MOONSHOT PILOT ACCELERATOR
Increasing gender equity in television
Applications are now OPEN!
April 1 - May 27, 2026
"Moonshot Initiative is clearly doing something right — they’re curating the best of the best and creating real momentum around these filmmakers, not just spotlighting talent but actively helping take them to the next level. I was honestly blown away by the quality of the work. The projects felt relevant and hip, with a strong point of view and a real understanding of the audience. You could feel how fully thought-through each story was — not just creatively, but from the standpoint of what the marketplace actually wants, while still feeling completely authentic."
- Elissa Federoff, Chief Distribution Officer at NEON
In this highly competitive virtual accelerator program for TV writers, 6-8 fellows will receive three weeks of industry training before having the opportunity to pitch to major studios, production companies, representatives, and producers. The entire accelerator, including training and pitching, will occur online.
The goal of this program is to launch the careers of our fellows. Already, our past fellows have:
-
sold a project to a production company met through the accelerator
-
gotten staffed on TV series — in one instance, been hired by another alum
-
received representation from an accelerator meeting
-
had projects in development with producers they met during the accelerator
-
had a project optioned by a production company
-
secured follow-up meetings with executives
-
gotten hired as writing support staff on an existing series
-
and made many valuable industry contacts.
This program aims to increase the representation of women and gender-expansive people on screen and in writers rooms.
Moonshot Pilot Accelerator deadlines:
-
Early bird - April 15, 2026 ($49)
-
Regular - April 29, 2026 ($59)
-
Late - May 13, 2026 ($69)
-
Final - May 27, 2026 ($79)
MEET THE ALUMNI
Our past fellows are now working in writers' rooms and developing IP with producers we introduced them to. The fellows come from all over the world and all different professional backgrounds. After the accelerators, we bring all the cohorts together for monthly zooms to continue lifting eachother up.
GG Hawkins is a writer, director, and podcaster who tells stories that explore the dark side of the female experience and millennial ennui. Her feature directorial debut, I Really Love My Husband, premiered at SXSW in 2025, won the First-Time Director Award at the Chattanooga Film Festival, and had a limited US theatrical release in September ahead of its November digital debut, and an international theatrical run in January 2026. She directed the short Yes, Daddy—a spiritual prequel to the fe
Danielle Nicki is a professional writer in television, film, books, and scripted audio podcasts who enjoys exploring the worlds and minds of flawed — and dare I say, unlikable — women of color protagonists. She feels completely at home writing thriller, horror, fantasy, action, and drama, and thrives when there is a bit of dark humor and a complicated family dynamic at its core. Danielle started her professional writing career after joining season 2 of Leverage: Redemption (Amazon Prime) as a
The product of Jamaican and Ghanaian parents, Ama Anane grew up in two of the wildest places on earth: Papua New Guinea and Las Vegas. Her scripts, poetry, and standup explore the identities and experiences that divide us and make us whole. Ama is currently a participant in the NBCUniversal TV Writing Program and was recently staffed as a writer on Dig, a new show co-created by Mike Schur and Amy Poehler and starring Amy Poehler and Hugh Laurie. Named one of the Austin Film Festival’s 25 Screen
woman obsessed with writing thrillers and mysteries about obsessed women... It's no mystery Andrea Shawcross literally kicked off her writing career touring a one woman show on roller skates. But the plot thickened when she won the 2022 Launch Pad and ScreenCraft Pilot Competitions with her YA mystery WHO IS MONICA STRANGE? Shawcross is now crushing the thriller market, selling features like hotcakes, to companies including Tubi, Lifetime, and Hallmark. There have been twists and turns al
Alex Friedman is an LA-based comedy writer who grew up in Cobb County, Georgia, where the school district once put "evolution is a theory, not a fact" stickers in the biology textbooks. She's worked for major media brands including CNN, ABC News, and Late Night with Seth Meyers. Alex recently wrote on a Broadway Video romantic comedy scripted podcast for Audible (coming 2026) and also writes a bestselling politics + culture newsletter called Hot Tip.
