New York, April 22, 2008 – Vanity Fair kicked off the Tribeca Film Festival for the seventh year in a row with a party at the State Supreme Courthouse in lower Manhattan.  “Nobody had ever done something here, and it’s great space”, said VF editor Graydon Carter, who admitted that he gets nervous when throwing such a big bash.  What’s to be nervous about?  Guests like Billy Crystal, Charlie Rose, Jerry Seinfeld, Fran Lebowitz, Nora Ephron, Arianna Huffington and Martha Stewart generate enough chatter to animate the stony silent types like Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel and Willem Dafoe. 

Padma Lakshmi is a juror for the Tribeca Film Festival this year, and she explained how she attained that honor.  “I got an e-mail, they said, ‘We’d really like you to be part of the jury’.  I said, ‘Are you sure’?  They said, ‘Yeah’.  I said, ‘Okay.’”  The Top Chef star said she’s thrilled to participate in the fest.  Fashion designer Zac Posen is also a juror this year.  “I’ve been watching many, many films at home”, he told us. 

Partygoers built up their strength for movie hopping at the ten-day festival by chowing down on chicken pot pie, chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream.