top of page
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
Moonshot_Logo_primary_fullname_2c_pink-l
Women's Weekend Film Challenge - Photo b

WHO WE ARE

Moonshot Initiative, formerly known as Women’s Weekend Film Challenge, is a nonprofit that promotes gender equity by creating opportunities for women and non-binary people to bring their leadership, talents, and stories to the forefront of the film and television industry. We aim to empower and support underrepresented voices and promote a more inclusive media landscape. 


Moonshot advances the careers of thousands of underrepresented voices. Whether it’s through our free film challenge, which puts crews of strangers together to make a film in one weekend and provides everything needed, or through our pilot accelerator, which finds the most promising TV writers and gets them in front of the top development executives, our programs are all designed to create supportive and diverse learning environments to help the next wave of talent advance in the industry.


​Through individual donations, corporate sponsorships and grants, we are able to keep our programming costs as low as possible to break down financial barriers.

Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre

Women's Weekend Film Challenge co-founders Katrina Medoff & Tracy Sayre: NY1 interview
03:55
WWFC co-founders Katrina Medoff & Tracy Sayre were interviewed by NY1 leading up to the organizations summer 2022 film challenge screening in New York City. To learn more about the organization and how you can get involved visit www.womensweekendfilmchallenge.com ABOUT KATRINA MEDOFF & TRACY SAYRE Katrina Medoff and Tracy Sayre are the co-founders of Women’s Weekend Film Challenge (WWFC), a social impact organization that works toward gender equity in the film and television industry. Katrina and Tracy, who became fast friends after meeting through the NYC indie film world, work tirelessly to help thousands of women build networks and break down barriers. Through WWFC’s signature film challenge, Katrina and Tracy have worked with 700 professional female filmmakers in NYC and LA to produce 30 short films, which have been screened at 90 film festivals and counting. In 2021, Katrina and Tracy launched WWFC’s Pilot Accelerator to address gender disparity in TV writers rooms. Through this program, Katrina and Tracy selected eight fellows from over 700 submissions, coached them on their pitches during a three-week intensive, and set up over 60 pitch meetings with executives from HBO, Netflix, Warner Bros., Comedy Central and more. Through their virtual workshop series, Katrina and Tracy have interviewed the top women of Hollywood, including showrunners, directors of blockbuster films and more. Their work with WWFC has been featured in outlets including Variety, Deadline, “Good Day LA” and KCRW, LA’s NPR station, and they have been invited to speak at conferences, film festivals, schools and universities. ABOUT WOMEN'S WEEKEND FILM CHALLENGE Women's Weekend Film Challenge (WWFC) works for gender equity by creating opportunities for women to bring their leadership, talents, and stories to the forefront of the film industry. WWFC places professional filmmakers on crews to write, shoot and edit a short film in one weekend and provides top-of-the-line equipment, insurance and workshops. This career-building opportunity is free for participants. Since its first challenge in January 2018, WWFC has worked with over 700 women to produce 30 short films, which have been accepted to more than 90 festivals. This grassroots, bi-coastal movement combats the gender imbalance of the film industry by providing an intensive networking experience and telling women's stories on screen. As a response to COVID-19, WWFC launched a popular virtual workshop series featuring Hollywood powerhouses in every role of production, such as Elle Johnson (co-showrunner, "Self Made"), Kasi Lemmons (writer/director, "Harriet"), Catherine Hardwicke (director, "Twilight"), Alma Har'el (director, "Honey Boy"), DeMane Davis (showrunner, "Queen Sugar"), Leslye Headland (co-creator, "Russian Doll"), Terilyn Shropshire (editor, "The Old Guard"), Alice Wu (director, "The Half of It") and many more. Recently, WWFC launched a brand-new pilot accelerator designed both to help emerging writers advance their careers and to increase the representation of women and non-binary people in television. This program is geared toward writers with strong, completed pilot scripts who lack the industry connections to sell their series or break into the writers room. With the help of a panel of prestigious industry judges, WWFC selects 6-8 fellows to participate in a three-week intensive and have the opportunity to pitch to HBO, HBO Max, Netflix, Comedy Central, Warner Bros. Television, Berlanti Productions, Sid Gentle Films, Element Pictures, Broadway Video, Jax Media, Fabel, Tornante, Good Fear Content, Semi-Formal Productions and more.
Behind the Scenes of the NYC 2022 film challenge
01:11

Support while you learn

Monthly support is the best way to sustain our mission. When you sign up for a monthly donation, you'll recieve hundreds of hours of virtual workshops with the top women of Hollywood, career-building advice and creativty prompts. We are in the beta stage of this monthly membership. Eventually all monthly donors will be automatically entered to win monthly prizes! Sign up now:

Testimonials

Olivia Beccina,
P.A.

The feeling of working with women who had such passion was incredible and the time limit created an intense but FUN atmosphere. The best moment was Getting a great last take of the final scene

Adanna Paul, Wardrobe

This has truly been an invaluable experience. The fast pace and spontaneity of the challenge automatically fostered a sense of community and devotion between team members. The opportunity to arrive on set each day and work with talented, capable, dedicated, and creative women in film was a dream come true!

Brooke Solomon, Writer

It is so rare that you find a program that actually delivers on the access and skills it claims to provide. I would highly recommend this program to any writer – especially those looking to take their career to the next stage, understand different factions of the industry, and build a supportive community of fellow creatives.

Traci Hays, Director

The energy in the room was unlike anything I had experienced in my 10+ years as a working professional filmmaker. There was freedom to try new things and a safe place to make mistakes and help each other through each obstacle that arose. 

BY THE NUMBERS

20K

Virtual workshop attendees

53%

of participants are people of color

1.4K

Applications to our Pilot Accelerator

32%

of participants identify as LGBTQ+

900+

Participants in our film challenges

9%

of participants have disabilities

WE'VE BEEN FEATURED IN THE FOLLOWING

CHECK OUT OUR BLOG

Empower women and non-binary people

bottom of page