News

Netflix produced its first non-documentary feature in 2015. It was called Beasts of No Nation, and it was fine. However, the film did not get nominated for an Academy Award. Lots has changed in the last decade.

Your favorite streamer often gets nominated for major awards each year. 2025 is no different. Emilia Pérez has 13 nominations alone, including one for Best Picture. So far, Netflix has yet to get a win in that category, and Emilia Pérez is not the favorite this year, either.

In fact, Netflix has also almost been entirely shut out of wins in the acting categories. Only Laura Dern won, and that was for Best Supporting Actress in 2020. But the streamer does do well in some other categories. Those might not be part of the Big 6, but when it comes to documentaries, Netflix knows what it is doing. Just see below, and you'll know.

The 2025 Oscars will be held on Sunday,...

Exclusive: Amy Hobby and Hard Working Movies founder Lori Cheatle (Mantangi/Maya/M.I.A) have teamed up for new music-oriented production venture Record Breaker Films+.

The company is developing and producing a range of music projects and will combine screenings with live events, merchandising, and director-to-audience collaborations.

Record Breaker’s initial slate is due to be revealed soon. The company’s Tribeca documentary 1-800-on-her-own, about singer Ani Difranco, opens at New York’s Film Forum in April.

The outfit has also struck a partnership with bi-coastal creative marketing agency IHeartComix (Ihc) to produce multiple films. Ihc has recently worked on the 500-capacity Rolling Stones concert with Lady Gaga in New York for the release of Hackney Diamonds, the Olivia Rodrigo Guts World Tour Bus Experience and the immersive fan destination and launch event for Billie Eilish’s second album Happier Than Ever. The company...

During a Distribution Advocates podcast recording at Hot Docs, producer/director Amy Hobby announced a new documentary $200,000 grant called The Marketing Innovations Fund, which will go to independent distributors.

Hobby co-founded Distribution Advocates in 2020 alongside Abby Sun, Avril Speaks, Carlos Gutierrez and Karin Chien. The organization “works to collectively reclaim power for independent storytellers in the current systems of distribution and exhibition.”

The Marketing Innovations Fund launches in August and will provide grants between $5,000 and $50,000. That money will go to independent distributors working with film teams to supercharge audience growth for a wide range of docus. The grants are aimed at encouraging experimentation and innovation in reaching ticket buyers. The number of releases supported each year will vary and depend on applications. This year Fund money will help between four and 15 releases.

“Our goal is to inject much needed capital and resources into an anemic marketplace and ultimately to inspire...

Exclusive: MSNBC Films has unveiled its spring and summer slate including a Dave Eggers documentary about book-banning.

The news network is launching four feature and short documentaries in its Sunday night slot between April and July.

This includes a number of films for its The Turning Point series, which kicked off in 2022 with a Trevor Noah-produced series.

Eggers’ To Be Destroyed, which will launch on July 21, follows the A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius author as he embarks on a journey to Rapid City, South Dakota in the aftermath of his book’s controversial ban by the local school board. As Eggers navigates this landscape of censorship and resistance, viewers will learn how these ideas resonate far beyond the borders of Rapid City.

The film is directed by Arthur Bradford and will be the ninth installment of The Turning Point documentary series.

The seventh installment of the series is...

Harvard’s Shorenstein Center announced today the three film professionals who comprise their Spring 2024 cohort of documentary film fellows. Producer and distributor Karin Chien, producer and former executive Amy Hobby, and former director of the Sundance Film Festival as well as Sundance’s Documentary Film Program Tabitha Jackson will, according to a press release, “join the Center under the auspices of the newly-established Documentary Film in the Public Interest research initiative and will spend the semester conducting research and engaging with the Harvard Kennedy School community about the challenges facing the field and its impact on civic life.” “The Documentary Film […]

The post Karin Chien, Amy Hobby and Tabitha Jackson Are New Documentary Fellows at Harvard’s Shorenstein Center first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Harvard’s Shorenstein Center announced today the three film professionals who comprise their Spring 2024 cohort of documentary film fellows. Producer and distributor Karin Chien, producer and former executive Amy Hobby, and former director of the Sundance Film Festival as well as Sundance’s Documentary Film Program Tabitha Jackson will, according to a press release, “join the Center under the auspices of the newly-established Documentary Film in the Public Interest research initiative and will spend the semester conducting research and engaging with the Harvard Kennedy School community about the challenges facing the field and its impact on civic life.” “The Documentary Film […]

The post Karin Chien, Amy Hobby and Tabitha Jackson Are New Documentary Fellows at Harvard’s Shorenstein Center first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Independent filmmakers and enthusiasts have a new resource to demystify the often-complex world of film distribution. Distribution Advocates Presents, a podcast hosted by Avril Speaks, filmmaker and co-founder of Distribution Advocates, officially launches on January 31st.

