Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1251534
GC: I read that one of the reasons that the Tribeca Film Festival originated was out of wanting to raise New York up. Did you do that before 9/11? RD: No, we were down here. We had talked about doing a festival somehow, but it wasn't really — not that it wasn't serious, it just wasn't high on the list of doing something. Then after that, [Tribeca Enterprises CEO] Jane [Rosenthal] … resurrected the idea of doing it to bring the neighborhood back. And also, we were doing these dinners in different restaurants. In Chinatown, Little Italy, we'd get busloads of people to go and drum up business because … nothing was happening. It was dead. So then the idea of the festival came up and we got it up and running in a couple of months, three or four months. That's how it started. GC: The industry has changed. When I first started, people who did film didn't do TV. People who did TV didn't do commercials. I remember people saying, "Gabrielle, you shouldn't do this or that." Now, everybody's doing everything. RD: Well, when I was a young actor, the worst fear was that you'd get offered a TV show. The pilot is one thing. But in order to do the pilot, you have to sign a contract, the way I remember it. In those days, they even had the seven-year contract. If the thing was a hit, that's the upside, I suppose. Then the downside is that you're stuck in it for seven years of your life, and who knows what else would have come along. And, you got to live out in California, which was not a big thing. For New York actors, it was considered a kind of sellout in a way. Easy to say, but you know. But it's all different now. I mean, it's totally different. Television things are better than films many times. GC: Would you do a TV series now if there was a short order? RD: Well, there are some things I've been talking about. It depends. It's the location. It's how long, it's a commitment of time. It could be a great concept, a great idea, well written and everything. But then you may have different directors coming in … who are not up to par for whatever reason. Unless you have really good directors; then, even though they'll change the feel of it, you know whatever they do is going to be interesting and good. But if it is just the original person who created it and they do the whole 10 episodes, which is harder to do but it can be done, you have to make sure that that level of quality is kept up. That's the concern for me. GC: How do you rehearse? RD: There's a lot of things where I don't rehearse. We just sit, we have a meeting about the script, the scenes [and] we talk it over. We come up, we change stuff. You don't need to rehearse. It's better to do it and be in the moment, on the day. Other stuff, you need to rehearse. Check out the interview below or click here to listen to the podcast.