It is with great pleasure that I can announce In Contention will be covering the Toronto International Film Festival this year after all.

As I mentioned last week, "Tech Support" columnist and Toronto native Gerard Kennedy will not be able to take on the gig again this fall. His coverage was meaningful and comprehensive last year, but he will still be offering coverage of the technical races at "Tech Support." So with that in mind, I'd like to take a moment to introduce our new Toronto correspodent, author, journalist and Toronto Film School Director John Foote.

As mentioned at his website, Foote on Film, John is a member of the International Association of Film Critics and the Internet Film Writers Society. He has a number of biographies both under his belt and on the way, subjects including Meryl Streep, Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg and Robert Duvall. He manages to find time to lecture film history across Ontario while still navigating the hectic life of a film journalist, and we're very lucky to invite him as a new voice in the In Contention mixture.

As noted in an introductory entry at the revamped Toronto section, John will be offering daily reports with pre-coverage beginning in mid-August.