Distribution Advocates is a collective advocating for filmmakers and maintaining plurality and originality. Members currently include Avril Speaks, Karin Chien, Abby Sun, Amy Hobby, and Carlos Gutierrez. Their singular goal is to collectively reclaim power for independent storytellers in the current systems of distribution and exhibition.

This podcast aims to shed light on the inner workings of independent film distribution, by addressing a crucial question: how can we understand and improve the current ecosystem to create more equitable distribution systems?

From the role of sales agents to the functions of film festivals, each episode is a journey into understanding the challenges of distribution and the potential for transformative change. Think of it less as...

Greenwich Entertainment has picked up all rights excluding TV to the documentary Nam June Paik: Moon Is the Oldest TV, directed and produced by Amanda Kim, which world premiered in U.S. Documentary Competition at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.

The film will launch its U.S. theatrical release at New York’s Film Form on March 24, being distributed in Canada by Films We Like starting on the same date, ahead of its U.S. broadcast premiere on PBS’ American Masters. Dogwoof acquired UK distribution rights and international sales rights outside of Korea in early January, with a distribution deal and streaming partner for the latter territory to be announced shortly.

The doc tells the story of Nam June Paik, a pillar of the American avant-garde in the 20th century, widely regarded as “The George Washington of Video Art,” who coined the phrase “Electronic Superhighway,” and is arguably the most famous Korean artist in modern history.

Dogwoof has picked up Amanda Kim’s documentary on the contemporary artist Nam June Paik for world sales, excluding North America and South Korea.

“Nam June Paik: Moon Is the Oldest TV” is set to world premiere on Jan. 22 at Sundance as part of the U.S. Documentary Competition.

Paik, one of the most famous Asian artists of the 20th century, revolutionized the use of technology as an artistic canvas and invented the video synthesizer. He is credited with coining the term “electronic super highway,” which was the title of one of his most famous works that involved more than 300 TV sets.

The film will trace Paik’s life from childhood as he traveled across the world. He fled to Japan from his native Korea at the outbreak of the Korean War, before moving to Germany and subsequently to New York City where he settled in 1964.

The film will include...

Subject Matter, a recently-launched nonprofit organization that supports social issue documentary films and other nonprofits that work on its featured topics, announced their inaugural grantees, awarding a total of 120,000 to four feature-length documentaries and four of the films’ coinciding nonprofits. Subject Matter launched in July, spearheaded by former Tribeca Film Institute leaders Amy Hobby, David Earls, and Colleen Hammond.

The inaugural grantees were determined by a selection committee that included Subject Matter board members actor Jeffrey Wright, entrepreneur Lily Band, Picture Motion and Kinema founder Christie Marchese, documentary director and producer Ferne Pearlstein and social justice and public health grant maker Julia Greenberg, along with guest jurors filmmaker Shola Lynch and film programmer José Rodriguez.

“All of the films the jury considered were formidable,” Wright said. “But we were especially moved by the handling of the stories in the four selected projects and felt that they are intimate, powerful and...

Former Tribeca Film Institute leaders Amy Hobby, David Earls, and Colleen Hammond are partnering on Subject Matter, a new endeavor designed to support and connect social issue documentary films and nonprofits working on the featured topics. Subject Matter, which will also be a non-profit, will work with films that focus on urgent issues that the country is currently facing.

Entrepreneur Lily Band and Golden Globe, Emmy and Tony Award-winning actor Jeffrey Wright will co-chair the organization. Additional board members for Subject Matter include philanthropist Samantha Rudin Earls, film executive Loren Hammonds, Picture Motion and Kinema founder Christie Marchese, documentary director and producer Ferne Pearlstein, and social justice and public health grant maker Julia Greenberg.

“Documentary storytelling is an inspiring tool for reaching large audiences and creating movement on important issues,” Earls said in a statement. “We want to partner with filmmakers to help get their stories in front of audiences,...

Maverick artist Nam June Paik will be the subject of a new feature-length documentary that will highlight unseen footage and archival materials. The currently untitled production will be completed in 2022. Oscar nominee and “Minari” star Steven Yeun and hip-hop pioneer Fab 5 Freddy have joined the project as executive producers.

Paik is often referred to as the “Father of Video Art” and was a prophet of the internet, as well as a visionary and futurist. Adopting technology to transform the way we see the world, he was one of the first to use television as an artist’s canvas and invented the video synthesizer. In the 1970s, he coined the term “Electronic Superhighway” and predicted the future of communication in the digital age. He launched a series of the world’s first global satellite art events, bridging the gap between East and West, pop and avant-garde and all genres of art...

