Tribeca Film Festival 2017

It’s spring in New York, and that means the Tribeca Film Festival is underway. Opening night was at Radio City Music Hall with the premier of Chris Perkel’s documentary, Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of our Lives. About the eponymous music mogul who began his career at CBS, it will screen this weekend. (My review is here: http://www.biography.com/news/clive-davis-the-soundtrack-of-our-lives-movie-review.)

A very young Clive Davis with Patti Smith.(Photo courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival)

The documentary was followed by a show honoring the 85 year-old executive, best-known to the general public for his longstanding professional relationship with the late Whitney Houston. He signed Houston to a recording contract when she was 19 years old, and was with her on The Merv Griffin Show, her first T.V. appearance.

Jennifer Hudson, who was the first to perform on Wednesday’s Opening Night tribute, celebrated Whitney and Davis with her rendition of “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me).” She was followed by Earth, Wind & Fire, Dionne Warwick, jazz clarinetist Kenny G, and the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin.

Here is a link to a review of "The Reagan Show," another documentary screening at the festival: http://www.biography.com/news/the-reagan-show-ronald-reagan-documentary. Most of my coverage of the Tribeca Film Festival will appear on Biography.com and on Film Journal International’s “Screener Blog.” You can also check back here for links. Short posts will appear on my Facebook page.