'Bring New Yorkers Together': Programmers Cara Cusumano & Liza Domnitz On 2019 Tribeca TV Festival
(CBS Local)-- New York City Fashion Week isn't the only big thing going on in the Big Apple this month.
The 2019 Tribeca TV Festival kicks off on September 12 and runs through September 15. The festival will feature the premiere of the new CBS show "Evil" starring Mike Colter, Katja Herbers and Michael Emerson. The event will also feature a celebration of the 25th anniversary of "Friends" and conversations with actor James Spader and comedian Hasan Minhaj.
As opposed to the Tribeca Film Festival, the focus here will be strictly on TV and programmers Cara Cusumano and Liza Domnitz say there is something for everyone.
"We go for four days and have 15 or 16 new shows appearing," said Cusumano in an interview with CBS Local's DJ Sixsmith. "Some are season premieres and some are series that no one has ever seen before. All of them are followed by a panel conversation with the cast and the creators. It's an opportunity for audiences to discover what's coming up or to celebrate some of their favorites."
"We've had TV as part of the main festival for many years," said Domnitz. "We made it an official selection four or five years ago. We decided to take that model from the main festival and make it it's own mini festival since there is such a plethora of TV out there."
The festival will feature shows from broadcast networks like CBS and also from streaming services like Apple+, Amazon, and Hulu. Cusumano and Domnitz want the festival to reflect the current TV landscape. One show they are extremely excited about is Apple+'s "Dickinson" starring Hailee Steinfeld.
"Dickinson is a riff on the Emily Dickinson story," said Domnitz. "It's a contemporary look at her life and her struggles as a young woman who just wants to be a poet and is being challenged to marry by her family. Her mother is played by Jane Krakowski and it is fantastic and we are honored that we are one of the first to show an Apple TV show."
The Tribeca TV Festival also features new projects that were filmed in New York from CW called "Katy Keene" and "The Godfather of Harlem" starring Forrest Whitaker. It is important to Cusumano that the festival has a New York vibe.
"It's all about the audience. Tribeca is an event that was founded for the community and bringing people together," said Cusumano. "Being able to bring New Yorkers together to experience their favorite shows with the cast and creators is a pretty unique moment that doesn't exist anywhere else."
