The 2023 Tribeca Festival announced the Tribeca X speaker lineup along with Tribeca X Award official selections, which honor creators and brands that share a love of connecting consumers through storytelling.

On June 14, Tribeca X, in partnership with Tubi and Brand Storytelling, will convene thought leaders from media, brand, entertainment, and production to share perspectives and insights on what’s next for brand content during a new and dynamic era of powerful storytelling. Topics include AI-assisted story-finding, purpose-driven stories, the rapid proliferation of distribution channels, and creating a more diverse and inclusive creative industry. The event will also recognize the best story-driven filmmakers and brand collaborations of the year with the Tribeca X Award.

This year’s program will include a keynote from Diane von Furstenberg, Founder and Co-Chairwoman of DVF, in conversation with comedian Seth Meyers about the origins of her namesake company, her predictions for the fashion industry, and her advice for a younger generation of women entrepreneurs. In another keynote conversation, leaders at two iconic American companies, General Electric Global Chief Marketing Officer Linda Boff and General Motors Senior Vice President of Strategy and Innovation Alan Wexler will discuss how both experimentation and data-driven insights impact their brand narratives, what role corporate social responsibility plays in business, and how they leverage the power of storytelling to inform consumers during their companies’ moments of historic transformation.

On the heels of Tribeca Festival premiere Cinnamon, a black noir thriller, Tubi Chief Revenue Officer Mark Rotblat will discuss the future of streaming, content production and brand marketing with VaynerMedia Chief Executive Officer Gary Vaynerchuk. OKX Global Chief Marketing Officer Haider Rafique will address how OKX’s Web3 products contribute to building a future with more control, mobility, and ways to trade assets, and Television Personality Al Roker, John Deere Vice President of Global Brand & Communications Mara Downing and Emmy-nominated Producer/ Director Eternal Polk will discuss the rise of brand storytelling as a change agent. Additional speakers include Grindr Chief Executive Officer George Arison, Gilead Sciences Senior Vice President Alex Kalomparis, and Indeed Vice President of Global Brand and Creative Jennifer Warren, and U.S. Bank SVP, Head of Brand Advertising & Creative Strategy, Kelly Colbert , who will demonstrate what it means for a brand to inspire with storytelling.

“Tribeca X continues to celebrate the creativity in advertising across traditional and novel platforms alike,” said Tribeca CEO and Co-Founder Jane Rosenthal. “We’re thrilled to convene inventive minds across entertainment and brand as they share their insights and predictions for the industry.”

For the first time, breakout sessions have been added to Tribeca X and will provide guests with networking opportunities that foster meaningful industry connections. The sessions will also provide the opportunity for a more in-depth look at each topic and open discussion between breakout leaders and guests. The three breakout topics include: brand content distribution, metrics & measurement, and AI story creation. Following the program, guests will be invited to a lunch reception, co-hosted by IPG MEDIABRANDS, on the rooftop of Spring Studios in addition to a special industry cocktail event hosted by Grindr from 4-6pm on the rooftop of Spring Studios.

Tribeca Festival also announced the official selections for the 2023 Tribeca X Award, which celebrates the best-in-class projects of the year in five categories: Feature Film, Short Film, Series, Immersive, and Audio. Brands represented include A&W, Adobe, Amazon, Atlassian, Bulgari, Common Citizen, Flipper’s Roller Boogie Palace, Gjenge Makers, Google, Indeed, John Deere, Kawai, MIT Solve, Motown Records UK – Chivas, Panasonic, Room to Read, Sony AI, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Square, Tracksmith and PUMA, U.S. Bank, Novo Nordisk and Verizon.

TRIBECA X AWARD OFFICIAL SELECTIONS

Features

Earthbound: Nzambi Matee (Gjenge Makers) – Earthbound: Nzambi Matee, executive produced by Orlando Bloom, explores the life and achievements of Nzambi Matee, a Kenyan innovator and entrepreneur who is tackling the plastic waste epidemic in her hometown of Nairobi. Directed by Farhoud Meybodi.

EMBODIED (Novo Nordisk) – EMBODIED, follows the stories of five individuals as they combat weight stigma; a drag queen using humor to unravel discomfort around weight and queerness; a mermaid reconciling with generational fatphobia; a midwife working to dismantle fat bias in reproductive health; a former linebacker navigating the unclear relationship between health and size; and a CEO creating space and community for the millions of Americans with fat bodies. This feature offers a personal lens into the sensationalized topic of fatness, and gives the audience a glimpse of how these people live full and authentic lives. Directed by Isabel Bethencourt.

