05-04-2025
AT&T's Untold Stories' $1M Prize: Insights From The 'Family' of Organizers, Winners, and The Star-Studded Judging Panel (including Cynthia Erivo)
Some great stories must be told, but lack the resources to come to fruition.
Created in 2018, the AT&T Untold Stories Film Competition, in collaboration with Tribeca Film Festival, has provided over seven millions dollars thus far to film creatives and are poised this year to give another million dollars plus in prizes to underrepresented filmmakers. The initiative's goal has been to provide funding, mentoring and distribution on scripted projects made by marginalized people and stories that historically have been underrepresented on screen. Five teams are chosen to pitch their film ideas to a panel of superstar judges. After questions and deliberations one pitch receives the 1 millionto create their film as well as a premiere at the following year's Tribeca Film Festival; and better yet no finalist goes away empty-handed the four other finalists also receive $15,000 in grant money for developmental support.
The winner and finalists of the competition are chosen out of hundreds each year to receive million dollar funding and resources to produce their film, along with mentorship from established industry professionals. The program aims to amplify stories from diverse perspectives, helping to ensure that a wider range of experiences and voices are represented in cinema. Given the current climate and backlash against DEI, programs like Untold Stories are more critical than ever in continuing to celebrate emerging storytellers from underserved communities.
I had the privilege to speak with the executives at AT&T Untold Stories and Tribeca Film Festival, the renowned judges, and the winning filmmakers about why this initiative is imperative to the film industry.
Assistant Vice President of Sponsorships & Experiential at AT&T Sabina Ahmed spoke enthusiastically about the program:
'I think one of the most important things is the family is not just the people you see. On the screen and the directors, it's all the people kind of behind the scenes too. between AT&T and Tribeca Festival, we've employed 320 BIPOC crew members that are in the process alongside our journey with the filmmakers, helping them, supporting them.'
'So it's a huge source of representation, not just for the filmmaker and the actors on the screen, but behind the scenes as well. And as we reflect on the years we've been doing it, it's been amazing. It's amazing to see the growth of the stories we've been able to tell, collectively. For us, from AT&T's perspective, the filmmakers will continue to be part of our journey.'
'We want people to get a different perspective. We want them to hear a story they've never heard before and just really gives them a different perspective and a different outlook on life and obviously we want to continue to support filmmakers. We are a huge advocate of representation and telling these stories that haven't been told before. It really aligns with our purpose of unlocking greater possibility and connecting changes, everything.'
Bryce Norbitz, Director of Artist Programs shared with us Tribeca's perspective on Untold Stories and the artists they support through the program. She details the pride Tribeca has in the groundbreaking initiative and months of prep we do not see behind-the-scenes:
'For us, this is one of the most special things that we do. I'm sure other people have said that because it prioritizes the voice of the artist in really the biggest way you can, which is unfiltered time, funding to show your pitch, eventually funding for your work, and stage promotion.
'It takes a lot of work to do independent film. it's multi-faceted and it never ends.'
Despite declaring five finalists and selecting only one million dollar winner, Norbitz says they still read and support so many:
'We do read hundreds of submissions. So, we are looking at films ready to go, right? We're looking for production ready a myth. that nothing's ever ready. And nothing's ever done. Work in progress. Until you actually submit it.'
Bryce says more polished pieces are preferred:
'But, we do prioritize work that has been lived in. It's had other support, workshops. So when we're coming in, we're doing finessing, fine-tuning. We do spend months on script development. [The] winning film will have months before then and after they're selected as finalists, we're doing drafts of everything too. So there's multiple touchpoints of preparation.'
Norbitz also shares that all the mentorship provided includes all the directors that have been through the program before:
'All of the films call on the directors before. They're all in touch, they're all in contact, they're all here now to support each other. Plus, their producers, their DPs, their creative heads at Tribeca, there's the core team, but there's everybody that has come through the festival, that have been alumni, or award winners, or mentors, industry, and world. When there's a million dollars on the line, it can really feel like you're chasing the wind. But I want to assure people that are interested in the program, or this kind of work, that there's a path no matter what. Just about half of our films have been made.
