September 15th, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

New York, NY [September15, 2010] –The Tribeca Film Institute (TFI) today announced its new TFI Documentary Fund, presented by HBO, which will provide more than $100,000 in fellowships and grants for engaging, character-driven documentaries. As the not-for-profit Institute enters its tenth year, it will award more than $500,000 in filmmaker support grants throughout 2011. Submissions are currently open.

In addition to the TFI Documentary Fund, presented by HBO -which will provide select filmmakers with financial support, supervision and guidance- TFI will continue to administer grants through three highly successful existing funds, and expand the industry-lauded Tribeca All Access program to include grants to all participating filmmakers.  The Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund provides finishing grants totaling $100,000 to feature-length documentaries that highlight and humanize topics of social significance.  The TFI Sloan Filmmaker Fund will award up to $140,000 to support compelling narrative filmmaking that explores scientific, mathematic and technological themes.  The Tribeca All Access Program will continue cultivating relationships between filmmakers from traditionally underrepresented communities and film industry executives, and provide each 2011 participant with $10,000 in order to maximize the program’s impact.  And, the TFI Latin America Media Arts Fund will support innovative film and video artists working in narrative or documentary film and living in Mexico, Central and South America.

“For nearly a decade Tribeca Film Institute has been discovering and developing emerging independent filmmakers,” said Tribeca Film Institute Board Co-Chair Jane Rosenthal.  “We are privileged to be able to continue to nurture diverse and authentic stories and for the first time provide over a half a million dollars in funding, offering storytellers at every level the opportunity to advance their work.”

“Through the generous support of our partners, including the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation who has been with us since our founding, new partners like HBO, and returning supporters, including Gucci, Bloomberg, Time Warner, and Moviecity, we have been able to provide talented filmmakers with funding and professional guidance over the past ten years,” said Beth Janson, Artistic Director of TFI. “We are excited to expand the reach and depth of our programming to support individual artists in the field.”   

All submissions open today, with an early deadline of Nov. 8, 2010 and final submission deadline of Dec. 8, 2010. For rules and regulations, visit www.tribecafilminstitute.org.

 

TFI Documentary Fund
The newly launched TFI Documentary Fund, presented by HBO, was created to further the development of character-driven documentaries. The Fund will arrange one-on-one meetings with key HBO Documentary Film executives, in addition to providing financial support, supervision and guidance from TFI and HBO, to select filmmakers developing artistically significant and engaging feature-length documentaries that emphasize character.

Through the generous support of HBO, three fellowships will be awarded to films in the advanced stages of development, production or post-production: $50,000 will be awarded  to an emerging filmmaker in production on his or her first feature-length documentary under The TFI/HBO “Documentary Screen Test” Fellowship; The TFI/HBO “House I Live In” Fellowship will award $25,000 towards the completion of a documentary focused on the filmmaker’s personal story; and a $25,000 TFI/HBO “Outside Looking In” Fellowship will be granted to support an extraordinary character-driven story, which aims to take audiences into someone else's world.

Recipients will be announced at the annual TFI Awards held during the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival.

 

Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund
Now in its fourth year, the Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund will provide finishing funds to feature-length documentaries which highlight and humanize issues of social importance from around the world. The Fund focuses on documentaries that are driven by thoughtful, accurate and complete storytelling. Grants ranging from $10,000 - $25,000 will be awarded to works that are in production or post-production, and will be selected by a committee of noted talents in the field.

Prior recipients include Tyler Measom and Jennilyn Merten’s Sons of Perdition that premiered at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival and was recently acquired by OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network); Laura Poitras’ The Oath, which won the Cinematography award at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, and Rob Lemkin and Thet Sambath’s Enemies of the People, winner of the 2010 Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize.  Beadie Finzi’s Only When I Dance and Ian Olds’ Emmy nominated Fixer: The Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi were also recent Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund recipients. Both documentaries had their World Premieres at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival, where Olds’ film received the best new documentary filmmaker award and was picked up by HBO Documentary films for broadcast on the cable network. Only When I Dance was purchased by Film Movement and recently released.

