STUDENT SHORT DIRECTORS: Submit via tribecafilm.com for a discount.

A platform for independent filmmaking, creative expression and immersive entertainment, Tribeca supports emerging and established voices, discovers award-winning filmmakers, curates innovative and interactive experiences, and introduces new technology and ideas through panels, premieres, exhibitions, and live performance.

Please read our rules & regulations carefully before applying

Please see our FAQ for more information: FAQ

Awards & Prizes

AWARDS
• In 2019, cash awards totaled $165,000, in addition to over $91,500 in artwork. Awards for the TFF20 may be modified.
• Unless otherwise agreed by the Festival in writing, awards will be given to the winning film director (as identified in the Festival Information Form) on behalf of the film (except for Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Editing) and will be fulfilled approximately 12-16 weeks after the closing date of the TFF20.
• Award eligibility is subject to any restrictions or conditions imposed by applicable laws and regulations (international, federal, state or otherwise), and the award recipient is responsible for all applicable taxes, customs, tariffs, insurance and similar charges or costs (if any).
• By invitation, Features by first time directors having their World Premieres at TFF20 (except those only shown in the “Gala” section or as a “Special Screening” or “Special Event”) are eligible for the Best New Documentary Award or Best New Narrative Award. The Festival in its sole discretion may also consider North American or International Premieres for the Best New Narrative or Best New Documentary Awards.
• All new Features (except those only shown in the “Gala”, "Tribeca Talks" or “Retrospectives”) are eligible for the “Audience Award,” regardless of section.
• By invitation, Features written and/or directed by women having at least their North American Premieres at TFF20 (except those only shown in the “Gala”, "Tribeca Talks" or “Retrospectives”) are eligible for the Nora Ephron Award.
• All selected projects that are actually exhibited as part of the Tribeca Storyscapes program during the TFF20 are eligible for any award(s) that may be given in connection with the Tribeca Storyscapes program at TFF20 (awards are not guaranteed and are determined from year to year in the Festival’s sole discretion).

*The above listed awards are from the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival and are subject to change for TFF20 by the Festival in its sole discretion.

Rules & Terms

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

SUBMISSION CATEGORIES
Selected projects from all categories will be presented to the public at the 19th Annual Tribeca Film Festival (the “TFF20”). 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 publicly in the New York region*
• be available online in the US prior to TFF20*
• have had ANY public screening, broadcast, distribution or exhibition before January 1, 2019.
*Not applicable to Tribeca X Award submissions.

Feature and Short Films:
A platform for independent filmmaking, creative expression and immersive entertainment, Tribeca Film Festival (the “Festival”) supports emerging and established voices, discovers award-winning filmmakers, curates innovative and interactive experiences, and introduces new technology and ideas through panels, premieres, exhibitions, and live performance.

Eligible projects include feature films (runtime ≥ 40 minutes) and short films (runtime < 40 minutes); including documentaries, narratives, animation, and experimental films.

Tribeca New Online Work (N.O.W.):
Tribeca N.O.W. is a platform that discovers, highlights, and celebrates New Online Work from storytellers who choose to create and share their work specifically for the online space. Project creators will also be considered for the New Online Work Creators Market, a first-of-its-kind, daylong, private industry market that brings together leading online and immersive storytellers to pitch new projects to a wide range of industry, including distributors, agencies, brands, and more.

Eligible projects include web series; shorts specifically created for the online space; and other episodic content meant for online viewing. Each episode submitted must be 20 minutes or less in length.

Tribeca Immersive:
Tribeca exhibits immersive projects throughout the festival to showcase new forms and uses of media, highlighting innovation across a variety of platforms. These may range from virtual reality projects to cross-platform films, 360 films, websites, multi-media installations, games and apps.
Submissions will be considered for the Tribeca Storyscapes section, the Virtual Arcade (for mobile and room-scale VR and/or XR projects), and Cinema360 (for mobile VR/360 projects). Project creators will also be considered for the New Online Works Creators Market, a first-of-its-kind, daylong, private industry market that brings together leading online and immersive storytellers to pitch new projects to a wide range of industry, including distributors, agencies, brands, and more.

Eligible projects include but are not limited to virtual reality projects, 360 films, augmented reality projects, web projects, mobile apps, games, multi-media installations and multi-platform works, but in any event, projects must have some sort of interactive element. Linear or 2D films will not be accepted.

Tribeca TV
Our TV programming features a combination of premieres and special events, including new series and season premieres, sneak peeks and finales, each paired with dynamic conversations with some of the most prolific and creative directors, producers, writers and actors in television. Since 2016, Tribeca has also highlighted the work of independently produced TV projects through our Pilots Season program. Selected projects will be presented to the public at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival.

Eligible projects include episodic projects created for broadcast television and/or streaming. Submitted pilots must show the potential for serial growth; standalone short films will not be considered.

