Buffer Festival is an international digital video festival, held annually in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. The festival, founded in 2013 by Corey Vidal, Corrado Coia, and Samantha Fall of the ApprenticeA YouTube channel, showcases the talent of online video creators who have debuted their work on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. Buffer Festival has been called "The Digital version of the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

" and "The World's first festival dedicated to YouTube content".

History

Beginnings

The concept for the festival was conceived in 2011, and was inspired by the

. Vidal's vision for the event was sparked specifically by his visit to red carpets at

TIFF Tag Image File Format, abbreviated TIFF or TIF, is an image file format for storing raster graphics images, popular among graphic artists, the publishing industry, and photographers. TIFF is widely supported by scanning, faxing, word processin ...

in 2011. He describes leaving the festival and wanting a communal viewing experience focused on YouTube videos, saying that "traditional Hollywood and television have these experiences, and now it's time for YouTube to have these experiences too." "YouTube is moving toward a direction of professionalism," said Coia, "Some of these YouTubers have feature-length films in episodic format, and they do actually rival Hollywood quality. So they need to get the proper treatment — get them in a nice theater." In 2012, the ApprenticeA Productions team (led by Vidal) applied to the Canadian Film Centre's media accelerator programme, ideaBOOST, in order to produce the festival, and the application was successful. The team was one of seven teams participating in the ideaBOOST programme in its inaugural year from 2012 to 2013. The ApprenticeA production team approached both

and

from the outset, to ask them to be partners for the event. "If they're not on board, we shouldn't even bother doing it," said Vidal. The festival was launched via an official announcement video on YouTube on September 4, 2013.

2013 festival

The first Buffer Festival was held from November 8 to 10 2013 in Toronto's

Entertainment District An entertainment district is a type of arts district with a high concentration of movie theaters, theatres or other entertainment venues. Such areas may be officially designated by local governments with functional zoning regulations, as well as ...

. The festival's screenings were spread across six different movie theatres, including TIFF Bell Lightbox,

Scotiabank Theatre Toronto The Scotiabank Theatre Toronto (formerly Paramount Theatre Toronto) is a major movie theatre at the RioCan Hall in the Entertainment District of downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada at Richmond and John Street owned by Cineplex Entertainment an ...

Glenn Gould Studio The Canadian Broadcasting Centre, also known as the CBC Toronto Broadcast Centre, is an office and studio complex located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It serves as the main broadcast and master control point for the Canadian Broadcasting Corpora ...

, CN Tower Maple Leaf Theatre and

Jane Mallett Theatre Jane may refer to: * Jane (given name), a feminine given name * Jane (surname), related to the given name Film and television * ''Jane'' (1915 film), a silent comedy film directed by Frank Lloyd * ''Jane'' (2016 film), a South Korean drama fil ...

. Theatrical-length shows (averaging 90 minutes of YouTube footage and host dialogue) were shown over the course of three days. The event also featured meetups at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre which gave fans the opportunity to meet their favourite YouTube creators. Partners for the initial festival included

Next Wave,

Cineplex A cineplex is a multiplex, a movie theatre with several screens, coming from the words cinema and complex. Cineplex most commonly refers to: * Cineplex Entertainment, a Canadian entertainment company based in Toronto, Ontario. Cineplex may also ...

, Canon, and

Tim Hortons Tim Hortons Inc., commonly nicknamed Tim's, or Timmie's is a Canadian multinational coffeehouse and restaurant chain. Based in Toronto, Tim Hortons serves coffee, doughnuts, and other fast-food items. It is Canada's largest quick-service rest ...

. The festival hosted more than 70 well-known YouTube creators as part of the event's entertainment roster. These included

Andrew Gunadie Andrew Gunadie (better known as gunnarolla on YouTube; born February 7, 1986) is a Canadian internet personality, musician, and video producer. He is best known for "Canadian, Please", a music video in which he co-starred and co-produced with Jul ...

