Submissions FAQ

APPLICATION

How do I submit my project?

You are welcome to submit either through the Tribeca Extranet or through FilmFreeway. Please note that the reduced rate of $30 USD for student short film submissions is only available for submissions made on the Extranet platform, and not on FilmFreeway. Additionally, submissions to Tribeca Games and Tribeca Audio Storytelling can only be made on the Extranet, not on FilmFreeway.

Please be sure to carefully review our Rules and Regulations prior to submitting.

CATEGORIES

Features and Shorts

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. Feature films invited to participate in the 22nd Annual Tribeca Festival will be shown in the section determined most appropriate by Festival programmers, in their sole discretion.

Short films should be under 40 minutes (39:59 total run time), and feature films should be 40 minutes or more.

Sections for Feature Films:

US Narrative Competition – Open to feature narrative films produced in the US having a World “Premiere” at the Festival.

• Eligible for the Awards: Best Narrative Feature, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Performance.

International Narrative Competition – Open to feature narrative films produced outside the US having at least a North American “Premiere” at the Festival.

• Eligible for the Awards: Best Narrative Feature, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Performance.

Documentary Competition – Open to features from all regions but must be a World “Premiere” at the festival.

• Eligible for the awards: Best Documentary Feature, Best Editing, and Best Cinematography.

Gala & Movies Plus – Both screening programs are invitation-only and feature advanced screenings of anticipated films, along with live performances and special talks after the screenings.

Spotlight – Open to both documentary and narrative films; a mix of big names, bold talents, highly anticipated new releases, and festival favorites.

Viewpoints – An assortment of documentary and narrative feature films offering distinctive visions from innovative voices.

Midnight – Spanning horror, sci-fi, action and more, these entertaining and memorable feature films celebrate the best in genre cinema.

Online Premieres – The newest official section of Tribeca Festival’s Features program, bringing the buzz and visibility of a Tribeca Festival premiere online for a curated selection of feature films.

Tribeca Immersive

Tribeca exhibits immersive projects throughout the Festival to showcase new forms and uses of emerging media, highlighting innovation across a variety of platforms. These may range from virtual reality and augmented reality projects to cross-platform films, 360 films, multi-media installations, and apps.

Submissions will be considered for the Tribeca Virtual Arcade (for room-scale VR and/or XR projects, and 360 Films). All World Premiere & International Premiere selections will also be considered for inclusion in our Immersive competition. Some selections from the program may also be included in our Online initiative for a global audience, pending approval by the creative team.

Project creators will also be considered for the Tribeca Creators Market, a first-of-its-kind, private industry market held during the Festival that brings together leading emerging feature film, episodic, immersive, audio, and games storytellers to pitch new projects to and network with a wide range of industry members, including distributors, producers, networks, funders, and more.

Tribeca Games

Tribeca will feature video game projects throughout the Festival 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 is embraced. Submissions will be considered for the Tribeca Games section and, if selected, will be considered Official Selections, and will be featured during the 22nd edition of the Tribeca Festival. Selections will also be eligible for the Tribeca Games Award.

Project creators will also be considered for the Tribeca Creators Market, a first-of-its-kind, private industry market held during the Festival that brings together leading emerging feature film, episodic, immersive, audio, and games storytellers to pitch new projects to and network with a wide range of industry members, including distributors, producers, networks, funders, and more.

Tribeca NOW

Tribeca NOW is a platform that discovers, highlights, and celebrates independent episodic work, including short and long form pilots/series, of both narrative and documentary genres. Submissions for Tribeca NOW must demonstrate the potential for serial growth.

Project creators selected for Tribeca NOW may also be eligible for the Tribeca Creators Market, a first-of-its-kind, private industry market held during the Festival that brings together leading emerging feature film, episodic, immersive, audio, and games storytellers to pitch new projects to and network with a wide range of industry members, including distributors, producers, networks, funders, and more.

Tribeca Audio Storytelling

Recognizing the importance of audio storytelling, the Festival will curate an Official Selection of podcasts and audio stories, with an emphasis on discovering, highlighting, and celebrating independent work. Projects selected for the 2023 Tribeca Festival will be reviewed by a diverse jury of storytellers. Each selection will receive Tribeca laurels and be eligible to win a Tribeca Festival Award for Audio Storytelling. Independent creators of official selections will have the opportunity to be part of a live event showcasing a sample of their work for our Tribeca audiences.

Independent creators 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.