Some of the previous pitchers have made beautiful award winning projects. It's not just about the winner, it's about the collective.'
Actor and competition judge, Cynthia Erivo, believes that we miss out on learning if there are stories left out of the greater cultural conversation and robs us of the ability to find our universal humanity.
Cynthia Erivo seeks out what's different as a learning tool: 'I think that if there are stories that are not being told, we actually don't gain anything from not telling stories that are varied and different, and maybe far away from ourselves. And I think it's an opportunity to showcase work that actually gives us the commonality that human beings have I'm interested in seeing things that I don't I don't understand. I don't know myself. That's how we actually learn about the world. We know, give people encouragement and give people the opportunity to tell us their story.'
Erivo asked presenters on stage to be clear on their 'why' and shares how the inner self of an artist factors in:
'When it comes to authentic storytelling and an identity and think objective for anything that you're doing, it comes into from the inside, first inside and then out externally, if you're going externally, you're not and you're you're not connecting because you come from from your within your heart mind soul that that trend is like an important thing.'
Erivo speaks about what the upcoming HoneyJoon will mean to the public:
'What I didn't say is that my godmother was an Iranian woman. So I recognize the storytelling within that film. I recognized what it meant to tell the story of Iranian woman who had to leave something behind us.'
Daveed Diggs, who is also a judge for Untold Stories, raved:
The pitches were incredible. And overwhelming feeling was just that we all felt very privileged to have been in the room and getting to hear all of these amazing stories
Diggs says HoneyJoon was chosen because 'the script, obviously, is great. The vision was great. He was great. And I think mostly confidence in the team that could pull it off. And like a feeling that the stories, the story really resonated. And that permeated outwards, the fact that they were passionate about it, and then in a way that also allowed us to choose.'
Daveed says the beauty of Untold Stories is that it disrupts 'the mechanism by which films are made historically, it's a very big old slow moving machine. And it will always default to whatever is easiest. the same kinds of storytelling we're used to and what that does, unfortunately, it really limits the kinds of films we are able to see you know that diversity isn't just for the sake of diversity and inclusion because it makes it allows us all to see ourselves and my creates empathy in ways that are what we really need them for.'
Judge Yvette Nicole Brown says HoneyJoon will mean so much to Iranian women as well as:
'Women that feel like they've been silenced women of a certain size women of a certain age, the fact that it's a female production team, there's so many reasons that it was our number one, and I think it's gonna be the world's.'
Yvette Nicole says she volunteered as judge, despite a busy schedule because:
'It's important to celebrate creatives, it's important to create pathways for creatives. And it's important to let people that are in the trenches building know that you see them and you support them.
Yvette Nicole says about Untold Stories that no one is left behind:
I just think it's beautiful, and I love that they everybody's leaving with something like Denzel, so I'm leaving here with something. you don't always get the million but everybody's getting 15,000 to begin the journey for themselves.
Last year's winner, Color Book, had its world premiere at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival and will also be showcased at ReelAbilities Film Festival the largest festival centered around disability and and spanning April 3rd to the 9th 2025 the festival will feature two evening showings of Color Book in NYC this week can you keep us on April 6 and then on April 7th ReelAbilities Film Festival is happening now and is the largest festival centered around disability in the world. You can find the full schedule here.
Disclaimer: Please note that this author is on the ReelAbilities Film Festival selection committee. However, these interviews were conducted before Color Book was placed under consideration for this year's festival.
Written and directed by David Fortune, the film centers around Lucky and his 11-year-old son Mason, who has Down Syndrome, as they navigate loss and an eventful trip across Metro Atlanta to attend their first baseball game together. As transit mishaps and unexpected delays disrupt their plans, father and son discover new ways to connect and communicate, revealing how detours can make shared destinations more meaningful.
When we spoke with David Fortune, he described how the prize money accelerated the timeline and deliverables for his film:
'I feel like my film was gonna get made at some point, but maybe not at the speed or the rate that it was made going through the program…it could take five, ten, fifteen years to develop your first feature. But having a program where they expedite that process …it builds character, builds an understanding of how production works.'
