Answer: Pretty totally random! Tribeca today sent over a release announcing 35 jurors for its 2010 festival, ranging from Oscar winners to a Twitter co-founder to a State Department member to Jessica Alba, Zach Braff Aaron Eckhart, and Alicia Keys -- in no particular order, and not quite where you'd likely expect them to show up. It hardly seems right that they'd snub Movieline's distinguished staff on our birthday, but there's always next year. Speaking for myself, I'd give up a chair for Brooke Shields or America Ferrera any day. The rest, though... you really must see it to believe it.
I'm fond of Mike Fleming's analysis over at Deadline: "Geez, this list looks like [TFF co-founder] Jane Rosenthal just dumped her Rolodex." That's exactly what it looks like. But that's only half the story; after all, how did a multi-Grammy winner and part-time actress like Keys wind up jurying doc shorts and student films with the chairman of AOL and an NYC art baron? Heavy hitters, but, well, random. See below, and chime in with your favorite pairings and/or likeliest jury-room brawlers.
World Competition Categories
The jurors for the 2010 World Narrative Competition are:
Hope Davis: Golden Globe nominated, Emmy nominated, and Tony award nominated actress. Films include American Splendor, Synecdoche, NY, The Lodger, The Secret Lives of Dentists, Charlie Bartlett and the upcoming The Special Relationship.
Aaron Eckhart: Independent Spirit award winner for In the Company of Men & Golden Globe nominee for Thank You for Smoking; other films include The Dark Knight and the upcoming The Rum Diary and Rabbit Hole.
John Hamburg: Director and co-writer of I Love You, Man, Along Came Polly and Safe Men. Co-writer and producer of the upcoming Little Fockers.
Cheryl Hines: TFF alumna director of Serious Moonlight and Emmy nominated actress from the acclaimed HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm.
John Ridley: Producer and screenwriter; notable projects include Three Kings, Bobby and Undercover Brother. Upcoming projects include Red Tails.
Gary Ross: Academy Award nominated writer/director/producer. Films include Seabiscuit, Pleasantville, The Tale of Despereaux and Big.
Gary Winick: Independent Spirit award-winning Producer of Personal Velocity; other films include Pieces of April, 13 Going on 30, Charlotte's Web, Tadpole and the upcoming Letters to Juliet.
The jurors for the 2010 World Documentary Competition are:
Jessica Alba: Golden Globe nominated actress, best known for Sin City, Fantastic Four, Valentine's Day and the upcoming films The Killer Inside Me, Little Fockers and Machete.
Margaret Brown: Independent Spirit award-winning director/producer of The Order of Myths. Brown's other films include Be Here to Love Me: A Film About Townes Van Zandt and the upcoming 11/4/08.
Marshall Curry: Academy Award nominated TFF alumnus whose documentaries include Street Fight and Racing Dreams.
Whoopi Goldberg: Moderator on The View and actress, comedian and humanitarian with Academy Award, Golden Globe, Emmy, Tony and Grammy wins.
Aidan Quinn: Emmy nominated actor for An Early Frost, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. Other films include Legends of the Fall, Benny and Joon, This Is My Father.
Eric Steel: Producer of Julie & Julia, producer and director of The Bridge (TFF 2007), and executive producer of Angela's Ashes.
New York Competition Categories
The 2010 Best New York Narrative jurors are:
Selma Blair: Acclaimed actress who has starred in Storytelling for director Todd Solondz and in the Hellboy films for Guillermo Del Toro, in addition to TFF 2007 Festival film Purple Violets. She will next be seen starring in Columbus Circle for director George Gallo.
Zach Braff: Independent Spirit award-winning director/writer for Garden State and Golden Globe, Emmy nominee for Scrubs.
Zoe Cassavetes: Independent Spirit award-nominated Director for Broken English.
Darko Lungulov: Director of Here and There, winner of Best New York Narrative Feature at TFF 2009.
Andrew McCarthy: Actor in film; Joy Luck Club and upcoming Main Street. Television; Lipstick Jungle. Theater; Fat Pig. Contributing editor National Geographic Traveler.
The 2010 New York Loves Film Documentary Competition jurors are:
America Ferrera: Golden Globe winning and Independent Spirit Award nominated actress known for Ugly Betty, Real Women Have Curves, Hacia La Oscuridad and the upcoming The Dry Land.
Dave Karger: Senior writer for Entertainment Weekly and frequent contributor to NBC's Today Show.
Dan Klores: Independent Spirit award-winning director and producer of Crazy Love. Projects include the documentary Ring of Fire and executive producer of City by the Sea.
Scott Neustadter: Independent Spirit Award winner for Best Screenplay for 500 Days of Summer.
Kate Snow: Dateline NBC correspondent.
Short Film Competition Categories
The 2010 Narrative Short Film jurors are:
Justin Bartha: Actor whose films include The Hangover, National Treasure, Failure to Launch and the upcoming Holy Rollers. Justin is currently staring on Broadway in Lend Me a Tenor.
Katherine Dieckmann: Independent film director and screenwriter, whose work includes Motherhood, Diggers and A Good Baby.
Jack Dorsey: Creator, co-founder and former CEO of Twitter. Current CEO of Square and named by BusinessWeek as one of technology's "best & brightest."
Peter Facinelli: Screen Actor Guild Award nominee whose films include the Twilight Saga films and Finding Amanda, which debuted at the 2008 TFF. He currently stars on Showtime's hit show, Nurse Jackie.
Brooke Shields: Notable model turned successful actress and author. Upcoming films include Furry Vengeance, The Greening of Whitney Brown and the play Love, Loss And What I Wore.
The 2010 Documentary and Student Short Film jurors are:
Perry Miller Adato: Winning Director of four Directors Guild of America awards and an Emmy. Known for her pioneering work in biographical and historical filmmaking.
Tim Armstrong: CEO and Chairman, AOL Inc.
Jared Cohen: Member of the U.S. Secretary of State's Policy Planning Staff and author of the books Children of Jihad and One Hundred Days of Silence. [Note: will be judging in his personal capacity]
Scandar Copti: Academy Award nominated Director of Ajami and programmer for Doha Tribeca Film Festival.
Larry Gagosian: Art gallery magnate and dealer. Represents John Currin, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami, Richard Prince, Richard Serra and Cy Twombly, among others.
Alicia Keys: 12x Grammy award-winning singer/songwriter who has produced, composed and written multiple albums, contributed to numerous soundtracks, and acted in The Secret Life of Bees, The Nanny Diaries and Smokin' Aces.
Shirin Neshat: Noted director and visual artist. Projects include Women Without Men, The Troupe and Logic of the Birds.
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