Film fest's new address to be named Reitman Square

The Toronto city block that will house the new headquarters of the Toronto International Film Festival Group is to be named Reitman Square.

The TIFF group announced the name Friday, saying it wanted to pay tribute to the Reitman family for its role in creating a building for the country's biggest film festival.

Producer-director Ivan Reitman and his sisters, Agi Mandel and Susan Michaels, are co-developing the five-storey building on the northwest corner of King and John streets in Toronto's entertainment district.

It is currently under construction and scheduled for completion in 2009.

The other co-developer, the Daniels Corporation, will be recognized with a lobby named after chairman John Daniels and his wife, Myrna Daniels.

The Reitman and Daniels families have donated $22 million between them to the building, to be called the Bell Lightbox after its lead sponsor, Bell Canada Enterprises.

The story of the Reitman family business and ties to the area will be outlined on a plaque in the lobby.

Reitman also plans to direct a short film about the history of the site to play throughout the building.

Reitman, who directed My Super Ex-girlfriend and was producer of Trailer Park Boys: The Movie, is the son of Czech immigrants who owned buildings in the entertainment district where the festival headquarters is being built.

"It's a tremendous tribute to the hard work of our parents, and we can think of no better way of doing that and to thank Toronto and the community for helping our family build a new life," Reitman and his sisters said in a release.

Reitman's son is Jason Reitman, the director of Juno.

The Bell Lightbox will have five cinemas, two galleries, three learning studios, a reference library, an archive and a retail store.