I had an amazing week at the Tribeca Fest though it is a shadow of its former self. It’s like it is going backwards. With little star power on the panels or at the supposed galas, this year felt like it was the first year rather than the 24th. For the Tribeca festival to survive, they are going to need to can get better programmers, a better person running the industry section, and better sponsorship people. There was a lot lacking.
First, they lacked enough interesting film related educational panels. I mean, a panel on how to use the public library for your project?? Really?? Fortunately, I DID attend a couple awesome panels. Google‘s AI panel and Canva‘s new offerings panel were awesome and useful. But those were invite-only and not really open to everyone at the Festival. I could have gone to those without paying $1000 for a pass. I also enjoyed the talks with Phylicia Rashad interviewing Lena Waithe and Whoppi Goldberg interviewing the amazing Jasmine Crockett.
Secondly, while there were a couple star-studded premieres—most notably “Deep Cover” with Bryce Howard and Orlando Bloom, “Hal and Harper” with Mark Ruffalo and Betty Gilpin, and “My Mother Jayne” with Mariska Hargitay—there was not enough star power at this year’s fest. On two nights they showed “Casino” and “Meet The Parents”. I’m sorry, but who hasn’t seen those movies a million times? I did enjoy the “Just Sing” documentary and performance and “Long Live The State” about 80’s comedy troupe the State with Q&A was also fun.
The lack of major sponsors other than Indeed and OKX, was glaring. The Fuji water was served HOT not even slightly chilled. Who wants HOT water on a HOT day?? They used to have a major Nespresso lounge. Last year, they had Starbucks. This year, it was some weird canned coffee from a local Brooklyn company. In addition, for the first year ever, there was no food at any of the rooftop Industry parties and no snacks whatsoever throughout the festival.
The two once glittering opening and closing galas were just screenings with Q&As with no after parties for attendees, which also made no sense. These used to be major star-studded private affairs that everyone wanted to get into. Now they are sold as “galas” to the general public when they are really just screenings/Q&As.
I was a volunteer at one of the very first Tribeca Film Fests and volunteers have always been a vital part of making the fest run smoothly. But this time, there were seemingly no volunteers —at least at the Spring Studios hub—and the staff was completely inept. No one knew where things were. So you would arrive on a floor and the security people would not know where what you wanted to go to was and send you to other floors.
Not to mention that the person in charge of the Industry section was completely out of their depth, racist, and on a strange power trip. That’s a whole saga that I won’t go completely into here because it is being investigated by the state of NY. Suffice it to say, that this employee of Tribeca needs to be replaced for putting me through one of the most racist episodes I have ever experienced in my life.
And finally, the other things that worked and made the festival fun over the years like the drive-ins, outdoor screenings, late night comedy shows, concerts, and family street fairs were also inexplicably gone. These were things that worked and should have been expanded and continued.
The loss of beloved Paula Weinstein —who I adored and who supported me and my past and current projects—can really be felt. It seems she was the real brains behind the festival.
I usually take my yearly vacay to spend at the Tribeca Fest. But next year, I will likely only go to a handful of things at Tribeca and save vacay days to attend more prestigious film festivals, like Cannes or Toronto. Because for the most part Tribeca is now a waste of time and just a money grab for its founders.
