Welcome back! Can you introduce yourself?

Hi, my name is Ellie Sachs, and I premiered my film Lucy Schulman in the Narrative Competition section at the 2026 Tribeca Festival. I wrote and directed it, and I acted in it too.

Give us the logline.

I figure there’s no better place to go than the official Tribeca logline, from one of my favorite programmers, Mr. Jarod Neece, in his write-up of the film on the Tribeca website. So here we go: “After a crushing breakup, Lucy moves back in with her eccentric single dad and dives into bad dates, false starts, and growing pains. Big-hearted and sharply funny, Lucy Schulman is a charming, comedic coming-of-age story from multi-hyphenate Tribeca alum Ellie Sachs.” Big-hearted and sharply funny are Tribeca’s words, not mine. Thank you, Tribeca! And multi-hyphenate Tribeca alum: very nice, thank you for that.

This wasn’t your first time at the festival.

It’s true! I was at the festival in 2023 with a short film called Proof of Concept, which I co-wrote and co-directed with Max Cohn.

We had a lot of fun making it, and it was a great time at the festival. So it was a really big honor to be back in 2026 with Lucy Schulman. It was a full-circle moment and a true homecoming.

What’s happening with the film now?

Some very exciting news: we sold the film to Aero Films, and we’ll be getting theatrical distribution. That means the movie will be in theaters early 2027. We are so, so excited.

What advice would you give filmmakers thinking about submitting to Tribeca?

Write a cover letter. I’ve always written cover letters for the things I’m going after in life, and I think it’s a really nice touch. Don’t be afraid to put your personality into it, and talk about why Tribeca for your film. The programmers do an incredible job of making sure the movies tell the larger story of the festival, that they work together and feel cohesive as a program. So it’s important to really infuse who you are into your cover letter and explain why your film makes sense for Tribeca.

Any other advice that’s stuck with you?

This one’s annoying, but I believe it. I was told when I first started making short films: make sure the short film you’re making is actually a short film. If it’s short, keep it short.

And if there’s something in your edit that isn’t making sense to you, or isn’t feeling right, or is keeping you up at night, attack it. Fix it. Figure it out. I really got good at trusting my gut when I made Lucy. It’s so important to follow your impulses. If you feel like something isn’t right, or you think you could make a joke a little tighter, it always pays to go back, do that extra work, and really pay attention to detail. I never regret that.

Them’s my tips.

Last question: what’s your go-to movie snack?

A nice, crispy, super-freezing Smart Water, popcorn, and Buncha Crunch. And obviously, I’m putting the Buncha Crunch inside the popcorn.