, Charlie McDonnell,

Chris Pirillo Chris Pirillo is an American entrepreneur and former television personality. He is the founder and former CEO of LockerGnome, Inc., a now-defunct network of blogs, web forums, mailing lists, and online communities which are now closed. He is b ...

Craig Benzine Craig Gene Benzine (born October 5, 1980) is an American video producer, musician, and vlogger better known by his YouTube channel name of WheezyWaiter. On July 15, 2020, his channel hit 1 million subscribers and has over 155 million total vide ...

, Grace Helbig,

Hannah Hart Hannah Maud Hart (born November 2, 1986) is an American internet personality, comedian, author, and actress. She is known for starring in ''My Drunk Kitchen'', a weekly series on YouTube in which she cooks something while intoxicated. She also ...

Jack Douglass John Patrick "Jack" Douglass (born June 30, 1988), better known as jacksfilms, is an American YouTuber. Douglass began his online career in 2006. His YouTube channel initially consisted of infomercial parodies, sketches, and comedic music video ...

, Jenn McAllister, Lilly Singh, Mamrie Hart,

Matthew Santoro Matthew Santoro (born July 16, 1985) is a Canadian Twitch streamer, YouTuber, and internet celebrity, social media influencer. He compiles top ten lists and "50 Amazing Facts" videos on his main channel. Other channels he owned, for Video blog ...

, Meghan Tonjes, Michael Aranda,

PrankvsPrank ''PrankvsPrank'', also known as ''PvP'', is a YouTube channel created by Jesse Michael Wellens and his then-girlfriend Jennifer "Jeana" Smith. In 2007, the two began to play pranks on each other and post videos of the pranks on websites, eventu ...

, Tay Zonday, The Fine Bros, and

Tim Deegan Tim Deegan (born in Oshawa, Ontario) is a Canadian former VJ on MuchMusic, a music television station in Canada. Early life Tim grew up in Oshawa east of Toronto and he attended O'Neill Collegiate and Vocational Institute, and had a part-tim ...

, among others. Over 5,000 tickets were sold internationally, with around 2,000 people attending the event on its opening day.

2014 festival

The second annual Buffer Festival was held from October 16 to 19, 2014. The festival followed a similar format to the first, with the addition of new features and events, including an "Industry Day", co-produced by the Canadian Film Centre. Additionally, the festival began accepting video submissions from the general public. Events were held at the TIFF Bell Lightbox and the

Scotiabank Theatre Scotiabank Theatre (French: Cinémas Banque Scotia) is a Canadian banner of multiplex cinemas owned by Cineplex Entertainment. The brand was established in 2007 as part of a wider partnership between Cineplex and Scotiabank on their new Scene ...

, as well as the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Some of the featured guests included

, Charles Trippy, Charlie McDonnell,

, EpicMealTime, Grace Helbig,

, Jenn McAllister, Lilly Singh, Mamrie Hart,

, Meghan Tonjes, Michael Aranda,

Olan Rogers Thomas Olan Rogers (born June 11, 1987), is an American comedian, actor, filmmaker, and YouTuber. He is the creator of the animated television series ''Final Space'' as well as the voice of Gary Goodspeed, Mooncake, and various others. Rogers s ...

Rhett and Link Rhett James McLaughlin (born October 11, 1977) and Charles Lincoln "Link" Neal III (born June 1, 1978) are an American comedy duo. Self-styled as "Internetainers" (a portmanteau of "Internet" and "entertainers"), they are known for creating and ...

Shay Carl Shay Carl Butler (born March 5, 1980), known professionally as Shay Carl, is an American YouTube personality. He has three YouTube channels, two of which ("shaycarl" and "SHAYTARDS") have over three million subscribers. Butler and Corey Vidal ...

, Tay Zonday,

Toby Turner Toby Joseph Turner (born March 3, 1985), also known by his stage name Tobuscus, is an American Internet personality and actor. Originally from Niceville, Florida, he is best known for his YouTube videos. As of November 5, 2021, Turner has a to ...

