989. Shooting for the Moon

In this episode of On The Page, host Pilar Alessandra welcomes Katrina Medoff, co-founder and co-executive director of the Moonshot Initiative, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing gender equity in film and television. Katrina shares the origins of the Moonshot Film Challenge, which began in 2018 as a scrappy response to the male-dominated sets she experienced as a woman in New York's indie film scene. The initiative has since produced 41 short films with 1,000 filmmakers, provided access to top-tier equipment, and created career-changing opportunities through pitch meetings with major studios like HBO, Netflix, and Amazon. The conversation dives into the Moonshot Pilot and Feature Accelerators—intensive virtual programs offering pitch training, mock writer’s rooms, and one-on-one meetings with industry execs. Katrina emphasizes the importance of authentic storytelling, strong first pages, and genuine pitching, while also highlighting the power of peer networks and long-term relationship-building in the industry. She shares success stories, including writers who landed staff jobs and even sold projects through the program’s connections. The episode closes with practical advice on applications, including the importance of answering key questions about why now, why you, and how the project advances representation, along with a special 10% discount code for listeners: 'onthe page 10'.