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New York, NY, October 31, 2007 – Jane Rosenthal, Co-Founder of the Tribeca Film Festival (TFF), has announced that Genna Terranova will join the Festival as Senior Programmer, and that David Kwok has been promoted to Director of Programming. Rosenthal also announced that the Festival has created a year round industry department and has brought Julie La'Bassiere on board as Director of Industry Relations.

“We are extremely pleased to have Genna Terranova joining the Festival; she brings a freshness and new perspective to the programming team. Additionally David Kwok has been an instrumental part of our team for the past six years now and we are delighted that we are able to recognize his hard work and success with the Festival,” said Jane Rosenthal. “Each year the number of international and domestic industry attending the festival increases and so we have created a year round department to service the needs of the industry and look forward to having Julie La’Bassiere head up this department. I know Genna, David and Julie will enhance our Festival on many levels.”

Terranova’s and Kwok’s primary efforts will be on the core festival programming team headed by Artistic Director Peter Scarlet, with Kwok working on new programming initiatives. Additionally, Terranova and Kwok will be working on year round programming for Festival and Tribeca Enterprises. They will report to Scarlet.

La’Bassiere will be responsible for maintaining and forming relationships with the film industry for the Festival, facilitating the industry onsite Festival experience, and overseeing the Industry office during the Festival. La’Bassiere will also work on film tech industry partnerships for the Festival. La’Bassiere will report to Nancy Schafer, Co-Executive Director of the Tribeca Film Festival.

Genna Terranova was previously Vice President of Acquisitions at the Weinstein Company for the last two years where her role included acquiring projects and completed films and overseeing these projects through all stages of production. There she oversaw TWC's new Latin America Film Fund in association with Costantini Films. Terranova brought the fund the Brazilian hit, TROPA DE ELITE or ELITE SQUAD directed by Jose Padilha (BUS 174) and was executive on the production. She was also instrumental in acquiring LA MISMA LUNA, directed by Patricia Riggen, Patrick Creadon's crossword documentary WORDPLAY, Barbara Kopple's recent documentary SHUT UP AND SING, and Duncan Tucker's TRANSAMERICA starring Golden Globe winner Felicity Huffman. Terranova served as the primary liaison between TWC and IFC Films who together over the past 2 years have acquired dozens of titles for video and television distribution.

 

Prior to joining the Weinstein Company, Terranova worked over 3 years in acquisitions at Miramax Films. Before that she worked in publicity and marketing for Cowboy Pictures, an indie distribution company whose credits include Lynne Ramsay's MORVERN CALLAR, Sam Jones’s I AM TRYING TO BREAK YOUR HEART and Lucrecia Martel's LA CIENEGA.

 

David Kwok has been with the Tribeca Film Festival since its inaugural edition in 2002. He was brought on as a full-time programmer after the 2002 Festival and promoted to Senior Programmer in 2005. He has been responsible for bringing the Festival such titles as ROGER DODGER, STEP INTO LIQUID, WINTER SOLSTICE, TRANSAMERICA, I WANT SOMEONE TO EAT CHEESE WITH, and THE POUGHKEEPSIE TAPES. In addition, Kwok played a large part in developing Tribeca All Access, a program that promotes established yet under-represented artists working in the United States and fosters the careers of emerging talent year-round. Prior to the Tribeca Film Festival, Kwok spent five years at The New Festival, the presenting organization of the New York LGBT Festival.

 

Julie La’Bassiere has been working in independent film and entertainment marketing for the over ten years. She has held positions at the American Cinematheque, the Los Angeles Film Festival, the Writers Guild of America, west, Magus Entertainment and CAA and has worked as an industry and strategic marketing consultant for various international independent film production, exhibition and sales companies and festivals. La’Bassiere was co-founder and COO, Strategic Partnerships and Marketing for indieIN – a marketing website for independent and foreign films screening in theaters and at festivals around the world. Most recently, La’Bassiere has managed the Industry Events program for the Edinburgh International Film Festival for the past two years.

About the Tribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Film Festival was founded in 2002 by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, and Craig Hatkoff after the attacks on the World Trade Center to help economically and culturally revitalize Lower Manhattan through an annual celebration of film, music, and culture. The Festival’s mission is to assist filmmakers to reach the broadest possible audience, enable the international film community and the general public to experience the power of film, and to promote New York City as a major filmmaking center.

 

Since its founding, the festival attracted over two million attendees from the US and abroad and created more than $425 million in economic activity for New York City.

 

The 7th annual Festival will take place April 23 – May 4, 2008. The Festival is anchored in Tribeca with additional venues throughout Manhattan, and includes film screenings, special events, concerts, a family street fair, and Tribeca Talks panel discussions. For more information on the festival visit: www.tribecafilmfestival.org .

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