The International Documentary Association came out with its shortlist of the year’s best documentaries today, a list as notable for what was left out as what made it in.

A total of 29 feature films earned a spot on the IDA shortlist, including some considered Oscar frontrunners: Summer of Soul, Ascension, and Flee—each of which earned nominations last week for both the Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards and the Gotham Awards. But several other films making a strong bid for Oscar attention were snubbed, among them The Rescue, Becoming Cousteau, Attica, Procession, and My Name Is Pauli Murray.

The IDA gave recognition to several documentaries with an international dimension, like Faya Dayi, from Mexican-Ethiopian director Jessica Bashir, Chinese-born filmmaker Nanfu Wang’s Covid-19-related doc In The Same Breath, and Miguel’s War, the story of a gay Lebanese man who exiles himself to Spain. The IDA-shortlisted President focuses on...

The CineLink Talks run August 14-19.

Screen International and Documentary Campus once again teamed up with the Sarajevo Film Festival (September 13-20) to host CineLink Talks, an online programme of panels for the festival’s 2021 industry strand.

The series of 60-minute CineLink Talks ran from August 15-19. Topics included filmmaking during the pandemic, working with streamers, female filmmaker quotas, mental health in the film industry and new models for distribution; and masterclasses with filmmakers Mads Brugger and Alexander Nanau.

The talks are available to watch in full below.

In conversation with filmmaker Mads Brugger

Moderator: Damir Šagolj

What have producers...

The 10 hour-long CineLink Talks will run from August 14-19.

Screen International and Documentary Campus have once again teamed up with the Sarajevo Film Festival to host CineLink Talks, an online programme of panels for the festival’s 2021 industry strand.

The 10 hour-long CineLink Talks will run from August 14-19. Topics include filmmaking during the pandemic, working with streamers, female filmmaker quotas, mental health in the film industry and new models for distribution. The line-up also includes masterclasses with filmmakers Mads Brugger and Alexander Nanau.

All of the webinars will run via Zoom and feature a live Q&a in which audience...

Another day, another GameStop project getting the green light.

Netflix is currently in production on a documentary series about the rollercoaster GameStop stock fluctuation prompted by a band of retail traders on Reddit.

This project, which seeks to look deeper into the “seismic shift in how the world’s money behaves,” promises exclusive access to key members of the Reddit r/wallstreetbets community that squeezed the hedge funds shorting the stock, as well as individual traders who hopped on the bandwagon and financial world “luminaries.”

Story Syndicate is production company behind the series, with co-founders Dan Cogan and Liz Garbus executive producing. Jon Bardin and Julie Gaither are also billed as exec producers, with Amy Hobby producing. Past Story Syndicate projects include “The Innocence Project,” about an effort to free wrongfully convicted prisoners, six-part HBO series “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark,” about Michelle McNamara and the pursuit of the Golden State Killer,...

Tribeca has long been a difficult thing to understand. First came the nonprofit Tribeca Film Institute and the namesake festival, founded in the wake of 9/11 with a mission to revitalize lower Manhattan’s arts economy. Then came Tribeca Enterprises, a for-profit offshoot that quickly took over festival-producing duties. For nearly as long as Tribeca has been a brand, it’s held numerous identities — some overlapping, many conflicting.

Freed from its New York mandate, Tfi flourished over two decades to become a prominent funder and mentor of independent filmmakers across the globe. More visibly, Tribeca Enterprises grew, too, building out the Tribeca Film Festival and branded-content agency Tribeca Studios — both of which were powered by deep-pocketed companies seeking something different with their ad budgets.

While remaining legally separate, the two disparate entities were shepherded by some of the same people and together created the Tribeca brand. New York civic pride. Worldwide filmmaker funding.

Pacific Northwest Pictures to release in Canada.

Myriad Pictures announced on Wednesday (September 30) that Samuel Goldwyn Films has acquired US rights to rom-com Modern Persuasion starring Alicia Witt.

Alex Appel and Jonathan Lisecki directed the Jane Austen adaptation from Tangerine Entertainment and Tortyfly Pictures, based on a screenplay by Lisecki (Gayby) and Barbara Radecki (Expecting).

Witt, stars with Shane McRae and Bebe Neuwirth in the contemporary tale about a New York workaholic whose firm is hired by an old flame.

Samuel Goldwyn Films will release Modern Persuasion in December.

Myriad Pictures president and CEO Kirk D’Amico said: “We are delighted...

Radical changes are needed to dismantle unequal structures that inhibit access to audiences, according to a Sarajevo CineLink panel.

A distribution collective for independent filmmakers could help save a “broken” system, according to a Sarajevo CineLink panel of producers.

Watch the full session below.

US independent producer Karin Chien raised the idea of 500 independent filmmakers each paying $100 to become part of a distribution collective that could hire a year-round marketing team, rather than each filmmaker trying to reinvent the wheel with self-distribution for each of their films.

