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[New York, NY – March 31, 2009] – The 2009 Tribeca Film Festival announced today the return of its signature free community events – the Tribeca Drive-In, Family Festival Street Fair and Tribeca/ESPN Sports Day. These free events draw thousands of people downtown to enjoy top-notch talent and entertainment, and also serve to highlight the restaurants, merchants, schools and community organizations of Tribeca.  During these tough economic times, the Tribeca Film Festival has increased its free offerings so that more people can partake in the Festival.  As previously announced, this year’s panel series will feature two free discussion programs to provide audiences with a behind-the-scenes look at the challenges and triumphs of movie-making:  the newly created “Tribeca Talks: Pen to Paper,” hosted by Barnes & Noble, will feature conversations about the art of screenwriting, and “Tribeca Talks: Industry” will focus on the business of film. For the first time, all New Yorkers and visitors will have the chance to purchase discount Festival tickets at the free Tribeca Community Kick-off Party on Monday, April 20, at Barnes & Noble on Warren Street.  Also new this year, Onsite Energy will provide bio-diesel “green power” to power all of the free outdoor events. This year’s Tribeca Film Festival, presented by American Express, the founding sponsor of the Festival, will take place from April 22 – May 3, 2009.

“Our free community events are a hallmark of the Tribeca Film Festival,” said Jane Rosenthal, co-founder of the Tribeca Film Festival.  “We were conceived to bring people and business back downtown and we did that through film and community events.  We are proud to continue to be the heartbeat of our community and we look forward to once again highlighting all that Tribeca has to offer.”

The free events are as follows:

2009 TRIBECA COMMUNITY KICK-OFF PARTY 

Monday, April 20, 2009 Barnes & Noble (97 Warren Street at Greenwich Street)

Join us to celebrate the kick-off of this year’s Festival. The free party will run from 4:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m., and will offer children’s entertainment, a book signing and a special program presented by the Tribeca Film Festival. New Yorkers and visitors will have the opportunity to purchase discount tickets onsite to Festival screenings.

TRIBECA DRIVE-IN OUTDOOR SCREENINGS

Thursday – Saturday, April 23 – April 25, 2009 World Financial Center Plaza

The following films will be featured at the Tribeca Drive-In, co-sponsored by Snapple, the Festival’s eagerly-anticipated outdoor screening series that entertains families and movie lovers of all ages. This free event is open to the public and seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Doors open at 6:00 p.m.  The programs will begin at 6:30 p.m., with screenings starting at dusk, approximately 8:15 p.m. The Tribeca Drive-In is also proudly hosted by Brookfield Properties, Lower Manhattan Development Corporation / U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Thursday, April 23

Tribeca will screen the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film in Shell-ebration of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ 25th Anniversary.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will make a special guest appearance along with reporter April O’Neil to show off their crime-fighting skills and take part in the Drive-In’s giant Pizza Party. New Yorkers will unite to attempt to smash the Guinness World Record of the largest gathering of people dressed as ninja turtles.  To welcome the turtles, the plaza will be decorated with TMNT branded manhole covers and a new “lawn” will be installed in front of the screen. Families can climb inside the all-new Party Bus, a mobile TMNT treasure trove based on the original Party Wagon.  Fans can get their face painted Turtle-style, take pictures at the photo-booth and pick-up new moves at the martial arts demos.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, directed by Steve Barron – After coming into contact with radioactive Ooze, four normal aquarium pets transform into the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.   The turtles use the secret techniques of their mentor Splinter (a mutated rat) to protect New York City from crime. When Splinter is captured by his longtime enemy, Shredder, the turtles must work together to save their teacher and the day. (1990) Rated PG. For ages 6 & up.

This screening is part of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ 2009 tribute to 25 years of Turtle Power, providing new and old fans alike with bodacious, multi-experiential opportunities to interact with this iconic brand.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid – Friday, April 24

Tribeca is proud to honor the work of legendary screenwriter William Goldman at this 40th anniversary screening of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.  Fellow film luminaries Scott Frank, Tony Gilroy, David Koepp and Aaron Sorkin will be on hand to help honor William Goldman at this special event.

Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, directed by George Roy Hill – Legendary outlaws Butch (Paul Newman) and Sundance (Robert Redford) live a daring life as successful train robbers until they rob the same train twice.  They are forced to run when a relentless posse begins to trail them. Tracked through mountains, rivers, and towns, the two outlaws end up in a barn in Bolivia, where they prepare for one final showdown. Rated PG.

