FAQ | Tribeca

The application for Through Her Lens: The Tribeca CHANEL Women’s Filmmaker Program will be accessible and open to the public from May 19, 2026 - June 21, 2026.

Submissions will close on June 21th 2026 at 11:59pm ET. There is no entry fee to apply to Through Her Lens.

Eligible applicants may be a writer/director, or writer, or director. If the applicant is solely the writer, then a director must be attached to the submitted project.
- Documentary feature directors transitioning into scripted are eligible.
- Projects must have a producer attached, that is NOT the director of the film.
- Directors should have made at least one short previous work as a director.
- Directors who have completed a scripted feature that has screened at festivals or received national distribution are no longer eligible for this program. Directors who have directed two or more episodes of a network, cable or premium streaming series are no longer eligible for this program.

Five projects will be brought to the workshop, with up to two participating members of each team, which may include writers, directors and/or producers. One project will receive the $120,000 grant and the four other participating projects will each receive a $10,000 grant to keep their project moving forward after the workshop.

We require a minimum of five minutes of consecutive footage of the director’s previous work. Previous work cannot be recording of a live performance, staged reading, etc. Directors must provide a work sample completed no earlier than January 2019. Previous work produced by writers is appreciated but not required.

You may provide just a top sheet, as long as the total is under $120,000. Please remember to allocate for your full post, deliverables, festival submission fees and any marketing materials you wish to have. Tribeca and CHANEL will not be providing additional funding for these fees.

No. Filmmakers will own their own films.

However, if you are selected as the production grant recipient, you agree to place a logo for Through Her Lens® in the introductory credits at the beginning of the short film produced in connection with the project. If you are selected to receive either the production grant or a development grant, you agree to place the following credit in any feature-length or TV version(s) or spin-off(s) of the project: “Developed through Tribeca’s Through Her Lens® program.” You also agree to place the following acknowledgments, in addition to any logos that may be provided to you, in the end credit scroll of your final short film, on all theatrical one-sheets/posters and on any film-specific website for the project, in substantially the following form: “Produced with support from Tribeca Enterprises and CHANEL.”

The Artistic Statement is your opportunity to discuss your creative vision for your project. This is where you can describe the tone and style of the film and speak to the reasoning behind your creative choices with regard to the subject matter, medium, setting, etc. It’s also the place to touch upon your motivation for telling this story and for how you’ve decided to tell it.

The Filmmaker Statement is your opportunity to explain how this program will help your future filmmaking career. Although we are only granting one project, we are choosing filmmakers who are thinking strategically about their future, and we would like this workshop to help advance them in their career.

Applicants must be current residents of the U.S. or Puerto Rico, but do not need to be U.S. citizens. If you have any specific questions, please contact THLSubmissions@tribecafilm.com.

No. Screenwriters are welcome to apply, but we require that a director and a producer are attached to the project. If you have any specific questions, please contact THLSubmissions@tribecafilm.com

Yes, the workshop participants can be teams of two. Writer/directors are allowed to bring a creative producer to the workshop, and writers are allowed to bring their director or creative producer to the workshop. Please include who you would want to attend in your application. We strongly encourage a producer to attend if possible.

The qualifying writer or writer/director must be in attendance in-person throughout the entirety of the three-day workshop, date to be announced.

Through Her Lens will cover the cost of airfare and set up accommodation for primary participants who do not reside in the New York City metro area.

Projects must make best efforts to be completed within one year of the workshop.

We highly encourage applicants to submit the script that they feel is most production-ready and will best fit the $120,000 budget. Applicants do need to fill out a separate application per project.

The selection committee and Tribeca will provide feedback and notes on your draft and materials after you are accepted. You will be asked to address these notes and return your final script three weeks before the workshop.

Our staff will be happy to answer any other questions or concerns you may have. Email us here.