A graduate from Aberystwyth University, BEN THOMPSON left Wales and London to settle in New York. Soon after arriving he joined the Tribeca Film Festival where he is currently the VP of Shorts Programming. From the start of his career as a filmmaker Ben has always had a keen interest in short form storytelling and discovered while at Tribeca a passion for programming and presenting short films to new and engaged audiences. He is fascinated by the influence film has on our world and culture and travels to search out new stories from around the globe. He has watched over 12,000 short films for Tribeca alone.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Internships that prepared him for working at Tribeca Festival

• Pros/Cons for submitting early to film festivals

• The process for programming short film blocks for the festival and advice for short film filmmakers who want to submit to festivals like Tribeca (timing, theme, etc)

• Whether filmmakers can monetize short films and the value from having your short in a festival

• Festivals are seasonal work and the different festivals he used to work in one year and moving to a full time position

• What goes into a Festival Coordinator position and working as a liaison between the festival and the filmmakers

• Whether it’s important to have celebrities or famous people in short films

• What’s important in a cover letter - description and how you are positioning your film

• What he recommends is the most important investment in creating your short film.

• Benefits he’s seen of screening at Tribeca and other opportunities available for short film filmmakers at the festival

• Internal scoring process at Tribeca

• Advice for those who want to be a programmer at a festival

Guest:

LinkedIn Tribeca Profile

2025 Tribeca Festival Submissions overview

Host:

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⁠TRIBECA SERIES: RESOURCES, PROGRAMS and AWARDS with Director of Artist Programs Bryce Norbitz

Becoming... Festival Director and Senior VP of Programming at Tribeca Festival Cara Cusumano