How to Pitch Like a Pro: A Tribeca Guide

Posted on May 2, 2012 by ITVS Staff

By Claire Aguilar
Vice President of Programming, ITVS

ITVS’s Claire Aguilar attended the 11th annual Tribeca Film Festival this past April, participating in the Tribeca Film Institute’s Filmmaker Pitch Workshop and acting as a juror for the Tribeca All Access Documentary Program.

Tribeca Film Institute Industry Meetings

For the past five years, ITVS has participated in the Tribeca Film Festival in many different capacities, from the funder of films selected for the festival (this year included Stephen Maing’s High Tech, Low Life, Beth Murphy’s The List, and Jerry Rothwell’s Town of Runners), to hosting special screenings of ITVS films (FUTURESTATES), ITVS’s involvement in this iconic festival is always varied and exciting.

Two special events this year included participation in Tribeca’s Interactive Day (attended by ITVS’s Karim Ahmad) and Tribeca All Access, a year-round initiative that supports the careers of filmmakers who hail from communities traditionally under-represented in the film industry. Tribeca All Access has been a successful and groundbreaking industry event, fostering and supporting diverse filmmaking voices through industry meetings, development support, and mentoring. Continue reading →

Tribeca Film Festival Underway in NYC

Posted on April 20, 2011 by ITVS Staff

The Tribeca Film Festival gets started today in New York and runs until May 1. The festival was founded in 2002 as a response to the events of 9/11, to help Lower Manhattan recover after the tragedy, and to celebrate the vitality and diversity of New York City through filmmaking.

Each year ITVS participates in the festival by meeting with filmmakers involved in the Tribeca All Access program. From April 22-28, ITVS’ Vice President of Programming Claire Aguilar will be in NYC to participate in the All Access development meetings with producers of color.

Three ITVS-funded films will also be on display at this year’s festival, including: Donor Unknown, Give Up Tomorrow, and When the Drum is Beating.

Plus, a special All Access screening of shorts from the second season of FUTURESTATES will screen on Saturday, April 23rd at 2:30PM at the Clearview Cinemas in Chelsea. This year’s selection, listed below, highlights Tribeca All Access alumni as well as emerging New York filmmaking talent:

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At Tribeca All Access with ITVS Vice President of Programming Claire Aguilar

Posted on April 27, 2010 by ITVS Staff

The Tribeca Film Festival was founded in 2002 as a response to the events of 9/11, to help Lower Manhattan recover after the tragedy, and to celebrate the vitality and diversity of New York City through filmmaking. Each year ITVS participates in the festival by meeting with filmmakers involved in the Tribeca All Access program. Read about ITVS’s involvement with Tribeca All Access from ITVS vice president of programming Claire Aguilar.

Claire Aguilar (center) with Miguel Martinez (left) and Jamie Sisley (right), the producers of Farewell, Ferris Wheel

An integral part of the festival, Tribeca All Access (TAA) facilitates and supports relationships between filmmakers from underrepresented communities and film industry executives. ITVS relies on TAA as a resource for finding exciting projects from filmmakers of color. TAA elicits an enthusiastic response from filmmakers and festival goers every year, not only because of the excellent quality projects in development, but also because of Tribeca’s commitment to diversity.

This year’s TAA opened with a welcome lunch at Megu restaurant where I was able to meet TAA filmmakers and TAA’s director, the wonderful Tamir Muhammad and his staff. Tribeca co-founder Jane Rosenthal welcomed guests and reaffirmed the festival’s commitment to TAA and lauded its success after nine years of supporting and nurturing filmmakers from the program: from initial meetings with industry representatives, to screenings at the festival. I was able to speak to filmmakers in a keynote address and talked about ITVS’s involvement and also our exciting online drama series FUTURESTATES, citing a number of TAA participants.

Continue reading →

At Tribeca All Access with ITVS Vice President of Programming Claire Aguilar

Posted on April 24, 2009 by ITVS Staff

The Tribeca Film Festival was founded as a response to the events of 9/11 to help Lower Manhattan recover after the tragedy and to celebrate the vitality and diversity of New York City through filmmaking. Tribeca All Access has been an integral part of the film festival and has supported relationships between filmmakers from underrepresented communities and film industry executives. Read about ITVS’s involvement with Tribeca All Access from ITVS vice president of programming Claire Aguilar.

ITVS vice president of programming Claire Aguilar.

ITVS-funded filmmakers Marco Williams and Hugo Perez.

ITVS has been involved with Tribeca All Access (TAA) since its beginning in 2004, and we continue to appreciate and rely on it as a resource for exciting projects from filmmakers of color. TAA elicits a vibrant atmosphere every year, not only because of the excellent quality projects in development, but also because of Tribeca’s commitment to diversity. So amid the glamour and excitement of Tribeca Film Festival––the festival’s opening film was Woody Allen’s Whatever Works––there was the simultaneous excitement of 31TAA filmmakers excitedly pitching their films in development.

This year I met with new documentary producers who were part of Tribeca All Access, but the group also included many ITVS-supported producers. The three days of meetings take the form of 30-minute one-on-ones with the producing team, and I was able to meet with all nine documentary project teams. TAA also supports narrative projects, but because of limited time I only met with docs this time. For six years, TAA has been fostering these producers not only with setting up these initial development meetings with them, but continuing to support the TAA “alumni” with year-round support, often culminating in screening the finished film at the festival.

There are a myriad of connections between the TAA producers and ITVS. Not only does TAA provide the genesis of a future project and relationship, but it can branch off in many different ways. ITVS-funded producer Nicole Opper pitched her film OFF AND RUNNING: A Very American Coming of Age Story at TAA in 2008 and it is premiering at this year’s festival. Another ITVS-funded filmmaker, Marco Williams, received development support for his documentary The Immigration Project, and was selected at this year’s TAA to meet with industry. Hugo Perez, selected to pitch at TAA for his narrative project, Immaculate Conception. He has been working with ITVS on a screenplay of a short fiction online film called Seed, as well as a documentary completed last year, SUMMER SUN WINTER MOON. And producer Phil Bertelsen, also selected to pitch at TAA for his narrative project Ghost Days with producer Tanya Hamilton, has been awarded development funding for his documentary on Black Hollywood, Bright Boulevards, Bold Dreams. Jason DaSilva, who was awarded ITVS funding early this year for his documentary WHEN I WALK presented his film about living with multiple sclerosis. Accompanied by his brother/co-producer Leigh DaSilva, Jason spoke about his project and the blogging and behind-the-scenes online films that will be part of the project.

-Claire
ITVS vice president of programming