A look back at everything Moonshot Initiative and our community of filmmakers accomplished this year.
As we reflect on the past year, we are proud of all the programs and events we were able to offer our community. Through our courses, accelerators, mixers, and workshops, we continue to uplift underrepresented filmmakers and advance gender equity in film and TV.
In 2024:
We held 4 mixers, helping 363 filmmakers build their networks.
Three of our in-person mixers were in New York City, and one was in Los Angeles. Our most popular networking events were our Galentine's Day mixer at Penthouse 45 in Manhattan and our LA summer mixer at St. Felix Hollywood.
Many attendees have told us that they've since worked with fellow filmmakers they met at one of our events!
We hosted 4 virtual workshops, bringing crucial career knowledge to 444 attendees.
Topics included pitching a TV series, working in a writers' room, writing query letters, and making a feature film. While we've drastically cut down on the number of virtual events we host post-COVID, we love making this knowledge accessible to filmmakers and creatives around the world.
We offered 4 courses serving a total of 191 participants.
Our monthlong virtual course offerings included Write a Pilot in 30 Days, Revise a Pilot in 30 Days, How to Pitch Your Project, and our free creativity challenge, the Filmmaker's Advent Calendar.
We published 60 blog posts to bring more industry resources, tips, and news to our community.
Our most popular posts included:
We set up a total of 60 one-on-one pitch meetings for our 8 Moonshot Pilot Accelerator fellows, who were chosen out of 508 submissions of full pilot scripts. 81% of pitch meetings resulted in a request to read the script!
Companies including HBO, Netflix, Amazon Studios, Starz, and many more heard our fellows' pitches.
Our past fellows stay actively involved with Moonshot Initiative. This year, we launched the Accelerator Alumni Committee, which meets monthly.
We launched 1 new program, our Moonshot Feature Accelerator, for which we received 306 applications.
Our team is currently reviewing the submissions for the program, which will take place in spring 2025. Netflix, HBO, Neon, Berlanti Productions, Max, and many more are set to hear pitches.
We had our 1st full year as a nonprofit!
After 6 years of operating as Women's Weekend Film Challenge, we rebranded as Moonshot Initiative and received our nonprofit status at the end of 2023.
We received 4 major grants, with funding from Amplify Her Foundation, the Tremaine Foundation, and more!
We're so grateful for the support of our funders and donors, without whom our work would not be possible. We're excited to share more exciting grant award news shortly!
We launched our official nonprofit board and welcomed 6 board members. They joined us for 4 board meetings throughout the year.
Our board members include Janet Graham Borba (executive vice president, Production, for HBO & Max), Elle Johnson (TV writer and executive producer), Jasmine Russ (VP of development and production, Fabel Entertainment), Secretary Christina Raia (filmmaker), Treasurer Aisha Besson, and Eden Martinez (filmmaker).
The board helps to guide the direction of Moonshot Initiative, provides advice, makes valuable connections, and more.
We're excited for what 2025 will bring for Moonshot! Stay tuned!
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