'There Are Really Wonderful And Creative Films': Jane Rosenthal On 'We Are One: A Global Film Festival' & Robert De Niro
(CBS Local)-- Movie festivals all over the world like the Tribeca Film Festival have been delayed or cancelled because of the spread of coronavirus.
However, on Friday May 29, Tribeca Enterprises is spearheading an initiative called "We Are One: A Global Film Festival," which will feature movies from all over the world for free on YouTube. The online film festival will run for 10 days from May 29-June 7.
Jane Rosenthal, who was the co-founder of the Tribeca Film Festival with Robert De Niro, led the way in putting together the virtual film festival and she is excited for people to watch movies at home from across the globe.
"We had to postpone the Tribeca Film Festival and I kept trying to figure out a way that we could bring people together again," said Rosenthal in an interview with CBS Local's DJ Sixsmith. "Tribeca Film Festival started in 2002, as a way to bring people back downtown after 9/11. I thought how do you bring the world together because we are all going through the same thing no matter where you are. We're all suffering different kinds of loss. Robert De Niro and I started reaching out to Cannes, Venice, Toronto, Mumbai, London and Tokyo Film Festivals and they all said yes. We reached out to YouTube about it and five weeks later we have 100 hours of content and programming. There are really wonderful and creative films."
Rosenthal has worked with many of the greats in the movie industry like De Niro and Martin Scorsese and was a producer for movies like "A Bronx Tale," "Meet The Parents" and "The Irishman." The movie producer's professional and personal relationship with De Niro has been one of the most important and longest of her career.
"We first met years ago when I was working with Martin Scorsese on a movie called The Color of Money," said Rosenthal. "I was an executive at Disney and Marty thought I should meet his friend Bob, who was thinking of starting a production company in New York. We talked on and off for about a year and then I moved to New York. It was almost 30 years ago. He's an extraordinary artist and anything he does is at the highest level. He is a perfectionist and also likes to have fun and laugh. He's passionate."
Watch all of DJ Sixsmith's interviews from "The Sit-Down" series here.