An hour or so ago Indiewire‘s Peter Knegt ran a piece about Tribeca Film Festival creative director Peter Scarlet resigning his post, effective immediately. Knegt ran a statement from Scarlet saying that the decision results from a “seven year itch” and an urge to “seek new challenges” and so on.
Right away I wrote Knegt and Tribeca Film Festival spokesperson Tammie Rosen the following note: “Scarlet’s resignation has nothing to do with Geoff Gilmore taking over as the festival’s new creative director? Simply passing along Scarlet’s ‘seven year itch’ comment seems dishonest. Shouldn’t the Indiewire story have addressed the Gilmore takeover factor? Why write the story in a boilerplate way that doesn’t convey an interest in what may have actually happened here?”
Rosen didn’t respond. Knegt basically reshuffled the official press release, but said “you can be sure that the suggested relation [of Scarlet’s resignation] to Geoff Gilmore’s recent taking over will be part of our continuing coverage.”