Overview L.A. Times HQ at TIFF is the Los Angeles Times' portrait and video studio at the Toronto International Film Festival, set up inside RBC House, and over the 2026 opening weekend alone it shot hundreds of portraits, Helen Mirren, Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz among the sitters. The pictures and interviews run in the Times' TIFF Daily newsletter and its photo and video coverage of the festival. TIFF was founded in 1976, held its 50th edition in 2025 and runs 11 days from the Thursday after Labour Day; its audience-voted People's Choice Award has gone to Slumdog Millionaire and The King's Speech. On site The studio is a closed set. Talent and filmmakers come in between premieres for photo sessions and on-camera conversations with Times journalists. In 2026 Andrew Scott stopped by to talk about theater, Hamlet and the purpose of art, and a golden retriever named Buddy took his own turn in front of the camera. Talent and Influencers Angelina Jolie, Jacob Elordi and Tessa Thompson were in the studio during the 2025 opening weekend. Helen Mirren came through in 2026 for A Talent for Murder, and Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz sat together. Brand presence The Times pitches the HQ as a place where talent meets a sponsor's brand in person, in an informal, gifting-suite setting, and what is shot there runs across the paper's video, podcast and editorial channels. Sponsors can take the Toronto studio alone or the full HQ series, which also runs at Sundance, the Newport Beach Film Festival and Cannes.