Tribeca big step for film.

• Position: PEOPLE

Byline: Richard Duckett

Red carpet arrivals are scheduled for 4:30 p.m. tomorrow at Chelsea Clearview West cinemas, 333 West 23rd St., New York City.

Brett Etre will be one of the people walking along the carpet, as likely will America Ferrera of "Ugly Betty" fame. The world premiere of "Towards Darkness" will follow at 5 p.m. Saturday in Chealsea Clearview West Theater 1 as part of the sixth Tribeca Film Festival.

"I'm nervous now on the phone with you," said Etre, 30, who is an executive producer of "Towards Darkness." "It's a mixture of nervousness and excitement. ... It's going to be a surreal experience."

On Tuesday, Worcester-native Etre was at his home in the Los Angeles area contemplating the trip East and the pending events of the weekend. He plans to fly out today.

The movie is a thriller set in Colombia about a man (played by Roberto Urbina) who returns from America only to be kidnapped. Ferrara plays the man's love interest, and she is also an executive producer of the film.

All nerves aside, getting a film to Tribeca is definitely a step in the right direction for all involved. The festival has become a prestigious stop on the movie festival circuit since it was founded in 2002 by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff to help economically and culturally revitalize Lower Manhattan through an annual celebration of film, music and culture.

Tribeca 2007 opened Wednesday and runs through May 6. More than 150 movies will be shown and judged in different categories. The New York Daily News said this week that among the features on tap this year "are dozens that have the potential to become breakout hits." "Spider-Man 3" is screening across New York as part of the festival.

"It's a huge break for me. It's a huge break for the filmmaker ("Towards Darkness" director Antonio Negret)," Etre candidly acknowledged. "There are going to be people who pay attention now to him (Negret) as a filmmaker and me as a manager."

He sounds like an ambitious young executive, and there's nothing wrong with that. But he also revealed a nostalgic side, and there was certainly nothing to criticize him for there, either.

Etre was more than happy to acknowledge that the red carpet and the path of his interest and involvement in movies stretches all the way back to Worcester - particularly, his family's former home at 385 May St.

His father, Alphonse Etre Jr. (who used to own Etre's Autobody on Franklin Street in Worcester) would always come home...