Final Draft, a sponsor of the 2024 Moonshot Pilot Accelerator, highlighted our program for emerging TV writers on the blog.
As our community prepares for the April 14 application for the 2024 Moonshot Pilot Accelerator, Final Draft featured the program on its blog.
Final Draft, the industry standard screenwriting software, is one of the sponsors for this year's accelerator. In addition to participating in our three-week training program and pitching one-on-one to execs during Pitch Week, our selected fellows will be provided with a license for Final Draft 13 so that they can further their careers.
Here's an excerpt of the blog post, written by Alyssa Miller:
Despite women making up half of the population, women only represent 35.2% of pilot and development writers, according to the WGA. “Often, men are in the position of being the gatekeepers to the television industry, which impacts which stories are told on screen,” Sayre says.
Moonshot Initiative is looking to change this number by bringing stories from underrepresented writers into the room.
The accelerator program helps women and non-binary TV writers confidently and effectively pitch their projects through feedback on their pitches from three expert perspectives: a showrunner, a development executive, and a speech coach. “Plus, they participate in a mock writers’ room and have Q&As with an entertainment lawyer and an agent. That way, they go into Pitch Week confident not only because of their polished pitches but also because of their better understanding of the industry,” Medoff says.
“It’s difficult, if not impossible, for writers to get pitch meetings without representation or TV credits, even if they’re undeniably talented,” Sayre says. “With the Moonshot Pilot Accelerator, we’re breaking down barriers so that women and non-binary writers are able to share their unique stories in one-on-one pitch meetings and make career-changing industry connections.”
Here's a link to the full blog post:
About the Moonshot Pilot Accelerator
Apply to the Moonshot Pilot Accelerator by the final deadline of April 14, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific. You can submit via Coverfly or FilmFreeway.
All of our semi-finalists will have their scripts read by two industry judges: showrunners, TV series creators, high-level producers, and working TV writers. Read their bios here.
Our 6-8 selected fellows will participate in three weeks of virtual workshops, where they’ll get pitch feedback from a development exec, a showrunner, and a speech coach; experience a mock writers’ room; and meet with an agent and an entertainment lawyer. Read about our expert guests here.
Then, during Pitch Week, they’ll have the opportunity to pitch one-on-one to companies including HBO, Netflix, Starz, Amazon Studios/Prime Video, Gersh, Berlanti Productions, Broadway Video, Fifth Season, Level Forward, Element Pictures, Irish Cowboy, Freevee, BFD, and more!