“The ideas I’m thinking of come from a collective model, power in numbers,...

Myriad Pictures has acquired worldwide rights to the Alicia Witt romantic comedy “Modern Persuasion,” which will premiere at the Cannes Virtual Market.

The film, an adaptation of Jane Austen’s 1817 novel “Persuasion,” is directed by Alex Appel and Jonathan Lisecki from a script by Lisecki and Barbara Radecki. The film also stars Liza Lapira, Daniela Pineda, Shane McRae and Bebe Neuwirth.

“Modern Persuasion” centers on Witt’s character, a happily single and self-confessed workaholic who, after steadfastly rising to the top of the ladder in the New York corporate publicity world, finds herself coming home every night to her cat. When her firm is hired by a previous love, long-lost feelings are stirred.

Myriad Pictures president and CEO Kirk D’Amico said: “We loved Alex’s and Jonathan’s modern day take on the Jane Austen classic and are excited to begin selling this delightful and clever romantic comedy. Alicia Witt...

Tangerine Entertainment and Tortyfly Pictures produced.

Myriad Pictures has acquired worldwide rights to the rom-com Modern Persuasion starring Alicia Witt and will launch sales and screen the film at the Cannes virtual market next week.

Alex Appel and Jonathan Lisecki directed the Jane Austen adaptation from Tangerine Entertainment and Tortyfly Pictures, based on a screenplay by Lisecki (Gayby) and Barbara Radecki (Expecting).

Witt, stars with Shane McRae and Bebe Neuwirth in the contemporary tale about a New York workaholic whose firm is hired by an old flame.

Tangerine Entertainment, founded by Amy Hobby and Anne Hubbell, works exclusively with female-identifying...

(L-r from top: Matthew Barker, Lisa Hoppe, Jess Wheatley, Shane Walsh-Smith, Rebecca Ingram, Alica Gwinner, Tracy Richardson, Cate McQuillen)

Eight writers from regional Australia have been selected for the Write From Home Screenwriting Workshop, an eight-week online mentorship program delivered by the Australian International Screen Forum in New York in partnership with Screenworks.

Five of the writers come from regional Nsw: Cate McQuillen, Jess Wheatley, Rebecca Ingram and Tracy Richardson, all from the Northern Rivers, and Lisa Hoppe from the South Coast. Two writers are from regional Victoria, Alica Gwinner and Matthew Barker, and one writer hails from the Act, Shane Walsh-Smith.

Participants were selected on their demonstrated writing talent, the global appeal of each story and the potential to benefit from the development opportunities and Us connections.

Under the guidance of Us-based writers, producers and industry executives, the eight selected participants will now undertake the eight-week workshop to develop...

Filmmakers behind 43 projects will connect online with industry.

Projects from Bhutan, Cuba and the Philippines are among participants in Tribeca Film Institute’s inaugural virtual Tfi Network film market, set to run from April 27-May 1.

Filmmakers behind 43 projects will connect online with executives, financiers, producers, festival programmers and others in the industry in place of a physical event due to the coronavirus pandemic.

From April 21-23 Tfi staff will guide participants through online pitch training sessions and moderate virtual seminars where invited industry representatives will outline their organisations’ background and tell Tfi artists about possible funding support avenues and resources.

Tribeca Film Institute announced on Thursday the 43 projects that will participate in this year’s Tfi Network film market, to be held virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic.

A traditional Tfi Network three-day event would see emerging filmmakers and creators from across the globe coming together in New York City to embark on a day of pitch prep and industry roundtables, along with two days of individual meetings with professionals during the Tribeca Film Festival, which has also moved some of its programming online. This year, Tfi Network, presented by AT&T, will move online from April 27 through May 1. Prior to Tfi Network, filmmakers will attend “Prep Week” from April 21 through April 23, which includes online pitch training sessions with mentors. This year’s 43 winners include scripted projects, documentaries and interactive projects.

“Tfi remains dedicated to creating opportunities for independent artists without compromising their health or safety,” Tribeca Film Institute executive director...

Tribeca Film Institute and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation announced on Thursday the four winners of this year’s Tfi Sloan Filmmaker Fund, which will be awarded grants of $150,000 with mentorship.

The Fund, which champions fiction films and series that feature themes of science, math and technology, has selected “Mabel,” “The Mushroomers,” “Neon Tilapia” and “Tadpole” — all of which are currently in development.

“We’re excited to announce this group of projects which feature glowing genetically modified fish, a mycologist, and a high school student whose best friend is an intelligent potted plant,” Amy Hobby, executive director at Tribeca Film Institute said in a statement. “All four of these projects are in the development phase, and the Tfi Sloan Filmmaker Fund grant will give these teams the boost they need to propel their projects forward.”

