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“Ideally the submissions get whittled down to
fifteen. That’s when Amy Hobby, the Executive
Director of the Tribeca Institute, will take a final
look before the final 15 projects are presented
to the Gucci panel.”The jury
The final stage of deliberation features a five-
person jury put together with Gucci. The jury in-
cludes an all-star diverse cast of individuals rang-
ing from celebrities to activist and filmmakers.
Rodriguez breaks down the panel like this:
“One or two celebrities — they could also be
an activist or invested in the political spectrum.
Maybe like Josh Lucas, Ed Norton, Jessica Alba
or Olivia Wilde. Then, maybe the third slot will
be a doc filmmaker who participated in the
grant in a prior year and comes back as a juror,
like Roger Ross Williams or filmmakers who
have gotten grants from us and know our sensi-
bilities,” Rodriguez says.
The panel will also include another person
in the industry, “someone doing similar work
to us, like from IDA (International Documentary
Association) or the Guardian.” There will also be
someone from outside the doc space, “maybe
someone who comes from a socially conscious
group, philanthropic, government, or LGBTQ
organization who helps us decide if the story
needs to be told now,” Rodriguez concludes.The finalists
Rodriguez and his team curate the list of finalist
with both popular message-driven projects and
also a few more under-the-radar stories to keep
the process honest. “We put in projects we think
our shoe-ins and maybe a few dark horses to see
what the jury thinks, to see if what they see is in
alignment with what we see.”
Rodriguez also notes that, for the final stages
of judging, filmmakers must provide a 10-30 min-
ute sample. “The longer sample provides a more
clear cut direction of the narrative and shows the
jury if the filmmaker has all the assets and skills
to tell the story.”
Once the final jury has deliberated and chosen
the winners, there is a vote on how to allocate
the funding. Rodriguez gives some examples of
how this process works: “The jury can decide to
fund all 15 finalists for $10k each or vote to give
the filmmaker exactly what they requested or in
some cases more than what they requested.”
After the final deliberations have taken place,
TFI starts rolling out decisions through the end of
August or early September.Beyond the grant
Another form of support for filmmakers that
works in association with the Gucci Tribeca Doc
Fund is provided by Verizon Media (formerly the
Oath Foundation).How to win a grant: An inside look at the Gucci Tribeca Documentary Film Fund
In “Untitled Puerto Rico Documentary,” director Celilia Aldarondo addresses the timely subject of Puerto Rico’s recovery
after the devastating Hurricane Maria.Untitled Puerto Rico documentary directed by Cecilia Aldarondo. photo by Pablo Alvarez-Mesa courtesy of TFIA Place of Absence directed by and photo by Marialuisa Ernst photo courtesy of TFI390 F08 Tribeca Film Fund.indd 30 9/24/19 2:16 PMVIDEOMAKER >>> NOVEMBER 2019 31
“We have Verizon Media onboard; they have
been a partner for the last 4 years. A portion of
these grants is provided by them. We also have a
few other grants for filmmakers and other grants
for in-kind services, like our impact distribution
campaigns,” Rodriguez says.
“The way this works,” he explains, “is we
send a questionnaire to the filmmaker about
the opportunity and share with the jury who
we think would like to opt-in or opt-out for
impact support. All shared support provided
by Verizon Media is in association with the
jury panel’s decision, and Verizon/Oath pro-
vides additional support and works with an
agency called Picture Motion to execute an
impact campaign.”
Picture Motion is an award-winning social im-
pact agency for film and entertainment. As part
of the program, PM develops and implements
effective social impact campaigns that will
maximize the power of a film to ignite progres-
sive change.
“The pattern in the past has been some
money will get allocated towards post (through
the Gucci grant). And then some will go towards
a Picture Motion campaign, which works with
the filmmaker on rollouts to festivals and con-
necting with the audience,” Rodriguez says.How to win a grant: An inside look at the Gucci Tribeca Documentary Film Fund
In “Untitled Puerto Rico Documentary,” director Celilia Aldarondo addresses the timely subject of Puerto Rico’s recovery
after the devastating Hurricane Maria.Success stories
“93 Queen” and “Call Her Ganda” both received
grants and impact campaign support in 2018. Di-
rected by Paula Eiselt, “93 Queen” is a doc about
a Hasidic female volunteer ambulance company.
PJ Raval’s “Call Her Ganda” tells the story of a
trans woman murdered by a U.S. Marine in the
Philippines. Both docs found a home with POV/
PBS. The additional support “93 Queen” and “Call
Her Ganda” received helped bring the respective
communities together to view the films.
Thanks to the impact campaign, “Call Her
Ganda” even screened on Capitol Hill for mem-
bers of Congress. This put the film in front of
policymakers in an effort to invoke change and
pursue justice for the victim.A network of options
In some cases, TFI will steer filmmakers not
selected to other grants. “Some stories might end
up reaching further in our rounds but be better
suited for another grant program,” Rodriguez
notes. “For example, if the film comes from a
Latin American filmmaker with a story that reso-
nates with that region, the better grant for that
project might come from our Latin American
grants allocated to projects out of our Tribeca All
Access Program.”“A Place of Absence” touches on both cultural and personal trauma. The film follows filmmaker Marialusia
Ernst as she travels through Mexico with a group called the Caravan of Mothers of Missing Migrants. Ernst
draws parallels to her family’s experience and her uncle, who disappeared during Argentina’s ‘Dirty War.’Untitled Puerto Rico documentary directed by Cecilia Aldarondo. photo by Pablo Alvarez-Mesa courtesy of TFIA Place of Absence directed by and photo by Marialuisa Ernst photo courtesy of TFI390 F08 Tribeca Film Fund.indd 31 9/24/19 2:16 PM