Toronto’s City Life Film Project has partnered with the Tribeca Film Institute to create the Youth Film Exchange, a program for emerging filmmakers.

The pilot program will see three young filmmakers in the City Life Film Project attend the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival, taking place Apr. 17 to 27 in New York City. There, they will be paired with three film students from the Tribeca Film Fellow Program, who will act as cultural guides and hosts to the Toronto filmmakers.

As part of the exchange, the filmmakers will pitch each other their ideas and attend events during the Tribeca festival, culminating in a screening of each other’s short films at the festival.

City Life in turn will host the Tribeca Film Fellows during TIFF 2013. The New York filmmakers will attend the Toronto festival, pitch new film ideas and host private screenings of their short films.

“We know with access to a supportive community, our filmmakers will tell stories that will enrich the world of cinema and contribute to the broader global dialogue,” said City Life Film Project program director Tara Woodbury in a statement.

“In an era of limitless digital communication, let’s not forget the power of human interaction in creating real dialogue and social change, especially among emerging filmmakers from Canada and the U.S.,” said Tribeca Film Institute education director Vee Bravo in his own statement.

Porter Airlines is supporting the program with free flights.

The City Life Film Project is a partnership between producer Calum deHartog, Temple Street Productions and the Remix Project. A group of 10 emerging filmmakers participate in a four-month curriculum that includes educational seminars, mentorship and script-honing.

From this group, three filmmakers have the opportunity to make a short film, mentored by industry professionals from the pitch phase through post-production and exhibition.

The Tribeca Film Fellows is a year-round program for 20 New York City-based youth filmmakers between the ages of 16 and 18 years old, who participate in programming that includes developing a personal creative project, panels, workshops and mentoring from Festival film directors.