Since submission of a film constitutes acceptance of these Entry Rules & Regulations (by you and your agents), please review this document carefully.
Please see our full Entry Rules & Regulations: https://d13jj08vfqimqg.cloudfront.net/uploads/document/document/1916/2026_Tribeca_Festival_Rules_and_Regulations_v5.pdf
SUBMISSION CATEGORIES - TRIBECA FESTIVAL:
Selected projects from all categories will be presented to the public at the 24th Annual Tribeca Festival currently scheduled to take place on June 4 – June 15, 2025 (“TF25”). Since submission of a project constitutes acceptance of these Entry Rules & Regulations (by you and your agents), please review this document carefully. Submitted projects must not:
• have screened or exhibited publicly in the New York region*
• have had ANY public screening, broadcast, distribution, or exhibition before January 1, 2025.**
*Not applicable to Tribeca X, NOW, or Shorts
**Not applicable to Tribeca Games submissions.
FEATURES AND SHORT FILMS
Tribeca showcases short and feature films from emerging talent and established filmmakers with distinct voices and bold new ideas. Films invited to participate in the 2026 Tribeca Festival will be shown in the section determined most appropriate by Festival programmers, in their sole discretion.
Eligible projects include:
Feature films (runtime > 40 minutes) including documentaries, narratives, animation, experimental films, and music videos.
Short films (runtime < 40 minutes) including documentaries, narratives, animation, experimental films, and music videos.
TRIBECA NOW
Tribeca NOW (New Online Work) honors innovative digital storytellers and content creators who share their stories and connect directly with fans across multiple platforms. We celebrate creators with unique voices, strong audience engagement, and the ability to tell compelling stories from all walks of life and perspectives.
Tribeca NOW showcases emerging digital talent across social media, streaming platforms, and innovative content formats. Selected creators will be featured in the Tribeca NOW section and automatically considered for the Tribeca Creators Market, where they can pitch new projects to industry professionals, including distributors, producers, networks, and funders.
Eligible projects include: Submissions are open to all content creators and multi-platform storytellers who post to one or more social media platforms. (TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, etc.)
TRIBECA TV
Tribeca TV is the Festival’s section for long and short form episodic work of both narrative and documentary genres. Tribeca TV is a platform that discovers, highlights, and celebrates both studio/network/streamer-produced series premieres, as well as independent episodic work, including short and long form pilots/series.
Additional to consideration as an Official Selection of TF26, filmmakers submitting independently created (non-network/studio/streamer produced) series/pilots to Tribeca TV will also be considered for the Tribeca Creators Market, a private industry market held during TF26 that brings together emerging feature film, episodic, audio and online storytellers to pitch new projects to and network with a wide range of industry members, including distributors, producers, networks, funders, and more. Interested participants must have prepared pitch materials (i.e. scripts, look books, etc.) in advance of the event for Market staff to review. All creators of independently created episodic projects chosen as Official Selections of the Tribeca TV section will receive an automatic invitation to the Tribeca Creators Market.
Eligible projects include:
Studio/Network/Streamer-produced series, pilots and/or episodes that have yet to air in the US. Series may be in their debut or succeeding seasons.
Independently created projects include episodic series created for potential broadcast television and/or streaming, and web series. Independently created submitted pilots must show the potential for serial growth; standalone short films will not be considered.
Each project must be individually submitted and accompanied by its own completed online entry form; please do not send links to multiple project entries in your online entry form, as any or all of them may be disqualified. You may submit multiple episodes of the same series within the same submission
TRIBECA GAMES
Tribeca will feature video game projects throughout TF26 to highlight this important medium as a form of storytelling, art, and innovation. Story is defined in the broadest sense, including narrative, world building, and/or artistic excellence. Cross-medium projects and unique use of technology that challenge our current understanding of games are embraced. Submissions will be considered for the Tribeca Games section and, if selected, will be considered Official Selections and will be featured during TF26.
Project creators will also be considered for the Tribeca Creators Market, a first-of-its-kind, private industry market that brings together leading online and immersive storytellers to pitch new projects to a wide range of industry members, including distributors, agencies, funders, and more.
Eligible projects include but are not limited to: all U.S. and internationally produced games that are created for web, console, virtual reality, augmented reality, and mobile games. Tabletop games are not accepted at this time.
TRIBECA PODCASTS
Live Events
The Tribeca Festival’s live events foster community and honor contributions to the world of podcasts. Apart from the live events associated with our Official Selections Program, the podcasts showcased in our live events lineup are by invitation only.
The Showcase List
Discoverability for podcasts has been at the heart of our mission at Tribeca and we want to create opportunities for more creators. This year we are introducing a new category of our Podcast Program that is separate from our Official Selections. This category does not require world premiere status.
Tribeca Podcasts’ Showcase List is for works that have premiered between February 1st, 2025 to March 1st, 2026. Projects that are invited to showcase will NOT receive Official Selection status or Laurels; however, selected creators will be invited to discuss their work on the Tribeca stage, share a sample of their project for our Tribeca audiences, and appear on the 2026 Showcase List on our website’s Podcast page. It is a discoverability aid for exceptional recently premiered independent work.
The sample of the project that will be showcased at Tribeca should be no more than 3 minutes. While these projects do not need to have visuals accompanying their audio in order to submit, it is strongly encouraged. For independent creators who do not have the resources to create accompanying video, we can help you. Accompanying video must have closed captioning for accessibility.
