Tribeca Film Festival's Power Players

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Michael Bloomberg

Tom Bernard
As co-president of Sony Pictures Classics, he watched as the first festival turned into "a movie street fair" that turned around perceptions of New York.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg
He was newly elected when he welcomed moviegoers to the first TFF in 2002 and recalls that it filled Lower Manhattan "with energy and excitement."

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Eamonn Bowles
The president of Magnolia Pictures helped program the first festival, which "grew exponentially in a very short time."

Edward Burns
The New York-based filmmaker, who had moved to Tribeca in 2000, saw his film Ash Wednesday premiere at the inaugural festival.

Robert De Niro
A longtime resident of Tribeca, the driving force behind TFF is hopeful that the 10-year-old festival will be "a New York City tradition for many years to come."

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Dylan Kidd
The writer-director rushed to finish his debut film, Roger Dodger, for the first TFF, then won the top narrative prize, jump-starting his career.

Sheila Nevins
The president of HBO Documentaries served as a judge on the first documentary jury and describes the first year as "a spiritual time."

Jane Rosenthal
"It was a very emotional time," recalls De Niro's producing partner, who jumped into organizing the fest even though she was juggling two movies in postproduction.

Martin Scorsese
The director missed the opening ceremony at the first TFF -- he was finishing shooting Gangs of New York -- but he make it to the dinner afterward.