The Tribeca Film Festival was founded in 2002 by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff in the aftermath of the World Trade Center terrorist attack. Its purpose was to stimulate the economic and cultural revitalization of lower Manhattan through an annual celebration of film, music and culture. Tribeca Film Festival has consistently grown in size since its inception. The Festival's mission is to promote New York City as a major filmmaking center and to help the global filmmaking community to reach the broadest possible audiences through the power of cinema. Starting in 2010, audiences nationwide were given the opportunity to experience the festival from home. They can log in through Tribeca Film Festival Virtual and stream various features including live discussions with filmmakers, panels, red-carpet coverage, and a collection of the festival's short films. Another way to partake in the excitement is a video-on-demand distribution entity called Tribeca Film. These efforts continue a trend started by other festivals to expand the scope of the event beyond its geographic locale. Since it's founding, Tribeca Film Festival attracted an audience of more than 2.3 million people and generated an estimated $600 million in economic activity for the City.