Gaining Ground: The Fight for Black Land (John Deere) – Gaining Ground: The Fight for Black Land, a 90-minute first-person narrative documentary film produced by Al Roker Entertainment that educates and addresses land ownership racial inequities that have existed in America for generations. It also serves to champion John Deere’s commitment to working with various partner organizations focusing on the work needed to improve the lives and livelihoods of Black farmers, with a particular emphasis on the preservation of Black-owned farmland in rural communities. Directed and executive produced by Eternal Polk.

Hideo Kojima: Connecting Worlds (Sony Interactive Entertainment) – Hideo Kojima: Connecting Worlds, produced by Ben Hilton, is a journey into the creative mind of the most iconic video games designer in the world. Featuring contributions from visionary artists, this visually captivating documentary gives a rare insight into Hideo Kojima’s creative process as he launches his own independent studio. Directed by Glen Milner.

Inside the Dream (Bulgari) – Inside the Dream, follows Lucia Silvestri, a passionate gem hunter and creative director, on an exclusive journey along the stages of high jewelry creation. From the search for finest gems in India, to collaborations with influential celebrities such as Zendaya. Directed by Matthieu Menu.

Short Film

Bring Back the Whistledog (A&W) – Bring Back the Whistledog, explores the unique fast food item that has ignited lasting passion at the Canadian restaurant chain A&W’s Whistle Dog. This “hot dogumentary” profiles diehard fans fighting the good fight to bring back the iconic dog. Directed by Bob Simpson.

Dirt in the Diamond (Motown Records UK, Chivas) – Dirt in the Diamond, a short film, set in 1970’s London, explores the duality of grief and celebration within the mourning period of Jamaican culture. The film pays homage through its style and use of archival footage, to the generations before us, who have been intentional about preserving our customs, traditions and communities after immigrating to the UK and enduring the difficulties that came with it. Directed by Renee Maria Osubu.

Flipper’s Skate Heist (Flipper’s Roller Boogie Palace) – Flipper’s Skate Heist, celebrates the official opening of Flipper’s skating rink in London, the iconic est. is debuting the ‘Chronic Skate’ in recognition of Dr. Dre’s first studio album, The Chronic. Flipper’s founder Liberty Ross chose to highlight her longtime friend and supporter by creating the collectible ‘Chronic Skate’ – the product is highlighted and officially introduced in the ‘Flipper’s ‘Skate Heist’ short film. The film is about a skating heist that ensues through city streets, seeing Flippers’ core skate collective arrive at the new site for a historical gliding dance session. Directed by Ben Dean.

Flowers (Panasonic) – Flowers, produced by George Telfer, follows a young prince embarking on a potent journey of self-discovery to claim and earn his crown. FLOWERS is an afro-futuristic fairytale of love, following a ceremony of a mother giving away her son. Our protagonist is gifted with a heavy crown by his mother to the disappointment of his overlooked brothers. Directed by Dumas Haddad.

Morning Joy (Kawai) – Morning Joy, produced by Ethan Pakchar and John Henry Hinkel, a short film about a recently widowed pianist has an unexpected encounter. Directed by John Henry Hinkel.

Somewhere Higher (Common Citizen) – Somewhere Higher, is a mini-anthology and channel-flip film about the people, art, and music inspired by cannabis in a post-legalization world, blending 35mm character vignettes with surreal 3D design and VFX. Common Citizen, a cannabis company based in Michigan, Even/Odd scouted all across the state to find cannabis users who have faced criminalization and stigmatization—so they could tell their side of the story. Directed by Mohammad Gorjestani.

Translators (U.S. Bank) – Translators, follows Harye, Densel, and Virginia, a few of the over 11 million child translators in the United States, as they translate for their parents in everyday situations. Directed by Rudy Valdez.

Series

The Big Idea (MIT Solve) – The Big Idea, follows the lives of three innovators who are brilliant, bold, and united by the desire to use technology, science and engineering to create radical, systemic change. While their innovations are uniquely their own, our subjects are united by a single life-changing opportunity. Directed by Sarah Klein and Tom Mason.