 

TFI Sloan Filmmaker Fund
A founding sponsor of the Tribeca Film Institute and Tribeca Film Festival, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation will administer up to $140,000 in grants through the TFI Sloan Filmmaker Fund this year to narrative film projects in any stage of development that dramatize science and technology themes or portray scientists, engineers or mathematicians in prominent character roles.  In addition to financial awards ranging from $10,000 to $40,000, grantees will receive professional guidance and mentorship through the Tribeca Film Institute, including project feedback and networking opportunities with science experts and members of the film industry.

Awards will be presented to the winning filmmakers at the annual TFI Awards held during the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival.

2010 TFI Sloan Filmmaker Fund recipient Jenny Deller has recently completed production on Future Weather starring Amy Madigan, Lili Taylor, Bill Sadler and Perla Haney-Jardine. The film, which was completed using funding from TFI Sloan, centers on a 13-year-old loner who grows fixated on environmental disaster after she is abandoned by her eccentric single mom. 

Since receiving a TFI Sloan grant, Cockeyed, based on the memoir by Ryan Knighton has attached Jodie Foster as director. Additional projects that have attracted significant talent include Face Value, the story of screen siren Hedy Lamarr and A First Class Man, the story of the great Indian mathematician Ramanujan.

 

Tribeca All Access
In its eighth year, the Tribeca All Access (TAA) program will take its commitment to cultivating relationships between filmmakers from traditionally underrepresented communities and the film industry one step further.  In addition to the workshops, panels and one-on-one meetings with potential investors, development executives, and producers that TAA arranges for participants during the annual Tribeca Film Festival, the program will maximize its impact in 2011 by providing $10,000 grants to each of the ten selected projects, and tailored mentorships for select participants.  All participants will also be eligible for a TAA Creative Promise Award presented by Time Warner, an additional juried prize of $10,000, which will be presented at the TFI Awards during the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival.

To date, Tribeca All Access has supported 210 film projects, with many receiving direct funding, jobs, mentorship, career development and production assistance through the 3,355 industry meetings arranged by TAA. This year, TAA will extend its year-round programming and support for alumni by awarding a total of $20,000 in grants for past TAA projects in development or new works by program alumni.  Additionally, alumni will continue to have access to free or discounted equipment and services for any of their projects, and be eligible to take part in a series of workshops, panels and industry events.  Promotional support and screening opportunities will also be provided for completed films. 

Tribeca All Access is made possible by Bloomberg with major support from Time Warner and additional support by SAP, Hollywood Foreign Press Association, The Academy Foundation, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA), New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), and The Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian.

 

TFI Latin America Media Arts Fund
The TFI Latin America Media Arts Fund supports innovative film and video artists who are living or working in Mexico, Central and South America and working independently in their efforts to reach a larger audience.  Created to encourage Latin American artists to redefine, invent, explore and create stories that reflect their diverse cultures, the Fund will administer $20,000 in grants to a minmum of two artists working in documentary or hybrid forms.

In addition to funding, each grantee will receive a U.S. based advisor and guidance from the Tribeca Film Institute. The TFI Latin America Media Arts Fund is made possible with support from Moviecity.

 

About the Tribeca Film Institute:
The Tribeca Film Institute is a 501(c)(3) year-round nonprofit arts organization founded by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, and Craig Hatkoff in the wake of September 11, 2001.   TFI empowers filmmakers through grants and professional development, and is a resource for and supporter of individual artists in the field. The Institute’s educational programming leverages an extensive network of people in the film industry to help underserved New York City students learn filmmaking and gain the media skills necessary to be productive citizens and creative individuals in the 21st century. Administering a dozen major programs annually, TFI is a critical contributor to the fabric of filmmaking and aids in promoting and protecting filmmakers and media artists.

 For more information and a list of all TFI programs visit http://www.tribecafilminstitute.org/

 

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Media Contact:

Jodi Sevin Patkin
Rubenstein Communications
212-843-8393
jsevin@rubenstein.com

Tammie Rosen
Tribeca Enterprises
(212) 941-2003
trosen@tribecaenterprises.com