The 2020 Tribeca Film Festival is evolving into virtual or remote initiatives, to face the times. It is one of the first and only festivals to introduce a curated immersive experience to consumers.

The Tribeca Film Festival, presented by AT&T, announced that select programming from the 19th annual Festival, this April, will be presented online. Dedicated to supporting filmmakers, creators, and artists that breathe life into the Festival, the New York community, and the industry, the festival moves online, this edition, to bring new work from incredible storytellers to an audience eager to connect with their stories.

Since its inception, Tribeca has pushed the boundaries of storytelling and innovative ways to connect with audiences. This online program is the latest iteration of that commitment. The programming includes the N.O.W. Creators Market, Jury and Art Awards, Tribeca’s Industry Extranet Resource Hub, and the brand storytelling Tribeca X Awards.

“As human beings, we are navigating uncharted waters,” said Tribeca Enterprises and Tribeca Film Festival Co-Founder and CEO Jane Rosenthal. “While we cannot gather in person to lock arms, laugh, and cry, it’s important for us to stay socially and spiritually connected. Tribeca is about resiliency, and we fiercely believe in the power of artists to bring us together. We were founded after the devastation of 9/11 and it’s in our DNA to bring communities together through the arts.”

Cinema360 and VR headsets

Faced with the COVID-19 pandemic, while still focusing on ensuring the industry and filmmaking community could continue to connect and develop their careers, the organizers had to change plans for the 19th annual Tribeca Film Festival, and so they did, as fast as possible, to bring some of the programming from the upcoming festival to audiences worldwide.

Tribeca Immersive’s audience-facing Cinema360 will debut in partnership with Oculus and features 15 VR films, curated into four 30-40 minute programs. The public will be able to access Cinema360 via Oculus TV, for Oculus Go and Oculus Quest. The millions of people who own Oculus headsets will be able to participate in this unique programming from home. Tribeca is one of the first and only festivals to introduce this curated immersive experience to consumers.

While the use of VR headsets to share the festival program confirms the importance of VR as a means to reach audiences, as ProVideo Coalition has suggested in multiple articles, it is somehow surprising that the the program does not extend to Oculus Rift S, one of the most popular headsets from Oculus (or Facebook).

On this subject, it looks as if Facebook continues to put the Oculus Rift S, its only PC VR headset (made by Lenovo) aside, in a clear suggestion that the company prefers its – more limited – Quest, which is being transformed into a “Facebook VR” tool. It’s also a pity that the Tribeca experience is limited to Oculus, as other headsets, from the HP Reverb to the Valve Index, not to mention HTC’s VR offer, would allow to reach a wider audience in this first Tribeca online.

The Tribeca X Awards online

“Our programmers adapt as society shifts and the audience needs change. The team here has responded to those needs and we stand with our creators everyday as things move through to the new future we will all be seeing over the horizon very soon,” said Paula Weinstein, CCO of Tribeca Enterprises.

“We want to ensure we are meeting the urgent needs of our community by continuing with 2020 festival programming that can evolve into virtual or remote initiatives,” said Tribeca’s Festival Director Cara Cusumano. “We identified these five programs as ones that could easily pivot online and still deliver the same impact for creators and industry. We are excited to share these most immediate announcements, while we continue to look ahead to our Festival’s next steps.“

The Tribeca X Awards, with all the finalists from Adidas, Adorama, Dior, Dove, Hewlett Packard, Kelly Services, Lime, Procter & Gamble, Red Bull, Square, Synchrony Bank, and Volvo Car UK are available available for audience viewing on tribecafilm.com. Also available is the Tribeca Industry Extranet Resource Hub that is hosting participating films for industry and press. The Tribeca Extranet is the Festival’s online hub providing accredited industry with resources for the program including rights availabilities, delegate directory, and sales contacts.

Films at the Virtual Arcade

The juried awards for feature and shorts categories will be presented by the jury who will select the winners to be announced on tribecafilm.com within the window of the original Festival dates. The jury includes leaders of the creative community including Danny Boyle, Aparna Nancherla, Regina Hall, Yance Ford, Lucas Hedges, Pamela Adlon, Marti Noxon, Asia Kate Dillon and Sheila Nevins.

Winners in select Competition categories will be eligible for our Art Award where world-class artists donate a piece of their work to be awarded to Festival filmmakers. The awards have been a tradition since the Festival’s founding in 2001. The 2020 Art Awards, supported by CHANEL, features the work of alumni and new artists curated by notable gallerist, Vito Schnabel.

“We are also announcing the official selections for this year’s Virtual Arcade, including the Storyscapes nominees,” says Senior Programmer, Film & Immersive Loren Hammonds. “The entire list of officially selected projects can be found on HERE on our website, starting today. We gratefully acknowledge all selected creators of Tribeca Immersive 2020 and would like to thank them for their patience and understanding through this difficult time of uncertainty.”

The N.O.W. Creators Market is now virtual

The N.O.W. (New Online Work) section, sponsored by HBO, will host its fifth annual private industry market that brings together leading online, episodic and immersive storytellers (2020 N.O.W. Showcase creators, 2020 TribecaTV Pilot Season creators and an additional curated group of online, indie episodic and VR writers/performers/influencers) to pitch new projects to a wide-range of industry, including distributors, production companies, streamers, and online platforms. Participating companies taking pitch meetings include Albyon, Atlas V, BRON Studios, CNN Original Series, Giant Spoon, Gunpowder & Sky, NOWNESS, Topic Streaming, Topic Studios, Tribeca Studios, and more.

The N.O.W. Creators Market will take place virtually April 21 and 22, 2020, setting up hundreds of 20-minute, video pitch meetings between Creators and Industry looking to collaborate on future projects.

“We established the N.O.W. Creators Market in 2016 as a way to introduce a wide array of filmmakers, writers and emerging creators to an equally diverse group of industry in an effort to inspire collaboration and career opportunities,” said Liza Domnitz, Senior Programmer, Film, TV & New Online Work. “Through the power of technology, we couldn’t be more pleased that, despite the tenuous circumstances, we can push on with the 2020 Market, and [virtually] bring together the creative community for two exciting days of one-on-one pitching and conversation.”