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Tribeca X 2021

Tribeca X, Presented by Roku, celebrates the intersection of advertising and entertainment and honors the creators and brands who share a love of creativity and a mission to connect with consumers through the power of storytelling. On Friday, June 18th our special day of in-person conversations will bring together industry leaders from brands and agencies to examine the landscape of branded entertainment and recognize the achievements of companies and creators who are adventurous and distinctive in their work.

If you are interested in attending, please complete the form here and we will be in touch if we can accommodate your request.


CONFIRMED SPEAKERS

Peter Alsante

Executive Creative Director
BBDO

Peter Alsante is an Executive Creative Director at BBDO. In his 16 years of experience, he’s worked with brands like Sandy Hook Promise, Snickers, Cesar, Degree, AT&T and Dunkin’. He has earned awards at The One Show, Cannes, Clios, D&AD, and most recently, the Emmy Award for Outstanding Commercial for the 2019 film “Back to School Essentials.” As the creative lead on Sandy Hook Promise, Peter and team also created the film “Evan”, which has been adopted as a training tool by the US Department of Homeland Security and hundreds of schools around the country. Peter’s favorite job prior to his career in advertising was slicing deli meat at Wegmans Grocery Store

Andy Berndt

Vice President, Strategic Advisor, Google
Founder, Alumnus, Google Creative Lab

Andy founded the Creative Lab in 2007 to be a small group of creative people who help manifest the magic made at Google. Most recently, Lab projects include helping a blind runner make his first solo run, a global reforestation platform, and a private recording app that can search, edit and share its own automatic transcriptions. Over the years, the Creative Lab has been involved with almost all of Google’s major efforts, including Grow with Google, Google Photos, AlphaGo, Cloud, Android, Chrome, YouTube, the self-driving car, Google Glass, Project Loon, the launch of Alphabet, and GLIF, the Google visual ID System, and many others. Andy joined Google from Ogilvy, where he was Co‐President of Ogilvy’s New York office. Prior to this role, Andy ran Ogilvy’s advertising business in New York and was a Group Creative Director and copywriter on the IBM account. Earlier, Andy was recruited by Steve Jobs and Lee Clow to help Chiat/Day, Los Angeles, re‐launch the Apple brand. He ran the Apple business at Chiat/Day and guided the “Think Different”campaign, and the launch of the iMac and the Apple Online Store. Andy joined Chiat/Day from Wieden & Kennedy, where he helmed the Nike account in the US. Also at Wieden & Kennedy, Andy led segments of the Microsoft account, including the launch of Windows 95. Andy has a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Duke University, where he also played basketball under coach K.

Aryeh B. Bourkoff

Chairman & CEO
LionTree

Aryeh B. Bourkoff is the Chairman and CEO of LionTree, a leading global independent investment and merchant bank. Founded in 2012, the firm is headquartered in New York with offices in San Francisco, Paris and London. LionTree focuses on media, technology, telecommunications and the digital economy and has advised on ~$600 billion in transactions since the firm was founded. Aryeh oversees LionTree’s coverage of select impactful relationships within the Advisory franchise around the globe including corporations, family offices, sovereigns, institutions, and individuals alike. He is also the head of the firm’s Merchant Banking and Asset Management platforms and manages all capital allocation decision making. Aryeh is the Chairman of pure play media and digital outdoor advertising company Ocean Outdoor and the Chairman of Kindred Media, LionTree's digital media and community investment company. Aryeh and LionTree are also partners in MUSIC, a joint venture advising and investing in music and expanded audio trends, Griffin Gaming Partners, which invests in the global growth of gaming, and Tenere Capital a newly launched investment firm backed by $200mm+ in long duration capital. He serves on the board of Carnegie Hall, the Royal Academy of Arts, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Chris Bruss

Head of the Roku Brand Studio

Chris Bruss is the Head of the Roku Brand Studio. Roku’s Brand Studio was created in March of 2021, through an acquisition of Funny Or Die’s award-winning branded content business, which was merged with Roku’s existing, best-in-class Sponsorships and Brand Experiences business. The mission of the Roku Brand Studio is to deliver advertiser experiences and storytelling built for TV streaming. Prior to joining Roku, Bruss was the President of Funny Or Die, overseeing FOD’s digital business, including Editorial Content, Programming, Sales, and Partner Content – the award-winning Branded Entertainment division launched in 2010. Bruss also co-founded FOD’s successful commercial production company, Gifted Youth, which it sold to production company Caviar in 2019. Under Bruss’s leadership, FOD’s brand work was recognized by the Cannes Lions, the Clios… and even the Emmys. Bruss has been named to The Hollywood Reporter’s 35-under-35 list, AdAge’s 40-under-40 list, and Variety’s New Leaders list. He has served on the juries for both the One Show awards and the CLIO awards.Prior to Funny Or Die, Bruss worked in the Business Development group at the Creative Artists Agency (CAA). Bruss is based out of Roku’s Santa Monica office.

