Tribeca Festival Opens Official Selection to Social Media Creators With Expanded NOW Category
Photo By: Jonathan P. Moustakas
As it approaches its 25th anniversary, the Tribeca Festival is formally embracing TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram creators — marking a historic shift in how major festivals define cinematic storytelling.
As the Tribeca Festival prepares to celebrate its 25th edition in 2026, the New York institution is making a defining move that reflects how storytelling is actually consumed today. The festival announced that its Tribeca NOW category will officially expand to include social media creators working across platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram, making Tribeca the first major film festival to integrate creator-led digital work into its formal selection lineup.
The decision positions Tribeca at the forefront of a long-simmering industry conversation: whether short-form, platform-native storytelling deserves the same institutional recognition as traditional film and television. With this move, Tribeca isn’t hedging — it’s committing.
Submissions for Tribeca NOW are due February 5, with programming evaluated not as one-off viral hits but through a broader lens that considers a creator’s full body of work, voice, and consistency as a storyteller. The festival emphasized that the selection process will be holistic, signaling that sustained creative vision — not algorithmic luck — is the metric that matters.
“Storytelling is evolving — and so is Tribeca,” said co-founder Jane Rosenthal in a statement, framing the expansion as a continuation of the festival’s original mission rather than a departure from it. Rosenthal emphasized that today’s creators are among the most inventive storytellers working in any medium, and that honoring stories across every screen is core to Tribeca’s identity.
The announcement builds on several creator-focused initiatives Tribeca has rolled out in recent years. In 2024, the festival launched a dedicated Creator Vertical in partnership with Whalar Group, followed by the UpNext Creators initiative — a digital showcase spotlighting emerging voices across major social platforms. That program made its in-person festival debut last year, when a dozen creators were invited to Tribeca screenings, red carpets, and industry events, effectively granting them the same access traditionally reserved for filmmakers with official selections.
Those efforts have already yielded notable alumni. Past Tribeca NOW participants include Lena Waithe and Mark Duplass, as well as the creators behind High Maintenance before the series was acquired by HBO. More recent UpNext creators include Saturday Night Live performer Veronika Slowikowska and SubwayTakes creator Kareem Rahma, underscoring the increasingly porous boundary between digital platforms and legacy entertainment.
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Festival director Cara Cusumano described the expansion as a natural evolution of Tribeca’s interdisciplinary approach, noting that the NOW program has always existed to surface bold storytelling wherever it emerges. By formally opening the category to social creators, Tribeca aims to connect breakout digital voices not only with new audiences, but with traditional film industry collaborators, producers, and institutions that have historically been closed off to platform-native talent.
For an industry still wrestling with how to define legitimacy in the age of creators, Tribeca’s move sends a clear message: storytelling isn’t shrinking — it’s multiplying. And the institutions that survive will be the ones willing to evolve with it.
The 2026 Tribeca Festival will take place June 3–14 in New York City.
