Sarah Moshman
Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker, TV Producer, and TEDx Speaker, and keynote speaker Sarah Moshman got her start field producing on the hit ABC show Dancing with the Stars for 10 seasons.
Sarah Moshman is an Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker and TEDx speaker whose work has been featured on Upworthy, Marie Claire, CNN, and Good Morning America. After directing two short documentaries about female empowerment in young women, (Girls Rock! Chicago (2010) and Growing up Strong: Girls on the Run (2012)) she set out to direct her first feature doc The Empowerment Project: Ordinary Women Doing Extraordinary Things (2014) which has been screened over 700 times around the US and around the world in schools, groups, organizations and corporations starting conversations about gender equality. With Indieflix as the distributor, the film has been sponsored by major brands like Nordstrom, American Girl and Microsoft to spread this message far and wide.
Sarah's second feature doc, Losing Sight of Shore follows the incredible journey of four women who rowed across the Pacific Ocean. The film was released globally in 190 countries on Netflix in May 2017.
NEVERTHELESS is Sarah’s third feature documentary which takes a look behind the headlines of #MeToo and Time’s Up to shine a light on the sexual harassment crisis and use the power of cinema for change. Sarah is dedicated to telling stories that uplift, inform and inspire as well as showcase strong female role models on screen.
Prior to working in documentaries Sarah worked as a field producer on the hit ABC show Dancing with the Stars for 10 seasons as well as shows on NBC, MTV, Lifetime, Bravo and the Food Network. She also directs branded content for EllenTube, Tastemade, Mattel, AT&T, Samsung, Stayfree, SPANX, and more. Sarah is an inspiring public speaker, author, and an adjunct professor in documentary film, passionate about empowering the next generation of storytellers.
Being Bold and Naïve
Born and raised in Evanston, Illinois –Sarah takes us through how her love of filmmaking began and how the camera gave her a voice and a courage she hadn’t discovered yet. Sarah took her passions to film school, moved out to Los Angeles and landed her very first job on the hit ABC show Dancing with the Stars. And although the job had its perks –20 million viewers, a slew of celebrity talent to work with –Sarah felt like something was missing in her career and in her life. She set out to pursue her dream of making documentary films that can uplift, inform and inspire.
Sarah recounts her experience of making her first film –The Empowerment Project–which shines a light on extraordinary women across the US, from a Pilot, to a mathematician, athlete, astronaut, four-star admiral, and many more. With humor and authenticity, Sarah shares the stories of these incredible women as well as shares clips from her films to truly immerse the audience in these stories.
Sarah then takes us through the once in-a lifetime journey of her second film Losing Sight of Shore which follows the unbelievable true story of four brave women who set out to row across the Pacific Ocean –from America to Australia, over 8,000 miles! She explains how much of a risk she took in the making of the film as well as the extreme dangers the crew faced on the voyage across the sea. Ultimately Sarah’s wildest dream came true –she sold the film to Netflix worldwide and today the film can be seen in over 190 countries.
With a unique mix of an entrepreneurial spirit, a drive to change the way the world perceives women -Sarah entertains, enlightens and encourages the crowd to live their best lives.
Partial List of Takeaways:
- We are all extraordinary –we just have to unleash our potential.
- It is so important to share our experiences and our stories –our voices matter.
- You can never cross the ocean without the courage to lose sight of the shore –leaving a comfort zone in pursuit of a better version of ourselves.
- We have the power to change our media landscape –with our dollar, with our remote, we are more powerful than we could ever know.
- Everyone will feel inspired and empowered by the end of this talk!
Nevertheless We Persist
As a documentary filmmaker, Sarah’s work is intertwined with entrepreneurship, activism and storytelling. In this keynote, Sarah guides us through her initial impetus for taking on a project about sexual harassment in the wake of #MeToo and her journey to tell the stories behind the headlines in the form of her latest documentary NEVERTHELESS.
This keynote and this film are not about pointing the finger at any one person or company, it is about the ways in which all of us can be complicit to the behavior, but more importantly how we can all come together to shift our company culture and rebuild. Sarah’s mission is to share the intimate stories of the men and women who have experienced sexual harassment firsthand with the goal in mind of continuing the dialogue that has been ignited in the United States. Sarah sees that involving men in this conversation is paramount –and that nothing will truly change unless everyone is at the table to work towards a healthier work environment. The overall message and tone of the film is informative and uplifting. The keynote is impactful and empowering.
The entire film can be screened as part of your program, or Sarah can show a few clips from the film as well as the trailer and shape it in to an hour-long keynote. This film is not available anywhere else at this time, so this is a very special opportunity for workplaces, organizations and conferences to be on the forefront of this conversation. Private link to view the film prior to booking can be made available.
Partial List of Takeaways:
- Themes discussed in the film include: key definitions related to sexual harassment, privilege, social capital, intersectionality, toxic masculinity, how we raise our girls and boys, activism and much more.
- Individual clips include –the story of a 911 dispatcher who was assaulted while working, a writer’s assistant on the hit TV show FRIENDS who experienced a hostile work environment, and a Tech CEO who was harassed after hours by a Venture Capitalist she was pitching to.
- How allies can show up in the workplace and how men can take part in this movement.
- Everyone will feel like they have concrete action items after this talk to bring back to their workplaces!
“We were thrilled to host Sarah as our Keynote Speaker at a recent fundraising event. From the start, Sarah was a delight to work with- responsive, positive and flexible during the planning stages. On event day, Sarah’s presentation exceeded our expectations, and her humble, funny and relatable demeanor won attendees’ hearts. Our guests left: 1. wanting to rush home and watch all of Sarah’s films and 2. feeling inspired and empowered. We raised a record amount of funds at the event, but even better, we were able to provide guests with a uniquely uplifting and motivating experience — all thanks to Sarah. We can’t wait to see what Sarah accomplishes next as she shares her special light as a force for good in the world.”
— MEAGAN KUKOWSKI, GIRLS ON THE RUN
“We hosted Sarah as a guest artist at the 2018 LYNX Camp Filmmaking Program. After researching her film work, we were expecting a fantastic presentation but Sarah still exceeded expectations! Her combination of filmmaking skill plus passion for improving the world (particularly in the area of women’s rights and equality), make her an incredible documentary filmmaker. This combination also make her an ideal role model for aspiring high school filmmakers. Sarah not only inspired them through a wonderful presentation but she also spent the afternoon giving the students wonderful, honest feedback about their film scripts. The students definitely grew a lot as filmmakers from just a day with Sarah. We were grateful to have her as a guest artist and I would highly recommend her as a presenter, instructor, or guest artist for any educational group. ”
— DAVE WALTER, DIRECTOR OF THE LYNX NATIONAL ARTS & MEDIA CAMPS AT CU DENVER
“Sarah was absolutely amazing!!! I think everyone in the room wanted to be her best friend! I would say the best part was how “real” Sarah was and that she was able to pull together her life experiences, the experiences of the extraordinary women in her files and then the first thing she said to start the presentation was – “On paper it may look like we have nothing in common, but we have everything in common!” I think that really drew people in and put a nice bow as the final presentation of the two-day event. She had the audience tearing up but also uplifting them – it just really made the conference end on a high note.”
— JILL NEWMAN, EDUCATION AND EVENTS COORDINATOR IFAI WOMEN IN TEXTILES SUMMIT