Meet the Industry Judges for the 2026 Moonshot Pilot Accelerator

These showrunners, producers, and writers will be reading the Moonshot Pilot Accelerator semi-finalists' pilot scripts, and they're looking for emerging talent.

Our prestigious panel of judges for the 2026 Moonshot Pilot Accelerator serves two purposes. The judges use their trained eyes to spot the best talent. They also further our mission of helping to hire underrepresented voices, because many of these judges are in a position to hire or refer writers for staffing and support staff positions.

The writers who are selected as semi-finalists for the Moonshot Pilot Accelerator — about 24 in total — have their TV pilot scripts read by at least two industry judges. That's right: Showrunners, executive producers, and successful TV writers will be reading your work!

Over our past two accelerators, several judges have asked to meet with the writers whose work they judged — even when those writers don't make it to the final stages. This is significant because while we need to keep the pool of selected fellows small, we are able to help so many more writers through this process.

Here is are the impressive bios of our judges.

Marissa Jo Cerar - MJ began her career as a writer-producer on shows such as Netflix's 13 Reasons Why, Fox's Shots Fired, and Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale, for which she shares nominations for both the Emmys and Writers Guild Awards for Outstanding Drama Series for season three. She's an NAACP Image Award and Humanitas Prize winning writer for the two series she created and ran as showrunner, ABC's Women of the Movement and Hulu's Black Cake, her adaptation of Charmaine Wilkerson's "New York Times" best-selling novel.

She currently has projects in development at Hulu, UTV, UCP, and MGM.

Pam Davis is an award-winning television writer/producer. She’s sold several pilots and written and produced on a number of critically acclaimed series (HOUSE, ON BECOMING A GOD IN CENTRAL FLORIDA, etc.). She has been a Sundance Lab Advisor, a guest speaker at UCLA and USC, and a mentor for the WGA, The Writers Lab, The Writers Guild Foundation, the Canadian Film Centre and the Black Screen Office. Most recently, she was in development with John Wells Productions/WB and writing an MOW for Lifetime.

Georgia Lee is an award-winning writer and filmmaker. She created Netflix’s “Partner Track”. Georgia is currently on Amazon’s upcoming “God of War”. Previously Georgia wrote on Amazon’s “The Expanse” as well as the CW’s “The 100”.

Georgia’s first short film caught the attention of Martin Scorsese, and she became his on-set apprentice on “Gangs of New York”. Georgia then wrote and directed her first feature “Red Doors” which won numerous awards on the festival circuit including the Tribeca Film Festival

Georgia holds a BA in Biochemistry from Harvard University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She is obsessed with figure skating.

Taylor Orci is a non-binary latinx TV/film writer from Los Angeles. They were on the writing staff of Vida (GLAAD-winning, Starz) and Kipo (Emmy-nominated, Netflix), and during the pandemic they wrote a live action comedy feature for New Line Cinema. Most recently they were the head writer on BE@RBRICK, which will premiere on Apple TV in Fall 2024. Taylor wrote and created the viral video, "Bitchy Resting Face," which got the phrase in the dictionary. Their professional writing career started after they were a journalist with NPR. They carry a B.A. in International Development Studies from UCLA.

Felischa Marye is a writer, producer, director, and showrunner known for her sharp voice and emotionally grounded storytelling. A graduate of UCLA’s MFA Screenwriting program, Felischa transitioned into entertainment after a successful career in public relations in her hometown of Chicago. While still a film student, she sold her first comedy pilot to HBO, quickly establishing herself as a standout new voice. She went on to write for two seasons on Netflix’s hit drama 13 Reasons Why and was later tapped by Joey Soloway to help develop the drama series College for Amazon. Felischa then created the critically acclaimed comedy series Bigger, which aired for two seasons on BET+, serving as showrunner during its second season. Most recently, Felischa was under an overall deal with BET Studios, where she developed multiple comedy and drama projects, including a dark comedy with Paramount Television Studios that sold to BET+. She is currently developing original television and feature projects across multiple genres. Originally from Chicago, Felischa now lives in Los Angeles, where she still doesn’t take good weather for granted.