In the Untold Stories program, he was able to develop the technical skills of filmmaking and more of the logistical aspects of production, such as managing a team. Fortune says the funding helped by 'giving me my voice to showcase to the world. Oftentimes make stories that stay in our laptops and our final draft, that the world never gets a chance to see.'
Fortune's film highlights the intersectionality of not only disability being an element of the film, but racial identity - when in a crisis our protagonist does not necessarily react the way one might expect, for example, opting not to call 911 or asking for help at one point in the film.
Fortune says in order to understand this father's choice in this pivotal moment we have to consider 'who do we go to that supports us with community, who we feel comfortable with? So for him taking matters into his own hands, personally, because you don't know who can you go to in transit. Because even in the story, we see that he is somewhat chastised. So that's why he's hesitant.'
So why a story about a father and his disabled son? Fortune says he approach it as an ally and childhood experience:
'As a creative, I always go back to my childhood as a source of inspiration. I grew up in Decatur, Georgia, east of Atlanta. And one thing I recognized, you know, it makes me a middle school. Children who were encoding for what they called at the time, 'Special Needs' classes, were separated from the entire student body… it feels like they're outcasts. I wanted to kind of highlight their experiences, because I felt like wasn't being served in reality so going back to my old neighborhood experiences and recognizing that.'
Now that his film has debuted, Fortune shared his next steps:
'I'm gonna get back to writing. After taking a break to sleep. I gave this project a year, my life I just want to continue writing inside the intimate narrative that's impacting working class communities that showcases experiences that we don't always see. I don't feel like it's something I want to do. It's something that I have to do.
David Fortune appreciates the professional family that he has found within AT&T and Tribeca:
'I have so much gratitude when considering what Untold Stories has done in my life and my career moving forward, they took a chance on a rising filmmaker who's looking to break through, and they entrusted me with a million dollars and helped support a story that speaks to so many different communities, now I can have a voice and global impact.'
While Fortune's Color Book is a drama, the winners of last year's million-dollar prize—Honeyjoon is a dark comedy with political significance. Writer-director Lilian Mehrel and the producer Andreia Nunes also talked with me about their win.
Mehrel spoke highly of her filmmaking partner Nunes and the impact of winning Untold Stories, saying, 'We all know that you can't make movies alone. and first, you know connecting with my producer…now I have a teammate on board Connecting with AT&T and Tribeca. We've got a great family…not just supportive of underrepresented filmmakers, but of the kinds of stories that feel authentic to us.'
In the compelling HoneyJoon Kurdish-Persian mother Lela, and her diaspora daughter, Joon, take a trip to the romantic Azores off the Portuguese coast, after a recent loss in the family. Out of place amidst honeymooners in paradise, they attempt to reclaim their joy for living. But life – and each other – keeps getting in their way.
Lilian added, that the Untold Stories, 'let us feel free to make a dark comedy, to make something that is not your classic average story. That belief in creators like me is so special. I'm so grateful. Women all over the world are yearning to be free and if my film can make anybody feel that their spirit is free and feel empowered, oh, what a gift.'
This story is not just a story of Iranian women, but a story that is confronting ideas of body image. Mehrel says, 'I genuinely see the beauty in all ages, shapes, colors, sizes so I want to show that as an artist…look at the beauty of being alive.'
The same could be said about storytelling. As artist Tom Huck said, 'Stories are the wildest things of all, the wildest things in the world. When you're a story, you're alive.'
When you tell and support untold stories—stories that are too often denied or suppressed — as AT&T, Tribeca, and ReelAbilities are—you are giving breath, light, and life to whole communities who desperately need to be seen. As a disabled woman of color, I am grateful to all involved for keeping up this much-needed work.
As mentioned, the ReelAbilities Film Festival (where you can see David Fortune's Color Book) is happening now through April 9, and the Untold Stories finalists will be announced on May 5th 2025 and a worthy winner will be chosen in early June at the famed annual Tribeca Film Festival.
