April 17th, 2018

NEW YORK, NY– April 17, 2018 –The 2018 Tribeca Film Festival’s Ninth Annual Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Awards (TDIA), sponsored by AT&T and Bulleit Frontier Whiskey, will unveil the diverse field of disruptors, revolutionaries, and game-changers whose breakthroughs are creating radical solutions to some of the world’s most vexing problems. This year’s awards will be hosted by Tamron Hall, and honorees will include DJ Kool Herc, Beatrice Fihn, eleven-year-old activist/sensation Naomi Wadler, Sheila Nevins, Dr. Waleed Hassanein, Tarana Burke, Joe Lubin, Etty Ausch and more. TDIA takes places on April 24 at the Tribeca Festival Hub at Spring Studios. The Tribeca Film Festival, presented by AT&T, runs April 18 – 29, 2018.

Helmed by Tribeca Film Festival co-founder Craig Hatkoff, the awards celebrate those who have challenged the status quo and broken the mold to create world-changing impact. TDIA showcases disruptive innovation in the fields of healthcare, education, international development, politics and advocacy, media, and the arts and entertainment. The awards honor those who have inspired disruptive change and focuses on advances occurring at the intersection of technology and culture where frequent clashes and resistance to change impede social progress.

“Last October we held our first awards in Hiroshima, the City of Hope where we presented to the City of Hiroshima a 9-11 survivor tree sapling. In turn, the city of Hiroshima has entrusted us with seeds harvested from amongst its 150 survivor trees—the metaphor for resilience of the human spirit-- that still stand and bloom 72 years after the atom bomb was dropped on their city. These seeds will be planted onstage by our honorees including a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, an atomic bomb survivor, an eleven-year-old activist, the father of hip hop, the inventor of the hashtag and many others,” said Craig Hatkoff.

Hatkoff continued, “Over the past decade the awards have become a living laboratory on the frontiers of disruption and innovation. As a society we desperately need to understand and confront the great peril ahead emanating from the ever-widening techno-cultural divide. We are witnessing the unnerving limitations of our capacity to responsibly manage and deploy the infinite fruits of the human imagination in the era of algorithm. The holy grail is “man plus machine” rather than “man versus machine.”

The awards are a collaboration with Harvard Business School Professor Clayton Christensen author of the Silicon Valley manifesto—The Innovators Dilemma-- and father of disruptive innovation theory—the world’s most influential theory of innovation and radical change. For more than a decade, the Disruptor Foundation has worked with Professor Christensen in exploring the new dimensions of his theory applied to both traditional technological innovation as well as its applications to non-traditional domains such as the arts, education, philanthropy, resilience, conservation, social entrepreneurship, religion, politics, polarization and conflict resolution.

Known for celebrating an eclectic roster of visionaries and rebels who are upending their industries, the honorees are altering the human experience through their novel approaches to social justice and activism, and affecting the future of intelligence, both human and artificial. This year will be no exception with a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, a documentary producer, the inventor of the hashtag and several others. Michiko Kakutani will be receiving the “Disruptor Award Book of the Year presented by the Harvard Business Review” for “The Death of the Truth.”

Nobel Laureate Beatrice Fihn will receive the first-ever Hersey Prize presented by the family of John Heresy, author of “Hiroshima.” Additionally, the Adam Smith Prize, which is also presented by the Harvard Business Review, will go to Howard W. Buffett.

Tamron Hall: Award-winning journalist Tamron Hall has been the host of “Deadline: Crime with Tamron Hall” on Investigation Discovery since September 2013. She was a part of the NBC News team as a co-host of NBC’s “Today” show and the anchor of “MSNBC Live with Tamron Hall.” She received the 2015 Edward R. Murrow Award for her segment on domestic violence as part of the “Shine A Light” series on “Today.” Hall was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2011 for her work on NBC News’ “Education Nation: Teacher Town Hall,” and served as a correspondent on the Emmy Award-winning NBC News special “The Inauguration of Barack Obama.” Tamron received Temple University’s prestigious Lew Klein Alumni in the Media Award in 2010 and in 2015, was appointed to Temple’s Board of Trustees. Most recently, she launched The Tamron❤Renate Fund with Safe Horizon in honor of her sister to help victims and families affected by domestic violence.

Etty Ausch – Etty Ausch was born into the ultra-orthodox, Hasidic community of Brooklyn, NY. After following a life that was prescribed by a community, she finally found the courage to leave and live her authentic self. She bravely dealt with issues of religious doubt, domestic and sexual abuse. The adversity she overcame as she left her former community has motivated her to help others suffering from social ostracization. Her vision is to work in providing assistance for vulnerable and underprivileged populations. Her story is featured in NETFLIX’s documentary, One of Us.

Opher Brayer – Opher Brayer is an extraordinary individual whose lifetime of work in developing original methodologies to cultivate multi-talented 'genius' in young and old have been lauded by organizations around the world. A self-made entrepreneur, business mentor, teacher, innovator and former jazz musician, Opher's STAGES educational movement is currently being rolled out to students across the Czech Republic. With a focus on evolving human ecosystems, STAGES aims to end global poverty by transforming entire regions through education, employment and the environment.