The four films delve into our mysterious and curious natural world, with “Mabel,” directed by Nicholas Ma,...

Top (L-r): Amy Hobby, Anne Hubbell, Elizabeth Kaiden, Jamie Zelermyer, bottom row (L-r): Joey Tuccio, Krysane Katsoolis, Nitza Wilon, Timothy Cooper.

In a bid to strengthen international connections while the screen industry grapples with the impact of Covid-19, the New York-based Australian International Screen Forum and Screenworks have announced an online workshop that will connect regional screenwriters in Australia with NYC-based industry mentors.

The inaugural Write From Home (Wfh) Screenwriting Workshop will be an eight-week program held across June and July, specifically designed for people living in regional, rural and remote Australia who have film and television projects that would appeal to a global audience.

Among the mentors are Joey Tuccio, founder and CEO, Roadmap Writers; Nitza Wilon and Elizabeth Kaiden, co-founders, of The Writers Lab; Anne Hubbell, vice president of motion picture, Kodak and founder, Tangerine Entertainment; Amy Hobby, executive director of the Tribeca Film Institute and founder Tangerine Entertainment; Timothy Cooper,...

Tribeca Film Institute announced this year’s winners of their Tribeca All Access grantees program which provides fourteen documentary and scripted filmmaking production teams with $10,000 grants to help with their business needs.

Now on its 17th year, the winners usually attend the Institute’s Tfi Network, taking place during the Tribeca Film Festival, but event has been postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak. This year, the winning directors hail from eight countries and 13 of the 14 films are directed and/or produced by women.

“We’re thrilled to carry on the legacy of Tribeca All Access with this group of directors, producers, and writers,” said Amy Hobby, Executive Director at Tribeca Film Institute. “These creators are developing projects that are gripping, distinctive, and timely.”

Among the seven winning scripted grantees are the team for “Burning Well,” which follows a genderqueer model and influencer stricken by their father’s car accident who...

Tribeca Film Institute announced the winners of their 2019 Tfi Pond5 program funding aspiring filmmakers.

Eight applicants, narrowed down from a pool of 200, were awarded with up to $7,500 in funding for their filmmaking endeavors. The program, in junction with media company Pond5, began the initiative last year to support indie filmmakers in “systematically-excluded communities.”

“These filmmakers are telling timely stories through their unique perspectives using both documentary, scripted, and interactive formats,” Amy Hobby, Tribeca Film Institute’s executive director, said in a statement. “The Tfi Pond5 Program allows us to continue to support filmmakers that we believe so strongly in. We’re excited to fund this group of emerging creators.”

Recipients will be able to use funding for everything from music licensing and hiring crew members to attending workshops and mentorship sessions. This year, 50% of grantees are women.

Winners include writer, director and producer Jorge Thielen-Armand for his feature “La Cercanía” about...

The fifth annual Through Her Lens: The Tribeca Chanel Women’s Filmmaker Project will kick off in November to support five pairs of female filmmakers with a three-day immersive program headed by industry professionals.

The 10 women will work with master class advisors like Sarah Jessica Parker and producer Alison Benson (“Divorce”) along with mentors such as producer Anne Carey (“Can You Ever Forgive Me”), director/producer Lesli Linka Glatter and Catherine Keener. Writing mentors will include Semi Chellas and Olivia Milch (“Ocean’s 8”). Judges will include producer Dede Gardner (“Moonlight”) and Diane Kruger.

Each pair of contestants will work on their short narrative films with industry professionals. As part of the program, duos will also receive personal mentorship and master classes on music composition, costume design, producing, casting and directing, working with filmmaking professionals to shape their projects. At the finale of Through Her Lens, films will be presented to the group of five jurors,...

Projects from Caribbean, Asia, UK vie for $25,000 first prize.

Tribeca Film Institute (Tfi), Verizon Media-owned Ryot Films, and International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (Idfa) have selected six finallists to pitch their climate change-focused short documentaries at Idfa 2019.

Each team will have seven minutes to present their project to an international jury and one winning project will receive a production grant of $25,000 from Ryot Films and year-round mentorship and career development through Tfi’s If/Then Shorts Program. A second project will get an honourable mention prize of $1,000.

Each of the six projects explores how people and communities have been...

Projects from Caribbean, Asia, UK vie for $25,000 first prize.

Tribeca Film Institute (Tfi), Verizon Media-owned Ryot Films, and International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (Idfa) have selected six finallists to pitch their climate change-focused short documentaries at Idfa 2019.

Each team will have seven minutes to present their project to an international jury and one winning project will receive a production grant of $25,000 from Ryot Films and year-round mentorship and career development through Tfi’s If/Then Shorts Program. A second project will get an honourable mention prize of $1,000.