This showcase is meant to get people interested in a project from the beginning and to discover something under the radar that they may have missed. It is NOT a “Best Of 2026” competition. Projects submitted must have been premiered between February 1st, 2025 to March 1st, 2026. All of the requirements listed below in the Official Selection program also apply to this category other than premiere status and the eligibility of works in progress.
Official Selection Premieres
The Tribeca Festival will curate Official Selections of narrative podcasts (in audio and in audio-visual form). We define narrative podcasting as podcasts with a story-structure. This includes but is not limited to documentary, memoir, nonfiction, fiction, a story-based walking tour, a sound-rich audiobook, etc.
The emphasis of the Podcast Program is discovering, highlighting, and celebrating independent work. Projects selected for the 2026 Tribeca Festival will be reviewed by a diverse jury of storytellers. Each selection will receive Tribeca Festival Laurels and will be eligible to win a Tribeca Festival Award. Creators from our Official Selection will have the opportunity to discuss their work at a live event that will also showcase a sample of their work to our Tribeca audiences.
Independent creators who submit to our Podcast Program will also be considered for the Tribeca Creators Market, a first-of-its-kind, daylong, private industry market that brings together leading storytellers to pitch new projects to a wide range of industry decision-makers, including distributors, community groups, agencies, brands, and more.
In an effort to make opportunities for creators with all levels of budget and resources at their disposal, you will also be asked to provide a rough estimate of the production budget of the specific material submitted. There will be a place for all projects!
Eligible Audio Projects
The first episode of any narrative podcast (3 minutes - 75 minutes in length).
A stand-alone audio-only podcast (3 minutes - 75 minutes in length).
The first chapter of a sound-rich audiobook or audio-only audiobook (3 min - 75 min in length).
The first episode of a narrative audio-visual podcast (3 min - 75 min in length).
All projects can be audio-only or audio-visual.
TRIBECA X AWARD
The Tribeca X Awards recognize excellence in storytelling supported by a brand. The Tribeca X Awarda are open to all work premiered after January 1, 2025, created with support of a brand in collaboration with artists, creators, or filmmakers. The competition awards best-in-class projects in multiple categories as determined by a panel of industry jurors. Finalists will be recognized by the Festival, and a jury will award the winning selection at the Festival.
For the 2026 Tribeca X Awards, winners will be recognized in the following categories and special juried awards:
Feature documentary and narrative films > 40 mins
Short documentary and narrative films < 40 mins
Episodic projects for TV, streaming, web, or brand-owned channels
Commercial traditional :30 and :60 commercial spots (run time can vary)
Content Creator/Influencer social media creator content
Audio podcasts and audio stories
Tribeca X will continue two special juried awards, which will recognize projects across all Tribeca X categories:
Tribeca X Social Impact Award
Recognizing a project which best uses the unique power of storytelling to inspire change and shine a light on today’s most vital social issues
Tribeca X Environmental Impact Award
Recognizing a project which best tackles today's most pressing environmental issues through the lens of storytelling.
Eligible projects include: all U.S and international scripted and unscripted, animation, documentary, and original work for film, TV, commercials, movie trailers, social media, digital video sharing platforms, podcasts, video games, and XR projects, in varying lengths. Projects must have been produced in collaboration with or with support or funding by a brand. Projects must have a storytelling element.
Eligibility Details for Creator/Influencer Collaboration
Celebrating storytelling by a brand through, alongside, or featuring an influential content creator(s). The storytelling could be short-form as in a single post, or longer, like a livestream or a series of related posts spanning many months (that fall within the eligibility period).
WORKS IN PROGRESS
Tribeca Creators Market features a highly curated selection of 40 creators pitching new feature, episodic, and audio projects to an array of companies and influential industry leaders. A pillar of Tribeca’s commitment to supporting storytellers in all stages of their careers, the Creators Market puts a strong emphasis on diversity and forms of storytelling, providing industry with a group of fresh and provocative voices.
The Creators Market kicks off with a Works in Progress showcase, offering a group of 8-10 Creators Market storytellers whose projects are in post-production the opportunity to present a ‘sneak-peek’ of their forthcoming feature or episodic project to an audience of accredited industry professionals. Submitters to the Works in Progress event who are selected for the showcase will have the additional opportunity to participate in the Market’s two days of one-on-one meetings (in person and online) with industry representatives.
Eligible projects include: A Feature Project (Fiction or Documentary) or an Episodic Project (Fiction or Documentary), currently in the post-production stage. To submit to Tribeca Works in Progress, a project must NOT have been showcased at a prior festival or Works in Progress.
Other application requirements:
LOI (Letter of Intent / Interest) or one-sheet – describing the scope, vision & intent of the current Feature (fiction or documentary) or Episodic (fiction or documentary)
Must be 1 page long and include:
A logline, a brief synopsis, and a current / projected timeline of the team’s vision for the festival/exhibition circuit.
Sample Footage
FOR FEATURE PROJECTS: no more than 20 minutes in length. (Applicants that submit a longer sample will have to eventually submit a shorter 20-minute sample, in order to be considered for the Works In Progress.)
FOR EPISODIC PROJECTS: 1 full-length episode of the episodic project/series. The submitted samples can be comprised of consecutive scenes and sequences, or stand-alone scene selects.
Sample must be as representative as possible of the final version of the feature film or episodic/series. Please only submit one link containing your 20-minute sample (for feature projects) or your 1 episode (for episodic projects).
Questions regarding submissions may be directed to entries@tribecafilm.com
