What It’s Like to Pitch to the Biggest Companies in Television

• What happens in a pitch meeting, and how do you prepare to pitch your project to companies like HBO, Netflix, Hulu, Showtime, Warner Bros. and more?
• How do you grip a reader from the first pages of your pilot script and stand out against hundreds of submissions for a fellowship?
• How can you leverage general meetings into a long-term career?
• What's the best way to follow up with execs after a meeting and develop lasting connections?

We'll discuss these topics and more during this special virtual panel with the fellows from our 2023 Moonshot Pilot Accelerator.

Our eight fellows from our 2023 Moonshot Pilot Accelerator (formerly WWFC's Pilot Accelerator) stood out from over 600 applications. After attending our three-week intensive, the group collectively pitched in over 60 meetings to over 20 production companies and studios including HBO, Netflix, Hulu, Warner Bros., Showtime, Hulu, Blumhouse, and more! 85% of these meetings ended with a request to read the script. In this special event, they will share what they learned during our program from showrunners, studio executives, an entertainment lawyer, and more.

Plus, applications for the 2024 Moonshot Pilot Accelerator are now open through April 14, 2024. Now's your chance to hear directly from our past fellows!

To learn more about the Moonshot Pilot Accelerator and to apply, click here. Applications are currently open on FilmFreeway.

2023 PILOT ACCELERATOR FELLOW BIOS

ABOUT AMANDA BARNES:

Amanda Barnes is a half-white-half-Hispanic-full-Texan writer and producer. Previous credits include “Crossing Swords” (Sony Pictures TV, Hulu) and “New Looney Tunes” (Warner Bros). She was a recent participant in the Sony Emerging Writers Program, and her rich and painful background in improv and sketch comedy (The Second City, UCBLA, iOWest) is at the root of her villain origin story. Amanda digs writing messy, funny women and a good action sequence.

ABOUT BROOKE SOLOMON:

Brooke Solomon 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 promptly went to work in the world of film development. Brooke has a special love for projects with a strong intersectional focus, as well as splashy action pieces, world building, and anything mythology inspired. Her pilot BRONZE BULLETS has placed in the Austin Film Festival Script Competition, Final Draft's Big Break, Moonshot's Pilot Accelerator, The Black List x WIF Episodic Lab, and the SeriesFest National Women Writing Competition. Brooke also co-hosts The Queer Quadrant, a podcast focused on LGBTQ+ representation (or lack thereof) in four-quadrant blockbusters. She co-created and is developing an original series with The Lab and Phillip Iscove (SLEEPY HOLLOW), and is repped by Gramercy Park Entertainment. Learn more at brookesolomon.com

ABOUT CHEN GU:

Chen Gu is a writer-director born in Chengdu, China, and raised in Dallas, Texas, which probably explains their love of spicy food and sequined fringe. Their stories highlight unconventional families, queer love, and intergenerational grocery lists. Chen was a Sundance/Youtube New Voices fellow and a writer on the Snapchat short form show “Two Sides: Unfaithful,” which was nominated for an NAACP Image award. They recently participated in the Moonshot Initiative pilot accelerator program, where they pitched their script Time for Cha. Chen is currently working on a podcast featuring Gloria Williams, the longest incarcerated woman in the state of Louisiana, who will talk about her life and loves in her own words. Please check The Unbreakable Queen for updates. Chen believes that representation is not only about bolstering one’s own stories but that of other marginalized voices, and encourage everyone to amplify Palestinian journalists like @wizard_bisan1 and @lama_jamous9 in their freedom struggle.

ABOUT ERIN KATHLEEN:

Erin Kathleen is thrilled to be part of the Moonshot Initiative and the wonderful work they do to support emerging writers. In 2023, Erin's TV pilot, DARK IRISH, was selected for their pilot accelerator program, in which she had the opportunity to pitch to over half a dozen TV production companies. Erin's other work has appeared on the Black List and been honored by the Academy Nicholl Fellowships, Austin Film Festival, and the Cinestory Foundation. In addition to scripts, Erin also writes fiction and is drawn to complex characters, pressing social issues, and a tense atmosphere in all of her work. She lives in Los Angeles with her family.

ABOUT GG HAWKINS:

GG Hawkins is a writer, director, and podcaster. Her work has been showcased at the Tribeca Festival, Hollyshorts, Salute Your Shorts, Sonoma International Film Festival, Dances With Film, and more. Her forthcoming feature, ‘An Island,’ shot in Bocas del Toro, Panama, is now in post production. GG hosts the No Film School Podcast, interviewing filmmaking talents such as Kelly Fremon Craig, Ray Romano, and Stephen Williams. She received the Channie Award for Best Directing for her web series, 'Kinda Flakey.' She is a fellow of the Film Independent Episodic Lab. You can follow her work at gghawkins.com or on social media @lostingraceland.

ABOUT TAYLOR HENRIQUEZ:

Taylor Henriquez is a writer and an executive producer working in unscripted television and digital media with work featured on Hulu, Food Network, A&E Networks and Buzzfeed. Her scripts focus on women-driven dramedies that lean on traditionally unspoken topics, like sexual health, race and identity in the workplace, and ambition. Taylor’s work is influenced by her experience growing up in Illinois and Georgia. She lives in Los Angeles.

ABOUT RATI GUPTA:

Rati Gupta (“Letters to My Teenage Self”) is a rare breed of professional hip-hop dancer turned actor, writer and comedian, best known for her roles on Hulu’s “Future Man” and CBS’s “The Big Bang Theory.” A three-time champion of The Moth StorySlam, Rati draws from her own outlandish experiences for both the stage and screen. Her screenplays have advanced in the Launch Pad and Diverse Voices competitions, she was a fellow in the 2023 Moonshot Initiative Pilot Accelerator program, and the web series she wrote and starred in, “Heart Baby Eggplant,” won the Audience Award at the Dances With Films festival.

ABOUT ZURI RICE:

Zuri Rice is an episodic and features writer obsessed with British cop dramas and Real Housewife feuds. NY born and southern raised, she previously held second and third jobs getting cursed out by toddlers in West Philly daycares and ignoring misdemeanors at Applebee’s before becoming a media executive. Zuri pens dark twisty crime dramas about scrappy, dangerous women. Her television writing has earned her places in IFT’s Creative Corridor Program and The Writer’s Lab. She's repped by Bellevue.