Geoff Edwards

Executive Creative Director, GALE Partners
Co-Founder, SATURDAY MORNING

Geoff is an Emmy Nominated Creative Leader and Marketing Industry vet. As Executive Creative Director at GALE Partners, his team is responsible for winning and relaunching the Iconic 'got milk?' campaign. He’s also Co-Founder of SATURDAY MORNING, a Nonprofit organization that leverages the power of creativity to help solve social injustice. Previously he was Executive Creative Director of Apple Services. Previously Geoff was VP, Executive Creative Director at R/GA, Los Angeles. There he leveraged emerging technology, design and entertainment to build brands like Disney, Nike, PepsiCo, and Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Geoff was Head of Creative at CAA where his award winning work on Jimmy Johns, and Anheuser-Busch, set new standards for branded content. Geoff has both worked for and founded some of the most creative agencies in the Industry: Spike/DDB, TAG McCann, and DOJO. He’s won 2 Grand Prix Awards at Cannes Lions and 2 Cannes Advertiser of the Year honors for his work on adidas ‘IMPOSSIBLE IS NOTHING’ campaign and for the Microsoft XBOX360 ‘Jump In’ campaign, featuring Halo 3.

Michele Thornton Ghee

CEO
EBONY & JET

Ghee has worked for some of the most powerful companies in the world including WME, CNN, A&E, The History Channel and BET Networks. While at BET, Michele created and ran the first and only network for black women: BETHer. She began her career at SBC Communications in Oakland, California. Ghee is an expert in the following areas: Culture, Leadership, Strategy, Customer service, Revenue generation, and Relationship building. Ghee has received honors from; Multichannel News 2019 Wonder Woman, Working Mother of the Year Award Class of 2018, The ADCOLOR Change Agent Award and The American Advertising Federation Mosaic Role Model of the Year Award. Ghee has authored three books: Stratechic: Life and Career Winning Strategies for Women, Stratechic 2.0: Her Plan, Her Power, Her Purpose and Success on Your Terms. Ghee graduated college at 31 and was later honored with an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from her alma mater, Golden Gate University. She resides in New Jersey with husband Tony and kids Taylor and Jordan.

Melissa Grady Dias

Global Chief Marketing Officer
Cadillac

Melissa Grady Dias was appointed Global Chief Marketing Officer, Cadillac in September 2019. As CMO, Melissa oversees strategic marketing for the Cadillac brand around the world. Under her leadership, Cadillac has embraced a data driven approach and launched the Make Your Way, We Have Your Back (COVID-19 response), and Never Stop Arriving brand campaigns. She has in-depth expertise in performance marketing and technology, including new and emerging approaches, and has delivered keynote speeches at several conferences including AdWeek, AdExchanger, IAB, Incite, and LIMRA events. Melissa earned a Master of Science in Integrated Marketing with a specialization in Database, Direct, and e-commerce from Northwestern University and holds a Bachelor of Arts from DePaul in Business Administration, with minors in English and Communications.

Julian Jacobs

Co-Head, UTA Marketing
United Talent Agency

Julian Jacobs is the Co-head of UTA Marketing, a division of leading global talent and entertainment company United Talent Agency (UTA), that represents and advises top brands. Jacobs co-founded the practice which has become one of the top branded entertainment firms known for creating culturally impactful initiatives and partnerships for global clients including Coty, Delta Air Lines, General Motors, General Mills, Google, LinkedIn, Lyft, Petco, and more. In his role, Jacobs oversees the group’s client strategy, operations and new business efforts, and has helped lead the division’s rapid expansion across Los Angeles and New York.

