Sharon Badal
Distinguished Teacher
SHARON BADAL has been a full-time faculty member at New York University Tisch School of the Arts for twenty years, recognized as a Distinguished Teacher. Sharon is the external festivals advisor for the Undergraduate Film and Television Department and created the “Producing in London” summer study abroad program for Tisch. 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. 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 and was a judge for the Soho House Screenplay competition for six years.
During the first months of the Covid-19 pandemic, she 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.
She has been a jury member, presenter, or panelist for many film festivals and organizations including the Regional Student Academy Awards, Alcine FF Madrid Spain, Annapolis FF, Bend FF Oregon, BFI London FF, The British Council, Calgary FF, DOC NYC, Cork, Dublin and Galway FFs Ireland, Hawaii International FF, Heartland Indy Shorts FF, Holly Shorts FF Los Angeles, Hot Springs Documentary FF, IFP Produced By Conference: Screen Forward NY, Keynote Speaker for Orlando FF, Louisiana Film Prize, New Hampshire FF, New Orleans FF, Nordisk Panorama Iceland, Norway, Finland and Sweden, Palm Springs ShortsFest, Rhode Island FF, SAG-INDIE, Savannah FF, Sundance ShortsLab, CFC Worldwide, ImagineNative and TIFF in Toronto Canada and Vienna Shorts in Austria.
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 United States 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