Tribeca Festival Delays Robert De Niro Tribute Event “De Niro Con” Due to Double Strike

The Tribeca Festival has postponed its planned tribute event “De Niro Con” celebrating co-founder Robert De Niro’s 80th birthday this fall. The fan event was intended to honor the actor’s career and contributions to the festival he helped create.

The Tribeca Festival has announced it is postponing its planned “De Niro Con” event honoring co-founder Robert De Niro’s 80th birthday from September 29-October 1, 2022 to April 2024. The postponement comes as a show of solidarity amid the ongoing strikes by the Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) and the Screen Actors Guild‐American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA).

The fan event was originally scheduled to take place just over a month after De Niro’s 80th birthday on August 17th as a tribute to his prolific acting career and contributions to co-founding the Tribeca Festival. However, festival organizers decided to delay the celebratory event until April 2024 out of consideration for the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. The postponement shows their support for the strikes and those participating in them.

The Tribeca Festival has postponed its De Niro Con event honoring co-founder Robert De Niro until April 2024 in solidarity with the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. This is the latest major entertainment event impacted by the strikes that have brought film and TV production to a halt. Actors are barred from promoting past work under expired contracts with AMPTP studios and streamers. The postponement of De Niro Con demonstrates the far-reaching effects of the strikes on the entertainment industry.

Meanwhile, as the fall film festivals in Venice, Telluride, Toronto, and New York remain scheduled to showcase a multitude of high-profile films, the Film Academy has confirmed its intention to proceed with the 2023 Academy Museum Gala fundraiser.

Initially unveiled during the opening night of this year’s Tribeca Festival in June, De Niro Con was originally designed to encompass movie screenings, panel discussions, musical performances, immersive exhibits, and recreations of iconic film sets. Anticipated to be attended by Robert De Niro, his fellow stars, and frequent collaborators, the event was planned to take place at Spring Studios in New York City. The comprehensive program details were initially planned to be disclosed this summer.