Last night at the  Tribeca Film Festival (TFF), Moët & Chandon celebrated the winners of its 2nd Moët Moment Film Festival, aka “The Minis,” an annual competition committed to inspiring a new generation of artists dedicated to telling their stories through film. Sarah Paulson, Justin Bartha, Paul Schneider, Christine Evangelista and Ryan Eggold were just a few of the guests who gathered at the exclusive McIntosh Townhouse in SoHo to toast the top three winning films and the recipient of the People’s Choice award.

Launched during the 2017 Golden Globes in January, this year’s Moët Moment Film Festival (MMFF) invited young filmmakers across the country to create and submit their own 60-sec film based on the theme “This is Your Moment” – challenging them to capture the joy and spontaneity of living life to the fullest for an opportunity to win a $25,000 film grant from Moët.  Hundreds of incredible short films were entered – ranging in style and subject matter – which were carefully reviewed by a panel of Hollywood industry mavens, including: SAG-nominated actress and Jurassic World star Bryce Dallas Howard, Golden Globe-winning actress and three-time nominee Gina Rodriguez along with David Guillod (producer and CEO/Founder of Primary Wave); Violaine Etienne (cofounder of Serial Pictures in partnership with Anonymous Content); Sharon Badal (VP of filmmaker relations and shorts programming for Tribeca Film Festival), and Kisha Imani Cameron (COO of Ghetto Film School).

The glamorous crowd mingled throughout, sipping Moët Minis, before sitting down to enjoy an extraordinary champagne tasting dinner and intimate viewing of the finalist films. Jane Rosenthal, co-founder of TFF enjoyed Moët under the rooftop canopy, while Sarah Paulson, chatted with the MMFF winners. The Hangover star, Justin Bartha, celebrated date night with wife Lia.

Also in attendance were actors Ryan Eggold, Richard Kind along with SUNO designer Erin Beatty and her husband Lex Sidon, Ranjana Khan, Coralie Charriol Paul, Valesca Guerrand-Hermes, filmmaker Julia Loomis, Coralie Charriol Paul, model Garrett Neff, Richard Brown, sisters Ciprana Quann & TK Wonder, and producer Chad Hamilton raised a collective glass to the 2017 winning film, entitled Know Yourself by Peter Pascucci & Jack Welles – two young filmmakers from New York. Inspired to create a piece that challenges heteronormative expectations, their stunning 60-sec film explores a non-traditional character and their vibrant lifestyle – proving no film is too short to create a stirring moment. Pascucci and Welles were thrilled and honored to accept the award noting, "the $25,000 grant will open the door for us to explore the topic of marginalized lifestyles in our next film project.” 

Photo's courtesy of Moet & Chandon