Actor Ray Liotta talks with the media during a press conference at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival. (Nathan Denette/Canadian Press)

By Anastasia Tubanos, citizen contributor

When people hear the words Toronto International Film Festival, they think of red carpet movie premieres and star-sightings around the city.

As fun as it is to interview a celeb on the red carpet, almost nothing beats the adrenaline rush of random sightings around hotels or walking out of restaurants, because they're so spontaneous. 

Or so I've heard. The only actor I've seen oh-so-candidly during TIFF was Ray Liotta, and sadly it was a little anti-climactic seeing him run away from the sprinkle of photographers (sorry to the die-hard Liotta fans out there).

Here's the thing: as entertaining as the glitz and glamour are, there's a whole other side to TIFF and other events like it that so many of us are completely unaware of. I'm talking about the "business" side of "show business." Sure, celeb-studded red carpets and after-parties are so much sexier. But it was only a few of years ago that even I realized there was a lot more that happened at film festivals and award shows.

From vendors scrambling to get prime spots in gifting suites just to get a celebrity to pose with their products, to filmmakers and sales agents pitching to networks and distributors to buy their films, there is a whole lot of business that happens behind the scenes to keep the show running.

I'll take you into that world and give you a taste of what TIFF is like for the people who work in the business. Whether it's taking you through a VIP gifting suite experience, to profiling international filmmakers, I'll share these stories through this blog.

I'll be pulling out my FlipCam and iPhone wherever I go to give you a visual feel of my TIFF adventures. And I'll be looking to hear (and tweet) your stories as well. Waiting in line to buy tickets, going into a movie or schmoozing at an after-party, it's the collective experiences that make events like these so memorable -- and so darned entertaining. So don't be shy.

You can follow Anastasia throughout #TIFF10 on Twitter at @atubanos