Tammy Rosen Dies: Sundance And Tribeca Communications Chief Was 49

Tammie Rosen, who ran communications for Tribeca Enterprises and the Sundance Institute and was known widely in the film and entertainment community, died early Wednesday at 49.

She had been ill with cancer in recent months.

Among filmmakers, fest and industry execs, talent and members of the press, Rosen had a reputation for remaining personable, upbeat and energetic regardless of the circumstances. Her hearty laugh and signature red lipstick signaled a passion for life and culture that never wavered.

After growing up in New Jersey (whose bard, Bruce Springsteen, was her lifelong hero), Rosen had a key early-career run at Rubenstein Communications in New York. At Rubenstein, she helped oversee PR efforts on behalf of the Tribeca Film Festival starting in 2004, just two years after its first edition. In 2007, she went in-house, becoming a key consiglieri to co-founders Jane Rosenthal and Robert De Niro as Tribeca expanded overseas, became a film distributor and grew into a potent media brand.

Rosen’s sense of style, enhanced by a stint in fashion PR, served her well at Tribeca. The festival stood at the intersection of film, music, culture, design, technology and other currents running through New York City, whose Lower Manhattan neighborhoods were leveled by 9/11 but rose to become a taste-making hub. Rosen’s capability of seeing the potential of that admixture was a key to her professional success and her personal connections with so many.

In 2019, having risen to the position of EVP of Communications and Programming, Rosen left to become Chief Communications Officer at the Sundance Institute, which organizes the Sundance Film Festival. In subsequent years, she helped the festival and institute navigate Covid. She then steered it through the decision to move the festival to Boulder, CO from its longtime home in Park City, UT. Next month’s edition will be the festival’s last in its original site.

In a statement, De Niro and Rosenfeld recalled that after hiring Rosen, they “watched this extraordinary, dynamic woman help us build Tribeca. Tammie’s passion, commitment, selflessness, hard work, love of our community, the arts, filmmakers, and the stories they tell was infectious. She helped build creative strategies that expanded Tribeca outside our backyard to Rome, Beijing, and Doha and into areas of innovation, music, and sports. We will forever be in awe of her tireless dedication, her impeccable ethics, her remarkable leadership, her humor, her love of Bruce Springsteen, her trademark red lipstick, and most of all her friendship. She was singularly just remarkable. We send our heartfelt sympathy to her mom Sheryle, sister Stefani, brother Brian, and the rest of her family and friends.”

Ebs Burnough, Sundance Institute Board Chair, said in a statement that everyone at the institute is “profoundly saddened” by Rosen’s death.

“Tammie was a remarkable leader whose integrity, compassion, and unwavering commitment to our organization will have a lasting impact,” the statement continued. “Under her stewardship, Sundance Institute’s story was told with heart and authenticity because, quite simply, she embodied the joy and power of our mission. Tammie had an extraordinary ability to connect and inspire; she led with purpose and heart, always guided by an ethic of excellence, empathy, and genuine care for others. Her warmth, generosity, and laugh were infectious, and her keen intelligence and moral character inspired her colleagues not only at Sundance Institute but across the industry. She was one of a kind, and she will be deeply missed and forever remembered. Our hearts are with Tammie’s family and loved ones during this extraordinarily difficult time.”