Tribeca X explores complex intersection between culture, commodification, and storytelling

NEW YORK—The world of art and entertainment—and, by extension, Hollywood—is currently in a peculiar position. Tumultuous events over the last few years, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, have left creatives facing a changed industry. Studios, production companies, and more seem to be in a state of permanent retrenchment, leaving jobs feeling shaking and financial security increasingly harder to find for workers. 

Couple this with the ever-increasing presence (and threat?) of A.I. technologies that many feel are being used to replace human ingenuity, and it becomes obvious that the world of culture and storytelling is up against a storm of uncertainty.

Tribeca X, a program held during the Tribeca Film Festival, hopes to chart a path forward in this situation—a goal it’s tackling with varying degrees of effectiveness. 

Tribeca X is a program within the Tribeca Festival that celebrates the intersection of brand marketing and storytelling. It focuses on storytelling through collaboration between brands, artists, creators, and filmmakers. The program includes a multi-day live event and a juried competition called the Tribeca X Awards. 

One could argue that the program’s presence serves as a reminder that art and culture exist under a capitalist system and, therefore, must navigate this system like any other industry if it is to reach the masses and turn a profit. “Starving artists” need their basic needs met just like any other working person. The question arises whether, in collaborating with brands to fund these storytelling endeavors, the messaging and impact of cultural creations are tainted or hindered. 

Tribeca X hosted a number of panels this week during the festival aimed to prove that “selling out” doesn’t have to be the inevitable result. 

A variety of speakers, both on the creative side and in the business world, spoke on the various panels over the course of the two-day event. Interesting facts were shared, such as the statistic that on average, a person is exposed to an estimated 4,000 to 10,000 advertisements a day. Or that over $2 trillion is spent on marketing and advertising each year globally, with $300 billion of that being spent in North America. 

To put that into perspective, the World Food Program USA claims that just $40 billion per year could feed all the world’s hungry people and end global hunger by 2030. So, fifty times that amount is spent on selling people things. 

A number of panelists concluded that most people are tired of being “sold to” and often bristle at the idea that something presented to them isn’t authentic, but rather a means to get them to part with their hard-earned money. This, it was explained, has made it so companies have had to rethink how they do advertising and how they work with creatives. Topics of authenticity, truth, how to uplift marginalized voices, and empowering communities were recurring themes at the event. 

The questions of authenticity, community-building, and marginalization featured most prominently in two particular panels—”Driving Change: The Power of Women’s Sports” and “Doing Good Together: Corporations Shining a Light on Nonprofit Partners.” 

The “Driving Change” panel featured journalist Arielle Chambers, former professional soccer player Merritt Mathias, and FIFA World Cup Champion Crystal Dunn. Moderated by Ally Financial’s Chief Marketing and PR officer Andrea Brimmer, the panel talked about uplifting women in professional sports, investing in their stories, and the obstacles they face in a patriarchal society that puts more importance (and money) into male-dominated sports. 

Brimmer highlighted Ally’s 2022 “50/50 Pledge,” which made a commitment to invest equally in media across men’s and women’s sports by 2027, and how they are still the only company to do so. Women’s sports comprise only an average of 15% of total sports media coverage. Dunn and her fellow panelists spoke to the hardship that women athletes face in making a living in their profession. Without outside financial investment, they often need to have other jobs and “side hustles” to pursue their goals—unlike their male counterparts. 

It was explained that in building their audience, women athletes have had to connect to their fans on a more personal level, finding creative ways to tell their stories. Chambers noted that women athletes are more emboldened to break heternormative ideals and have the “audacity to be themselves” when they feel invested in. 

One could argue that female athletes shouldn’t need to appeal to third-party companies to fill the gendered pay gap they deal with, but given the current circumstances, that’s the reality. They are forced to find ways to get the funding they need. 

On the “Doing Good Together” panel, the Ford Motor Company premiered the short film Call to Serve. It tells the story of Dean Wagner, a former Army combat engineer haunted by two tours in Iraq, who deploys to Asheville, N.C., with Team Rubicon, a vet-led humanitarian organization dedicated to helping communities before, during, and after disasters and crises. 

Many of the cars used in the relief efforts seemed to be provided by the Ford company, as the camera conveniently landed on the Ford logo a number of times throughout the short. The premiere was followed by a panel featuring Team Rubicon CEO Art delaCruz, Ford Philanthropy President Mary Culler, and Call to Serve filmmakers Cole Sax and Phil Hessler. It was moderated by CNN news anchor Kate Bolduan. 

Culler spoke about the goal of “building community around volunteerism” and how that is growing even more important in a time of uncertainty, as natural disasters are increasing yearly. She also pointed out that the company was determined to stick around “after the cameras leave,” alluding to the idea that many corporations give lip service and photo-ops to social causes for clout and public favor, but rarely follow through. 

Moderator Bolduan brought up the pressure on those dealing with climate disasters in the face of President Donald Trump’s planned cuts to—and potential phasing out of—FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency). Art delaCruz noted that Rubicon would try to pick up the slack, but that without the resources from FEMA, which it depended on, the results could be devastating for many. 

Filmmakers Sax and Hessler spoke to the importance of bringing the stories of these veterans to the screen to show their struggles in the face of natural disasters, but also to portray how they adjust to civilian life. Making that transition is especially tough in the face of further cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs by the current White House administration. 

The panel, again, shows the complex relationship between storytelling and consumerism. It can’t be denied that Ford is doing important work by partnering with Rubicon, along with their future projects (as announced by Culler) of working with Habitat for Humanity and Feeding America. Yet, just like most corporations under capitalism, these actions aren’t just motivated by benevolence and some commitment to world peace. 

Just this year, the United Auto Workers (UAW) released a report arguing that the U.S. auto industry could create tens of thousands of good-paying union jobs by simply “better utilizing existing plants instead of offshoring production and funneling profits to Wall Street,” and Ford did not go unscathed in these findings. 

Further, in a time when companies like Target, Walmart, and McDonald’s have done away with their DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) programs, thus capitulating to conservative and Trump backlash, the public and artists alike are no doubt justified in being weary of just how invested many of these companies are to true social progress and which ones are simply doing PR work to improve their image. 

On day one of the event, Lena Waithe’s Legacy Talk podcast did a live recording featuring legendary actress Phylicia Rashad, which included a discussion about the importance of honoring narratives that preserve cultural memory. This can be a hard endeavor in a society that has, as previously mentioned, people in power who use a good amount of their resources to sell you products rather than convey powerful messaging. 

That’s not to say that a more balanced collaboration can’t be had. Overall, Tribeca X seems to want to have those conversations on how messaging and social progress can be the priority. Some panels conveyed this well, while others seemed like 30-minute advertisements for companies—a bit ironic. 

Ultimately, for those working in the culture and arts sector, there will be a continued struggle to stay true to messaging, such as uplifting marginalized voices and social issues, while doing what it takes to get the funding to get that messaging out into the world. That’s all the more true within our current capitalist set-up, which continues to make access to capital a barrier for accomplishing anything. 

Tribeca X’s next event will be held at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival). 

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