This renowned film won four Academy Awards®, including Goldman's first for best screenplay. One of the most respected screenwriters in history, Gold¬man is also responsible for classics such as All the President's Men (which brought him his second Oscar®), The Princess Bride, Misery, and Marathon Man, among others.

P-Star Rising (with a performance by The Electric Company) – Saturday, April 25

The third and final night of the Drive-In will feature a new documentary film by a local New York filmmaker making its World Premiere at the Festival, P-Star Rising, which chronicles the inspirational climb to fame of talented young rapper P-Star.  P-Star will join fellow cast members from the hip-hop-infused PBS series The Electric Company to showcase their skills. 

P-Star Rising, directed by Gabriel Noble. (USA) – World Premiere, Documentary.  In the early ’80s, Jesse Diaz was a rising star in the hip-hop world. Now a broke single father in Harlem with two children to support, Jesse finds a shot at redemption in his nine-year-old daughter Priscilla Star, a precocious and immensely talented rapper. Director Gabriel Noble follows four years of father-daughter ups and downs as they navigate the grit and the glamour of the music biz. For ages 12 and up.

The Electric Company, produced by Sesame Workshop, uses a hip urban format to teach kids to love reading. It airs on Fridays on PBS KIDS GO! 

TRIBECA FAMILY FESTIVAL STREET FAIR

Saturday, May 2

10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Greenwich Street between Hubert and Chambers Streets

The Tribeca Family Festival, presented by founding sponsor American Express, will feature the annual Street Fair on Saturday, May 2, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. along Greenwich Street (between Hubert and Chambers Streets). The fair, a Festival favorite that drew crowds of more than 225,000 people last year, is free and open to the public and promises to be a day of family fun and lively entertainment. Throughout the Street Fair will be talented performers, dancers, stilt walkers, Broadway performances, clowns, jugglers, arts and crafts, face painters, sand sculptors and more. Families can even find a quiet corner to listen to a master storyteller. Students from local schools will also be at the fair with creative fundraising activities and vibrant student artwork. The Street Fair will host restaurants, merchants and organizations from the Tribeca neighborhood. 

American Express will set up guest information centers on Greenwich Street during the Family Festival to provide festival attendees with event and screening details, neighborhood information and guides to make the most of the festival going experience. American Express will also be on hand to provide information for Cardmember-only benefits at area shops and restaurants that the entire family can enjoy.

Broadway shows SHREK THE MUSICAL and In the Heights, Broadway Kids Care and American Ballet Theatre’s ABT II featuring Irlan Silva will perform on the main stage. Special concerts include The Dirty Sock Funtime Band and Hot Peas ‘N Butter. Also performing along Greenwich Street will be The Next Big Broadway Musical and Chicago City Limits, along with local youth ballet schools and dance troupes, singers, storytellers, puppeteers and performance groups from downtown schools. Newcomers this year include the theater group Making Books Sing and Poets House, whose wordplay will inspire the budding poet.

The Street Fair offers a variety of activities for children of all ages, including the popular Kite Garden, where kids can make their own kites, and the Bubble Garden, courtesy of the off-Broadway hit Gazillion Bubble Show, where youngsters can create gigantic bubbles. Madame Tussauds will return with wax figures of everyone’s favorite stars while Kidville and the Playgarden will provide hours of active fun.

Kids can get their hands dirty and explore their creative side in the Arts and Crafts Tent with hands-on artistic activities such as creating an imaginative jungle mural with Alex Beard of the Alex Beard Studio. They can also sculpt clay, make crafts, and learn the secrets of pixilation from popular neighborhood art institutions including Children’s Museum of the Arts and Church Street School for Music and Art.  Young hip-hop artists can make their own beats with the pros from Scratch DJ Academy.

Victorian Gardens Amusement Park at Wollman Rink in Central Park brings the magic downtown with performances of The Sammie and Tudie Show, Jenny’s Big Hula Hoop Show, King Henry’s Magic Show, andJohnny Lightning and Magic Pete. Shows encourage audience participation and will bring smiles and giggles to all faces. 

In addition, the Tribeca Fun Squad will lead Hula Hoop Contests, Dance-Offs and other Wacky Street Games. 

The Radio Disney AM 1560 ROAD CREW will host interactive games and activities, giveaways and fun for the entire family.

Fandango will offer the chance to create paper bag puppets and Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day will provide the ingredients for everyone to make their own soap.

Other sponsors bringing great activities to the Street Fair include Bloomberg, 101.9 RXP, The New York Times, Onsite Energy, Snapple, and Maclaren.

