Through Her Lens: The Tribeca CHANEL Women's Filmmaker Program

Grant · 2026Prestige 78/100

A hundred and twenty thousand dollars to produce your short. Free to enter, but you need a director and producer attached.

Official site ↗

Deadlines & fees

Closed for this cycle

The 2026 application window ran from 11:00am Eastern on 19 May 2026 to 11:59pm Eastern on 21 June 2026, with judging through to the end of August and notification in autumn 2026. Workshop dates for this cycle have not been published. This is the only entry in its group that publishes exact times and a timezone. The workshop shape is stable, at three days in New York in mid-to-late September with five finalists, but two things make the calendar unreliable: no cycle ran at all in 2023, and application windows for the 2024 and 2025 editions were never published, only their workshop dates.

Dates and fees checked against the official site 9 Aug 2026.

Key facts

Formats: Short
Eligibility: US residents21+Women & nonbinary
Open to: United States
Required materials: An online application form with bios and contact details · A narrative short script of no more than 20 minutes · A budget top sheet including post-production · An artist statement and a filmmaker statement · At least one visual material such as a lookbook, pitch deck, moodboard or tone reel · The attached director's prior work sample as a streaming link: a short of five to 38 minutes completed no earlier than January 2019

Applicants must be at least 21 and reside in the United States or Puerto Rico; current undergraduate and graduate students are not eligible. THE TEAM REQUIREMENT IS THE THING TO UNDERSTAND: eligible applicants may serve as writer-director, writer, or director, and if the applicant is solely the writer then a director must be attached to the project. The prior-credit requirement then falls on that attached director rather than on the writer: applying directors must have directed at least one short film that has screened in festivals, been distributed or been self-distributed to audiences. A producer who is not the film's director must also be attached. So a non-directing screenwriter is eligible provided they arrive with a credited director and a separate producer; a solo writer with nobody attached cannot enter. The script must be a narrative short of no more than 20 minutes, and the film must be completable on a 120,000 dollar budget. The director's prior work sample must be a short of five to 38 minutes completed no earlier than January 2019.

Prizes

120,000 US dollars to one winner and 10,000 dollars to each of the four other finalists as development prizes. Read the structure carefully, because this is production finance rather than a prize paid to a person: the award is explicitly for use in the production of the submitted film, paid into a single-purpose LLC the winner must incorporate, released in instalments only after signing a long-form contract and submitting an approved production schedule and budget. The whole film must be delivered inside that 120,000, and the filmmaker assumes all production liabilities including errors and omissions cover, liability insurance and any guild obligations, so those costs come out of the award rather than on top of it. THE RIGHTS TERMS ARE NOT PUBLISHED, and this is the most consequential unknown here. The published rules contain no clause on ownership of the finished film, copyright, licence, distribution, premiere obligation, exclusivity, first look or credit. Everything commercially material is deferred to long-form contracts signed after selection, which an applicant cannot read beforehand. The only published rights grant is publicity: winners authorise use of their name, likeness, biographical data and entry materials for promotional purposes worldwide without further payment. Note also that the purse has changed over time, having stood at 80,000 dollars with 5,000 development prizes for the 2022 edition; the year of the increase is not published.

Judging

Five finalists are selected and pitch to a jury of five to seven jurors at the three-day workshop in New York, from which one winner is chosen. The 2025 jury was Kaitlyn Dever, Meghann Fahy, Allison Janney, Payal Kapadia, Issa Rae and Jenny Slate, with mentors Riva Marker, Sarah Paulson, Frida Perez, Constance Tsang and Odessa Young. No feedback is published for applicants; finalists receive mentorship and a jury pitch rather than written notes. Note that no cycle ran in 2023: Tribeca's own participants archive jumps from 2024 back to 2022, and its count of fully funded winning films is consistent with none added that year.

The PreList verdict

A hundred and twenty thousand dollars to fully produce your short film, free to enter, with four runners-up taking ten thousand each in development money. An advisory committee including Jane Fonda, Patty Jenkins and Kerry Washington, and a jury that has featured Allison Janney, Issa Rae and Payal Kapadia. As a funded route from short script to finished film for a woman or non-binary filmmaker in the United States, there is nothing else at this scale.

The eligibility question is the one most people get wrong, ourselves included until we checked properly. You do not have to be a director to apply. A writer can enter, provided a director is attached to the project and that director has directed at least one short that screened at festivals or was distributed. A separate producer must also be attached. So this is a team-based programme rather than an open screenplay competition: a solo writer with nobody attached cannot enter, but a writer with the right collaborators absolutely can.

The honest part is what happens after you win. This is production finance, not a cheque. The money goes into a single-purpose company you have to incorporate, released in instalments against a signed long-form contract and an approved budget, with the entire film to be delivered inside the 120,000 and all liabilities including insurance and guild obligations coming out of that same sum. And the rights terms are not published anywhere: the rules say nothing about ownership, copyright, distribution or premiere obligations, deferring all of it to contracts you cannot read before applying. For a six-figure award administered alongside Tribeca Studios, that is a significant unknown and worth asking about directly.

Dylian Salvatore, Founder of The PreList · Updated 9 Aug 2026

Frequently asked questions

Can I apply if I write but do not direct?

Yes, provided you bring collaborators. If the applicant is solely the writer then a director must be attached, and that director must have directed at least one short that screened in festivals or was distributed. A separate producer who is not the director must also be attached. A solo writer with nobody attached cannot enter.

Do I receive the 120,000 dollars?

Not as a prize. It is an award for use in producing the submitted film, paid into a single-purpose company you must set up, released in instalments after signing a long-form contract and submitting an approved schedule and budget. The whole film must be made within that budget, and insurance and any guild obligations come out of it.

What rights does Tribeca take?

Unknown, and that is the point to flag. The published rules contain no clause on ownership, copyright, licence, distribution, premiere or exclusivity. All of it is deferred to long-form contracts signed after selection, which you cannot read before applying. The only published grant is for publicity use of your name, likeness and entry materials.

Who is eligible?

Emerging women and non-binary filmmakers aged 21 or over who reside in the United States or Puerto Rico. Current undergraduate and graduate students are not eligible. The script must be a narrative short of no more than 20 minutes, completable on a 120,000 dollar budget.

Is your script right for Through Her Lens: The Tribeca CHANEL Women's Filmmaker Program?

One of very few contests judging animation on its own terms. Read the rights clause against the FAQ before you enter.

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