'New York' Mag: Tribeca Film Fest Trio Interested in Buying 'NYO'

By: E&P Staff New York magazine's "Intelligencer" column reports today that the three founders of the Tribeca Film Festival -- Robert De Niro, producer Jane Rosenthal, and her husband, Craig Hatkoff -- may be interested in buying the Arthur Carter's city weekly, the New York Observer.

"Nothing is signed on paper, but they?re definitely looking at it, and definitely looking at it very seriously," the magazine quotes an insider as saying.

The famously salmon-colored Observer loses an estimated $2 million each year, a fact that has made the paper difficult for Carter to sell since he first offered it up earlier this year. The magazine reports, however, that the Tribeca trio envision advertising synergy with the Film Fest sponsors (AmEx, Pepsi, Sony, Nokia, L?Or?al)." As well, the it is possible that there could be further synergies between the Observer and Tribeca Productions projects.