Each of the six projects explores how people and communities have been...

Martin Scorsese to receive a Doc NYC Lifetime Achievement Award Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

At the fifth annual Doc NYC Visionaries Tribute Awards event on November 7, Martin Scorsese, whose latest film The Irishman will open on November 1 in the Us and his Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story will have a special screening during the festival, will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award. Michael Apted joins Scorsese in that honour and his 63 Up will also be shown.

Doc NYC 2019 is dedicated to the memory of Da Pennebaker Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Last year’s Lifetime Achievement Award winners were Wim Wenders and Orlando Bagwell.

The 2019 Visionaries host committee include Jon Alpert, Joe Berlinger, Amy Berg, Kate Davis, Marshall Curry, Heidi Ewing, Liz Garbus, Alex Gibney, Rachel Grady, Chris Hegedus, Amy Hobby, Barbara Kopple, Frazer Pennebaker, and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi.

Andrew Rossi and Barbara Kopple honoured Da Pennebaker with personal remembrances earlier this...

College students and recent alumni in New York can apply to the 4th annual PitchNY program, an effort to help young, diverse directors, producers and writers fine-tune their pitching skills, as well as to connect them with entertainment industry professionals who will serve as mentors.

On Thursday, Tribeca Film Institute, The New York State Governor’s Office of Motion Picture and Television Development and NBCUniversal announced that applications for PitchNY are now open. This is the first time that the three organizations will be partnering for the event.

“We’re thrilled to work with the Governor’s Office and NBCUniversal for the fourth edition of this program,” said Amy Hobby, Executive Director at Tribeca Film Institute in a statement. “PitchNY engages emerging voices based in our home state and provides them with the tools they need to thrive as advocates for their content, which will ultimately help them launch and sustain...

Tribeca Film Institute (Tfi) and Pond5 have once again teamed up to offer microgrants to indie filmmakers and artists.

The grants, which go as high as $7,500, are intended to help storytellers during “in-between” phases of their projects, such as research, festival travel or community screenings. They’re the kind of unexpected costs that can lead to financial heartache for artists who are already tight on cash.

“These filmmakers shouldn’t be putting stuff on their personal credit cards and in many cases they simply can’t,” said Amy Hobby, executive director of Tribeca Film Institute. “We want to help with the things that don’t often make it into an independent film budget.”

Seven projects were selected for the awards from a pool of more than 200 applicants. Artists being honored are Erika Cohn and Angela Tucker (“Belly of the Beast”); Zoe Miranda (“Blue Hour”); Matt Fifer, Kieran Mulcare, Ramfis Myrthil...

F/Then pitch competition takes place in Amsterdam on November 26.

Tribeca Film Institute (Tfi), Verizon Media-owned Ryot Films, and International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (Idfa) are collaborating for the first time and have announced a short film pitch initiative to tell stories about climate change.

The partners have invited global storytellers to apply for an opportunity to participate in the If/Then Shorts pitch event set to take place in Amsterdam on November 26 during Idfa 2019, which runs from November 20-December 1.

The pitch calls for original stand-alone short documentaries ranging from 10 to 20 minutes that explore climate change through the lens...

The winners of the 16th edition of Armenia's biggest festival include Beanpole, Horizon and Midnight Traveler, while Carlos Reygadas was honoured with the Parajanov's Thaler Award. The 16th Golden Apricot International Film Festival (8-14 July) wrapped with a closing ceremony that saw Richard Billingham's slow-burning festival hit Ray & Liz pick up the main award, the Golden Apricot for Best Feature Film. The jury, presided over by veteran Russian filmmaker Aleksandr Mindadze (who was himself honoured with the "Let There Be Light" Prize of the Armenian Apostolic Church), and comprising Swiss director Nicolas Wadimoff, Iranian filmmaker and head of Tehran's Fajr International Film Festival Reza Mirkarimi, Tribeca executive producer Amy Hobby, Venice Film Festival programmer Paolo Bertolin, British producer Elizabeth Karlsen, and French actress and director of Georgian descent Nino Kirtadze, gave the trophy for second place, the Silver Apricot Award, to the Russian historical drama Beanpole, which previously garnered.

”We are gravely concerned for his health and fear for his life.”

More than 450 film professionals have signed a letter supporting Myanmar filmmaker and festival director Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi, who was detained earlier this month in what Amnesty International called a “politically motivated” arrest.

The International Film Festival Rotterdam (Iffr) and the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (Idfa) have released a letter calling for his release on humanitarian grounds, as he was recently treated for liver cancer. The letter is co-signed by Idfa and Iffr chiefs Orwa Nyrabia and Bero Beyer.

Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi was arrested...