Mary Margaret

Editor in Chief
Entertainment Weekly

Mary Margaret is the Editor in Chief of Entertainment Weekly. Margaret started her journalism career at Newsweek’s London bureau, covering topics that ranged from politics and terrorism to graphic novels and luxury travel, before focusing on entertainment in senior roles at PARADE and PEOPLE. At PEOPLE, she oversaw the brand’s music coverage and front of the book, ran a cross-platform team, and helped launch projects at the nexus of commerce and content including the “Ones to Watch” franchise, PEOPLE’s e-commerce shop, and PEOPLE and Entertainment Weekly’s branded content studio.

Angela Matusik

Head of Corporate Brand, Content & Creative
HP

Angela Matusik is HP’s head of corporate brand, content and creative. There she oversees the tech leader's brand voice and identity, and leads a team bringing stories of technology, innovation, impact, and creativity to life. In 2019, Matusik produced the award-winning documentary series, History of Memory, which featured true stories about people whose lives have been radically altered by one printed photograph. And in 2020, she produced Dear Future Me -- a short documentary about growing up, education and hope in the time of Covid. Her work can easily be found by visiting HP’s digital magazine, the Garage - https://garage.hp.com/. Previously, Matusik developed brand content for companies big and small, including Focus Features, Global Brand Group, Olivela and more. She brings over two decades of media experience to the table, after working as an editor, writer, and digital leader at brands like People, InStyle (where she was a founding editor) and NBCUniversal. For 20 years she extensively covered the entertainment and film industries, including reporting from film festivals and red carpets and interviewing pop culture icons such as Christopher Walken, Harrison Ford, and Mick Jagger. Originally from Niagara Falls, NY, she currently lives in New Jersey, just outside of New York City with her family.

Marcus Peterzell

CEO
Passion Point Collective

Marcus is the CEO of Passion Point Collective, a leading entertainment marketing agency that specializes in brand-funded films. For twenty years, Marcus has successfully built and led award-winning agency teams, both independently and within Omnicom. Before launching PPC, Marcus was an EVP and Partner at Ketchum Public Relations. Marcus’ background includes serving as a Production Executive for over twenty television series/specials, including producing the first cable strip to feature Larry David and Joy Behar on “Lifetime”, and the Emmy award-winning A&E series “Biography”. Marcus’ music career includes guiding The Cure to their first number one album and single, going on to create dozens of award-winning music campaigns for major brands with artists including Ariana Grande, Little Big Town, Bon Jovi, and Sara Bareilles. In the past ten years, Marcus has guided over twenty brand-funded feature films, including “Farmland” directed by Oscar Winner James Moll, “A Fighting Chance” from Oscar-winner Morgan Neville, and “History of Memory” from HP, which won best docuseries at Tribeca X, and “Dear Future Me” from HP as well, which is an official selection at this year’s Tribeca X. Marcus is on the advisory board of the Brand Storytelling Conference and has moderated over fifty major industry panels on entertainment marketing, including the big stage 2017 Cannes Lions panel with Oscar-nominee Laura Dern, which was live streamed across the globe.

Stephanie Ruhle

Anchor, MSNBC
Senior Business Correspondent, NBC News

Stephanie Ruhle anchors MSNBC’s “Stephanie Ruhle Reports” on weekdays & appears across all NBC News and MSNBC platforms as NBC News’ Senior Business Correspondent. As a Wall Street veteran, Ruhle is known for bringing her business acumen & hard-hitting style to high profile interviews, for her original reporting, & bringing humanity into her news coverage, including her reporting on the migrant crisis at the border in McAllen, TX & her daily “Good News Ruhles” segment. Ruhle is also the host of the "Modern Ruhles" podcast. The show takes aim at zeitgeist topics with the goal of understanding & respecting ideas that conflict with our own. It is not meant to change our minds, just to open them & hopefully help us become better & smarter in the process. Prior to Bloomberg, Ruhle worked at Deutsche Bank, serving as a Managing Director in Global Markets Senior Relationship Management & at Credit Suisse, where she was the highest- producing credit derivatives salesperson in the US.

Doug McMillon

President and CEO
Walmart

Doug McMillon is president and CEO of Walmart Inc. He has worked at Walmart for nearly 30 years, starting as a teenager unloading trucks as an hourly associate, and going on to serve in senior roles including president and CEO of Walmart International and Sam’s Club. Doug is the chairman of the Business Roundtable and serves on the boards of directors of the Consumer Goods Forum, the U.S.-China Business Council and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. He also sits on the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board and the advisory board of the Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management in Beijing, China.

