For its 25th anniversary next June Tribeca Festival expands his tent to include social media creators as part of the official program.
Organizers said Thursday that Tribeca will become the first major film festival to feature videos widely available on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube alongside more traditional fare.
The NOW stream was launched in 2014 and has welcomed projects such as Lena Waithe's. Hello CupidShaina Feinberg dinetteand Barrett O'Brien and Mark Duplass Long, long night. Elvira Linds Letter rooma 2020 NOW selection, was nominated for an Oscar for Best Live Action Short the following year. Katya Blichfeld and Ben Sinclair, who created High level of service for Vevo before being featured by HBO, their work was also featured on Tribeca NOW.
Tribeca has long been committed to incorporating new platforms into its offerings, with a focus on transmedia, gaming, podcasts and a wide range of interactive experiences. The festival showcased early mobile filmmaking with the Nokia 6682 in 2005, expanded the popularity of YouTube-produced series through a partnership with Maker Studios in 2012 (two years before Disney's acquisition), and later created joint ventures with Vine and Snapchat in the 2010s.
“Storytelling is evolving, and so is Tribeca,” said Jane Rosenthal, co-founder of parent company Tribeca Enterprises. “For 25 years, we've been drawn to new forms of creative expression and artists who push those boundaries. Today's creators are some of the most inventive storytellers working in any medium. The Tribeca NOW expansion pays homage to the way audiences experience stories today—on every screen, in every form. This spirit of reinvention is what Tribeca was built on.”
Submissions must be submitted by February 5 and will be “judged holistically, recognizing not only outstanding pieces of content, but also the creator's full body of work and storytelling voice,” the festival said.
The creators already have a home in Tribeca, which launched a dedicated vertical in 2024 in partnership with Whalar Group. It also positions the UpNext Creators initiative as a digital showcase for new talent. In 2025, UpNext Creators made their personal debut. with 12 prominent creators walking red carpets and attending shows.
“Tribeca's interdisciplinary programming has always celebrated the best cinematic stories across all platforms, bringing fresh creative voices to the independent ecosystem wherever they are,” said Cara Cusumano, Tribeca Festival Director and Senior Vice President of Programming. “This evolution of our signature NOW program will connect outstanding digital storytellers not only with new audiences, but also with the traditional film industry, the broader creative community and potential future collaborators, just as we have been doing for filmmakers and artists for 25 years.”