Howard W. Buffett – Howard W. Buffett is an Associate Professor and Research Scholar at Columbia University. He is coauthor of Social Value Investing: A Management Framework for Effective Partnerships, which analyzes innovative collaboration across sectors and outlines a new methodology to measure social and environmental impact called Impact Rate of Return. He previously served in the U.S. Department of Defense overseeing programs in Iraq and Afghanistan, and was a Policy Advisor for the White House Domestic Policy Council.

Beatrice Fihn - Beatrice Fihn is the Executive Director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize-winning campaign to prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons. The campaign won the prize for their work to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons.

Beatrice and ICAN brought public mobilization and hardcore diplomacy to win the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, by focusing on the humanitarian impact of any nuclear weapons use.

Deborra-lee Furness – Deborra-lee Furness is an internationally acclaimed actress and passionate advocate for vulnerable and abandoned children. She is the Co-Founder of Hopeland, whose mission is to put awareness of orphaned and vulnerable children front and center on the global community’s agenda. Deborra-lee previously founded National Adoption Awareness Week and Adopt Change in her homeland of Australia. She has been honored by Joint Council USA, Congressional Coalition on Adoption, and most recently with the 2017 United Nations Women for Peace Leadership Award.

Waleed Hassanein, M.D. – Dr. Waleed Hassanein founded TransMedics, Inc. in 1998 to revolutionize the important field of organ transplantation for treatment of end-stage lung, heart, liver and kidney failure. His pioneering clinical research led to the development of an entirely new field of human organ preservation for transplantation called “living organ preservation” that keeps human organs alive and functioning (heart beating, lung breathing, liver producing bile, etc.) outside of the human body in the TransMedics state of the art portable Organ Care System (OCS™) technology. The Egyptian native was named 2017 Finalist for the European Inventor Award by the The European Patent Office (EPO).

DJ Kool Herc – As the Founding Father of Hip Hop, DJ Kool Herc is a disruptive and innovative pioneer and creative force in the world of hip hop and rap music. 2018 marks the 45th Anniversary since the first ever hip hop party took place on August 11th, 1973 at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx, giving birth to the Hip Hop culture. Influenced by his Jamaican upbringing, Kool Herc pioneered the “Merry-Go-Round,” his signature DJ style, which took advantage of the crowd’s reaction to percussion breakdowns of popular tunes.

Leila Janah – Leila Janah is the Founder and CEO of Samasource and LXMI, two companies that go beyond charity to #givework to low-income people around the world using cutting-edge social enterprise models in technology and luxury skincare, respectively. She is the author of the book Give Work, released by Penguin/RandomHouse in September.  Leila and her team's work and impact has been featured widely in the press. She lives partly in San Francisco and New York City.

Koko Kondo – Koko Kondo is a prominent atomic bomb survivor and internationally recognized peace advocate. She was eight months old when the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6th,1945.

Koko has spent her adult life working with various organizations to promote peace around the world. She tells stories about Hiroshima and gives lectures at schools for students from elementary to graduate school. Koko has long been involved with the organization Children as the Peacemakers, and also accompanies the American University Nuclear Studies Institute’s annual study abroad trip to Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Kyoto. She also continues as a counselor at the Hiroshima Peace Center.

Joseph Lubin – Joseph Lubin is the co-founder of the blockchain platform, Ethereum, and founder of ConsenSys, one of the largest and fastest-growing blockchain companies in the world. In 2014, Joseph co-founded the Ethereum Project and founded ConsenSys as a venture production studio focused on building developer tools and decentralized applications on the Ethereum platform. Prior to working on Ethereum, Lubin’s career focused on the intersection of cryptography, engineering and finance, including his role as VP of Technology in Private Wealth Management at Goldman Sachs.  Joseph graduated cum laude with a degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Princeton.
Princeton.

Chris Messina – Chris Messina is the inventor of the hashtag for social media. This one simple symbol ( # ) is a sublime case of a disruptive innovation that has made mass communication simpler, cheaper and more accessible. Its universal usage and simplicity has empowered instantaneous social movements via social media such as #metoo, #NeverAgain and #blacklivesmatter to name a few. The hashtag has pushed communication capabilities to the periphery while embracing the ethos of open source enabling transformational global conversations.

Sheila Nevins - Having radically transformed the documentary film genre into a provocative and indispensable tool for understanding the human condition, Sheila Nevins is an executive producer and former President of HBO Documentary Films. She was responsible for overseeing more than 1500 documentaries for HBO, HBO2, Cinemax, and HBO Family.  As an executive producer or producer, Nevins received 32 Primetime Emmy® Awards, 35 News and Documentary Emmys® and 42 George Foster Peabody Awards.  During her tenure, HBO’s critically acclaimed documentaries have gone on to win 26 Academy Awards®. She is the author of The New York Times bestselling humor book You Don’t Look Your Age… and Other Fairy Tales.