James Murdoch

Founder & CEO
Lupa Systems

Coming Soon

Marc Pritchard

Chief Brand Officer
P&G

Marc Pritchard is responsible for P&G’s brand building disciplines worldwide. He sets the Company’s multi-billion-dollar media, marketing and advertising strategies, and leads marketing innovations that guide communication and brand building for P&G’s portfolio of trusted, quality brands.

As top brand builder and veteran of P&G for more than three decades, Marc believes in the power of brands to serve people with the best-performing products, while also being a force for good through ethics and responsibility, community impact, equality and inclusion, and environmental sustainability. He continually leads P&G’s brand building reinvention and is a leading voice in the media, marketing and creative industry. Marc has received a long list of industry honors in his role as P&G Chief Brand Officer. Most recently, P&G was named Brand Marketer of the Decade by Cannes Lions and Marc personally was awarded the honor of Brand Genius and Grand Brand Genius by Adweek in August, 2020.

Dushane Ramsay

Sr. Brand Strategist - Marketing
Square

Dushane Ramsay has been an experiential producer, Account Director, and Creative Strategist, working with brands like Delta, Heineken and Netflix. Now, he leads Square’s Brand strategy team where he aims to infuse the work with cultural connection, creativity, empathy and good old-fashioned fun.

Lorraine Twohill

Chief Marketing Officer
Google

As Google’s Chief Marketing Officer, Lorraine manages a global team responsible for telling the evolving story of Google’s brand, driving revenue growth, and helping billions of users discover and make the most of Google’s products every day. Her teams oversee global marketing across some of the world’s most used and loved brands—Search, Android, YouTube, Chrome and Hardware. Lorraine has also helped drive Google’s social impact focus on education, economic opportunity and inclusion, and the company’s crisis response strategy. Previously, Lorraine led Marketing for Google in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Lorraine graduated from Dublin City University with a joint honours degree in International Marketing and Languages. She has been named Adweek’s Grand Brand Genius, Business Insider's Most Innovative CMO, one of the world’s 50 Most Powerful Moms, Cannes Creative Marketer of the Year, and has spoken at the United Nations on empowering women through digital tools. A native of Carlow, Ireland, Lorraine lives in the Bay Area with her husband and two children.

Alison Weissbrot

US Editor
Campaign

Alison Weissbrot is an award-winning journalist with expertise in the advertising, marketing and technology industries. As the US Editor of Campaign, Alison steers the publication’s editorial strategy and coverage in the ad industry’s largest market while supporting the production of key industry events and awards shows. Previously, Alison was a staff reporter at AdExchanger, where she covered advertising agencies, the future of TV and the digital audio industry. Prior to that shewas a copywriter at MarketSmiths, writing digital marketing copy and producing campaigns across multiple verticals. Alison also worked in editorial at award-winning travel journalism site Fathom. She has a B.A. in International Studies and Spanish from the University of Michigan.

Anthony Wood

Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Roku

Anthony Wood founded Roku in 2002 and has been its CEO since then. In 2007, Anthony also briefly served as Vice President of Internet TV at Netflix. Prior to Roku, Anthony invented the DVR (digital video recorder) and founded ReplayTV, where he served as CEO before the company's acquisition in 2001. Before ReplayTV, Anthony co-founded iband.com, an Internet software company later acquired by Macromedia. Anthony is also Founder and Chairman of BrightSign LLC, the global market leader in digital signage products that was spun off from Roku in 2010. He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Texas A&M University.


Now more than ever, brands are breaking from conventional messaging and pushing the boundaries of creativity. Since 2016, the Tribeca X Award has recognized the boldest, story-driven filmmaker and brand collaborations of the year in four categories: Feature Film, Short Film, Episodic Series and Immersive. A special jury will select one winner in each category to be announced during the Festival.

Tribeca X Award Finalists

 

