Moving up a week in the calendar, presumably to avoid a pre-Cannes crush, the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival will expand to a whopping 11 days (April 21 - May 1, 2005). Organizers will begin accepting entries for the 4th annual festival in early September (early deadline is Nov. 1 and late is Dec. 10).
Interestingly, the event will now debut on the same night as the San Francisco International Film Festival (running April 21 - May 5, 2005), that festival was run by Tribeca Film Fest executive director Peter Scarlet for nearly 20 years.
Planners have also announced the calls for entry for the annual Tribeca All Access Connects program supporting directors & screenwriters of color (early deadline Dec. 10, late February 4), as well as the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation program for scripts with scientific or technological themes and/or characters (deadline Oct. 22). Applications for those programs are available online.
Complete press release available below.
EXPANDED 2005 TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL TO BE HELD IN LOWER MANHATTAN APRIL 21 - MAY 1, 2005
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Fourth Annual Festival, Presented By American Express, Returns to Lower Manhattan To Showcase the Best in Film
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Call for Entries Announced
[New York, NY - August 27, 2004] The Fourth Annual Tribeca Film Festival will take place April 21 through May 1, 2005, adding two nights to the event, co-founders Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, Craig Hatkoff, and Executive Director Peter Scarlet announced today.
"We are thrilled to announce our new, expanded schedule for the fourth annual Tribeca Film Festival," said Rosenthal. "We are immensely gratified to see how the people of New York, and filmlovers from around the world, have embraced the Festival. It has truly become an international celebration of film, and an integral part of the fabric of Lower Manhattan. We are looking forward to another successful year."
"We are very excited about the growth of the Tribeca Film Festival," said De Niro. "It means so much to me personally as a New Yorker to be able to participate in the city's recovery but we shouldn't forget that lower Manhattan still has a long way to go and our work is not done."
"In it's fourth year the Festival looks forward to maintaining the broad reach of its programs, bringing a wide range of films and filmmakers from all over the world to New York, reasserting this great city's status as the capital of world cinema," said Scarlet.
The Tribeca Film Festival, presented by American Express, will begin accepting submissions by filmmakers for the 2005 Festival on September 7, 2004. The early deadline is November 1, 2004. The final deadline is December 10, 2004. Narrative and documentary features and shorts of all genres and types are eligible. For information on making a submission, filmmakers can visit www.tribecafilmfestival.org
The 3rd annual Festival attracted over 400,000 people and a total of 292 films were screened with 85% of the 428 public screenings sold out.
Films that world premiered and were picked up for theatrical distribution during or right after the Festival include "House of D" David Duchovny's directorial debut (Lions Gate), "Winter Solstice" directed by Josh Sternfeld (Paramount Classics), and "Tying the Knot" directed by Jim de Sève (Roadside Attractions).
In addition, the Tribeca Film Institute announced a call for entries for its Tribeca All Access Connects and Tribeca/Sloan Screenplay programs.
Tribeca All Access Connects, the networking and meetings program for directors and screenwriters of color will be held April 25-28 during the Tribeca Film Festival. Directors and screenwriters of color are welcome to submit screenplays and documentary proposals for consideration beginning September 7. TAA Connects will again select a small number of narrative and documentary directors of color with projects they are looking to push into production from an open submissions call. In addition, TAA Connects has added a new component for the 2005 edition which will highlight a small number of unrepresented screenwriters of color with new scripts with no prior options and no director or producer attached.
The core components of TAA Connects are one-on-one meetings between filmmakers and film industry decision makers. The goal is to promote a diversity of voices in Hollywood and independent cinema by simultaneously providing industry members with access to a pool of quality talent and product, and allowing filmmakers to forge new working relationships.
"We are delighted to announce the call for entries for the second year of Tribeca All Access Connects," said Madelyn Wils, President and CEO of the Tribeca Film Institute. "The program last year was a great success, with one of our TAA Creative Promise Award winners, Phil Bertelsen scheduled to start production on "Rock the Paint" in October, 2004. It is the first project out of TAA to be greenlit, and we look forward to helping many more talented filmmakers see their stories materialize on screen."
"Rock the Paint" is a racially charged coming-of-age story written by Dallas Mitchell Brennan, and will mark Bertelsen's feature length narrative directorial debut. Academy Award-winner Olympia Dukakis has joined the cast. The story revolves around a struggling teacher, widower and father of two teenage brothers who must pack up their hoop dreams and take them from the lush cornfields of Indiana to the harsh playgrounds of Newark. Film is a co-production of TwoPoundBag, Wren Court and Kipany Productions.
Submissions are now open for directors and screenwriters who identify themselves as African American, Latino, Asian American, Native American and Pacific Islander.
Filmmakers are encouraged to apply online at www.tribecafilminstitute.org. Early deadline is December 10, 2004. Final deadline is February 4, 2005. Industry members who would like to participate should email: allaccess@tribecafilm.com .
The Tribeca Film Institute has also announced its continued screenplay development program by calling for scripts with scientific or technological themes and/or characters. This program is funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
The Tribeca/Sloan Screenplay Development Program seeks scripts that have a scientific or technological theme and story line or have a character who is a scientist, engineer, or mathematician. The program will not accept science fiction story lines. Two writers will be provided with financial support ($48,000 stipends) and insight from an advisory panel of leading filmmakers and experts in science and technology over the period of one year. Advisors will provide input on script revisions and assist in moving the script from development into production. Current screenwriting advisors include Jay Cocks (De-lovely, Gangs of New York) and Ron Nyswaner (Soldier's Girl, Philadelphia).
Individuals interested in applying to the program should visit www.tribecafilminstitute.org
The 2005 Festival, presented by American Express, will take place in various locations throughout lower Manhattan. The 2005 Festival will feature special events, outdoor concerts and screenings, a street fair, and panel discussions with noted filmmakers. The 2005 event schedule and program details will be announced at a later date.
The Tribeca Film Festival was founded by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, Martin Scorsese, and Craig Hatkoff to celebrate New York City as a major filmmaking capital and to contribute to the long-term recovery of lower Manhattan after the attacks of September 11, 2001.
American Express is the Founding Sponsor of the Tribeca Film Festival. Part of a multi-year relationship, the sponsorship demonstrates American Express' dedication to the goals of the Festival and the revitalization of lower Manhattan.
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