Budgets and resources in the audio industry vary widely, and this year Tribeca will offer more opportunities for both established and independent creators by way of four separate categories: 1) Independent Fiction 2) Independent Nonfiction, 3) Fiction, and 4) Nonfiction.

In your submission form you will apply to one of these four categories. You will also be asked to provide a rough estimate of the production budget of the specific material submitted. We will contact you if we feel you are not in the appropriate category. We will take many factors into consideration on a case by case basis when determining that decision including but not limited to: genre, length, budget, production resources, and the level of marketing and distribution power behind your project. There will be a place for all projects!

Independent Creator Competition:

In the past, projects from independent creators (1 & 2) cannot have been made publicly available prior to the start of the Festival. This year, independent projects can be made publicly available anytime between May 10th and July 30th. Works-in-progress are eligible for submission. Projects must still be submitted by the Extended Deadline.

There is no limit to the number that any one creator or creative team can submit. If you have questions about submission fees please contact us at audiopremeires@tribecafilm.com. For information on year-round Tribeca opportunities, follow us @TribecaAudio.

Each category will accept the following:
   • The first episode of any narrative-driven podcast (6 minutes - 60 minutes in length)
   • One stand-alone audio piece (6 minutes - 75 minutes in length)
   • The first chapter of an audiobook (6 minutes - 30 minutes in length)

Other Requirements:
   • English-language only
   • Only 1 episode per series may be submitted
   • You may submit the first episode of a new season of a podcast
       o However, judging will be based solely on the material submitted

Established Creators Competition

Projects from established creators (3 & 4) cannot have been made publicly available prior to the Tribeca Festival. Official Selections are not necessarily guaranteed a live event at the Tribeca Festival. (Live event information below). Projects must still be submitted by the Extended Deadline. There is no limit to the number that any one creator or creative team can submit.

Each category will accept the following:
   • The first episode of any narrative-driven podcast (6 minutes - 60 minutes in length)
   • One stand-alone audio piece (6 minutes - 75 minutes in length)
   • The first chapter of an audiobook (6 minutes - 30 minutes in length)

Other Requirements:
    • English-language only
    • Only 1 episode per series may be submitted
    • You may submit the first episode of a new season of a podcast
       o However, judging will be based solely on the material submitted

Live Tribeca Audio Events

The Tribeca Festival’s live events foster community in the audio space and honor contributions to the world of audio storytelling. Apart from our Emerging Audio Artists Panel which celebrates independent Official Selection creators, the Tribeca Festival’s live events are by invitation only.

For further inquiries, contact audiopremieres@tribecafilm.com and we will get back to you as soon as we are able.

Tribeca X Award

Tribeca X is a program that celebrates the intersection of advertising and entertainment through a multi-day live event and juried competition. The Tribeca X Awards recognize excellence in storytelling supported by a brand. The Tribeca X Award is open to all work premiered after January 1, 2023, 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. 

CATEGORIES & SPECIAL JURIED AWARDS

The 2024 Tribeca X Awards have expanded to include new submission categories and special juried awards across all categories.Winners will be recognized in the following categories and special juried awards:

• Feature 
• Short 
• Episodic Series
• Immersive 
• Audio Storytelling
• Creator | Influencer Collaboration  
• Movie or Series Trailer
• :30 Commercial Spot
• :60 Commercial Spot
• Video Game
  

New this year, Tribeca is proud to announce two special juried awards which will recognize projects across all Tribeca X categories. 

• Tribeca X Social Impact Award will recognize 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 will recognize a project which best tackles today's most pressing environmental issues through the lens of storytelling

OFFICIAL SELECTION BENEFITS

The Tribeca Festival will recognize Official Selections in a press release, on tribecafilm.com/xaward and through an invitation to include your project on a gated, digital screening platform available to all Tribeca X attendees. Official Selections will receive Tribeca Festival laurels.

Winners will be determined by the jury and announced in a ceremony at the Tribeca X live event taking place during the 2024 Tribeca Festival. Winners will also be recognized in an additional Tribeca Festival-issued press release, in Tribeca social channels and newsletters, and in select Tribeca X media partner print ads.

ELIGIBLE PROJECTS

Eligible projects include but are not limited to 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

• Movie and Series Trailers
• An eligible trailer is a promotional piece of up to 5 minutes intended to promote a short film, feature film, documentary, series, video game, or other visual work.  The trailer or work it is promoting can be already released or upcoming.  The trailer should be part of the official promotional campaign of the work it represents (no fan-made trailers).
• 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). 