SHORT FILMS

Chinese New Year - Nian
Director: Lulu Wang
Brand: Apple, Inc.
Agency: TBWA/Media Arts Lab Shanghai
Production Company: Iconoclast
Entirely shot on iPhone, the 12-minute movie ‘Nian’ is an alternative take on a Chinese New Year folklore that traditionally portrays the titular character as a terrifying monster. In this version, a curious little girl confronts her fear of the unknown by seeking out the elusive, forest-dwelling Nian to find out if he was indeed as menacing as her parents often described – a ruse to discourage her from wandering off to the forest alone. Her curiosity was rewarded when she discovers the creature was misunderstood all along. Soon a beautiful friendship ensues.
Coffee Shop Names
Director: Deepak Sethi
Brand: IWC Schaffhausen
Agency: Soho House
Production Company: Valerie Steinberg Productions
Three Indian people imagine their personas as their "coffee shop names," the names they give baristas because their real names are hard to pronounce.
Dear Future Me
Directors: Sarah Klein, Tom Mason
Brand: HP
Production Company: Redglass Pictures
Every June at Maplewood Middle School in NJ, 6th grade students participate in a rite of passage: they write a letter to their future 18-year-old selves. After the letters are completed and sealed, they are held for six years. When a class is about to graduate, the teachers mail the letters from their past selves. For over 25 years, this extracurricular assignment has encouraged students to imagine and reflect on who they are and who they will become.
The Pope Of Dope: The Story of NYC’s First Delivery Service
Directors: Alden Nusser, Ben Fries
Brand: FOXY
Agency: FOXY
Mickey Cesar first became active in the NY cannabis space as an activist and businessman in the late 70’s. He would go on to open the first telephone delivery service which he advertised with the phone number “1-800-WANT-POT.” Mickey is considered a true pioneer of the industry. The documentary features an interview with acclaimed photographer, Clayton Patterson. Sharing never before seen footage, imagery and interviews, the short film covers the conception of NYC’s first delivery service and the man behind it.
A Woman’s Place
Director: Rayka Zehtabchi
Brand: KitchenAid
Agency: Digitas
Production Company: Ventureland
Academy® Award-winning director Rayka Zehtabchi gives an intimate look into the culinary world through the eyes of three women. Each one carving out a place for herself in the industry, not just as a woman, but as a butcher, chef and restaurateur.

EPISODICS

Black Owned
Director: Rodney Lucas
Brand: Square
Agency: Even/Odd Films
Black Owned is a series exploring the history, experience, and voice of the Black entrepreneurial spirit and its essential contribution to the American economy.
The D Cut
Director: D.W. Waterson
Brand: Dove Canada, Unilever Entertainment
Agency: Shaftesbury
The D Cut is an original series inspired by a true LGBTQ2S+ empowerment story. The D Cut follows a young superstar hairstylist named “D” as she navigates love, friendship and togetherness when her local community’s safe space comes under threat.

FEATURES

Dear Santa
Director: Dana Nachman
Brand: The United States Postal Service
Agency: UM Studios
“Dear Santa” shines a light on the 100-year-old ‘Operation Santa’ Program of the United States Postal Service. Each year, hundreds of thousands of letters to Santa arrive at Post Offices around the country. Through Operation Santa, the United States Postal Service makes it possible for the public to safely adopt these letters and make children’s dreams come true. This timeless documentary captures the warmth and spirit of Christmastime through the lens of this great American tradition, provoking audiences throughout the world to ask themselves how they can make the world a better place, one gesture at a time.
Above & Beyond
Director: Brent Renaud
Brand: Walmart
Agency: Art & Science
Production Company: Imagine Entertainment
The year 2020 was one for the history books. A global pandemic. A national social movement for racial equity. Wildfires, hurricanes, and other natural disasters. Above & Beyond is a feature-length documentary about incredible people that rose to the challenge of a truly unprecedented year. From Walmart associates & executive leaders, community members and beyond, this film goes out onto the front lines and tells the story of a group of ordinary men and women that proved to be extraordinary heroes when we needed them most.

IMMERSIVE

CURRENT
Director: Annie Saunders
Brand: Brookfield Properties
Production Company: Octopus Theatricals
CURRENT is an immersive soundwalk through Lower Manhattan. Beginning at specific times of day, participants are guided on a walk using their own mobile device and headphones. Using binaural sound design and on-location recordings, CURRENT weaves an observed and imagined narrative of historic and anecdotal stories on themes of water, time, construction and destruction. It was commissioned by Arts Brookfield for One Liberty Plaza and One New York Plaza. CURRENT was created collaboratively by Annie Saunders (concept, direction, devising and narration), Andrew Schneider (concept development, devising, narration, on-location recording and audio design), Jackie! Zhou and One Thousand Birds (sound design, engineering and spatialization) and OpenEndedGroup (back-development and technology creation).
Day Zero
Director: Benny Nicks
Brand: MongoDB
Agency: Giant Spoon
Day Zero is an interactive techno-thriller from MongoDB Atlas. The story surrounds Malena, an indie game developer, who strikes gold with an upstart video game heralded as the next Fortnite. She and her co-founder, Ji, are 24 hours away from launching their sophomore title when Ji suddenly disappears. Now, it’s up to Malena to navigate an IRL version of the game she’s built, and crack coding challenges at every turn, if she hopes to rescue Ji and save her life’s work from destruction.