Full Bleed (Adobe) – Full Bleed, a documentary series taking viewers inside these iconic moments, going beyond the expected creator profile to explore what it takes to push boundaries, and examine how obstacles can become the conduit for groundbreaking work. Episode one of three, submitted here, centers the decade-long development of Freedom Tower with celebrated architect Daniel Libeskind. Directed by Patrick Daughters.

Future Self (Amazon) – Future Self, a documentary series that tells the stories of three minority students from across the globe who overcome personal, professional, and cultural challenges in order to pursue a career in technology that can help each of them make a lasting impact in their communities. Created in collaboration with AWS, this series raises awareness for the AWS AI & ML Scholarship program that helps underserved and underrepresented youth learn foundational ML concepts to prepare them for careers in artificial intelligence and machine learning. Directed by Alex Gilbert and Anjali Nayar.

Only in Dearborn (Square) – Only in Dearborn, Ali Alhashemi, affectionately known as “Barber Al,” is the American Dream personified, starting his business in high school, and cutting hair in his garage to help support his family. Now, he runs the most successful barbershop business in Dearborn, a diverse suburb west of Detroit and home to the largest population of Arab Americans outside the Middle East. What started as a job to make ends meet after his father passed, blossomed into a successful, multi-million-dollar franchise spanning three locations and supporting dozens of employees. Directed by Hamoody Jaafar.

She Creates Change (Room to Read) – She Creates Change, is an anthology series about six courageous teen girls who achieve things they once thought impossible. Each 11-minute episode begins with an animated short about a life-defining moment. A short documentary then reveals the teen hero behind the story. Directed by Martha Adams.

The Team Behind GT Sophy (Sony AI) — The Team Behind GT Sophy, set itself the ambitious goal of training an artificial intelligence agent to play the game Gran Turismo — the most complex racing simulation ever devised — at such a high level that it could beat the best human players in the world. The story follows these ambitious researchers as they figure out how to develop the sort of lightning-fast decision-making abilities that no AI had ever mastered before —and trained it to navigate thorny concepts like good sportsmanship. Directed by Paula Chowles.

Immersive

Asset 15 (Verizon) – Asset 15, uses cutting-edge immersive augmented reality gameplay and photorealistic 3D holograms to tell the story of FLUX, a hacktivist rebel, and her sister PETRA, a high-powered executive at the social media company, HELIOS. When Petra falls into a mysterious coma, Flux delves into their past to uncover the truth about Helios and its frightening new app. Created by Julina Tatlock.

Gorillaz Presents… Skinny Ape (Google) – Gorillaz Presents… Skinny Ape, sets out to revolutionize the concept of musical performances by transforming the streets of New York and London into stages for two groundbreaking experiences. On December 17 and 18 fans gathered together to witness Gorillaz play in real life – actually larger than life – with Murdoc, 2D, Noodle and Russel towering over them in the midst of two of the world’s most iconic skylines. Created by Jamie Hewlett and Fx Goby.

Audio

Legacy of Speed (Tracksmith and PUMA) – Legacy of Speed, produced by Emily Rostek and Joel Meyer, follows two Black sprinters raising their fists in protest at the 1968 Olympic Games, which shook the world. Get to know the runners who took a stand, and the coaches who helped make them fast enough — and brave enough — to change the world. Directed by Carly Migliori.

Making an Impossible Airplane: The Untold Story of the Concorde (Atlassian) – Making an Impossible Airplane: The Untold Story of the Concorde, a podcast part of Atlassian’s brand evolution to be seen as a champion of open collaboration. Our goal was to tell a story that hadn’t been told before to engage audiences, solidify Atlassian’s philosophy & promise of ‘impossible alone’, and unleash the potential in each team: engineers in two different countries, with two different languages, two different units of measurement, forced together by politics. Directed by Pedro Mendes.

Work Sounds (Indeed) – Work Sounds, a five-part audio album inspired by the sounds, stories, and people of real workplaces, immerses you into the tasks that make our communities run, turning the ordinary into the extraordinary. Blending foley, SFX, meditative sounds, ASMR, voice and binaural technology, the show marries art and utility, offering listeners sound therapy to stay grounded, present, and ultimately have a better workday. Directed by Martina Abrahams Llunga and Onyx Espri.