SUBMITTING

Can I submit more than one project?

You are welcome to submit more than one project if each project that you wish to submit meet the eligibility requirements. For each submission, you will have to fill out a separate entry form and pay a separate fee.

For episodic content submitted to Tribeca NOW only, you can submit multiple episodes of the same series as part of your submission.

For episodic audio stories submitted to Tribeca Audio Storytelling, only one episode may be submitted. And for serialized podcasts, the first episode of the series or season must be submitted.​

Can I choose the section I want to submit to?

You can choose between the following submissions categories: Features, Shorts, NOW, Immersive, Games, and Audio Storytelling. If your project is selected to screen at the Festival, the Tribeca programming team will determine which section of the Festival best suits your project.

Is there an age restriction on submitting a project?

There is no age limit to submit a project. However, if the creator is under the age of 18, a parent or guardian will need to submit on behalf of the minor.

Do I have to pay a submissions fee if I am submitting a student film?

Students can submit short films for a discounted rate of $30 per submission, no matter the deadline. To qualify for the discount, students will be asked to upload a copy of their student ID as part of the submission form.

This discount is not offered through FilmFreeway. If you are a student submitting a short film, please use the Tribeca Extranet to submit your film.

The discount is only applicable for student films submitted to our Shorts category. Students submitting to all other categories must pay the regular submissions fees.

I made my short film while I was a student but have since graduated. Am I still eligible for the student short waiver?

So long as a short film was produced while the film’s Director was a student, the film is eligible for the student short film discount. Please include enrolment verification or a copy of your student ID with your submission materials, even if no longer valid, and make sure to select student short on your online application.

What criteria do you use to determine Premiere Status?

• World Premiere: Projects that have not screened publicly before our festival.
• International Premiere: Projects that have screened publicly only in the country of origin before our festival.
• North American Premiere: Projects that have not screened publicly in the US/Canada/Mexico before our festival (Canadian and Mexican films that have screened only in their country of origin are considered International Premieres).
• US Premiere: Projects that have not screened publicly in the US before our festival.
• NY Premiere: Projects that have not screened publicly in the NY Region before Tribeca.

“NY Regional” means the tri-state area, including the five borough of New York City, the surrounding New York metropolitan area (e.g. Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, Rockland, Orange and Ulster counties), southwestern Connecticut (e.g. Fairfield, New Haven, and Litchfield Counties) and northern New Jersey (e.g. Bergen, Passaic, Middlesex, Monmouth and Hudson Counties).

Can I exhibit my film/project online prior to the festival?

Possibly! Projects that have been exhibited online as part of another festival remain eligible for submission. However, the project must have only been exhibited for a limited time during those festivals, and still retain a minimum New York premiere. Exhibiting online at other New York festivals like DOC NYC and NYFF would still render your film ineligible for Tribeca 2023.

If you are submitting a Music Video to our Shorts category, you it may be widely available online and remain eligible. However, it must still maintain a New York Premiere for festivals and other public screenings.

Please read our rules and regulations carefully. If you have any questions regarding your project’s eligibility, please email entries@tribecafilm.com.

Can I submit a project that is a work-in-progress?

Yes. We accept rough cut or work-in-progress submissions across all categories, and many of the projects submitted to us are works-in-progress. If you submit a work-in-progress, please include a title card indicating what elements of your project are incomplete. You will also be asked to indicate the incomplete elements of your project on your submission form.

The version you submit should be something you are comfortable with our programming team viewing; we can only guarantee that the first version you send will be viewed. However, you may update your streaming link with a new version if you email us at entries@tribecafilm.com to notify us of the change. You will have up until January 31, 2023 to update your submission with a new link for Features, NOW, Immersive, and Games, or until February 28, 2023 for Shorts and Audio Storytelling. If the link or password changes at any time you must email us to make the change or else risk forfeiting your submission. If the film is selected you must be able to send us a complete, final exhibition copy before we screen it at the festival, as we do not exhibit works-in-progress at the festival.

Projects that have been theatrically or digitally exhibited at a “work-in-progress screening,” at which tickets were made available to the general public, are only eligible for submission if the version submitted is significantly different (at least 30%-50%) to the one that has been theatrically or digitally exhibited. 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 after submitting. Private industry screenings are permitted.

