The virtual meeting with the Oscar winning actor and director was organized by Ido Aharoni, a graduate of TAU, former Israeli consul in New York and currently a lecturer at New York University.
By TOBIAS SIEGALRobert DeNiro during the Zoom meeting with Tel Aviv University(photo credit: TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY)
Robert DeNiro spoke with students from Tel Aviv University (TAU) via Zoom on Friday and shared his views about the coronavirus pandemic and the future of the film-making industry.The virtual meeting with the Oscar winning actor and director was organized by Ido Aharoni, a graduate of TAU, former Israeli consul in New York and currently a lecturer at New York University (NYU).With many students and graduates from the TAU Steve Tisch School of Film and Television attending the video conference, DeNiro was met with various questions about his cinematic career, as well as his take on the coronavirus pandemic and its effects on the film-making industry and the cinematic world as a whole."9/11 was a horrible disaster, but everything that's happening now is even worse. COVID-19 has killed more than 130 thousand Americans. We have three million patients and the plague is still going on. We don't know where all this is going," DeNiro said."I'm lucky to be in a safe place, but everything happening around affects me and those around me, especially those who weren't so lucky. It's a terrible situation for all of us," he added.Referring to a question by Raz Yosef who heads the Steve Tisch School, DeNiro addressed the tension between the movie industry and the streaming industry and said: "I can't say whether the streaming industry will kill cinema," adding however, that in his opinion cinemas will always be needed."You always need cinemas, because sometimes you want to watch a movie with other people, especially if it's a comedy. People don't always want to watch movies alone at home, although that's fine too," he added.DeNiro did give some credit to the streaming industry, saying that "the streaming services are good because you can tell through them a longer and more detailed story, adding that he feels "grateful for Netflix for giving [him] the budget and everything [he] needed for filming the movie 'The Irishman.'""It's unclear what coronavirus will do to the industry," DeNiro said. "I really hope a vaccine is found and people can feel safe to go to the cinema. In any case, it looks like the streaming services are here to stay, and so are cinemas."Before ending the conversation, DeNiro made sure to give the lucky students some useful tips. "You always have to listen to your instincts and be loyal to yourselves. If you create something, try to use your feelings and to create your unique perspective, that's how you differentiate yourselves, especially as script-writers and producers. One of the worst things you can do is to create clichés, and that should always be avoided. Listen to your inner voice and be true to yourselves."