Steven Perry – Steven S. Perry is the Assistant Principal/Head of the Agriculture Department at John Bowne High School. As an alumnus, Steve accepted began teaching in the Agriculture Department in 1983. In 1996, Steve became Assistant Principal, Supervision/Agriculture. He has doubled the program’s enrollment and expanded its curriculum including: Aquaculture, Hydroponics, Large Animals, Aviculture, Aquaponics and Herpetology. He has been instrumental in the 9/11 Memorial Survival Tree Seedling Program, which donates seedlings from the 9/11 survivor tree to 9/11 memorials and communities that have overcome tragedy. These seedlings are housed and cared for by his students in conjunction with Bartlett Tree Experts.

Elle Reeve – Elle Reeve is a correspondent for the Emmy award-winning nightly newscast “VICE News Tonight” on HBO. Prior to VICE, Elle was at the New Republic, where she covered politics, culture, and trends in technology. In August 2017, Reeve gained critical acclaim for her reporting on the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, VA. for VICE News Tonight. Reeve’s extraordinary access coupled with immersive on-the-ground reporting provided viewers with an unforgettable window on an American tragedy and helped to shape the national dialogue on race relations.

Nicholas Vita – Nicholas Vita is the Co-Founder and CEO of Columbia Care—the largest medical cannabis product development, manufacturing and dispensing operator in the US. With 25 years of experience as an executive at the intersection of finance and healthcare, Nick drives Columbia Care’s commitment to operate as a mission-based healthcare company with the highest standards of patient care. Ensuring the well-being of his mother and son serve as the foundation for his passion and motivation to bring this novel treatment option to patients.

Questlove – Questlove is the unmistakable heartbeat of Philadelphia’s most influential hip-hop group. He is the Musical Director for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and a 4-time GRAMMY Award winning musician. Questlove’s fourth book, Creative Quest, was released today, April 24th. An advisor and first artist ambassador for Pandora, he hosts Questlove Supreme. He co-produced the GRAMMY Award-winning Original Broadway Cast Recording of Hamilton and co-wrote a new original song “It Ain’t Fair” for the critically acclaimed, DETROIT.

Naomi Wadler & Carter Anderson – Naomi Wadler and Carter Anderson are 11 year old student activists from Alexandria, Virginia. Friends since Kindergarten, Naomi and Carter led a student walk out at their elementary school in Alexandria, Virginia on the one month anniversary of the senseless shooting at Marjory Stoneman High School in Parkland, Florida. Their school walk out was 18 minutes long, 17 minutes for each student and teacher who lost their lives in Parkland, and one additional minute for Courtlin Arrrington, an African American student who was murdered shortly after the Parkland shooting in her Alabama high school.

About Tribeca Disruptor Awards:
TDIA is a collaboration with Harvard Business School Professor Clayton M. Christensen and helmed by Tribeca co-founder Craig Hatkoff. Christensen’s original Disruptive Innovation Theory was immortalized in the Innovator’s Dilemma. Disruptive innovation explains how simpler, cheaper technologies, products, and services can decimate industry leaders almost overnight, for the betterment of society. TDIA showcases applications of disruptive innovation which has spread far beyond the original technological and industrial realms into the fields of healthcare, education, international development, politics and advocacy, media, and the arts and entertainment.

About the Tribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Film Festival is the leading cultural event that brings visionaries and diverse audiences together to celebrate storytelling in all its forms, including film, TV, VR, gaming, music, and online work. With strong roots in independent film, Tribeca is a platform for creative expression and immersive entertainment. The Festival champions emerging and established voices; discovers award-winning filmmakers and creators; curates innovative experiences; and introduces new technology and ideas through premieres, exhibitions, talks, and live performances.
The Festival was founded by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff in 2001 to spur the economic and cultural revitalization of lower Manhattan following the attacks on the World Trade Center. Now in its 17th year, the Festival has evolved into a destination for creativity that reimagines the cinematic experience and explores how art can unite communities. www.tribecafilm.com/festival

About the 2018 Partners
As Presenting Sponsor of the Tribeca Film Festival, AT&T is committed to supporting the Festival and the art of filmmaking through access and innovation, while expanding opportunities to diverse creators around the globe. AT&T helps millions connect to their passions – no matter where they are. This year, AT&T and Tribeca will once again collaborate to give the world access to stories from underrepresented filmmakers that deserve to be seen. AT&T Presents Untold Stories. An Inclusive Film Program in Collaboration with Tribeca, is a multi-year, multi-tier alliance between AT&T and Tribeca along with the year-round nonprofit Tribeca Film Institute.

The Tribeca Film Festival is pleased to announce its 2018 Signature Partners: Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Bai Beverages, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC Tribeca PAC), BVLGARI, CHANEL, CHLOE WINE COLLECTION, Diageo, ESPN, HEINEKEN, HSBC, IBM, IWC Schaffhausen, Kia, Montefiore, National CineMedia (NCM), Nespresso, New York Magazine, Nutella, NYC Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment, PwC, Spring Studios New York, and TUMI.

For more information, please contact:
TDIA:
Carleen Donovan
carleen@donovanpublicrelations.com // 212-677-0014
Chloe Snyder
chloe@donovanpublicrelations.com

Tribeca Film Festival
Tammie Rosen
trosen@tribecaenterprises.com