Tribeca X Award
The Tribeca X Award is a juried award for storytelling supported by a brand recognizing the intersection of advertising and entertainment. The Tribeca X Award is open to all work funded with support of a brand in collaboration with artists or filmmakers. The finalists will be recognized by the Tribeca Film Festival, and a jury will award the winning selection at the Festival.

Eligible projects include scripted and documentary work for film, TV, digital, social, and VR/AR, in both feature or short length. Submitted projects must have a storytelling element; projects that are strictly intended as commercial spots will not be considered.

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS AND ENTRY FEE NOTES
The Festival requires that all projects be submitted via a password-protected streaming URL link. For Tribeca Immersive and any VR/AR projects, the Festival requires a downloadable link. Please prepare this link in advance of beginning your online project entry form. Links must remain active and accessible through April 26, 2020.

Submission Note: Submissions may be in work-in-progress form; however, projects that are not final cuts must be clearly marked Work in Progress (“WIP”) or Rough Cut with an indication of what will change or what is missing (e.g., temp sound, Avid output, missing animation, etc.) either indicated in the project cut itself or within the copy display in the streaming link. As long as the streaming link remains the same and password does not change you may update the link with newer cuts as they are available up until the last applicable entry deadline noted above. In the unlikely event of a password change or link change you must email the Festival immediately with that change so we may update your record. If the Festival is not notified of the change and the link is found to be inactive or the password to be incorrect the Festival will send an email to the submitter’s address on file to follow up. If a response with the correct information is not received within forty-eight (48) hours, the submission may be deemed ineligible.

Entry Fee Note: Entry fees are in U.S. Dollars, are per project and are non-refundable. The Festival reserves the right to disqualify a submission, without refund of any kind, if eligibility requirements are not met including if eligibility status changes post-submission.

Students: Student SHORT FILMS ONLY may submit at a discounted rate of $25 per submission via the Tribeca Extranet (https://extranet.tribecafilm.com/submissions). Students will need to provide a scanned copy of a current and valid student ID card or a letter from an accredited school verifying the entrant’s enrollment. A PDF or JPG file of this scan must be submitted through Festival's online entry form at the time of submitting the film in order to qualify. Students who submit to the other categories MUST pay the applicable entry fee(s).

ELIGIBILITY

To be eligible for consideration:

ALL CATEGORIES:
(1) You must fully comply with these Entry Rules & Regulations, including all deadlines, project length, entry material, and other requirements.
(2) Non-English language projects must have English subtitles at the time submitted. Dialogue lists will not be accepted.
(3) The project MUST maintain at minimum a “New York Regional” premiere status prior to TFF20 (“Premiere”; see criteria in charts, below) (excluding Tribeca X Award submissions)

• “NY Regional” means the tri-state area including the five boroughs of New York City, the surrounding New York metropolitan area (e.g. Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, Rockland, Orange, Ulster and Columbia counties), southwestern Connecticut (e.g. Fairfield, New Haven and Litchfield counties) and northern New Jersey (e.g. Bergen, Passaic, Middlesex, Monmouth, Essex and Hudson counties)
(4) Both prior to and throughout the TFF20 (except as otherwise expressly noted below), the project must meet the following criteria (see applicable chart on page 3)
TRIBECA N.O.W. ONLY:
(1) The project must be standalone audio-visual short form and/or episodic content created specifically for the online space.
(2) All submitted episodes must be 20 minutes or less in length.
TRIBECA TV ONLY:
(1) Submitted pilot episodes must show the potential for serial growth and will be asked to provide episode descriptions of at least two additional episodes.
TRIBECA IMMERSIVE ONLY:
(1) All submissions must maintain at a New York Premiere status; but that the Festival may, in its sole discretion, select online web projects that launch after January 1, 2019 .
(2) Any work submitted as a “work-in-progress” must be completed prior to the start of the TFF20.
TRIBECA X AWARD ONLY:
(1) The project must have been made with the support of a brand in collaboration with artists or filmmakers.
(2) Projects must have a storytelling element; projects that are strictly intended as commercial spots will not be considered.

Eligiblity Note: If at any point following its initial consideration, the Festival determines that a submission no longer meets all of the eligibility criteria described above, such submission will be deemed ineligible.

ENTRY MATERIALS

All entries must include the following:

(1) An official TFF20 online entry form, properly completed.
(2) A private and/or password protected streaming link of the project.
a. If submitting a TRIBECA IMMERSIVE project: A Steam key, or a download link to your 360 video file, app download package, or other file. We prefer downloadable links to streaming links for optimal viewing.
b. If you have an app that requires login for beta testing or any other form of media that is not easily shareable via link, you must email entries@tribecafilmfestival.org prior to submitting your online application so we may consider whether the work would be eligible, and if so, the best method for evaluating the work.
(3) As applicable, the entry fee(s) for the project submission (see the “Entry Fees” section abo…