Anita Kapila is one of Canada’s most experienced writer/producers, with over 100 episodes of produced prime-time television under her belt. Anita has served as Executive Producer on a variety of popular television shows, including four seasons of CTV’s Children Ruin Everything, and two seasons of CBC’s Strays. She served as Co-Executive Producer on a number of award winning series, including Kim’s Convenience, Son of a Critch and Mr. D. Her one hour drama work includes the top rated show Sullivan's Crossing and a Netflix one-hour show currently in development. Winner of two Canadian Screen Awards and a Writer’s Guild Award, Anita is passionate about writing character driven stories, with a particular focus on female and BIPOC characters.

Nikita T. Hamilton came to Los Angeles to earn her PhD and discovered that she didn’t want to teach about television and film, she wanted to make them. Nikita worked as a writers' assistant for FX Networks and Marvel and as a showrunner's assistant for ABC Studios while completing her doctoral dissertation. In 2019, she staffed on Freeform’s The Bold Type and has since written on ABC’s A Million Little Things and worked on projects for HBO Max and Amazon. Nikita is currently a co-producer and is in development on some of her own projects.

Raised by two incredibly supportive Chinese immigrant parents, Vivian Lee was determined to become a psychiatrist. However, fate dealt Vivian a cruel hand during freshman year at Indiana University in Bloomington -- an F in Quantum Physics. Vivian turned her fascination with the human psyche into screenwriting. She transferred to the University of Colorado in Boulder and graduated with a BFA in Film Studies and a BA in Journalism. After working as a Creative Services Assistant at the WB affiliate in San Diego, Vivian moved to Burbank to become a NBC Page. From there,

she worked on various TV shows as a PA, until landing a gig as a Script Coordinator on the CBS drama GHOST WHISPERER where she co-

wrote an episode in the fourth season. Vivian’s credits currently include LOST IN SPACE, THE DARK CRYSTAL: AGE OF RESISTANCE, COWBOY BEBOP (Netflix), FROM (Epix), INVINCIBLE (Amazon), and the upcoming Netflix series THE BOROUGHS, produced by The Duffer Brothers. Vivian participated in the 2025 WGA Showrunner’s Training Program

and is a WGA Feature Access Project Honoree and NBC Writers On the

Verge alumni. Married to her soulmate, who’s also a screenwriter, Vivian is the mother

of an eight-year-old boy who must rely on himself when it comes to

completing his math and science homework. (Sorry, buddy.)

Brigitte Muñoz-Liebowitz’s writing career was launched on the staff of NBC's BROOKLYN NINE-NINE. She went on to work on comedy series such as TBS's PEOPLE OF EARTH, NBC's ABBY’S, DIARY OF A FUTURE PRESIDENT for Disney+, HBO Max's LOVE LIFE starring Anna Kendrick, and on Netflix’s ONE DAY AT A TIME, on which she was also a co-executive producer. She most recently extended her overall deal at Sony Pictures Television, and previously developed projects for CBS/CBSTVS and Hulu/WBTV/Berlanti Prods. Muñoz-Liebowitz served as showrunner and executive producer on the HBO Max original comedy series, GORDITA CHRONICLES, from Sony Pictures Television. In addition to this success, she developed a WHO’S THE BOSS? sequel to star Tony Danza and Alyssa Milano which she co-wrote with Mike Royce. A graduate of USC’s School of Cinematic, Brig holds a Master in Producing Degree from Columbia’s School of the Arts. At Columbia, she developed the short film CIGARETTE CANDY, which won the Grand Jury Prize at SXSW. She recently wrote and directed the short film SOME OF US WATCH THE SUNSET, TOO. Brig has worked closely with prominent members of the Latinx creative community, including Eva Longoria and Gloria Calderón Kellett. She has developed projects with cutting edge creatives, such as Sharon Horgan, and is sought-after for her rare voice which perfectly blends laugh-out-loud moments with biting observations about the human experience.

More judges will be announced soon!

Submit your pilot script to the Moonshot Pilot Accelerator by May 27, 2026!

Make sure you apply by the final deadline, May 27 (before midnight Pacific time) for this chance to have your TV pilot script read by these amazing writers.