By Tammy Reese
For the third time, I was graced with the honor to represent NYWIFT and cover the Tribeca Festival in New York City. The Tribeca Festival, presented by AT&T, brings visionaries and diverse audiences together to celebrate storytelling in all its forms, including film, TV, VR, gaming, music, and online work.
It is my distinct pleasure to bring you some iconic highlights of the events, panels, red carpets, and more that I covered.
Pre-Tribeca, I had the blessing to interview some members of our NYWIFT community including Asha Smith, Nikia Nelson, and Haley Davis, all of who are a part of projects which showcased at this year’s festival.
Also, ahead of opening day, I interviewed legends Angela Bassett and Patricia Field which you can listen to on our podcast. Each also has a NYWIFT connection – as past Muse and Designing Women honorees respectively.
I arrived at the festival on June 9th to meet fellow NYWIFT Member Maria Soccor who previously picked up my Hudson press badge for me and has been a huge support in navigating Tribeca, along with LaKisa Renee, who covered the Dan Rather red carpet alongside me, but for Cultured Focus Magazine. Dan’s documentary, Rather, directed by Frank Marshall, premiered at the SVA theater. [NYWIFT member and TV news veteran Dana Roberson is featured in the documentary as well.]
Tammy Reese, Dan Rather, and LaKisa Renee at the 2023 Tribeca Festival
I pre-screened the doc and was so overjoyed that the 91-year-old media icon is getting his flowers while he can still smell them. He is a masterclass for journalism, and I was moved to tears when I expressed to him personally how much he’s inspired me throughout my multimedia career. Dan shook my hand, gave me some heartfelt advice, and chatted with me personally off-camera as well as took a super cool photo with LaKisa and me. During the carpet, I asked the director Frank Marshall how he would describe Dan in one word. He replied, “Trustworthy.” I agree!
Billy Porter and Tammy Reese at the 2023 Tribeca Festival
Next up, I got to cover the Our Son red carpet. This film stars Billy Porter and Luke Evans. Since I had previously interviewed Luke for a different project, I made it a priority to be sure to interview Emmy Award-winning actor Billy Porter this time. Porter and Evans returned to Tribeca playing partners of 13 years. Porter stars as Gabriel, an aspiring artist struggling to find creative and personal spark while caring for the young son he shares with his ambitious partner, Nicky (Evans). Stress and anxiety flare as their relationship gets to an unrepairable place, forcing the couple to head for a divorce. Now the two must navigate the unenviable position of revealing the news to shared friends and family. Thus begins the journey to find themselves and support their son.
Check out my interview with Billy Porter here.
Other red carpets I covered included the documentary premiere of Gloria Gaynor: I Will Survive. This documentary recounts Gloria Gaynor’s life while also chronicling her comeback journey. It is both a moving story of an artist’s resilience and a scintillating peak at the machinations of the music industry. Actress Cassandra Freeman, who stars in Peacock’s Bel-Air, was in attendance.
LaKisa Renee, Cassandra Freeman, and Tammy Reese at the 2023 Tribeca Festival
Also, a super fun red carpet I covered was Diarra From Detroit, which is a dark comedy that follows a divorcing school teacher who refuses to believe she’s been ghosted by her rebound Tinder date. Her search for the missing man pulls her into a decades-old mystery involving the Detroit underworld. As the case unfolds, her co-workers, friends, and lovers become unlikely allies as she falls down a dangerous rabbit hole. The cast of this new TV series includes past NYWIFT Muse honoree Phylicia Rashad and Morris Chestnut. Both of whom I got a chance to speak with.
I have to give a special mention to another Tribeca documentary premiere called Exposing Parchman, which is an investigative documentary that explores the efforts to reform the Mississippi correctional system led by a team of attorneys on behalf of the inmates of Parchman Prison. The film tells the inside stories of the families, the legal team, and Roc Nation across three years of legal battles to end the deadly conditions for those incarcerated at Parchman.
Last but not least, I ended my 2023 Tribeca Festival experience on June 17th exactly how I began my Tribeca coverage by covering the one and only Angela Bassett during the 25th Anniversary Celebration of the 1998 release of How Stella Got Her Groove Back. After the movie screening, there was a panel discussion with Kevin Sullivan and Angela Bassett, moderated by Torell Shavone Taylor. Check out some highlights here.
