Tribeca Festival head Jane Rosenthal sees in the classic song “New York, New York” — with the memorable line “if I can make it there, I’m gonna make it anywhere” — the inspiration in helping launch Tribeca Festival Lisboa in Portugal.
“I was always inspired by that song. When I was a kid growing up, I was inspired by ‘New York, New York,’” Rosenthal told The Hollywood Reporter on Friday in Lisbon. But she insisted an increasingly global entertainment industry has moved on since she and Robert De Niro co-founded the Tribeca Film Festival nearly 25 years ago after the 9/11 attacks in New York City.
“There’s so many other places that if you make it there, you can make it anywhere,” Rosenthal added. She also said Tribeca was bringing its programming to Tribeca Festival Lisboa but aimed to put a local touch on the Portuguese event, now in its second year, by bringing in the local media industry as collaborators.
“It’s not about putting our mark and making it a Tribeca Festival. The Tribeca Festival belongs in New York. It is very much New York,” Rosenthal argued. But what Tribeca does bring to Lisbon is its infrastructure and expertise after its programmers have gone worldwide to find the best in media content.
“It’s been wonderful to come to a city, a country that doesn’t have that kind of infrastructure, but as a community is in need of that. Our partners here really want to support artists and to support storytelling,” Rosenthal said.
She also comes to Lisbon this week ahead of handing over the reins as Tribeca Enterprises CEO to Rebecca Glashow, most recently CEO of the BBC global media and streaming division. Rosenthal said the idea of passing on the baton at Tribeca had been in our mind for some time.
“I’m a creative producer. I have been making movies even while being CEO,” she explained. “I want at this stage of my life to be able to work on more of those projects, as well as work on more of the content and brand work that we do at Tribeca without the day-to-day operational work that you have to do as CEO.”
“After 25 years, I don’t think I have anything else to explain or tell,” Rosenthal added. She will assume the role of co-chair of the board alongside chairman James Murdoch and will help oversee the Tribeca Festival into its 25th anniversary and remain a key advisor to the Tribeca brand.
“Bob and I started this baby. I don’t think you turn around and walk away from your kids very easily,” she insisted. Rosenthal will work with Glashow to mark the Tribeca Festival’s 25th anniversary in 2026.
But she isn’t giving much away as plans for the major milestone have yet to be hammered out: “I would be so happy to tell you what I’m going to do if I actually knew. We’re still in very early stages of our programming.”
Rosenthal does expect many filmmakers who were discovered at Tribeca to return for the anniversary, as well as people who began as interns at the festival before going on to major careers in the entertainment business.
The Tribeca Festival Lisboa continues through Nov. 1.
