Tribeca Studios And Lilly Announce First Vital Stories Filmmaker Programme Winners

Tribeca Studios has named three short films to be produced through the inaugural Vital Stories filmmaker program, an initiative with Eli Lilly and Company designed to empower emerging filmmakers to portray disease with greater accuracy and authenticity.

The selected projects are RUN IT BACK (Abby Pierce, Tiny Cruz), Do I Know You From Somewhere? (Angela Wong Carbone, Alan Scott Neal), and Reconstructing Charlie (Lara Everly). An expert jury chose the winners: Yvette Nicole Brown (Actor, Writer, Producer), Amanda Farrand (Executive Vice President of Brands and Business Development at Imagine Entertainment), Stacey Walker King (Chief Brand Officer at MACRO), and Lina Polimeni (Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Consumer at Eli Lilly and Company).

The selections follow a Creative Summit held by Tribeca Studios in autumn 2025 in New York City, where 19 filmmaking teams received mentorship, workshops, and insights from both entertainment and medical professionals. Each winning project will receive comprehensive production support — including development funding and guidance from Tribeca Studios and industry leaders — and a guaranteed world premiere at the 2026 Tribeca Festival. After their premieres, the films will be further developed toward potential feature-length or episodic formats.

"This dynamic work with Lilly has enabled us to move beyond conversation and into real creative action," said Bryce Norbitz, Vice President of Tribeca Studios & Artist Development. "The projects that emerged from this year's program reaffirm what Vital Stories is all about — championing bold, nuanced, and genuinely entertaining work that reflects lived experiences too often missing from our screens."

Launched in 2025, Vital Stories was created in response to a study sponsored by Lilly in partnership with Dr. Stacy L. Smith and the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. The research found that, although millions of Americans live with health conditions, characters with five of the most prevalent — obesity, cancer, dementia, diabetes, and atopic dermatitis — are rarely depicted in film and television, and when they are, portrayals are often stereotypical or one-dimensional.

The programme offers creative development and mentorship to select screenwriters and directors committed to authentic depictions of disease. Participants also gain access to a new content creation toolkit from Lilly and USC Annenberg, developed with input from industry experts and patient advocacy organisations to help storytellers craft accurate, empathetic and inclusive narratives rooted in real patient experiences.

Inaugural Vital Stories Filmmaker Programme Winners:

RUN IT BACK — Co-written by Abby Pierce and Tiny Cruz; Directed by Abby Pierce; Produced by Hannah Welever. On Sweet Tea’s first day back after a five-year prison term, a raucous homecoming, an uneasy boyfriend, spiking blood sugar and a watchful parole officer quickly remind her that freedom comes with conditions.

Do I Know You From Somewhere? — Written by Angela Wong Carbone; Directed by Alan Scott Neal; Produced by Grace Merriman and Yoko Kohmoto. Grappling with her mother's Alzheimer's diagnosis and unaffordable care, struggling actor Kimmy secretly takes a lucrative job impersonating other people’s loved ones; as her mother’s symptoms worsen and the work becomes more dangerous, she must decide how far she’ll go to keep her mother safe.

Reconstructing Charlie — Written and Directed by Lara Everly; Produced by Claudia Chakmati. Charlie's much-anticipated post-divorce glow-up is derailed by a breast cancer diagnosis, leading her to move in with her picture-perfect sister during recovery. A shared decision to have one wild 'last night out for the boobs!' propels both women into a journey of sisterhood, second chances and letting go.