The Tribeca Film Center’s screening room at 375 Greenwich Street will offer a sneak peek of Scholastic's Fall 2009 release of the non-fiction picture book Winter’s Tail: How One Little Dolphin Learned to Swim Again, about a remarkable dolphin with a prosthetic tail. This book is the fifth installment in the Turtle Pond Collection from Craig, Juliana and Isabella Hatkoff, the authors of Owen & Mzee. The event will include a Q & A with David Yates from the Clearwater Marine Aquarium where Winter lives and an abbreviated screening of Winter's documentary film. An encore of Downtown Youth Behind the Camera, a series of short films, will also be shown. These emerging filmmakers are elementary and middle school students from downtown New York City.  All screenings are non-ticketed and will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. 

TRIBECA/ESPN SPORTS DAY

Saturday, May 2

10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

N. Moore Street between Greenwich & West Streets

Back for its third season, Tribeca/ESPN Sports Day will be on Saturday, May 2, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., starting on N. Moore between Greenwich and West Streets.  The event is free and open to the public. Sports fans will have the opportunity to participate in various interactive sports-related games, demonstrations and giveaways as part of the Family Festival Street Fair.  Fans of all ages will enjoy the exciting X Games BMX Jams Tour*, special appearances by their favorite athletes, dance teams, mascots and sports personalities, along with a special broadcast from 1050 ESPN Radio.

The New York Knicks will provide the Knicks Groove Truck with three interactive basketball hoops, video gaming monitors and cool Knicks prizes. Also, fans can check out the Knicks Locker Room where they can try on official player uniforms. The Knicks City Dancers and Knicks City Kids will perform on the Main Stage, along with appearances by Knicks alum John Starks and others. 

The New York Rangers will bring their Rangers Road Tour Truck featuring game and player highlights. Hockey fans will have a chance to play on a special street hockey rink, test the speed of their slap shot and pick-up pointers from the NYR Hockey Development Team.

Pro Bowl Cornerback Darrelle Revis of the New York Jets will make a special appearance, mingle with fans and take photos.

The New Jersey Nets will offer fans the chance to see the Nets Dancers and Nets Kids, a group of boys and girls ages 6-13 who perform at Nets weekend home games. The NETSationals, the NBA’s first senior citizen hip-hop team and the subject of the 2008 Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival documentary GOTTA DANCEwill also perform.  The Nets’ mascot Sly the Silver Fox will mingle with fans and sign autographs.

Mr. Met will be on hand to celebrate the New York Mets’ inaugural season at Citi Field. Fans of WNBA’s New York Liberty can meet Maddie the Mascot and alum Kym Hampton.

The Street Team from Major League Soccer’s New York Red Bulls will showcase their crazy freestyle soccer tricks and skills. The New York Islanders will host interactive slap shot booths, and their mascot Sparky will greet fans and sign autographs. Sandy the Seagull, mascot for the Brooklyn Cyclones, will also meet and greet fans.

Former NYU Softball Coach Susan Winthrop will be on hand to conduct pitching and throwing clinics on behalf of the New York Women’s Baseball Association.  ESPN’s “Play Your Way” will set up an interactive play spot for the little ones to hop, jump, skip and soar. 

New sports elements will be added throughout the weeks leading up to the Festival.  Visit tribecafilm.com/espn for updates.

*BMX pending weather conditions.

TRIBECA TALKS: PEN TO PAPER

Hosted by Barnes & Noble

As Good as the Book?

As Good as the Book?, moderated by Dana Stevens, Slate Magazine film critic, and featuring a panel including Julian Kemp (My Last Five Girlfriends) and Dave Callaham (Tell Tale), will explore the daunting challenges facing a writer when translating a literary vision into the blueprint for a cinematic one. Is it ever possible to create a movie that the audience will think is better than the book?

DATE: Saturday, April 25

TIME: 12 PM

LOCATION: Barnes & Noble Union Square

Directors as Writers

The relationship between what is on the page and what is on the screen is the key to the success of any film. Critic and Flavorpill Film Editor Lisa Rosman will explore the challenges faced when you are the keeper of both flames with writer/directors Raymond De Felitta (City Island), Gloria LaMorte and Paola Mendoza(Entre Nos) and Jac Schaeffer (TiMER).

DATE: Sunday, April 26

TIME: 12 PM

LOCATION: Barnes & Noble Union Square

Writing Big and Small: A Conversation with Brian Koppelman and David Levien

Writing with a big budget is often perceived as different from writing with a small one. Does money affect the imagination of the writer? Join former Premiere film critic and current Some Came Running blogger Glenn Kenny as he discusses the intersection of production budgets and the creative process with Brian Koppelman and David Levien (The Girlfriend Experience, Ocean's Thirteen).

