The most welcome film festival news of the week comes from The Hollywood Reporter, by way of The Reeler. In a bid to increase their profile as an independent film marketplace, the Tribeca Film Festival will cut the size of their feature slate by as much as 25 percent. A program of 120 films would put Tribeca in the same league, size-wise, as Sundance, which is clearly the intention:

“We realize our audience is getting a little overwhelmed by all of our titles,” said Tribeca co-exec director Nancy Schafer.

Last year, nearly 30 titles were acquired out of Tribeca, but many were bought by smaller distributors; with the new focus, the festival hopes to bring in bigger buyers and yield more high-profile deals. “We’ve had a lot of movies bought out of the festival but we haven’t had our Sex, Lies & Videotape yet,” Schafer said. “That’s what we want, and that’s what the industry wants.”

Steven Soderbergh’s 1989 film, of course, helped to cement Sundance’s status as the highest profile festival market in the States. The most successful titles to sell at Tribeca thus far have been Jesus Camp and Transamerica. Both were Oscar nominated, but neither really set the zeitgeist on fire, 90s style.

So I can only see this as good news. I’ve been bitching for years that Tribeca has been too big, and too unfocused. If these promised changes actually stick, I’ll be the first to congratulate the Tribeca team on a step in the right direction.