Robert De Niro Turns Attention To Tribeca Lisbon
Robert De Niro has signaled the beginning of Tribeca Lisbon by saying he will approach the new offshoot with the “same spirit” as his 22-year-old U.S. festival. Speaking at a reception in New York yesterday, the double Academy Award-winner said: “Twenty-two years ago, in response to the devastation of 9/11, Jane [Rosenthal] and I founded the Tribeca Festival to help revitalize our neighborhood through the power of film, art, and storytelling. Our mission remains the same today. It means a great deal to us to bring this same spirit to Lisbon—a city with a rich cultural heritage, and a robust appetite for the arts and entertainment.” De Niro was at the event alongside Whoopi Goldberg, Tribeca co-founder Rosenthal, Mayor of Lisbon Carlos Moedas, U.S. Ambassador to Portugal Randi Charno Levine and CEO of Grupo IMPRESA Francisco Pedro Pinto Balsemão. The inaugural Tribeca Lisbon will take place October 17 to 19.
David Attenborough Presenting BBC Landmark ‘Asia’
David Attenborough is not hanging up his presenter boots quite yet. The 98-year-old has boarded Asia, the BBC’s landmark natural history series exploring the continent. The series, the latest from BBC Studios Natural History Unit, will travel to the likes of the Gobi Desert, jungles of Borneo, the polar wilderness of Siberia and coral seas of the Indian Ocean, showcasing the breathtaking variety of the continent’s wildest places. Attenborough has been presenting less in recent years but has still fronted a number of BBC shows along with Netflix series like A Life on Our Planet. Sreya Biswas, BBC Head of Commissioning, Natural History, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have Sir David Attenborough presenting our fantastic new landmark series Asia for BBC One. Asia is a continent steeped in beauty and intrigue with some of the most wonderfully diverse habitats on the planet.”
UK’s TV Collective Launches Content Fund At Festival
EXCLUSIVE: The UK’s TV Collective is to launch a content fund and accelerator scheme at its Live Festival later this month, which will feature talks from the likes of Big Zuu, Akala and creatives behind Netflix’s Supacell. The two new programs are key components of the bespoke offer by TV Collective to support Global Majority talent, who continue to be disproportionately financially impacted by the downturn in TV’s commissioning landscape. The BeeSMART fund will provide a monthly £25,000 ($32,000) charity payout from October 2024 but the TV Collective’s first content fund will be handed out at the end of the Live Festival, with the fund winner receiving £5000. Others speaking at the festival include Paul Garnes, president of Ava DuVernay’s Array on Origin and the future of filmmaking, and Defiance: Fighting The Far Right‘s Rajesh Thind. TV Collective CEO Simone Pennant said: “Even with the successes of our Breakthrough leaders programme, that has supported over 200 global majority talent at senior levels in TV to progress their careers – many of us are in survival mode, given the current economic challenges. However with these new initiatives, TV Collective hopes to continue to inspire our community to thrive, not just survive.”
FAST News: Pluto TV Adds CNN International & Other News Nets
Paramount-owned FAST service Pluto TV has added several news channels to its international line-up. In the UK, Germany, Switzerland and Austria, Pluto TV will offer CNN International. CNN’s own CNN Fast service will also launch on Pluto TV in multiple European territories and Canada. It is programmed with short-form videos of CNN content spanning entertainment, business, sport and major news. In Canada, four pubcaster channels from CBC News/Radio-Canada will launch on Pluto: CBC News Explore, CBC News Toronto, CBC News British Columbia and Radio-Canada Info. In the UK, Nordics and Canada, the Reuters service will roll out, providing global news coverage.