By Patrick Sutton (06.14.05)

So much is focused on stars, premieres, and glamour at film festivals that people often overlook the scores of volunteers, publicists, agents, studio teams, family members, crew and friends of the competition films that populate the landscape. In other parts of the country and world these events seem to swallow up everything and remake the town in a bizarre mix of celebrity, marketing and magic, but not here. The festival having a backdrop in New York almost feels like a film set come to life for most people who come from out of town to see films and congregate with industry peers. For a four year-old project created out of chaos the Fourth Tribeca Film Festival has come far and brings much to offer for all involved.

The city swallows up the festival and doesn't even blink an eye. Outside of the addition of the festival's schedule to a late April Sunday Times and their familiar cafe/screening room on the corner of Varrick Street and Canal they stay pretty low in the turns. So with so much going on in New York how does someone get involved in a film festival like Tribeca for the first time, find a map to the madness and navigate the landscape to find those connections, job opportunities and valuable information that can be obtained no where else.

If you have the time the best way to find out about what's going on and get hooked in is to become a volunteer and make a really good plan using your festival guide and really creating opportunities out of your free time. If you have less time then a more focused approach in necessary and always book tickets ahead of time as it is no fun to be out in the rain for hours to only be turned away at the last minute. People like Xavier Cardriche are the festivals gatekeepers, managing multiple screenings at once in crowded theatres in Battery Park City. This is his fourth festival and each year he makes a promise to himself that he has to return as a volunteer until he has a film in competition of his own. It is the connections that he has made in the previous years that pave those precious inroads into production on films like The Devil Wears Prada.

Just as important as the films being screened are the events that are peppered throughout each of the 13 days. There are scores of panels, events, lectures and interactive cinefantasies that provide insight into a complex illusive industry. Tribeca is a great place to meet other people doing the same thing that you are, trying to get a job, find a crew, look for a project, and answer questions that prove difficult and rewarding. It is when panels of experts get together for a moderated discussion that is later opened up to the audience that uncensored information is everywhere and all you have to do is keep your ears and eyes open to benefit.

The other fun way to get involved is to just party. At every festival each film marks the hard work that often takes years of labour from a dedicated team that may never be seen again, as precious as one of the Edward Zwick's cherry blossoms from the Last Samurai. So what happens when the friends, family, crew and industry get together for this event, they party. It is here where everyone relaxes and indulges in the fruits of their labour where the business that will bring about films in the following years is done. There are parties for films, parties for sponsors, parties for the sake of partying and everyone stays out late because in New York the bars stay open until 4. So most of the Tribeca restaurants, bars, clubs, lounges and hotels all have stuff going on. And it always spreads all over the city, into museums, government buildings and apartments.

So there are the films, the events, the parties and the city itself; it is difficult to attend the festival and not leave without seeing a film that inspires you to, a relationship you will cultivate over an entire career, a better idea of why you have chosen this as a job, or for some it could mean a one way ticket with an establishing shot focusing in on an apartment in the city and a new job. I will provide more detailed information on all of the categories I have talked about above for the past festival(s) and links to information on the upcoming festival this year.