FILMMAKERS

Alden Nusser

The Pope Of Dope: The Story of NYC’s First Delivery Service

Alden Nusser & Ben Fries grew up in Manhattan and began working together as filmmakers in 2015. Coming from documentary and music video/commercial backgrounds respectively, their first collaboration, Crime Cutz, premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival. They're the founding partners of the creative production company Field Agency.

Ben Fries

The Pope Of Dope: The Story of NYC’s First Delivery Service

Alden Nusser & Ben Fries grew up in Manhattan and began working together as filmmakers in 2015. Coming from documentary and music video/commercial backgrounds respectively, their first collaboration, Crime Cutz, premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival. They're the founding partners of the creative production company Field Agency.

Sarah Klein

Dear Future Me

Redglass co-founder Sarah Klein is an award-winning producer and director. Her early credits include the HBO documentary, Hard as Nails and the Arte film, The Good Mother. Redglass Pictures was formed in 2006 and since then, Klein has co-directed and produced many notable projects, including History of Memory for HP, and a series of short films for Ken Burns’ Cancer: The Emperor of Maladies, which won a DuPont Award. Among the many hats she wears at Redglass, Klein leads creative development and production. She has had the honor of interviewing: The Obamas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, John Kerry, Michael Chabon, Warren Buffett, and JJ Abrams, to name a few.

Rodney Lucas

Black Owned

Rodney Lucas is an LA-based, documentary filmmaker at Even/Odd. Originally from the South Side of Chicago, Rodney travels the world creating short documentaries, commercials, and branded content for the likes of US Bank, Square, Best Buy, NOWNESS, Vice Media, Upworthy, Dicks Sporting Goods, Clarks Originals, NTWRK, and Toms Shoes—a contract that allowed him to catalyze a Toms initiative that financially empowered artists around the globe to make social changes in their respective communities.Rising from a childhood plagued with untimely deaths, a father serving life in prison, and bouts with homelessness—Rodney’s work speaks through a soulful lens that identifies with the language of the streets, and the plight of the oppressed. His work is celebrated for his uncanny ability to capture marginalized communities with a high level of sensitivity, care, artistic expression, and emotional depth.

Tom Mason

Dear Future Me

Tom Mason is the co-founder of Redglass, and in addition to co-directing and producing films with Klein, also serves as the principal of photography and post production. Mason’s cinematic approach to shorts comes from his deep roots in film and still photography, which he studied at Syracuse University. After receiving an Alexia Grant, Mason spent a year documenting the world of Russian adoption agencies. Some of the projects he has co-directed at Redglass include George Saunders: On Story and Ken Burns: On Story with the Atlantic, and How To Win An Election for The New York Times. In addition to his work at Redglass, Mason is also an adjunct professor of digital storytelling at Columbia University’s School of Journalism.

Dana Nachman

Dear Santa

Dana Nachman is an award-winning director of both fiction and documentary films. Nachman’s films have been seen by millions of people all over the world in theaters, on Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max and many other outlets. Nachman specializes in pulling out the emotion in any story whether a hard hitting investigative piece or a family friendly film. The Los Angeles Times writes, “Nachman adroitly focuses on the human stories… structuring narrative for maximum emotional impact.” Nachman’s latest feature documentary Dear Santa was purchased by IFC Films and streams on Hulu. Nachman is a two time alumni of the Tribeca Film Festival for her feature documentary Love Hate Love and her narrative short comedy Hook Up 2.0. Her six features and three shorts have won dozens of awards at festivals from around the world. In 2018 Nachman won best female director awards at both Cleveland International Film Festival and Seattle International Film Festival.

Benny Nicks

Dear Santa

Ben Nicholas is a writer/director/editor. He graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts film program in 2008. His background as a cinematographer and editor informs an approach to directing in which all disciplines are formally intertwined. Ben often leads post-production efforts, drawing on a background in music to lend projects a distinct rhythm and soundscape. Temporal fractures and dream-states often crop up in a body of work that can be described as textural and ethereal. His long term collaboration with fine artist Daniel Arsham and Adidas Originals recently culminated in the three-part science fiction film Hourglass. Ben’s latest project TIC, a short film about a serial-killer’s online shopping addiction, is currently playing the festival circuit.

