Convention Centre to announce the Times of India-sponsored event in April. B.C. Place Stadium is the venue for the awards, but the news conference isn't going to be there. That's odd. Might that be so as to shield the Premier from questions about the continuing controversy over the stadium on several fronts? Such as a major lawsuit among roof contractors and the Auditor General's fact-finding exercise on the cost overruns. Meanwhile, Bollywood director Karan Johar Tweeted that he arrived in Vancouver at 7:57 p.m. 

Another source told me that B.C. Place Stadium will be the venue. With an election nearing, the government is in desperate need of propping up the taxpayer-owned stadium as a major lawsuit by roof contractors looms in October and the Office of the Auditor General examines the controversial project. 

Global TV reporter Jas Johal asked Clark about the show during a Jan. 16 news conference. Clark gave a vague answer, hinting an announcement was imminent, but she did not deny that taxpayers would be subsidizing the event. (Ontario taxpayers spent $12 million on hosting the IIFA in 2011.)

This, while the province's own film and TV industry is in decline and struggling workers are furiously calling for government action to match Ontario's generous tax credits after I revealed in Business in Vancouver that their industry was deliberately omitted from Clark's B.C. Jobs Plan. (An industry town hall meeting is planned for Jan. 22 at North Shore Studios.) 

IIFA organizer Wizcraft International issued the following news release on Jan. 21, to reiterate it's not coming to Vancouver in 2013: 

IIFA confirms not going to Vancouver in 2013~ 

IIFA fans react to copycat event; management responds to overwhelming number of inquiries from fans ~ 

Monday, January 21^st, 2013 - The International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) today confirmed that the bid from the British Columbia government on behalf of Vancouver was rejected for 2013 and the world's biggest international celebration of Indian cinema would not be held in Vancouver this year. 

IIFA shared that the dates and venue for the 2013 edition of the IIFA Weekend and Awards would be formally announced soon.

The need for the clarification was necessary following thousands of fans inquiring about the IIFA celebrations following rumors of a few copycat efforts being attempted in international markets.

Recently, IIFA received a copious number of emails and enquiries from fans in Canada and around the world for tickets to the Awards. But Wizcraft International, the organisers of the extravaganza, today confirmed that the city is out of the running for June 2013. The bidding process for the Awards is currently on with a number of countries from the Middle East, South America, Europe and Africa vying for the biggest extravaganza of Indian Cinema to come to their city. 

In 2011, IIFA successfully forayed into North America, marking its premiere in Canada, in the city of Toronto. There has since been keen interest from the country to play host once more in 2013, with Christy Clark, the Premier of British Columbia formally extending an invitation to Wizcraft International Entertainment, the initiators of the unique IIFA Celebrations, to hold its 14th edition in Vancouver.

Embarking on its 14^th year, Sabbas Joseph, Director, IIFA & Wizcraft International said, “We are truly excited about the bids we have received from various countries. The decision is subject to many contributing factors that are required of a host destination in terms of support-initiatives for Hindi cinema production, funding and distribution; event-funding, support, facilitation, and infrastructure. We are committed to the film Industry and hosting an IIFA in any destination must meet the larger interests of Indian Cinema and a spectacular-staging of the annual celebration.” 

Over the years, IIFA has emerged as the most prestigious platform recognizing excellence in the Indian film industry. The biggest names of Indian cinema congregate at the IIFA Weekend and Awards to celebrate the best contribution made to the world of films in the previous year. IIFA is a global platform that gives the Indian film fraternity an opportunity to reach audiences in international territories and is among the most-watched global events with an audience of over 800 million, annually. A number of destinations have played host including London, Yorkshire, Johannesburg, Dubai, Amsterdam, Singapore, Bangkok, Colombo and Macau. 

 About IIFA 

Conceptualized and produced by Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. and supported by the key members of the Indian film fraternity, IIFA is the most appreciated South Asian film academy. Also, the IIFA Awards is India's biggest media event. With a viewership of almost 800 million, it is among the world's most-watched annual entertainment events. From a one night celebration in 2000 at the Millennium Dome, London, the last thirteen years have seen the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) movement grow into a packed weekend of film-festivals, workshops, exhibitions, film-showcases, a global business forum and sporting events, all of which climax into the highlight of the Weekend, the IIFA Awards. 

For more information, contact –Lizel Noronha
WizSpk Communication | PR