The Tribeca Festival is undoubtedly a star-studded event with famous figures, including actors, directors, musicians and artists gracing red carpets and showcasing their works.
But supporting aspiring and emerging filmmakers through its artist development programs is also very much part of the festival’s DNA, according to its chief executive, Jane Rosenthal, who founded the event with Robert De Niro and Craig Hatkoff.
“So much of the festival is about discovery, and the development programs are part of that,” she said. “We are always looking for new voices and stories and new ways of telling stories, and there are not enough programs supporting aspiring artists.”
Since 2015, the artist development programs have included eight initiatives that give producers, directors, writers and other creative people in the moviemaking industry full funding for their projects.
Rosenthal said that they have awarded close to $2 million annually, supported more than 1,000 filmmakers and seen celebrities such as Kerry Washington, Queen Latifah and John Leguizamo get involved as mentors and judges. “Everybody needs an advocate, and celebrities, no matter where they are in their careers, help lift these filmmakers up through their support,” Rosenthal said.
This year, the festival started its latest artist development program, Colectivo: A Miranda Family Fellowship & Tribeca Studios Filmmaker Program. Created in partnership with Lin-Manuel Miranda, the Miranda Family Fund and the Hispanic Federation, the program awards three Latinx filmmaking teams with funding to bring their short films to life.
Miranda and his father, Luis A Miranda, Jr., and their team were hands-on in the process, Miranda said. “We read script notes, visited sets and weighed in on rough cuts. We were there every step,” he said.
Each movie will debut at the festival, and a talk with the filmmakers will follow their premieres.
Colectivo’s three films include “El Tiguere,” from the Afro-Caribbean writer and director Andrew J. Rodriguez, who grew up in the Bronx and explores the life of a Dominican immigrant facing the harshness of the legal system. “Las Hijas De Rosalia,” about two sisters who reflect on their childhood, is from the Austin, Texas-based Bolivian writer and director Maria Mealla, and “Villa Encanto,” a story of a teenager in the 1960s who is uprooted from Spanish Harlem to upstate New York. It was written and directed by Joel Perez, who is Puerto Rican and lives in New York.
In an interview, Miranda shared more about Colectivo’s mission, the criteria for choosing the filmmakers and his best advice for aspiring filmmakers. The conversation was conducted by phone and has been edited and condensed.
What was the impetus to start Colectivo?
This begins with “In the Heights,” a film adaptation of my Broadway musical. We were lucky enough to premiere the film at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2021, and the late, great Paula Weinstein [the festival’s chief content officer from 2013 to 2023] reached out to my dad to discuss a Latino-focused program similar to a collaboration the festival had with Queen Latifah, called Queen Collective, for African American filmmakers. This was very in line with what we are working on, which is greater access to making films by underrepresented groups, so we jumped at the chance
Did your experiences as an artist figure in?
Yes. You’re always doing a dance when you’re making a Latino film, but I’ve learned that the more specifically you can write to the experience of the characters, the more it resonates with everyone.
“In the Heights” led us down the road to this. I wrote my first draft in college because I was terrified I would never see another Latino-themed musical. We had “West Side Story,” and when I was in high school, a musical about Puerto Ricans called “The Capeman” by Paul Simon opened and closed very quickly. That scared me. I realized that no one is writing your dream show. You’re going to have to write your own opportunities if you want a life in musical theater.
What are the initiative’s core goals, particularly in terms of representation and access?
The goals are twofold: Get more Latinos in front of and behind the camera. Also, the final films have a lot of Latino representation on the screen and ended up dealing with themes that are specifically Latino and universal.
“El Tiguere” is a film about a father-son duo, but also about the fact that there were food deserts in the Bronx, and it’s really hard to get healthy vegetables in certain areas of New York. That was something personal for the filmmaker.
“Villa Encanto” is about the lost history of Latin resorts that used to dot the Catskills.
We want to get more of these stories on screen and more filmmakers making those movies.
Can you explain the process for picking the filmmakers? What qualities or stories did you look for?
We sent requests to film programs, university film departments and nonprofit organizations that focus on Latino representation to ask them about young filmmakers.
We also reached out to other Latino artists to ask them about filmmakers. The candidates submitted proposals, and Tribeca worked with the semifinalists to refine their pitches.
My family and I looked at 20 films and winnowed the pitches down to the final three.
The criteria apply to anything. Do I want to see this movie? Do I feel like this is a good fit for the budgets we are looking at? Does it feel like this filmmaker is ready for this next step in their development?
If you make a short film, that does become your professional calling card, and we were looking for filmmakers who could use the films they were making for us as a calling card to get more work.
How is Colectivo different from other mentorship programs you’ve encountered?
I don’t know if I’ve encountered that many. We worked with Tribeca hand-in-hand, and we’re really involved. It’s in our interest that everyone has a positive experience. This is not something we stuck our name on.
We’ve been in it with these filmmakers, and when challenges come up, we figure it out. With “Villa Encanto,” a challenge Joel faced was finding enough period costumes, and we connected him with a vintage shop to get more outfits for the shoot.
Can you share any memorable moments from working with Colectivo’s first batch of filmmakers?
I have a 10-year-old son who wants to be a filmmaker. He’s been with me on some pretty fancy sets. When he was three, he was on the set of Mary Poppins Returns, a Disney movie.
I brought him to the set of “El Tiguere” in the South Bronx because I said to him, “If you’re going to make movies for real, your first experience is going to be like this.” It’s about making the most out of what you have and being creative when limitations come in. That was a special day for me because he got to see independent filmmaking happening.
What are your hopes for the future of Colectivo? How can audiences support this initiative?
I hope to secure funding for the years to come. The hope is to be able to expand the program as it gains popularity.
Audiences can help by going to the festival and seeing the films. And we’re always looking for funding.
How do you plan to ensure the long-term sustainability and growth?
The way most film executives do. Make good films. Success begets success.
How much of a role do you think mentorship can play in nurturing future artists?
I have been very lucky to have great mentors, including my eighth-grade English teacher, Dr. Herbert, who nudged me in the direction of playwriting. Then later in my life, I got to work with folks like Stephen Sondheim. To me, mentorship is everything. When you’re making a movie, there are so many details. You need outside voices to separate the good from the great.
Besides funding and mentorship, what resources do underrepresented filmmakers need to succeed?
Access. You can make a movie and submit it to festivals, but no one takes it. TriBeCa already ensured our filmmakers a premiere at one of the world’s great film festivals. There’s a finish line that people are going to see your movie.
What advice would you give to young artists who aspire to tell their stories but may feel discouraged by industry barriers?
When I was in high school, a Mexican-American filmmaker, Robert Rodriguez, released a book called “Rebel Without a Crew.” It was about how he made “El Mariachi” for $7,000 by selling his blood and maxing out his credit cards. Now, he’s one of our great filmmakers with a studio in Austin.
That taught me: don’t wait for someone to give you an opportunity.You won’t be good right away. I think the biggest discouragement is that people want to go from zero to [Steven] Spielberg on the first draft. Understand that every bad movie you make is on your way to your masterpiece.
Shivani Vora is a New York City-based travel writer who considers herself a very savvy packer.
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