Justine Grace Ceniza Rivero is a sci-fi/fantasy screenwriter centering strong women of color breaking free from cultural, social, and familial expectations to discover their own (often fantastical or futuristic) powers. Formerly an investigative journalist and technologist, Justine aspires to be the first Filipina-American showrunner.
Kris Crenwelge, a staff writer on the upcoming CBS series True Lies (20th TV), was a 2022 Disney Program Writer and previously wrote on Spirt Rangers, the multiple Annie award-nominated series at Netflix. Kris landed her dream PR job straight out of college with a travel company in the Caribbean. Shortly after, her boss quit, she narrowly escaped decapitation-by-ceiling-fan during a Catagory 5 hurricane, and a disgruntled coworker put a curse on her because she wanted her job. Quickly pivoti
Batoul is a writer from New York City. She studied History Education at NYU and has taught children grades pre-K to 12th grade. She now writes, primarily comedy, and is passionate about the storytelling inherent in our histories, whether global, national, or local. She is also a 2024 fellow at the Moonshot Pilot Accelerator Program where she will be pitching her original half-hour comedy to companies like HBO, Hulu, and Netflix.
I'm a half-white-half-Hispanic-full-Texan screenwriter who currently calls Los Angeles home. I'm experienced in writing across genres, formats and platforms, and I have a knack for walking the tightrope between grounded and absurd. From raunchy adult animation (CROSSING SWORDS) to kindhearted Christmas romcoms (JUST LIKE A CHRISTMAS MOVIE, LOVE ON THE LINE), you can watch my work on platforms like Hulu and HBOMax. Hell, even right now, if you really wanted to! I've also written narrativ
Rati Gupta is a rare breed of professional hip hop dancer turned comedy actor, writer and storyteller. She trained with some of Chicago’s most renowned choreographers while studying at Northwestern University and worked alongside musical artists Lupe Fiasco and Flo Rida. Since transitioning from dancer to actor, Rati has made guest appearances on various TV series such as Pamela Adlon’s critically acclaimed FX show Better Things, the Seth Rogan-produced Hulu comedy Future Man, as well as the bi
SYLVIA-ANNE PARKER is a screenwriter from London whose journey to screenwriting began as a script supervisor, forging working relationships with directors including Danny Boyle, Cary Joji Fukunaga, Yorgos Lanthimos, Kenneth Branagh, and Nia DaCosta. Well-travelled and inspired by socio-political events, Sylvia-Anne enjoys fusing fact with fiction to create character-driven stories featuring women of colour. As a former backup singer, music is often an inspiration for her stories. A Fellow of
Julia Morizawa is an actor with 20+ years experience in film, television, theatre, and web series, including 8+ years experience in voice-over and narrative podcasts. She is a member of SAG-AFTRA and Equity. Career highlights include the feature film Judas Kiss, TV appearances on Scandal and SEAL Team, the title role in East West Players' production of Masha No Home, series regular roles on the web series Star Trek: Odyssey and Galactic Galaxy, and the lead role in the fiction podcast The Bright
Vivian Kerr is an LA-based actor, writer, director, and producer with her company Rue Dangeau. Her most recent project as an actor and producer, the pilot SOFT BOIL, was selected for both the 2026 Sundance Film Festival and 2026 Slamdance Film Festival. SCRAP, her feature directorial debut, co-starring Anthony Rapp and Lana Parrilla, world premiered in competition at the Deauville-American Film Festival and went on to screen in 44 film festivals worldwide, becoming "Certified Fresh" on Rotten
A CPA-turned-screenwriter, Dani Milton always had a passion for writing. Growing up in Kansas City, Missouri, her first story in elementary school was about magic books that whisked a young girl wherever her imagination desired. But she studied accounting in college and became a corporate CPA, having had little exposure to the arts while growing up. For religious reasons, Dani’s family didn’t even go to movie theaters. It was only as an adult that she learned how movies are made: they start with
Lauren Brown is a “walking encyclopedia of film history”, a tarot reader, a visual artist, and a Writer/Director of horror stories about family. Her short film, A WAKE, screened at multiple horror film festivals and earned her a spot in the 2020 Women in Film Directors Mentorship Circle. LB is also a 2025 Moonshot Initiative Feature Accelerator Fellow with her debut feature, DEADBEAT. In addition to her independent pursuits, LB has produced and edited for Amazon, Topple Productions, and FilmStru
