Delta, Tribeca Film Festival Announce Finalist for the 2009 Film Festival

Alexander Poe’s “The Eight Percent,” Starring Ben McKenzie, selected by Delta customers

NEW YORK, Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL), the official airline sponsor of the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival, announced filmmaker Alexander Poe and his film, “The Eight Percent,” winner of the third annual Delta Fly-in Movies national film competition. Poe’s film received the highest rating among flyers who viewed the film while traveling on Delta or online at delta.com/flyinmovies.

"The Eight Percent,” starring Ben McKenzie from the NBC series “Southland,” is about two former high school sweethearts who meet up ten years later on an awkward date. The eight-minute movie will be featured during this year’s Tribeca Film Festival’s Short Film Program, which runs April 22 to May 3 in New York. Poe also will receive a pair of round-trip international tickets in BusinessElite anywhere Delta flies.

“We’re proud to announce Alexander Poe and his film ‘The Eight Percent’ as the winner of our third annual Fly-In Movies competition,” said Gail Grimmett, Delta’s senior vice president of New York. “We’re pleased to provide our customers with a unique first look at emerging artists and proud to support the Tribeca Film Festival and independent film overall. We want to thank all the filmmakers and our movie buff customers for viewing and voting.”

Selected from thousands of entries, Poe’s film was among the five finalists chosen by festival organizers for viewing on certain Delta flights. Customers traveling on flights equipped with a personal seatback entertainment system could watch all five movies for free and cast their vote via the aircraft’s Wi-Fi connection or over the Internet.

“On behalf of the Tribeca Film Festival, we’d like to congratulate Alexander Poe for his winning film,” said Maggie Kim, Shorts Programmer for Tribeca Film Festival. “We’re proud to showcase ‘The Eight Percent’ alongside the other outstanding films that will be featured this year.”

Rounding out the five finalists were: Jack Daniel Stanley’s “Cold Calls”; Justin and Shel Rasch’s “Gerald’s Last Day”; Andrew Williamson’s “The Green Film”; and Ryan Coogler’s “Locks.”

Delta’s in-flight entertainment system, Delta on Demand, offers live television, HBO, first-run and popular classic movies, a broad range of music, and numerous video games. Some aircraft are also equipped with Wi-Fi to support laptops, smartphones and personal digital assistants (PDAs), Internet access, corporate virtual private networks (VPNs), corporate and personal e-mail accounts, SMS texting and instant messaging.

Delta Air Lines is the world’s largest airline. From its hubs in Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York-JFK, Salt Lake City and Tokyo-Narita, Delta, its Northwest subsidiary and Delta Connection carriers offer service to 378 destinations in 66 countries and serve more than 170 million passengers each year. Delta’s marketing alliances allow customers to earn and redeem either SkyMiles or WorldPerks on more than 16,000 daily flights offered by SkyTeam and other partners. Delta‘s more than 70,000 employees worldwide are reshaping the aviation industry as the only U.S. airline to offer a full global network. Customers can check in for flights, print boarding passes, check bags and flight status at delta.com.