The Tribeca Film Institute and Alfred P. Sloan Foundation have announced the three Tfi Sloan Filmmaker Fund 2019 grantees, awarding them a total of $150,000.

The creators behind “Asia A,” “Bolichicos,” and “Wiring Utopia” have been chosen as the new grant winners.

“The 2019 slate of Tfi Sloan grantee teams represents our most international year yet,” said Tfi executive director Amy Hobby. “Each project deeply impacted the jury with fresh points of view, sense of timeliness, accessibility to wide audiences, and of course, their incorporation of compelling science, economics, and technology.”

From filmmaker Andrew Reid, “Asia A” portrays a college basketball player who suffers from a spinal cord injury, and must either accept his life as a paraplegic or hold out hope for a recovery. Venezuelan writer-director Juan Avella and Mexican producer Diego Nájera created “Bolichicos,” a film inspired by the true story of a 20-year-old in Venezuela who carries out a million-dollar currency exchange scam.

The Tribeca Film Institute has announced the 14 films to be honored with grants at the 16th annual Tribeca All Access program, which amplifies stories from underrepresented voices.

Seven films and seven documentaries will earn grants from the program to aid their productions, many of them having not received previous funding. The filmmakers will attend the Tfi Network event during the Tribeca Film Festival to meet distributors, funders, programmers and mentors in the film industry.

Several Taa projects have gone on to premiere at the film festival, like “The Short History of the Long Road,” “Stray Dolls” and “The NFL’s Cheerleader Program.” Since 2004, the Taa has supported filmmakers like Roger Ross Williams, RaMell Ross, Natalia Almada, Pacho Velez and Tchaiko Omawale.

“I am thrilled to be welcoming these filmmakers into the Tfi family, and into a larger community of their peers during the three days of the Tfi Network,” said Amy Hobby,...

Filmmakers to attend Tfi Network during Tribeca Film Festival.

Tribeca Film Institute (Tfi) announced on Thursday (21) the selection of 14 scripted and documentary projects for the 16th annual Tribeca All Access (Taa) programme designed to champion under-represented voices.

Taa provides financial support in the form of grants and a range of mentorship for storytellers who “create groundbreaking projects that bring marginalized voices with vital stories to tell, to a mainstream audience.”

The next step for the selected filmmakers will be the Tfi Network, the filmmaker / industry market that takes place during the Tribeca Film Festival and provides an opportunity to meet experts including distributors,...

Six inaugural grantees unveiled.

The Tribeca Film Institute (Tfi) and Pond5 are launching a filmmaking fund to support sustainable careers for filmmakers and have announced the first six grantees.

The programme is funded by tax-deductable donations and artists will be able to apply for micro-grants three times a year. Pond5, which describes itself as the world’s largest stock video marketplace, will match donations.

The grants will address the needs of artists who lack resources during what the partners called “in-between” phases, including research, creative collaboration, festival travel, content, community screenings, outside-the-box mentorship, and extra release support.

Tfi executive director Amy Hobby,...

Exclusive: Tribeca Film Institute, Gucci and the Oath Foundation today announced the 2018 grant recipients for the Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund.

Six feature-length films that explore social issues, especially those affecting women and girls, will receive a total of $150,000.

The program, funded by Gucci with additional support from Oath Foundation, provides production and finishing finances, along with year-round support and guidance from Tfi.

In a decade of operation, the fund has supported 85 films, providing more than $1.4 million in grants. This year, the supported projects spotlight a range of diverse issues including: the resolve of three female political candidates who are challenging powerful incumbents in Congress; the U.S. opioid crisis; the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico; an unlikely alliance formed during a religious war; and the story of three women officers who are fighting to transform and restore a community’s trust in the police department.

The grantees were...

‘The role of the artist has never been more important.’

Tribeca Film Institute (Tfi) on Friday (9) said it had hired Monika Navarro as senior director of programmes.

Navarro arrives from Itvs, where she managed various content and funding initiatives, oversaw a development portfolio, and acted as consulting producer on a range of projects including SXSW 2018 entry Las Sandinistas.

In her new role she will oversee all of Tfi’s programming including its documentary, scripted, education, and interactive initiatives.

“We are very excited to have Monika join our Tfi team,” said Amy Hobby, Tfi executive director. “She exemplifies a new strategic...

The fourth annual Through Her Lens: The Tribeca Chanel Women’s Filmmaker Program has has selected five short film projects from women storytellers to receive project support and take part in one-on-one mentorship and master classes over a three day immersive program October 16-18.

Presented by Tribeca and Chanel, in collaboration with Pulse Films, and facilitated by Tribeca Film Institute, the program this year includes such mentors as Kathryn Bigelow, Courteney Cox, Christine Vachon and Veena Sud, and jurors including Lena Dunham, Effie T. Brown and Paula Weinstein.