Katerina Munis is an award-winning film writer/director and XR innovator, specializing in new media and immersive production. She holds an MFA in Film & Television Production from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts and her bachelor's in Classics & the Ancient Near East. Katerina was the Director of Productions at XR Stage, an immersive film & TV studio. Katerina is distinguished as a 2025 Russo Brothers' directing fellow, 2025 McKnight Foundation screenwriting fellow, 2025 Moonshot Accelerator f
Lex Powell is a writer-director-dilettante who noonlights as a psychotherapist. Their work has been presented at the Whitney Museum, New Museum, BAM, and The Kitchen (among other HIPAA-compliant locations). Lex was a Moonshot Accelerator Fellow for their half-hour comedy pilot PROCREATION, INC. They are in post-production on their latest short film, HOW TO USE THE BATHROOM, and in development for their first feature, EVERYBODY HURTS. Beginning in March 2026, Lex’s voice will be your tour guide f
Briana N Cox (she/they) is the oldest of seven children and a first-generation academic. She holds a BA in cognitive science from Swarthmore College and an MS in speech-language pathology from Purdue University. Briana has been a writing Fellow through The TN Playwright’s Studio, Stowe Story Labs, Bend Base Camp Feature Lab, Stage 32 Feature Competition, and the Moonshot Initiative Feature Accelerator. She has won Best Script at the San Francisco Independent Film Festival and Best Tennessee Writ
Brooke Solomon is a propulsive genre film & TV writer with a background in feature development. She grew up as a bisexual Lebanese girl on a farm in rural New Hampshire, where animals generally outnumbered – and outranked – the local people. She graduated from Emerson College with a BA in Visual Media Arts, and has a special love for splashy action pieces, rural stories, and anything mythology inspired. Brooke’s work has been recognized by The Black List x WIF Episodic Lab, the WIF Fellowship
What happens during the accelerator
The accelerator workshops take place on September 15, 16, 17, 22, 23, 24, 29, 30 and Oct. 1. Each session is three hours long.
Pitch week is from Oct. 5-9
Career advice
You'll meet with a development executive and a showrunner to get feedback from the perspective of the people who buy and sell stories.
Perfect the pitch
You'll meet with an entertainment lawyer, an agent and a manager to discuss how to best protect yourself as a writer and have a long, lucrative career.
Have fun with it
We'll have a mock writers' room with a showrunner to prepare you for life as a TV writer. We'll also have a session with a speech coach to make sure you can express yourself fully.
Pitch Week
The 20 companies that have agreed to hear pitches will review the loglines we send them. Each company will select at least 3 pitches to hear. This way, you're only pitching to companies who are interested in your work. Each fellow pitches to 6-10 companies on average.
WHO HEARS THE PITCHES
"It was a real pleasure not only to meet these talented women, but also to hear their exceptionally polished pitches. The level of detail, passion and intention these fellows were able to deliver in a 10 minute pitch is usually reserved for meetings double or triple the length. A testament to the mentorship and feedback they've received through Moonshot and a delight to experience the spoils of."
- Jasmine Russ, VP of development & production at Fabel Entertainment
For every accelerator, we get over 20 studios and production companies on board to hear pitches. Fellows typically receive 6 to 10 requests for pitch meetings. These pitch meetings are all one-on-one, and 75% of the meetings end with a request to read the full script. Here is a list of the companies we have worked with in the past:
WHO READS THE SCRIPTS?
Semi-finalists' pilots will be read by an incredible group of judges, including showrunners, executive producers, series creators and TV writers. This panel of judges will help us select the finalists, who will then go through a virtual interview before the 6-8 fellows are selected. Even if you are not selected as a fellow, there is still a chance you might be contacted if one of these judges likes your script enough to interview or refer you for a writing position.
Before getting to the semi-finalist stage, all scripts are read at least twice by our internal team, volunteer readers, and former fellows.
Click to read the bios of our current and past judges:
Frequently asked questions
