Oral History with Jane Rosenthal

Oral history interview with Jane Rosenthal and Jenny Pachucki on January 10, 2025.

Jane Rosenthal is CEO of Tribeca Enterprises, co-founder of the Tribeca Film Festival, and is a Founding Trustee of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. In this interview, the conversation delves into Rosenthal's life and career, covering her background in the entertainment industry, including her work with CBS and Disney. Rosenthal and her production partner, Robert De Niro, bought a former spice factory in Tribeca in 1989 to serve as the headquarters of Tribeca Enterprises. On September 11, 2001, Rosenthal was stopped at a traffic light on West Street when the North Tower was hit. She recounts the chaos in Lower Manhattan that day and her efforts to evacuate the area. Devastated by the impact of the attacks on the Lower Manhattan business community, Rosenthal started "Dinners Downtown," using her connections to support local restaurants. In November 2001, Rosenthal and De Niro created the Tribeca Film Festival as a way to bring people back downtown and help the community heal. She describes the intense logistics of producing the festival in just three months and the outpouring of support from the entertainment industry. Rosenthal also discusses the evolution of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, her involvement in its development, and the ongoing efforts to preserve the history of that tragic day. Throughout the interview, she emphasizes the power of storytelling, the arts, and community engagement in the process of recovery and resilience.