Sarah Moshman

Sarah believes in the power of STORYTELLING to change the world.

Sarah Moshman is an Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker and TEDx speaker whose work has been featured on Upworthy, Marie Claire, PBS, Hulu, CNN, Netflix, 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 1000 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. Most recently Sarah brought her talents to the narrative realm and directed an award-winning short fiction film UNBOUND about the first mother to go to space starring Lauren Lapkus (Orange is the New Black). In 2022, UNBOUND won First Place at NASA’s CineSpace Global Short Film Competition and is set to screen on the International Space Station! Sarah recently completed a short she wrote and directed called A Mother is Born.

Prior to focusing on 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 often jumps in to story produce for premium doc series on A&E, HBO and Showtime. 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. Sarah is dedicated to telling stories that uplift, inform and inspire as well as showcase strong female role models on screen.

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.

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.