The fifth annual Through Her Lens: Tribeca Chanel Women’s Filmmaker Program, which provides mentorship and financing for female-led short film projects, kicks off Nov. 4-6 in New York. Presented by Chanel and Tribeca Enterprises, along with Pulse Films and Tribeca Film Institute, the program targets U.S.-based female writers and directors.

“Chanel was prescient and there right at the beginning when we created the program six years ago,” Paula Weinstein, CCO of Tribeca Enterprises and Tribeca Film Festival’s executive vp, told The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s no new secret that women have been underrepresented as directors and producers and have been paid less as actresses. So we applaud Chanel for having come in before it was a front-page issue and recognizing the importance of supporting women’s voices.”

To show their support, actress-directors Yara Shahidi and Phoebe Tonkin, both advisers to the program, have created videos (shared first exclusively with THR) in which they talk about their own experiences on both sides of the camera. On Monday, the five pairs of female filmmakers and projects selected for the 2019 program, along with this year’s master class leaders, mentors and jury members, were announced.

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Phoebe Tonkin had just turned 30 when we spoke on a sweltering hot July day. While this could incite panic in those who fear the dreaded three-oh, Tonkin couldn’t be more excited to enter into this new chapter.

The actress spent her 20s building quite a name for herself in both the U.S. and her homeland of Australia. Having first burst onto the scene in the Australian sitcom H2O: Just Add Water, she gained widespread fame when she landed the role of Hayley on Vampire Diaries, which, in turn, led to a starring role in the spinoff series The Originals. Her latest venture sees her back on Australian television in the drama Bloom. Adding to her roster of acting accomplishments, she’s also been a Chanel ambassador for the last three years.

These successes have garnered her a massive following on social media. Boasting 5.2 million followers on Instagram, Tonkin is ever aware of the influence she has online. She tries to use her social media as a way to call her fans to action, with posts supporting campaigns to save the whales and eliminate the use of plastic water bottles, and, most recently, advocating for gun control in the U.S.

“It just felt very organic to share those things and hopefully inspire other people to educate themselves and use their voice,” Tonkin says. “Just because they don’t necessarily have as big of a platform as I do doesn’t mean they don’t have influence.”

The environment and the protection of marine life are of particular importance to her. This interest in sustainability was one of the many reasons she was drawn to Chanel as a brand. “What a lot of people don’t know [about] Chanel is that it has very discreetly done so much for the arts, as well as the environment,” Tonkin explains. “They’re working on more sustainable choices, which I love.”

Read more of her interview at the source

The Aussie actress hopped on a boat, put on her J12, and talked about life after 30.

Phoebe Tonkin has been acting for half of her life, starting with a teen show in her native Australia. The now-30-year-old has built up an impressive acting CV since then and is also known to her 5.2 million followers as an especially beautiful Instagram influencer. Tonkin can also add Chanel ambassador to her list of titles. The Parisian house staged a French seaside takeover on Shelter Island in the Hamptons this past weekend to fete its popular J12 watch. BAZAAR.com took this picturesque opportunity to shoot the New York-based Australian on a Chanel-branded sailboat and to ask Tonkin some questions about social media, her career, and what else when we’re all here for a watch? Time.

Harper’s BAZAAR: Let’s get right into you. When did you start acting? What do you love about it?
Phoebe Tonkin: I started acting when I was about 15. I was taking all the drama classes and acting courses. I auditioned for Home and Away—I don’t know if Americans know about Home and Away—and didn’t get it. And the second thing I auditioned for was a kid show called H2O. And that took me away from my kind of normal childhood, teenage adolescence for three years to shoot three seasons of it in the Gold Coast—I was Sydney based. And then from there, I kind of … I don’t know if I fell in love with acting so much as I fell in love with the world of what making film and TV was and is. I just love being on set. I feel like, I mean, I’m 30 now, the first set I was on, I was 15. So half of my life I’ve been on a set, and it’s so familiar to me. I feel so comfortable. I think I fell in love with the world of telling stories.

What do you think is the project that put you out into the world the most?
H20 was quite popular in Australia and then got bought by Netflix over here. But in terms of what I feel like changed my own kind of trajectory in terms of just personally how I felt about working, it was a show called Safe Harbour that’s on Hulu. I shot it about two years ago and it just … I don’t know, I think it just rejuvenated my passion for telling stories again, and why I love doing it, and the impulsivity, and the just passion. It was a very small budget, with just some of the most incredible talents and creative in Australia all involved in it. It was just so inspiring to me, and every day was such a treat to be on set, even when I wasn’t working, I just absorbed everything I saw. Yeah. Safe Harbour was the one, at least as an adult, that really kind of reshaped where I wanted to go with my career.