, The Fine Bros, and

. Over 10,000 tickets were sold for the 2014 festival. Partners included

, HTC, the Canadian Broadcasting Company,

Doritos Doritos () is an American brand of flavored tortilla chips produced since 1964 by Frito-Lay, a wholly owned subsidiary of PepsiCo. The original Doritos were not flavored. The first flavor was Toasted Corn, released in 1966, followed by Taco in ...

, Canon, Blue Ant,

, and Just Eat.

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...

also had an official screening for their Fan Film Showcase, hosted in partnership with

Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC is an American film and television production company and a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is a business segment of The Walt Disney Company. The studio is best known for creating and producing the ''Star Wars'' and ' ...

2015 festival

The 2015 Buffer Festival was held from October 23 to 25, 2015. It featured the addition of a Creator Day to the programming—a day-long workshop featuring creators, industry members, and technical professionals focused on providing advice to up-and-coming YouTube creators. Venues included the

St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts The St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts is a performing arts theatre complex located in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Situated on Front Street one block east of Yonge Street, it was the City of Toronto's official centennial project, commemorat ...

, the John W.H. Bassett Theatre, the CBC Building and Roy Thomson Hall. Partners of the 2015 festival included

, LG, CBC, and Canon.

2016 festival

The 2016 Buffer Festival was held October 20–23, 2016 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and the

. Events included multiple film screenings, a Gala Award Show, red carpets, workshops, and panels. Over 100 Featured Creators premiered videos at one of the screenings, including one by astronaut Col. Chris Hadfield. Sponsors included

Adobe Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for ''mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of e ...

, YouTube Red, and the Canadian Film Centre.

2017 festival

The 2017 Buffer Festival was held September 28-October 1, 2017 at the

Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres The Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres are a pair of stacked theatres in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Winter Garden Theatre is seven storeys above the Elgin Theatre. They are the last surviving Edwardian stacked theatres in the world. History T ...

. A new feature at the 2017 event was an awards night. Ten awards were presented, for excellence in: *Cinematography – Marko and Alex Ayling *Comedy – Adrian Bliss *Cultural Experience – Melanie Murphy *Diversity – Ari Fitz *Editing – Ollie Ritchie *Inspiration – Chantel Houston *Production – Andrew Huang *Sound – Ciaran O'Brien and Sammy Paul *Storytelling – ''PrankMe'' (

Hazel Hayes Hazel Hayes (born 21 January 1985) is an Irish YouTube filmmaker, author, and presenter. She is known for her interview series, ''Tipsy Talk'', on her YouTube channel (formerly ''ChewingSand'') as well as her series and short films. Her debut ...

) *Writing – Tim Hautekiet and Dominic Fera

Programme

Buffer Festival features several different types of programming: *Theatrical screenings of curated YouTube videos. *Meetups, which allow fans to meet their favourite YouTube creators. *The Gala Red Carpet, an outdoor red carpet with interviews and autograph opportunities. *The Gala Premiere, a limited-seating screening whereby featured YouTube creators are given the opportunity to unveil new work in a theatrical setting. *Industry Day, a one-day conference aimed at "industry professionals" - brands, celebrity YouTubers, multi-channel networks, and those working in

digital marketing Digital marketing is the component of marketing that uses the Internet and online based digital technologies such as desktop computers, mobile phones and other digital media and platforms to promote products and services. Its development duri ...

and entertainment - to promote skill-sharing, networking and strategy amongst those who utilise YouTube as a key marketing or distribution outlet. *Creator Day, a day-long series of workshops that focuses on providing advice to up-and-coming YouTube creators, which debuted at the 2015 event.

References

* * * *

External links

* {{official, https://bufferfestival.com Film festivals in Toronto Annual events in Toronto Film festivals established in 2013 Web-related conferences Internet culture