Scarlet resigning as Tribeca creative head

NEW YORK, March 1 (UPI) -- Peter Scarlet says he is resigning as creative director for New York's Tribeca Film Festival just ahead of its eighth reincarnation.

Scarlet said he decided to exit the film festival world after a six-year tenure to seek out "new challenges," Variety.com reported Friday.

"The term 'seven-year itch' always evokes that famous still of Marilyn Monroe," he said, referencing the late actress's role in the movie by that name to his yearning to move on. "But as my seventh Tribeca Film Festival loomed, I realized simply that it's time for me to seek new challenges."

Tribeca Executive Director Nancy Schafer, along with festival officials David Kwok and Genna Terranova, will take control of programming duties in the wake of Scarlet's immediate departure.

Festival co-founder Jane Rosenthal thanked Scarlet for his contributions to the annual festival, which Variety said runs this year from April 22 to May 3.