Tribeca X, the Tribeca Festival’s flagship program dedicated to brand-supported storytelling, today announced the inaugural Tribeca X Filmmaker of the Year Award, honoring A$AP Rocky for his work at the intersection of music, fashion, film, design, and brand storytelling. Tribeca X also unveiled its 2026 speaker lineup and official selections for the annual Tribeca X Awards.

The new Filmmaker of the Year Award was created to recognize visionary artists whose work expands the creative and cultural possibilities of brand-supported storytelling through cinematic craft, creative ambition, and cultural impact. Rocky—whose creative work spans film, music videos, fashion campaigns, branded storytelling, and multidisciplinary creative direction—represents the type of boundary-pushing voice Tribeca X was built to celebrate.

“Tribeca X was built to celebrate the creators reshaping modern storytelling,” said Rebecca Glashow, CEO of Tribeca Enterprises. “Today’s cultural landscape is being defined by artists and entrepreneurs who push creative boundaries across mediums and industries. A$AP Rocky represents the kind of genre-defying visionary the inaugural Tribeca X Filmmaker of the Year Award was created to honor.”

Taking place June 8–9 at Spring Studios during the 25th annual Tribeca Festival, Tribeca X convenes influential voices across entertainment, advertising, media, technology, and the creator economy for two days of conversations, screenings, networking, and industry programming.
Tribeca X passes are available at https://tribecafilm.com/tribecax/passes.

This year’s Tribeca X programming showcases how brands and entertainment leaders are building new models for storytelling that move across screens, platforms, communities, and culture. Highlights from the 2026 lineup include:

• Cedric the Entertainer reflects on building businesses rooted in storytelling, culture, community, and purpose, from executive producing Kings of BBQ and building AC Barbeque to launching Setta Wines.

• Brooklyn Peltz Beckham joins chef and entertainer Claire Saffitz to discuss how authenticity, emotion and craft became the foundation for his international culinary brand Cloud23, now sold at Whole Foods and Erewhon.

• Tony and Emmy Award-winning actress Judith Light will speak on the importance of advocacy and purpose-driven storytelling in today’s cultural landscape.

• David Droga and Finn Droga explore how creativity evolves across generations and mediums, from iconic advertising narratives to independent filmmaking, and why the fundamentals of great storytelling endure even as technology, audiences and distribution change.

• Paige DeSorbo discusses building Daphne, her fashion-forward loungewear brand, and how personal style, cultural fluency and audience trust can become the foundation for a brand with staying power.

• Dhar Mann, founder of Dhar Mann Studios, speaks with Wall Street Journal Reporter Katie Deighton about how one of the world’s most influential creator-led production companies is redefining entertainment through direct audience relationships, uplifting content, strategic distribution partnerships and custom brand collaborations.

• Michelle Khare, creator and host of Challenge Accepted, speaks with The Ankler’s Christopher Rosen about how she transformed her YouTube channel into a full in-house production company and built a creator business where brand partnerships function as true creative collaborations.

• Michael Symon and Clinton Kelly, hosts and co-owners of Chewed Up, discuss creative ownership, distribution and building owned media platforms after decades in national television with Business Insider senior correspondent Lucia Moses.

• Stagwell executive David Sable sits down with PayPal Global CMO and CCO Antonio Lucio, and his daughter, the award-winning actor Irene Lucio. The group explores how storytelling evolves across generations and disciplines, from global brand-building to acting, writing and producing, and why human connection remains central as technology reshapes how stories are made and shared.

• Elizabeth Rutledge, CMO of American Express, talks with Ad Age Editor-in-Chief Jeanine Poggi, about how one of the world’s most iconic brands is redefining premium for a new generation through access, community and cultural relevance.

• Emmy-award winning TV host Zuri Hall moderates a conversation about sports, style, representation and social impact with Emmy-nominated journalist and host of NBA on Prime Video Taylor Rooks, and Aurora James, founder of Brother Vellies and the Fifteen Percent Pledge.

Additional programming will explore women’s sports, creator infrastructure, legacy brand reinvention, sports sponsorships as entertainment, branded documentary filmmaking, mission-driven storytelling, cultural access, culinary entrepreneurship, and the evolution of brands into entertainment platforms.

“Tribeca X is a rare space where marketers, filmmakers, creators, and entrepreneurs come together as storytellers,” said Rebecca Glashow, CEO of Tribeca Enterprises. “Today, brands and creators are not only shaping culture—they are producing, financing, and distributing premium entertainment. As storytelling continues to evolve across platforms and technologies, Tribeca X celebrates the artists and innovators building entirely new models for creative and commercial success.”

New this year, the Tribeca X Lounge at Spring Place Restaurant will serve as the connective hub of the program, bringing together marketers, filmmakers and industry leaders for meetings, collaboration and conversation throughout the day. The Tribeca X Conversation Lounge will extend the Main Stage experience with fireside chats and intimate discussions in a more relaxed setting, including conversations with trade associations The 4A’s and The Advertising Club of New York, creative production studios m ss ng p ces and Tribeca Studios, and brands including AWS and InStyle.

Tribeca X also announced the official selections for its Tribeca X Awards, recognizing the most creative and culturally impactful work across six categories: Feature Films, Short Films, Episodic Series, Audio, Commercial Spots, and Creator & Influencer Collaborations.

This year’s selections feature work from the following brands, a testament to the evolving art and influence of brand storytelling: Accenture, Adobe, Amazon, Arc’teryx, Autodesk, Back Market, Beats, Bliss, Cadillac F1, Carvana, Coca-Cola, Converse, Google, Innocence Project, Instacart, Lenovo, McDonald’s, Mississippi Museum of Art, Netflix, New York City Tourism + Conventions, The Philipstown WireCar Foundation, PUMA, Ray-Ban, Red Bull, Rubrik, Safe School Las Vegas, Shahla Karimi Jewelry, Skoll Foundation, Stio, Stripe Press, The North Face, TikTok, T-Mobile, Victoria and Yogi Tea.

The 2026 Tribeca X Awards Jury includes Daniel Cherry III (Global CMO, Vans), Juliana Cobb (Chief Creative Officer, 72andSunny New York), and Lena Waithe (Emmy-Winning Writer, Producer, and Founder of Hillman Grad). The audio jurors include Giancarlo Bizzarro (Vice President of Sales, Crooked Media), Carrie Brody (VP, Business Development at Higher Ground), and Stuart Sevier (President & Co-Founder at The Independent Media Initiative).

For more on Tribeca X visit TribecaFilm.com/TribecaX. For the latest updates on the 2026 Tribeca Festival, follow @Tribeca and #Tribeca2026 on Instagram, X, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Or visit TribecaFilm.com