The three-day program provides mentorship, project support and master classes for emerging female filmmakers, and awards $100,000 in filmmaker grants.

“In the years since Tribeca launched Through Her Lens with Chanel, the program has created invaluable opportunities for the next generation of women storytellers,” said Weinstein, Evp of Tribeca Enterprises. “The program brings established women filmmakers together to mentor these emerging voices, provide hands-on guidance and feedback,...

Top honors at the 17th annual Tribeca Film Festival have gone to Diane for the Founders Award for Best U.S. Narrative Feature, Smuggling Hendrix for Best International Narrative Feature, and Island of the Hungry Ghosts for Best Documentary Feature. On the acting side, Alia Shawkat won Best Actress in a U.S. Narrative Feature Film for Miguel Arteta’s Duck Butter, and Jeffrey Wright took the Best Actor honor for O.G.

First-time narrative director and writer Kent Jones (who is also the executive director of the New York Film Festival) won two prizes at Tribeca for Diane, and the film starring Mary Kay Place won three. Estelle Parsons, Andrea Martin, Deirdre O’Connell and Jake Lacy co-star in the film, about a widowed, altruistic seventysomething woman whose life is dictated by the needs of others, and who finds herself forced to look at her own identity.

Screenings of...

The discussion, over tequila at a Las Vegas casino, started with a simple question: How could At&T — a company primarily known for its phone services — make a real difference with diverse filmmakers struggling to get their stories told? At&T’s Chief Brand Officer Fiona Carter posed the question to Jane Rosenthal, co-founder of the Tribeca Film Festival, as the company was looking to get further involved in the push for more inclusive big screen stories, but was not simply looking to fund another lab or grant program.

“It was a million dollar question that came with a million dollar answer,” said Carter. The result of the conversation was the two organizations, At&T and Tribeca Film Festival, teaming up on Untold Stories, a “Shark Tank”-like competition in which the winning filmmaker wins a $1 million. The caveat: the winner had to premiere the film 12 months later at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Filmmakers to show footage from six projects.

Tribeca Film Institute (Tfi) announced on Friday (April 13) the launch of its first Works In Progress programme, which aims to connect traditionally underrepresented filmmakers with industry professionals.

On April 21 at Cinepolis Chelsea, six selected fiction and documentary feature projects will showcase up to 20 minutes of excerpts from their works, most of which are in the post-production phase.

Fiction projects selected for the programme are: Crystal Swan directed by Darya Zhuk and co-written by Zhuk and Helga Landauer Olshvang; Jezebel written and directed by Numa Perrier; and Stranger’s Arms directed by Emma Westenberg and written by Valerie Kamen.

For the second consecutive year, At&T in partnership with the Tribeca Film Festival and the Tribeca Film Institute have awarded an aspiring filmmaker $1 million to turn their dream project into a movie.

Director-writer Sasie Sealy and co-writer Angela Cheng garnered the cash prize on Tuesday for their project called “Lucky Grandma,” about an ornery, chain-smoking Chinese grandmother with a small-time gambling habit.

The program, titled “At&T Presents: Untold Stories,” is aimed at discovering scripted film projects from women and minorities–groups that historically have not been well represented in Hollywood.

“This is a great opportunity for filmmakers,” said Tribeca Film Festival co-founder Robert De Niro at the celebratory lunch held at Tribeca’s Thalassa Restaurant. The actor said that while he isn’t sure if programs like “Untold Stories” will change the entertainment industry in terms of who gets to tell stories, he does think that it will “help move things forward.

Little Leper earns honourable mention.

Tribeca Film Institute announced on Wednesday (March 28) that Jeremy Palmer’s The Valley Of Dry Bones will receive the 2018 Sloan Student Grand Jury Prize for screenwriting.

The film tells the story of Canadian Nobel Prize winner Dr Frederick Banting and his role in discovering insulin and its potential to treat diabetes.

Palmer will receive $30,000 in prize money, in addition to an industry mentor and a science mentor to support the film’s development.

Greg Wayne’s film Little Leper earned an honourable mention and follows a young woman who leaves her leper colony in search of treatment.

Main prize goes to Estonian Marianna Kaat’s The Last Relic.

Projects from the UK, Belarus and Ukraine are among the winners at this year’s East Doc Platform (Edp), the largest co-production, funding and distribution platform specialised in Central and East European documentaries.

London-based filmmaker Zoe Aiano’s short Blackandwhite, about a nurse during the Second World War in Czechoslovakia, was the winner of a new short-form documentary pitching competition developed with the Tribeca Film Institute’s If/Then initiative and the One World International Human Rights Film Festival.

Aiano’s 15-minute short received up to $20,000 in production support...