During the April 29 reception, DGA member Philip Haas (Angels and Insects, Up at the Village) spoke to Tribeca filmmakers about the many creative and financial advantages membership in the DGA offers director members. He added that the Guild's Low Budget Sideletter is particularly beneficial to independent filmmakers who might not otherwise be able to negotiate similar protections.
DGA National Vice-President Steven Soderbergh also participated in the festival as part of the “Tribeca Talks” program, an innovative series of seminars and panel discussions on various industry trends, designed to get people thinking and talking about a variety of issues. Soderbergh, 2929 Entertainment CEO Todd Wagner, and Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) Executive Vice President for Strategic Planning Dean Garfield were panelists for the May 1 discussion entitled Downloading at a Screen Near You, a conversation about the future of distribution platforms. Georg Szalai, the New York bureau chief of The Hollywood Reporter, served as moderator.
Created five years ago by co-founders Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff, this year’s Tribeca Film Festival offered 174 feature films, 100 short films, and 96 world premiere features from over 40 countries, as well as panel discussions, filmmaker events, gala premieres of major studio releases to the residents and visitors of Lower Manhattan.
