Who

Hatkoff made a fortune as a real estate investor, but he's better known for having co-founded the Tribeca Film Festival with his wife, Jane Rosenthal, and her business partner Robert De Niro.

Backstory

After earning his MBA from Columbia in 1978, Hatkoff signed up with Chemical Bank's real estate group, Chemical Realty, and worked his way up to co-head of the division. In 1989, he teamed up with colleague John Klopp and founded a real estate investment trust called Victor Capital. The company was acquired by Chicago real estate titan Sam Zell in 1997 and folded into a publicly-traded real estate company, Capital Trust. Hatkoff stayed on as managing partner until 2001, but following the events of Sept. 11th (and with more than enough money stockpiled in his bank account), he decided to focus his efforts on a more personal project: reviving downtown via a world-class film festival in conjunction with his wife Jane Rosenthal and her producing partner Robert De Niro.

Of note

Hatkoff, Rosenthal, and De Niro organized the first festival in the spring of 2002, attracting some 150,000 people to the battered 'hood. By the second year, the number of attendees had doubled, an estimated $50 million in revenue was pumped into the local economy, and the well-respected programmer Peter Scarlet had been brought in as the festival's executive director.

These days Tribeca is a 13-day event (as opposed to the original five), attracts half a million attendees, and is increasingly a hot spot for film acquisition deals by studio executives. Yet despite its growth and several big-name commercial sponsors such as American Express, the fest has never been a moneymaker. (Contrary to popular belief, it's not a non-profit endeavor, but run by a private company the trio founded, Tribeca Enterprises.)

To help offset the deficits, Hatkoff, Rosenthal and De Niro upped ticket prices by 50 percent in 2007, a move that peeved longtime festival-goers, as did their decision to expand the lineup to more than 150 features. The negative reaction led them to backpedal a bit in 2008, dropping both ticket prices and the number of films included in the lineup. But the fest would be on firmer financial footing if it found a permanent space and a way to generate income year-round. In 2007, the trio teamed up with Steve Ross's Related Companies and the Cirque du Soleil to submit a proposal for Pier 40; the plan involves the creation of a massive entertainment complex featuring a big top, ice rink, sports field, and 60,000-square-foot multiplex that would both house the fest and exhibit indie movies all year round.

Family ties

Hatkoff's sister, Susan Patricof, is married to big-shot venture capitalist Alan Patricof. (Alan's son, Jon Patricof, works for Hatkoff and Rosenthal as the chief operating officer of Tribeca Enterprises.) It's largely thanks to his older sister and her husband that Hatkoff and Rosenthal have become such prominent Democratic fundraisers in recent years. Longtime allies of Bill and Hillary Clinton, their manse in the Hamptons has in the past been home to $25,000-per-couple Hillary fundraisers.

Personal

Hatkoff met Rosenthal in the late '80s when he was asked to help finance the Tribeca Film Center. The couple has two kids, Juliana and Isabella. Hatkoff has a little publishing business on the side thanks to the two girls. With daughter Juliana, Hatkoff authored Ladder 35, Engine 40 (about how Juliana coped with Sept. 11th as a seven-year-old), and her big follow-up, 2004's Good-Bye Tonsils! He co-authored a book with daughter Isabella when she was just seven, too, the 2006 children's bestseller Owen & Mzee. The family lives in the Dakota on the Upper West Side and has a weekend home in Water Mill.