Brent Renaud

Above & Beyond

Brent Renaud is a writer, filmmaker, and photographer from Little Rock, Arkansas. As a journalist he has covered the youth refugee crisis in Central America, political upheaval in Egypt and Libya, and extremism in Africa, America and the Middle East. Brent has produced many film projects with his brother Craig, including the HBO heroin documentary “Dope Sick Love”, and the Peabody Award winning television series "Last Chance High". Brent is a 2019 Harvard Nieman Fellow.

Annie Saunders

CURRENT

Annie Saunders is a multidisciplinary creator and director of site-specific experiences and has created award-winning multi-platform projects for major arts institutions including the Public Theater, The Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Broad Stage and Summerhall, as well as site-specific projects in disused spaces set for demolition and experiential campaigns for multinational brands. Saunders is the founder and artistic director of site-specific performance company Wilderness, a core collaborator and performer with Lars Jan on Holoscenes, and her experimental project The Wreck for Opera Omaha was called ingenious… a persuasive expression of complex female feeling,” by The Wall Street Journal. Her installation The Home, a headphone- based experience for one audience member at a time, created with CURRENT collaborators Zhou and Schneider for Santander Bank/Domestic Violence Awareness Month, won the D&AD Yellow Pencil ("Creative Excellence") for Spatial Design and Installation Design and the UK APA Ideas Awards for Best Experiential Project and Best Use of Technology for Good, and is archived in the Department of Film at MOMA NYC.

Deepak Sethi

Coffee Shop Names

Deepak Sethi has over a decade of experience writing for primetime television, including as a staff writer on Family Guy, Brickleberry, and Close Enough(recently released on HBO Max). He's also worked on Cuckoo, an NBC pilot, with director Peter Farrelly, and was nominated for an Annie Award for writing in 2020. His short film, Coffee Shop Names, won the Soho House Script House Award, and is currently on the festival circuit, with festivals including the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Aspen ShortsFest, Palm Springs ShortFest, Cleveland International Film Festival, Oxford Film Festival (Angie Thomas Zeitgeist Award winner), Cordillera International Film Festival (Best Comedy Short), DC Shorts (Audience Award), Rincon International Film Festival (Best USA Comedy), and Sun Valley Film Festival (Soho House Award winner). Additionally, Deepak performs stand-up comedy and is a regular feature at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas.

Lulu Wang

Chinese New Year - Nian

Lulu Wang is a classical pianist-turned-filmmaker. Born in Beijing, raised in Miami and educated in Boston, Lulu brings her global perspective to telling entertaining stories in today’s increasingly international culture. Recent works include her Chinese New Year contemporary coming-of-age short film for Apple, shot on an iPhone 12 Pro Max. Her 2019 semi-autobiographical comedy-drama The Farewell, starring Awkwafina, screened in the U.S. Dramatic Competition section of Sundance and was theatrically released by A24 before going on to be nominated for two Golden Globe Awards including Best Foreign Language Film. Her first feature film, Posthumous, starring Jack Huston and Brit Marling was released by The Orchard. Lulu’s short narrative drama, Touch, premiered at the Palm Springs International Short Fest.

D.W Waterson

The D Cut

D.W. Waterson is the non-binary/queer creator and director of the 6 million viewed, award-winning digital series THAT’S MY DJ(2015-2018). Waterson’s work has garnered a Canadian Screen-award Nomination, won 5 Best Director awards as well as Noteable’s 2017 Director of the Year award. D.W. is the creative force behind multiple series including the Crave Original THE D CUT (2020), CBC Gem’s DEVOUT +OUT (2019) and multiple music videos, directing for bands such as Caveboy, Princess Century, For Esmé and Featurette. D.W. was hand-selected by Idris Elba and his team to consult, shadow legendary producer/director Tristram Shapeero and to direct 2nd unit on the Netflix Original series TURN UP CHARLIE(2019). D.W. also recently shadowed Stephanie Morgenstern on NBC’s Nurses (2020) and Clement Virgo on the Netflix Original series Grand Army (2020). Waterson is a CFC Director’s Lab alum and is signed to The Gersh Agency and Meridian Artists.

