Why AT&T gave $1.2 million to first-time feature filmmakers

On a Thursday morning in June at Spring Studios in New York City, writer/director Sid Gopinath and producer Alifya Ali of the film project Minnesota Goodbye supercharged their feature-filmmaking dreams with $1.2 million—provided by AT&T.

Gopinath and Ali were the winners of the ninth annual AT&T Untold Stories event held at Tribeca Festival, a pitch competition that rewards one project with a grant to help take a feature film from pitch to finished product and a guaranteed premiere at the following year’s festival. This year, the prize money increased by $200,000 from previous years’ events, something that Bill Moseley, AT&T’s director of sponsorships and experiential marketing, told us might have been overdue.

“We started this program nine years ago with a million dollars, and the films have gotten more expensive,” he said. “I think it was just the right thing to do for the filmmakers at the right time to enable them to make better films.”

For a company that might be better known for their sports partnerships, supporting filmmaking—and emerging filmmakers in particular—is an important way to balance out the brand’s portfolio, Moseley said. And for the filmmakers, the sizable grant can be hard to find elsewhere.

“It feels surreal that it even exists,” Gopinath told us after the win was announced. “It gives us permission to create something that is genuinely us, without restrictions around it, so that we can execute our vision to the fullest.”

Core memory

About nine years ago, AT&T was in the process of acquiring media conglomerate Time Warner, putting the company in a position to strengthen its public image in entertainment. Thus began the brand’s Untold Stories event, which gave it a way to be involved with Tribeca Festival that went beyond a simple sponsorship, according to Moseley.

“We wanted to make an impact in the industry,” Moseley said. “This was something that we felt was important and core to our business.”

At this year’s event, Tribeca Festival co-founder Jane Rosenthal reminisced about those early days, calling back to when the brand team asked her what was the best way to support independent filmmakers.

“I said, give them a million dollars, and without missing a beat, they said, ‘Done,’” Rosenthal said on stage. Moseley said the million-dollar sum was never a concern, as the team always considered it a reasonable amount to support a film. Plus, he added, those dollars can go far when it comes to boosting AT&T’s brand value.

“It helps us dimensionalize our brand,” Moseley said. “We want to be there for everyone and connect everyone to greater possibilities, so Tribeca really helps us do that, because it helps us engage a different audience in a meaningful way and show that we’re here to make a difference.”

Jury duty

Minnesota Goodbye, a family epic tracking four generations of an Indian immigrant family told in reverse chronological order, was chosen by a panel of a five-juror Greenlight Committee, made up largely of producers, writers, and filmmakers in the entertainment industry. One juror, though, stood out: Kellyn Smith Kenny, chief marketing and growth officer at AT&T. While Kenny may not be a filmmaker herself, Mosely said her role on the Greenlight Committee was to help make sure the winning project was not only an authentic story but also a marketable one.

“One of the things we’re paying attention to is how broadly appealing is the film, but also, does it bring a level of specificity that will create a real emotional connection with the audience?” Kenny told us.

Part of that marketability is the people behind it. Kenny said that the winning film ultimately came down to the feasibility of the project, plus whether its creators had the “special something to be the face of it, to be the voice of the film, and an entire community of people.”

Minnesota Goodbye, which centers on themes of family, grief, and reflection, seems to have struck that chord.

For AT&T, involvement doesn’t end with a check. Moseley said the company will continue to provide resources like connectivity throughout the filmmaking process and will help support the program’s filmmakers’ network through its entertainment industry connections. Past year’s winners, including Color Book by David Fortune and Smoking Tigers by So Young Shelly Yo, have secured distribution with streamers like Netflix and HBO.

And as AT&T supports independent filmmaking, the effort can ideally help the company continue to learn and grow, too.

“These are professional storytellers, and just because they haven’t made it on the big screen yet doesn’t mean they aren’t professionals,” Moseley said. “We can learn from them, and as they tell their stories, they’re also telling our story, because our brand is there, and we helped fund that.”