DATE: Monday, April 27

TIME: 3 PM

LOCATION: Barnes & Noble Union Square

TRIBECA TALKS: INDUSTRY

Tools of the Trade: Alternative Distribution, Marketing 2.0, and Beyond

Sponsored by The Hollywood Reporter

Every filmmaker is looking for an audience. With the emergence of innovative and widely successful strategies such as marketing on Facebook or digitally distributing on YouTube, the old studio-driven business model of film distribution and marketing has been turned on its head. There are now multiple ways that filmmakers can control what happens to their film once they’ve made it, so how do they come up with the best formula for success? Does one size fit all? This panel will explore a number of key marketing and distribution strategies available to both short and feature filmmakers. Panelists include Sara Pollack, Entertainment Marketing Manager, YouTube; filmmaker Jon Reiss; and Cynthia Swartz, Partner, 42 West. Moderated by The Hollywood Reporter’s Steven Zeitchik.

DATE: Tuesday, April 28

TIME: 2 PM

LOCATION: SVA Theater 2

(Untitled): A Case Study for Digital Workflow

Sponsored by Panavision

With today’s quickly evolving technology, choosing the best resources and workflow for your project can be a challenge. Decisions made months prior to principal photography will impact the post-production process, back-end costs and ultimately, the success of your production. In this case study, Panavision and Merge Creative Media will review the workflow employed on the feature film (Untitled), directed by Jonathan Parker and starring Adam Goldberg and Marley Shelton. Panelists will explain the process from acquisition on the Panavision Genesis® camera system all the way through the end of the post process.

Panelists include Svetlana Cvetko, (Untitled)’s director of photography; Gavin Rosenberg and Jeremy Evans from Merge Creative; and Chris Konash and John Fishburn from Panavision.

DATE: Wednesday, April 29

TIME: 2 PM

LOCATION: SVA Theater 2

Tickets for 2009 Festival

Tickets for the Festival will be $15.00 for evening and weekend screenings and $8.00 for daytime weekday and late night screenings.

Advance selection ticket packages went on sale Monday, March 9, 2009 for American Express Cardmembers and for the general public on Monday, March 16, 2009. All advance packages can be purchased online at www.tribecafilm.com/festival or by telephone, toll free, at (866) 941-FEST (3378).

Single ticket and discounted ticket package sales begin for American Express Cardmembers on April 14, 2009, for downtown residents on April 19, 2009, and for the general public on April 20, 2009. Single tickets can be purchased online, by telephone, or at one of the Ticket Outlets located at the Tribeca Cinemas Ticket Window at 54 Varick Street, and the AMC Village VII Ticket Window at 66 Third Avenue. Downtown residents can only purchase tickets with a discount at the Tribeca Cinemas ticket window. Discounted packages can only be purchased online and by phone. The 2009 Festival will continue ticket discounts for evening and weekend screenings for students, seniors and select downtown Manhattan residents. Additional information and further details on the Festival can be found at www.tribecafilm.com/festival.

About the Tribeca Film Festival

Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff founded the Tribeca Film Festival in 2001 following the attacks on the World Trade Center, New York City to spur the economic and cultural revitalization of the lower Manhattan district through an annual celebration of film, music and culture. The Festival’s mission is to help filmmakers reach the broadest possible audience, enable the international film community and general public to experience the power of cinema and promote New York City as a major filmmaking center.

Tribeca Film Festival is well known for being a diverse international film festival that supports emerging and established directors. The Tribeca Festival has screened over 1100 films from over 80 countries since its first festival in 2002. Since its founding, it has attracted an international audience of more than two million attendees and has generated over $530 million in economic activity for New York City.

About the 2009 Festival Sponsors

As Founding Sponsor of the Tribeca Film Festival, American Express is committed to supporting the Festival and the art of film making, bringing business and energy to New York City and offering benefits that enhance the festival-going experience.

The Festival is pleased to announce the return of its Signature Sponsors: Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Apple, Bloomberg, Brookfield Properties, Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC), Delta Air Lines, iShares, NBC 4 New York, RR Donnelley, Snapple, The New York Times, Telemundo 47 and Vanity Fair.

The Tribeca Film Festival is also honored to welcome the following new Signature Sponsors: AMC, DIRECTV and Heineken.

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Tags: Tribeca Film Festival