AT&T Presents: Untold Stories Selects ‘Smoking Tigers’ Winner for $1 Million Prize at 2022 Tribeca Festival

5 Filmmakers Pitched their Projects for Chance to Win Top Prize During Live Pitch Event

Featuring Remarks from Tribeca Co-Founders Jane Rosenthal and Robert DeNiro

AT&T and Tribeca have announced SMOKING TIGERS as the winner of the AT&T Presents: Untold Stories. SMOKING TIGERS filmmakers So Young Shelly Yo (Writer/Director) and Guo Guo (Producer) will receive $1 million to produce their feature length film, which will premiere exclusively at the 2023 Tribeca Festival and be granted a dedicated first look opportunity with HBO Max.

“It means so much for this program to support an intimate portrait like SMOKING TIGERS. This is a story we know, a story we love, and a story we have been carrying with us for a very, very long time. We truly can't wait to share SMOKING TIGERS with the world.” said So Young Shelly Yo, SMOKING TIGERS Writer/Director, as she accepted the win.

The AT&T Presents: Untold Stories event took place at Spring Studios at Tribeca on Friday, June 10^th and featured 5 talented filmmakers with diverse voices and backgrounds vying for the opportunity to take their stories from untold to told. This year’s entries included The Weight of Land from Daniel Drummond, Smoking Tigers from So Young Shelly Yo, Under The Lights from Miles Levin, Paper Trail from Rachael Moton and Mutt from Vuk LK.

Each filmmaker had the opportunity to pitch their project to the event Greenlight Committee, which included filmmaker J.D. Dillard, actress DeWanda Wise, AT&T Chief Marketing and Growth Officer Kellyn Smith Kenny, Warner Media SVP of Equity and Inclusion Karen Horne, and HBO MAX SVP of Content Acquisition Leslie Cohen. 

In addition to the filmmaker pitches and announcement of the winner and Fan Favorite films, the event also featured live remarks from Tribeca Festival Co-founders Jane Rosenthal and Robert De Niro.

“The green light committee was blown away by the clarity of directorial vision, how intimately the story is told and the power of the SMOKING TIGERS team. AT&T believes representation matters and today's event highlights the mission of this program by providing talented and unique voices with the opportunity to pursue their dreams.” said Kellyn Smith Kenny, Chief Marketing and Growth Officer, AT&T, on behalf of the Greenlight Committee.

During the event, AT&T also presented a $40,000 grant to the Fan Favorite winner, Under The Lights, which was voted on by fans via @ATT and will also provide a $10,000 grant to each of the other 4 participating filmmakers to help achieve their film goals.

AT&T Presents: Untold Stories was created to help give the world access to stories from underrepresented filmmakers. In addition to the $1 Million top prize, AT&T and Tribeca will mentor the filmmakers throughout the development process, assist with awards submissions, qualifying screenings, marketing and promotion of the film.

Visit AT&T Untold Stories for more on previous year’s events and winners.

For a replay of today’s pitch event please visit: AT&T YouTube

Additional information about the 2022 winner is below:

Smoking Tigers from So Young Shelly Yo (Writer/Director) and Guo Guo (Producer)

SYNOPSIS: Over one summer spent at an elite academic bootcamp, a lonely Korean American teenager hides her true identity to fit in, only to discover the bittersweet pains of adulthood.