Sharon Badal

SHARON BADAL is an assistant arts professor in the Tisch undergraduate film and television department and holds both her B.F.A. and M.A. degrees from New York University. She is former vice president of programming for the Tribeca Film Festival and was with the festival since its inception from 2001-2023 in addition to producing special projects for Tribeca since 1999. Sharon is now the music video programmer and music video event producer for Tribeca with a special interest in short music video documentaries. Prior to that she produced numerous live-events and worked in distribution and marketing for three major studios. She is the author of Swimming Upstream – A Lifesaving Guide to Short Film Distribution, published by Focal Press. 

In 2022 Sharon was invited by the BBC as one of six short film programmers globally to be a curator for the BBC Longshots program, judged the Soho House Screenplay competition for several years and is currently a reviewer for the Screen Ireland Focus Shorts funding program. She is widely recognized as an expert in short films. She is the external film festivals advisor for the Undergraduate Film and Television Department and created/teaches the “Producing in London” summer study abroad program for Tisch Special Programs.

She has been a jury member, presenter, or panelist for many film festivals and organizations worldwide including the Regional Student Academy Awards, Alcine Madrid, Annapolis Maryland, Bend Oregon, BFI London, Big Sky Documentary, The British Council, Calgary, Cleveland, DOC NYC,  Cork, Dublin and Galway festivals Ireland, Fest Forum New York & Santa Barbara, Hawaii International, Heartland Indy Shorts, Holly Shorts Los Angeles, Hot Springs Documentary, IFP Produced By Conference: Screen Forward NY, Keynote Speaker for Orlando, Louisiana Film Prize, New Hampshire, New Orleans, Nordisk Panorama Iceland, Norway, Finland and Sweden, Palm Springs ShortsFest, Pittsburgh Shorts & Screenplays, Producers Guild of America, Rhode Island, SAG-INDIE, Santa Fe, Savannah, Short Film Pod (podcast), Short Shorts Japan and Asia Tokyo, Sundance ShortsLab, CFC Worldwide, ImagineNative and TIFF in Toronto, Vienna Shorts Austria and Wavelength Productions (podcast). Badal has been a guest lecturer at Columbia University, Griffith College Dublin, North Carolina School of the Arts, Savannah College of Art & Design, UC Santa Barbara, UCLA and University of Hawaii at Manoa School of Cinematic Arts.

During the first months of the Covid-19 pandemic, Sharon curated a daily online short film program called A Short Film a Day Keeps Anxiety Away, and a weekly online music series called Soundtrack Sunday for Tribeca. She also curated short films for the United Airlines “Tribeca Presents” channel from 2014-2018.

Sharon worked for actor Denis Leary’s Firefighter Foundation as development associate and project coordinator, receiving commendations from the New Orleans and Seaside Heights Fire Departments for her recovery efforts post Hurricane Katrina and Sandy, respectively. She is the executive producer of the feature documentary Let’s Roll, which follows a group of Los Angeles firefighters as they bicycle across the U.S. to reach New York on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. The film world premiered at the Newport Beach Film Festival and received the Best Documentary Award from the International Association of Firefighters.

Courses:

“Producing in London” summer study abroad program
Writing the Short Screenplay
Senior Colloquium: Exit Strategies
Producing Essentials
Media Moguls in the 20th Century
Formerly: The “Producing in Dublin” program, The Business of Producing at Stern School of Business, Film Marketing and Distribution, faculty advisor for the UGFTV internship program, Gallatin advisor.

Education:

B.F.A., New York University, Tisch School of the Arts Film & Television
M.A., New York University, Gallatin – Specialization in Cinema Studies and Business