The Tribeca Film Institute (TFI) is a non-profit arts organization based in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, founded in 2001 by

Robert De Niro Robert Anthony De Niro ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor, director, and film producer. He is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of List of awards and ...

Jane Rosenthal Jane Rosenthal (born September 21, 1956) is an American film producer.

and

Craig Hatkoff Craig M. Hatkoff (born March 19, 1954) is an American real estate investor from New York City. Along with his now ex-wife Jane Rosenthal, and Robert De Niro, he co-founded the Tribeca Film Festival and the Tribeca Film Institute in 2002. The t ...

following the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

as a means to revitalize the arts community in lower

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. TFI launched its first program in 2002, the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...

. In 2003, the founders spun off the

from TFI into a new for-profit entertainment company they established: Tribeca Enterprises. TFI then shifted focus to emerging filmmakers, launching several funding and mentorship programs over the next 17 years. In September 2020, TFI paused its programming in the wake of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Less than 10 staff members were laid off, while the rest of TFI's staff were placed at Tribeca Enterprises. In July 2021, TFI announced the launch of ''STAR'', the Storefront Arts Recovery Initiative. The program is intended to foster collaboration between property owners and artists to allow storefronts left vacant due to the

to transform through art.

Program history

Timeline of TFI programming:

2002

TFI launched the

, which spun off into Tribeca Enterprises the following year.

2003

TFI partnered with the

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is an American philanthropic nonprofit organization. It was established in 1934 by Alfred P. Sloan Jr., president and chief executive officer of General Motors. The Sloan Foundation makes grants to support origina ...

to launch the ''TFI Sloan Filmmaker Fund'', its first funding and mentorship program for emerging filmmakers.

2004

TFI launched ''Tribeca All Access'', a film program for creators who experience inequality based on factors such as race, gender, class, sexuality, age, ethnicity, citizenship, and/or ability.

2005

TFI launched ''Our City, My Story'', a competition for films by New York City students, celebrating the work of the city's youth filmmakers.

2007

TFI launched the ''TFI Screening Series'' as a media literacy program that provided New York City youth, educators, and community partners with free access to relevant programming and discussions.

2008

TFI launched the ''Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund'', its first annual fund focused on documentaries that tackle social issues around the world.

2010

TFI branded the annual networking event for Tribeca All Access at the Tribeca Film Festival as the ''TFI Network''. It provided an opportunity for filmmakers to meet with industry representatives.

2011

TFI launched ''Tribeca Film Fellows'', a year-round fellowship program for young filmmakers from historically underserved communities.

2014

TFI expanded the TFI Screening Series to include a program at

Otisville Correctional Facility Otisville Correctional Facility is a medium-security state prison located in Orange County, New York, United States. It is located adjacent to the federal system prison ( Federal Correctional Institution, Otisville), but each facility operat ...

in Upstate New York in partnership with

John Jay College of Criminal Justice The John Jay College of Criminal Justice (John Jay) is a public college focused on criminal justice and located in New York City. It is a senior college of the City University of New York (CUNY). John Jay was founded as the only liberal arts col ...

and the

New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision The New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (NYSDOCCS) is the department of the Government of New York (state), New York State government that administers the state prison and parole system, including List of New York s ...

. TFI also created its Interactive Department to embrace new ways of storytelling emerging through technologies such as virtual reality.

2015

TFI launched the ''TFI/ESPN Future Filmmaker Prize'' for emerging filmmakers whose perspectives and backgrounds have been historically underrepresented on both sides of the camera. TFI also launched the ''Camden/TFI Filmmaker Retreat'' in partnership with the Camden International Film Festival, which granted documentary filmmakers a retreat in Maine for a series of mentoring sessions.

2016

TFI launched ''IF/Then Shorts'', which awards project funding and mentorship to storytellers creating short documentary films that reflect one's community and perspective.

2020

TFI launched the Emergency Artist Support Fund to provide financial assistance to artists who lost work due to the

2021

TFI launched ''STAR'', the Storefront Arts Recovery Initiative, to foster collaboration between property owners and artists to allow storefronts left vacant due to the

to transform through art.

Youth initiatives

TFI worked with the City of New York Department of Education (DOE) on the filmmaking component of their ''Summer Arts Institute''. TFI also partnered with the DOE to develop the ''Blueprint for the Teaching and Learning of the Moving Image'', a curriculum guide for the study of film, television, and animation from grades K – 12 that sets a citywide standard for teaching media arts. TFI ran multiple youth programs in New York City, including ''Tribeca Teaches: Films in Motion'', an in-school and after-school filmmaking

residency Residency may refer to: * Artist-in-residence, a program to sponsor the residence and work of visual artists, writers, musicians, etc. * Concert residency, a series of concerts performed at one venue * Domicile (law), the act of establishing or m ...

; the ''Tribeca Youth Screening Series'', which aimed to integrate film into the classroom

curricula In education, a curriculum (; : curriculums or curricula ) is the totality of student experiences that occur in an educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view of the student's experi ...

; ''Tribeca Film Fellows'',
http://schools.nyc.gov/offices/teachlearn/arts/canda_film.html] which brought NYC high-school students behind-the-scenes of the Tribeca Film Festival; the ''Summer Arts Institute''; and ''Our City, My Story'', an annual showcase of youth-made films.

Board of Directors

The Tribeca Film Institute Board of Directors is composed of Robert De Niro, Co-chair, Jane Rosenthal, Co-chair, Alberta Arthurs, Vice Chair,

Serena Altschul Serena Altschul (born October 13, 1970) is an American broadcast journalist, known for her work at MTV News and CBS. Early life and education Altschul was born in New York City to Siri von Reis, an author and botanist, and Arthur Altschul, a m ...

, Martin Edelman, Eli Evans, Craig Hatkoff, Lisa Hsia, Jennifer Maguire Isham,

Sheila Nevins Sheila Nevins (born April 6, 1939) is an American television producer and former head of MTV Documentary Films division of MTV Entertainment Studios. Previously, Nevins was the president of HBO Documentary Films. She has produced over 1,000 docu ...

Norman Pearlstine Norman Pearlstine (born October 4, 1942) is an American editor and media executive. He previously held senior positions at the ''Los Angeles Times'', Time Inc, Bloomberg L.P., ''Forbes'' and ''The Wall Street Journal''. Early life and education ...

, Sam Pollard, Laurie Racine, Scott Rechler, John G. Roche,

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...

, Judy Tabb,

Jonathan Tisch Jonathan Mark Tisch (born December 7, 1953) is an American businessman. He is the former CEO of American luxury hospitality company Loews Hotels. Tisch is also a board member of the Tribeca Film Institute. He is a co-owner of the New York Gian ...

Todd Wagner Todd R. Wagner (born August 2, 1960) is an American entrepreneur, co-founder of Broadcast.com and founder and CEO of a company called Charity Network which organizes regular Fundraising, fund raisings. He also co-owns 2929 Entertainment with Mar ...

, and

Jeffrey Wright Jeffrey Wright (born December 7, 1965) is an American actor. His accolades include a Primetime Emmy Award, a Tony Award, and a Golden Globe Award, in addition to a nomination for an Academy Award. Wright began his career in theater, where he g ...

References

{{Reflist Non-profit organizations based in New York City Film organizations in the United States Organizations based in New York City Robert De Niro