Rayka Zehtabchi

A Woman’s Place

Rayka Zehtabchi is an Iranian-American director whose passion is telling human stories that bring awareness and action to little-known social issues. Rayka’s Oscar winning short documentary, Period. End of Sentence., which can be seen on Netflix worldwide, is about a group of village women in Northern India who start a sanitary pad-making business in an effort to improve feminine hygiene and de-stigmatize menstruation. As seen in her award-winning fiction and non-fiction works, she brings a naturalistic approach to her storytelling, striving for honesty and intimacy on screen. Her film is presented in partnership with Ventureland, the creative studio arm of PRETTYBIRD, which is committed to extending storytelling capabilities and utilizing artistry across a variety of platforms. Through the team’s shared experience of producing high-profile and award-winning work. Amongst Ventureland’s leading team is Natasha Wellesley, an award-winning Executive Producer whose varied experience supports the company’s vision of creating original programming and innovative brand and experiences.Director, DJ and drummer, D.W. Waterson is mainly known for her multi award-winning digital series THAT’S MY DJ. D.W. is a 5-time award-winner of Best Director and has won Noteable’s 2017 Director of the Year. D.W. has recently returned from the UK where she consulted and directed 2nd unit on the Netflix Original series TURN UP CHARLIE starring Idris Elba and Piper Perabo.

2021 TRIBECA X JURY

Justine Armour

Chief Creative Officer
Grey

Justine joined Grey in February 2020 as Chief Creative Officer of the New York office. One of advertising’s most-lauded female creatives, Justine has worked on iconic brands such as P&G, Volvo, Old Spice, Cheerios, Secret, Chrysler, Smirnoff and Spotify, and has been recognized at every major award show for wide-ranging work. She has served as a juror at Cannes, One Show, Clio, Andys, Ciclope, and others. She was named on Adweek’s Creative 100 list of 2019 and was recognized as a Female Frontier honoree by Campaign magazine in 2020.

David Bornoff

Head of Consumer Marketing
DoorDash

David is the Head of Consumer Marketing at DoorDash. Prior to DoorDash, David was Executive Director of Marketing at Pandora, having previously served as the company’s Creative Director. Before Pandora, David was Creative Director at Interbrand S.F where he focused on three primary clients, Chevron, Google, and eBay. He began his career in the early days of non-scripted television - working on The Real World and The Simple Life at Bunim Murray. In 2020, David was named to Brand Innovators “40 under 40” list of young marketing stars and his work has received numerous creativity and campaign awards. David has a Post Diplome in Multimedia from The École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts and an undergraduate degree in Fine Arts from Otis College of Art and Design. David resides in Oakland with his wife Alexis and their two kiddos Ivan and Sadie.

Morgan Cooper

Filmmaker

Morgan Cooper is a Los Angeles-based writer and director originally hailing from Kansas City, MO. His influences range from fine art, jazz, and hip-hop, to the works of photographers Gordon Parks and Roy DeCarava. Two short films directed by Cooper, U SHOOT VIDEOS? and PAYDAY, won in their categories at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival. Cooper is currently collaborating with Will Smith's Westbrook Studios on BEL-AIR, a dramatic re-imagining of THE FRESH PRINCE, which he created and will direct for Peacock.

Senain Kheshgi

Co-Founder
MAJORITY

Senain Kheshgi co-founded MAJORITY, the auteur-driven production company that leverages independent cinema’s most exciting female filmmakers to create innovative original and branded productions. She has directed feature and short films, including Emmy-nominated documentary THE DIPLOMAT (ESPN), award-winning PROJECT KASHMIR (Independent Lens) and the viral docu-series DIVAS OF KARACHI (PBS). She is a Peabody winner, a three-time Sundance Fellow, a Tribeca All-Access Alumni Grant recipient and has served on panels and juries for IDA, Sundance, Hot Docs Blue Ice, ITVS, CAAM and Film Independent. She is a member of AMPAS, the Television Academy and former board member of the IDA.

Emily Oberman

Emily Oberman is an award-winning multidisciplinary designer whose work encompasses strategy, brand identity, motion graphics, publications, packaging, advertising, and websites. A handful of those global brands and institutions include Warner Bros. Entertainment, Fisher-Price, Rotten Tomatoes, Saturday Night Live, DC, Warner Records, J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World, League of Legends, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and Netflix’s Queue print magazine and digital platform. Her branding work extends to hospitality including the Michelin starred Cote Restaurant in NYC and Miami, and startups like the renowned child development company LOVEVERY. A graduate of Cooper Union, Obermans’s work has been recognized by the AIGA, TDC, ADC, CA, among others.