Covering a festival as renowned as Tribeca takes a lot of endurance, planning, and professionalism. In the three years I covered I went from a D (Chamber) press badge, to a C (Franklin) press badge, to an A (Hudson) press badge. Huge thanks to NYWIFT and Katie Chambers for backing this opportunity.
LaKisa Renee, Gloria Gaynor, and Tammy Reese at the 2023 Tribeca Festival
Until next time… keep up to date with all things Tribeca Festival by visiting https://www.tribecafilm.com/
Check on Tammy Reese’s coverage of The Walking Dead: Dead City at the 2023 Tribeca Festival here!
Tammy Reese
Tammy Reese is CEO of Visionary Minds PR & Media, and a New York award winning Actress, Writer, and Journalist.
Related Posts
Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Belén Vilarrasa-Corriero
Welcome to NYWIFT, Belén Vilarrasa-Corriero! Belén is a Spanish-American documentary filmmaker making her directorial debut with Entre Las Paredes (Within the Walls), an intimate, feature-length project in development that follows her Abuela’s final days. Born and raised in New York City in a bilingual household, Belén brings a deeply personal lens to her work, believing that some of the most powerful stories live within our own families. Alongside her own projects, Belén works as an assistant director across narrative and commercial productions, where her focus, adaptability, and collaborative spirit help keep sets running smoothly. A graduate of the School of Visual Arts, she continues to grow her craft through diverse filmmaking experiences, driven by a dedication to emotionally resonant, visually compelling storytelling. In our interview, Belén reflects on documenting her family’s history, navigating grief and memory through film, and the projects she’s most excited to explore next.
READ MOREMeet the New NYWIFT Member: Delfine Paolini
Welcome to NYWIFT, Delfine Paolini! Delfine is a multifaceted filmmaker whose critically recognized work explores themes of life and loss. Her unique and powerful visions draw from an intimate familiarity of cinematic storytelling, philosophy, and a deeply thoughtful reflection of self. Her feature debut, A Wonderful Way with Dragons, has won numerous international awards. Its distinct style and emotional evocations are reflective of Delfine’s creative journey. Coming from a background of photography, she is highly attuned to expressive visuals. Community and mentorship have remained essential values to Delfine, who has faced both hurdles and victories on her directorial path. Delfine’s resolve and creative momentum have led to the development of multiple exciting projects. She is a director to watch; her upcoming films Le Rouge Originel, Reds Hearten, and Sky, Zyprexa, Night will continue to push boundaries and explore the profound power of the film medium. In our interview, Delfine discusses her background and inspirations.
READ MOREMeet the New NYWIFT Member: Sophia Baldassari
Let’s welcome screenwriter, script supervisor, and playwright Sophia Baldassari to NYWIFT! She was most recently an Associate Producer on the Radio Silence thriller LOSER, directed by Colleen McGuinness. Her plays and pilots have been developed/produced at Luna Stage, George Street Playhouse, the McCarter Theatre Center, Haddonfield Plays and Players, and Manhattan Repertory Theatre, and have received accolades from the O’Neill Center Young Playwrights, Theatremania Young Playwrights, Beardance International Playwriting Festival, the Neil LaBute New Theatre Festival, the Austin Film Festival, among others. She’s studied Writing at Sarah Lawrence and Egyptology at the University of Oxford, an experience she used to write a buddy comedy about the mummy of a Pharaoh’s 29th Favorite wife. She is a member of the Writers Guild of America East, The New York Script Supervisors Network, and IATSE Local 111. In our interview, we discussed uniting accessible and female driven stories with comedy and surrealism, the structural switches between playwriting and screenwriting, and the unexpected comedy of life in ancient Egypt. Let’s dive in!
READ MOREMeet the New NYWIFT Member: Nadia Voukitchevitch
Welcome to NYWIFT, Nadia Voukitchevitch! Nadia is an award-winning filmmaker with over two decades of experience across film, television, and branded content. She is the founder Nadia Films, a creative content production company and boutique agency that produces globally focused, multicultural, and multilingual work across media. Through Nadia Films and its newly launched division, The Creative Collective, Nadia brings together collaborative teams of creators to craft meaningful, commercially viable work rooted in powerful storytelling. Her projects often intersect with social impact, advocacy, and cultural history, reflecting a deep commitment to human rights, women’s voices, and education-driven narratives. In our interview, she reflects on her filmmaking journey, the responsibility of telling stories rooted in lived experience, and the projects she’s most excited to bring to life next.
READ MORE
Comments are closed