Heineken, the official beer sponsor of the Tribeca Film Festival (TFF), is offering enriched event experiences that will take consumers from passive observers to active participants at this year’s Festival. These experiences, taking place over the duration of the Festival until April 27, 2014 in New York City, include the second year of Heineken’s Green Room Sessions, the reveal of #15SecondPremiere, supporting US-based Latino filmmakers through Tribeca Film Institute’s Heineken VOCES Grant, sponsorship and presentation of the annual TFF Audience Awards, as well as an official film after-party and the official TFF event Wrap Party.

Hugh O’Conor, John Butler and Peter McDonald attend the Heineken Green Room Sessions following screening of “The Bachelor Weekend”

Heineken took sponsorship to new levels at its signature Green Room Sessions. Following the screenings of the dark comedy, Summer of Blood, and the feel-good comedy, The Bachelor Weekend – the traditional Q&A experience was transformed as guests relived each film within the Green Room Session walls through film-themed décor, catering, staff uniforms and general ambiance.

Attendees enjoyed a cold Heineken as the Green Room Host interviewed the talent behind each film. The program also provided an exclusive look into the films, and an opportunity for attendees to mix and mingle with the cast and crew involved.

With the help of their agency of record Wieden+Kennedy New York, Heineken premiered the winning entry of their social call-to-action, #15SecondPremiere, during a private screening event. Last month, fans were dared  to submit a movie pitch in a single tweet– but only if they believed they had what it took to publicly premiere their short film during the Festival, brought to life courtesy of Heineken. Out of hundreds of submissions, Dennis Lazar‘s pitch was ultimately chosen, produced and directed by a Hollywood film crew, turning his 140 character pitch into 15 seconds of finished film.

Lazar was flown to New York City to attend a private Q&A event at TFF, where Heineken screened his movie, which features a cloned Abe Lincoln with a not-so-nice agenda. Plucked out from behind the safety and anonymity of his keyboard, Lazar enjoyed his mini-masterpiece in person – amidst all the fanfare, hoopla and questions that go into a premiere event – all after viewing the end result of his 140 character tweet for the first time.

“In our sixth year as a proud sponsor of Tribeca Film Festival we want to bring film-goers new, unexpected experiences,” said Pattie Falch, Director or Sponsorships and Events at Heineken. “We’re excited to partner with Tribeca Film Festival to present events like Heineken Green Room Sessions and #15SecondPremiere that will allow people to go beyond their comfort zone and try something new to open their world.”

In conjunction with Tribeca Film Institute, Heineken also continued its ongoing support of Hispanic filmmakers with the presentation of the annual Heineken VOCES Grant. This year’s VOCES recipients – Rodrigo Reyes, for his documentary Sanson and Me, and Yolanda Cruz, for her feature La Raya – were honored during a private event hosted by Heineken.  In addition to cash prizes, the winners received year-round project support from Tribeca Film Institute.

For more information please visit www.tribecafilminstitute.org/pages/latin_fund_voces.

As a passionate supporter of the film community, Heineken was also proud to sponsor the After Party of the critically-acclaimed film X/Y, starring America Ferrera, as well as the TFF Audience Awards and Wrap Party. Throughout the Festival, attendees will have the chance to vote for their favorite films by completing nomination ballots upon exiting screenings of films. Final results will be tabulated and announced during the official Wrap Party at Slate and concluding TFF celebration on April 26.

To enjoy the Tribeca Film Festival experience with Heineken, you can follow on Twitter or Instagram, @Heineken_US, #HKNGREENROOM, visit the Heineken Facebook page, www.facebook.com/Heineken and watch the #15SecondPremiere on YouTube.

HOMBRE Magazine’s Francisco Romeo with model Ashley Van Hoey attend the Heineken Green Room Sessions for the Tribeca Film Festival at The Storehouse