Can I submit a trailer instead of a work-in-progress or a completed project?

No. We will not be able to consider your project if you only submit a trailer. You cannot submit a trailer first to then update the link with the full project. At the time of submission, you must send in the full project.

Can I submit a DVD or Blu-ray screener?

No. We no longer accept DVD/Blu-ray submissions for any category. All submissions must be made via a password-protected or private streaming link.

How should I prepare my streaming link for viewing?

Our preference for submissions is a password-protected Vimeo link; however, we accept submissions on any streaming platform that allows you to share a private, unlisted, or password-protected streaming of your project.

If you submit via Vimeo, please allow embedding on your video on extranet.tribecafilm.com to help our programming team view your project.

If you are submitting a YouTube link, please ensure the privacy is set to unlisted instead of private or public.

Please ensure your streaming link is not publicly available. If your project is publicly available online in the US, it may not be eligible for consideration (only Music Video submissions to the Shorts category may be publicly available online at the time of submission).

How can I submit my project for Tribeca Immersive or Tribeca Games?

You can submit via a download link, Steam key (minimum 8 keys), app download package (APK), or other file with your submission form. If sending us a Vimeo or YouTube link to screen a 360 film, you must enable download for best viewing conditions. The content may include password-protected links to web pages, videos, or other relevant media. You will be asked for a link to your project on our submission form.

For VR projects, we can view projects intended for Oculus Rift, Oculus Quest, HTC Vive, Magic Leap, Samsung Gear VR, Microsoft Mixed Reality, or Google Cardboard.

If you need to send in additional materials to be considered, or if your project is intended for a platform that is not mentioned here, please email us at entries@tribecafilm.com and we will work with you to properly consider your work.

How can I submit my project to Tribeca Audio Storytelling?

You can submit your podcast or audio story via a streaming or download link hosted on the platform of your choice, so long as the link is private to maintain your submission’s eligibility.

Why can I only submit English language audio stories to Tribeca Audio Storytelling?

While we would love to consider submissions from all over the globe, the official language of our programming team is English, and we would be unable to properly evaluate non-English language submissions. 

We do not accept translated audio transcripts or dialogue lists. 

I’ve submitted my project to a previous Festival. Can I resubmit it to this year’s Festival?

You may resubmit if you have made significant changes to your project and meet the eligibility requirements as outlined in our Rules and Regulations. You will have to fill out the online form and pay the applicable submissions fee.

I’ve completed the online submissions form. Can I go back to edit information, such as my contact information or my film’s screening history?

No. Once you have completed and submitted the form, you cannot go back to edit it. If you need to change any of the information that you submitted, please email entries@tribecafilm.com. We will make the changes for you.

Do you offer waivers for submission fees?

We are only offering waivers for Tribeca Alumni filmmakers and project creators. If you have directed or created a project that was exhibited at Tribeca in the past, please email alumni@tribecafilm.com.

Do you offer refunds for submission fees?

No. Please read the rules and regulations carefully before deciding to submit, and do not hesitate to reach out to entries@tribecafilm.com with any questions. Please note, if any part of your submission form is incomplete, your film will not be in consideration until corrected. Please be sure you include valid Submitter contact information and a working link with your submission.

NOTIFICATIONS

When and how will I know if my project has been selected?

We notify all persons designated as the Submitter contact of their submission status via email (and not through FilmFreeway) by mid-April 2024. Please make sure your contact information is up to date. If you need to update the submitter information for the project, please email entries@tribecafilm.com.

If you have not received any notification by that time, please email entries@tribecafilm.com for an official notification.

I have been accepted to another festival, but Tribeca is my preferred festival premiere. Can I check to see if my project is in the running?

We may not be able to offer you a definitive answer depending on the timeline. But if you reach out to entries@tribecafilm.com, we will try to give you as much information as possible to inform your decision.

If my project isn’t selected for your Festival, will you let me know why?

Due to the large volume of submissions, our programmers are not able offer individual critiques.

You say you watched my film, but my Vimeo page says my film has 0 views. Why is that?

We view all projects submitted to us, and it is in our best interest to do so. We also check each individual viewing  link as they come in to make sure they are fully functional before passing them off to the programming team to review.

Please be aware that Vimeo stats are sometimes not accurately reported, especially when the link is viewed through a third party app (Roku, Apple TV, etc) or in an third party player or embedded video (FilmFreeway/Tribeca Extranet), as stated through Vimeo's own documentation.