Trigger director Bruce McDonald with actor John Pyper-Ferguson at the Mod Club for the Trigger after-party at TIFF 2010. (Submitted by Stephenson Price)

By Stephenson Price, citizen contributor

You have to hand it to Canadians: we definitely know how to throw a party -- if not for the guests in attendance, then because we always find some way to make the night more memorable.

TIFF after-parties are no different. Sure, there's a big film premiere that precedes it, and actors and musicians might be in abundant attendance, but there's still what one could call a "party hook."

In the case of the after-party for Bruce McDonald's new film Trigger, that hook was smoothies.
Nestled into a corner at The Mod Club on College Street, a soft hum and glow emanated from a fridge packed with pre-made Canadian smoothie goodness from Booster Juice -- a juice bar, inside of "bar" bar ... who'd have thought?

"We thought that it would be a nice alternative for people who want to come to a bar and enjoy a TIFF party and not always have to be bombarded with the idea of drinking alcohol," says Trigger's production supervisor Mallary Davenport. "So they get to have a fancy drink and party with everybody and feel special.

Trigger director Bruce McDonald shows up a little while later into the night, but he tells me that the Booster Juice connection to the after-party has an even deeper meaning -- for those of you who haven't seen or read up on Trigger, the film's plot deals heavily with recovery from alcoholism and drug abuse.

"A lot of people I know are in recovery, they're in the 12-step program," he says. "The film is actually structured so that it goes through one to 12. There are little lines of dialogue and little things that happen in the film that take you through the 12 steps. So we thought, in honour of that, we'll have some juice for the un-juicers just to honour that theme in the film."

With the party carrying on into the morning hours, it's safe to say that everyone went home with their bellies a little happier thanks to some tasty treats.

You can follow Stephenson throughout #TIFF10 on Twitter at @pricemeister