With the Tribeca Film Festival coming to a close, I think it’s worth talking about one of the few things that hasn’t changed since the advent of the Internet in the 90’s, the beginning of time in the days of the cavemen, since the story of the boy who cried wolf, Homer’s Odyssey, and Copernicus’ astronomy. What I’m talking about here is storytelling. To this day, stories can cause us to share, act and think differently. As my good friend, and MV advisor, David Sable said in a presentation a few months ago, “digital is everything, but not everything is digital.” Storytelling is the best example of this.
While there was a lot of buzz about House of Cards and about how Netflix won an Emmy for Orange is the New Black, the truth is that it didn’t matter that they were on Netflix or if they were on Fox or HBO. These shows manage to capture the audience’s attention with compelling narratives, regardless of what platform we find them on. Someone recently asked what my favorite show is and I told them “Breaking Bad.” When they asked what channel it was on, I could not tell them cause I had watched the series on Netflix (Breaking Bad is on AMC). The story is more important than the platform.
The Tribeca Film Festival celebrates the people who make these stories. This year, the festival opened with a documentary called “Time is Illmatic.” This film is about Nas and his first album released in 1994. The documentary was a series stories shared by people who were connected with Nas, in various ways, and involved in the creation of the album. The crew wasn’t made up of Oscar winning resumes (although I’m sure there were a few) and the audience wasn’t made up of film buffs and socialites (while I’m sure there were some 
). It was the first time the festival opened with a story where the director just wanted to tell a story and the audience was comprised of people who actually cared. It wasn’t your typical Tribeca crowd and was open to some extent (even the social media told a story here if you missed it).
There are a lot of amazing stories in the world that never get told. It’s the difference between reading an article about 23-year-old Michael Tubbs and his race for Stockton City Council and actually watching it happen and the impact he has on his family, friends, and community at large. In the first instance you think to yourself “Oh that’s interesting” and move on with your day. In the second example you follow up on social media, tell friends and colleagues about it and try and help out where you can. His story is amazing and it motivated me to get involved. Thank you Jhanvi Shriram, Ketaki Shriram and Kevin Gordon for telling Michael’s story!
These are just two examples of incredible stories told at the festival. I also had the opportunity to see Chelsea Clinton’s short film “Of Many”, Chelsea Clinton’s short film about an Orthodox Rabbi and Imam from NYU bridging conflict between students was incredibly powerful. The storytelling was an effective way of showing the audience two people from very different cultures finding common ground and building a foundation for learning and tolerance at NYU. Both Imam Khalif Latif and Rabbi Yehuda Sarna can teach us a thing or two about friendship and solidarity. Imam Khalif Latif was a sophomore at NYU during 9/11 and while evacuating his dorm he was pushed down the stairs by a girl who looked at him with pure hatred because of his race and religion. He met Rabbi Yehuda Sarna and they bonded when taking their students together to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to help build houses. This teaches us that disasters don’t break down houses, they also break down barriers. The best leaders always lead by example and we need more people like them in the world. This film gives us access to the world of interfaith dialogue and helps model how two communities can manage tension and build bridges.
Another film I had the opportunity to see was “Keep on Keepin On”. This one was the epitome of Henry Ford’s quote “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t– you’re right”. The movie was about Clark Terry’s mentorship of Justin Kauflin. Justin became blind early on in his life and made a comment about how blues musicians had it hard (meanwhile he was blind). Clark told him to create his own voice and to tell his own story, and not to mimic his peers. It was an amazing story about love, merit, mentorship and creativity. His first student who happened to be Quincy Jones closed the loop by producing the movie and afterwards Diane Reeves, Herbie Hancock, Esperanza Spalding, Roy Hargrove, and Justin Kauflin jammed with several others. Storytelling has an effect on our behavior. On a typical night I might’ve complained about the bathroom line or the line at Starbucks the next morning. But Clark and Justin’s story made that impossible. How dare I complain about something so small after seeing their testament? This is the power that stories have.
Whoopi Goldberg sitting in front of me at the premiere of “Keep on Keepin On”
YouTube, Netflix, Vine, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Maker Studies, Buzzfeed etc are all about telling stories. Yes, distribution has opened up which is huge, that’s how you end up with “vine stars” (like Jerome Jarre who I watched the Clark Terry movie with), as people become good storytellers on the platform. Innovation effects distribution. Sharing on Facebook, retweeting, etc opens it up.
There is even technology behind non-linear story telling (which my friend Yoni Bloch is leading and was featured at Tribeca this year). He worked with Bob Dylan on his “Like a Rolling Stone” interactive music video. Yoni’s platform for non-linear storytelling enabled Bob Dylan, who is famous for how he tells his stories with music, to do the same with video. At the end of the day though, the important thing is getting the story to reach the masses (which is the premise of Gary Vaynerchuk’s most recent book).
In the early days of Google, it was difficult to work with CPG companies because people rarely searched for deodorant and purchased it online. This changed with the YouTube acquisition because they could tell a story. The bottom line is no matter how many new and interesting mediums are built storytelling will always matter. We know advertising is about telling stories too. The good ones have a lasting effect on us.
As Jane Rosenthal told me after one of the movies, “Everyone has access and a camera – but not everyone knows how to tell a story. Just because you have a camera doesn’t mean you can tell a good one.” Quality content wins more than ever in 2014 and the quality at the Tribeca Film Festival was amazing. It didn’t matter where the story is told or who was telling it. What matters is that the stories that nourish us are accessed and engaged, regardless of where we find them.
People always talk about their content and ideas “going viral”. It’s not the content, the idea, or even the story that goes viral; it’s the resulting impact and change . Virality is the result of action and that’s what makes the world a better place.
Thank you Tribeca Film Festival for telling these stories and creating a catalyst for new ideas and action!