IN THE ROOM WITH

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In the Room With

Sharon Badal

The Tribeca Film Festival shorts programmer shares her process and her advice for filmmakers

By Elyse Roth

MANY FILMMAKERS’ FIRST FORAY INTO THE CRAFT WILL BE VIA

short films. Whether they’re made in a college program or independently, there’s a lot you can do with your completed film, including submitting it to film festivals like the Tribeca Film Festival. TFF has a robust shorts program led in part by Sharon Badal, the vice president of filmmaker relations and shorts programming. In a festival that encourages storytelling across platforms, geographies, and genres, Badal goes into each year seeking out new filmmakers and ideas. During her tenure, she has acquired a deep well of knowledge and advice for filmmakers hoping to gain exposure through their work in shorts. Badal shares her process for selecting films, from submission to lineup, and what filmmakers should know before submitting and after being accepted into a festival like Tribeca.

What is your role in Tribeca’s

programming? I am responsible for all the shorts programming— not just for the Tribeca Film Festival, but for any other initiatives we do outside the festival.

What’s the process and timing for filmmakers to submit

their work? Filmmakers need to do their due diligence in researching the right festivals for their film and budget. Look at the festival and its website. It’s not throwing darts at the dartboard and seeing which ones hit the bull’s-eye, because they all cost money and filmmakers don’t have an infinite budget. We have a solid team. I have a co-programmer, and I have seasonal staff that come on. Most of them are programmers of other festivals, because we trust their eye. It gives us a much more global perspective. There are many voices that are being heard; it’s not just an American team of programmers.

What do you do outside of the reviewing and selection

period? The full-time programming team is traveling. We’re going to other festivals, we’re scouting films. We speak on panels. We meet other filmmakers; maybe the work they’re showing at a festival isn’t for us, but we make those contacts and keep in touch so that they submit their next work to us.

What kind of submissions

are you looking for? We are a New York festival, and there are always different aspects of people that live in New York, so we like to have a New York shorts program. Some years it’s [documentaries], some years it’s narrative, and some years it’s a hybrid. It all depends on the submissions. We always have an animation program. There’s no one type of short we’re looking for. It’s all about the story. Without a good story, you can have the best cinematography, and it’s still not going to fly. Also, shorter is always better now. That sweet spot is somewhere between 12 and 18 minutes, because we spend over a month curating after we decide which films we want, because we don’t want to just plug them together. We create a journey through the program very specifically. We want a seamless transition, so we have always been very careful and very thoughtful in each program being curated. The filmmakers love that, because they feel like they’re part of an overall story.

What is your No. 1 piece of advice for early career film-

makers? Tell the story you want to tell, and find your voice. Don’t try to emulate something or someone else. What we’re looking for is a familiar story told in different ways. Also, get as much feedback and advice on the film [as you can] before you submit it to festivals. Take your time.

Want more?

Read the full interview at backstage.com/magazine