How did you become involved as a Chanel ambassador?
I met Ilona Hamer [who styled this shoot] about nine years ago at a Chanel event in Australia that I was invited to—Ilona helped style me for it. And then a few years later, she was shooting something for Chanel and she had all of these samples in her apartment. Our friend Adrian [Mesko] was a photographer and we’d all had a glass of wine or something, and Ilona said, “Why don’t we shoot Phoebe in some of these samples and Adrian can shoot it?” It was just the three of us sitting at her apartment, and she took the photos, put them on her blog, and sent them to Chanel in Australia. And that was sort of how I got properly introduced. And then from then, I shot a few covers and editorials, and went to a few shows. But I became an ambassador last year.

What does Chanel as a brand and an idea represent to you?
I think there’s something really kind of timeless and classic and elegant, but still sort of strong and a little rebellious about the Chanel woman. And I like being part of a brand that really wants you to feel and look like yourself, while still sort of being a face, or a representation of the house. That you can style the clothes in a way that you would wear them, as opposed to being put in full head-to-toe looks. And even today, this shoot is exactly how I would probably be going on a boat—except with more Chanel.

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Australia is not lacking in supermodels, with Miranda Kerr, Gemma Ward, Abbey Lee Kershaw, and Elle MacPherson among the many megastars who hail from down under. But on the second day of Australia Fashion Week’s Resort 2020 shows in Sydney this year, a new rising runway star joined their ranks: actress Phoebe Tonkin, walking in her first ever runway show. It was not just any runway show, though—the 29-year-old hit the catwalk for her friends Peta Heinsen and Ilona Hamer, in their brand Matteau’s first ever ready-to-wear show. Tonkin joined a diverse cast of models, including fellow Aussie native Robyn Lawley, seamlessly fitting in with the crew, nary a sign of nerves in sight. Here, Tonkin breaks down how her runway debut came to be, and shares her latest fashion opinions.

How were you feeling before you hit the runway?
I was just excited for Ilona and Peta. The energy backstage was just pure joy. All the girls felt confident and beautiful, everyone was commenting on how relaxed the show was. I’m not a model, maybe I should have been more nervous, but I was wearing flats so I figured as long as I didn’t walk the wrong way or slip over, I was going to do okay.

What was most surprising to you about the runway experience?
That it was so quick! The whole [thing] lasted only six or so minutes! And also how chilled out backstage was.

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From climate change to feminism, why we love this down-to-earth Aussie actress

Phoebe Tonkin is like a breath of fresh air. With her porcelain skin and willowy frame she’s the epitome of natural beauty but there’s so much more to this Aussie actress that it’s hard to know where to start. We chatted with Phoebe during her recent visit to Australia, where she was refreshingly open and honest about issues she holds close. From human rights to feminism, her stance on climate change and US politics, it was certainly a departure from the run-of-the-mill celebrity interview.

But what really elevates LA-based Phoebe is the way she has been completely unafraid to use her influence to inspire action.

“If you live on this earth, I think it’s our responsibility to make sure it’s still here for future generations. I think it would be incredibly selfish to think, ‘it’s not going to affect me’ because by the time it does, global warming will truly devastate this world,’’ she says frankly, when we ask her what sustainability means to her.

There’s a lot that Phoebe feels strongly about, and during our chat a common topic we return to is how she sees it as her responsibility to voice her opinion so that others may be inspired to form one of their own.

“I’m fortunate enough to have a lot of lovely people who follow me on Instagram, and it’s nice to at least urge them to have an opinion in general; on everything from politics to equal rights, health and wellbeing of animals, feminism, or whatever it is,’’ she says.

Last year Phoebe used the social platform to urge her US followers to vote in the midterm elections, while back home in Australia she speaks freely about equality and pinpointing the current treatment of refugees as one of many issues she will stand up for. “I think the detainment of refugees is appalling and shocking. I think our time is up for Australia to abolish those sorts of prisons. These people have been there for years and years, and in such horrific conditions,’’ she says.

From appearing on Home and Away to the Vampire Diaries and more recently, Aussie drama, Bloom, somewhere along the way she has gone from teenage actress to global megastar. Along with her mates Margot Robbie and Teresa Palmer she’s part of Chanel’s inner circle, has appeared in fashion shoots for US Vogue and Elle and teamed up with Lara Worthington in Jenni Kayne’s #findyouruniform fashion campaign.

For the last eight years Phoebe has called the US home, the first five in Atlanta during the filming of Vampire Diaries and most recently Los Angeles, where she says her favourite things to do are have dinner parties, cook for friends and take road trips to one of her favourite places, Ojai. “I just kind of hang out,’’ she says.

The native Sydneysider lists fellow actress and aussie Teresa Palmer as one of her great LA mentors, further fueling our impressions of a super-talented posse of like-minded Australian actresses making waves across the Pacific.

“She’s (Teresa) another person that’s really passionate about the environment and making sure her family is aware of the food they eat and where it comes from,’’ she says of her friend who is also the co-founder of Your Zen Mama.
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