Lunafest

What Lunafest does

LUNAFEST is a women-focused traveling film festival program launched in 2001 by the LUNA snack-bar brand, which is itself a product line within CLIF Bar, owned by Mondelez International. Over a 22-year operating run, the program conducted approximately 3,000 screenings across the United States and Canada, elevated the work of more than 180 filmmakers, and distributed roughly $8 million in proceeds to nonprofit organizations. It is not an independent corporate entity; it has no disclosed legal entity, no standalone financials, no headquarters, and no management team of its own — it operates as a brand-sponsored advocacy initiative housed under LUNA and surfaced through the CLIF Bar website ([email protected] is the public contact).

The program functioned as an event-driven, traveling screening series rather than a technology platform: there is no proprietary software, no app, no API, and no AI/automation layer disclosed in the source data. Revenue mechanics were grassroots and transactional — individual screenings generated ticket sales and local sponsorship, with proceeds then donated to host-region nonprofits. Distribution was exclusively physical event-based, with no digital streaming or content-licensing model identified. The "customer" base is therefore a distributed mix of local screening hosts, attending audiences, women filmmakers submitting work, and downstream nonprofit beneficiaries rather than enterprise buyers.

In late 2023, CLIF Bar / LUNA announced the program would be placed on pause for the remainder of 2023 and the full year of 2024 while LUNA evaluates how it might best support women-focused advocacy going forward. As of the source material, it is unclear whether LUNAFEST will be resumed, restructured, or replaced by a successor initiative, and the operational continuity of the brand beyond the pause is not confirmed.

Name

Lunafest

Website

https://lunafest.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Short description

LUNAFEST is a women-focused traveling film festival launched in 2001 under the LUNA brand (CLIF Bar / Mondelez International), serving filmmakers and U.S./Canadian audiences via traveling screenings and channeling proceeds to nonprofits. Currently on pause through 2024.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Film Festival & Cultural Events Programming

NAICS

Motion Picture and Video Exhibition (51213), Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (71)

SIC

Services-Motion Picture Theaters (7830), Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Film Festivals & Festival Organizers (MPADAKAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Arts, Culture, Entertainment & Fan Conventions Organizers (THAHABAN)

Keywords

• Traveling film festival
• Women filmmaker showcase
• Short film exhibition
• Nonprofit fundraising films
• Charity film programming

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Others

Revenue model

1. Film Festival Screenings: LUNAFEST generates revenue through ticket sales and sponsorships for traveling film festival screenings. Proceeds from screenings are distributed to nonprofit organizations across the United States and Canada.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

LUNAFEST is a traveling film festival program launched in 2001 by the LUNA brand, featuring short films by and about women. The festival conducted 3,000 screenings across the United States and Canada over a 22-year run, with proceeds from ticket sales and corporate sponsorships distributed to nonprofit organizations. The program is currently on pause through 2024 while the LUNA brand reflects on its future direction for women's advocacy.

Product overview

LUNAFEST is a film festival program, not a technology product. The LUNA brand, which created LUNAFEST, offers gluten-free snack products including LUNA Bar and LUNA Berry Bars. LUNAFEST itself is currently on pause (2023-2024) while the LUNA brand evaluates future support for women's advocacy.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• LUNAFEST Traveling Film Festival Program Traveling film festival featuring short films by and about women, conducted through ticketed screenings at venues across the United States and Canada, with proceeds from ticket sales and corporate sponsorships distributed to nonprofit organizations. The program served women filmmakers seeking exhibition platforms, individual audiences seeking curated women's storytelling content, corporate sponsors supporting women's advocacy, and nonprofit organizations seeking turnkey fundraising event formats.

Quantifiable outcome

• 180+ filmmakers elevated through the program
• +2 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered parent and flagship.

• Mondelez InternationalparentOthersMondelez International owns CLIF Bar, which owns the LUNA brand that launched LUNAFEST. The program is part of the broader Mondelez/CLIF family of brands.
• CLIF BarparentOthersCLIF Bar is the parent brand of LUNA, which launched LUNAFEST in 2001. LUNAFEST is featured on the CLIF Bar website and falls under the CLIF family of products including CLIF BAR, BUILDERS, Zbar, and LUNA.
• LUNA BrandflagshipOthersLUNA is the gluten-free snack brand under CLIF Bar that created and sponsors LUNAFEST. LUNA describes itself as offering 'delicious, gluten-free snacks for a feel-good break anytime, anywhere.' LUNAFEST represents the brand's advocacy initiative for women.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Broad incumbents

• Sundance Film Festival (Sundance Institute): The Sundance Institute operates the flagship independent film festival with a far broader mandate than LUNAFEST, but it is the gold-standard comparable for festival-based film exhibition, filmmaker elevation, and nonprofit-aligned cultural programming in North America.
• Tribeca Festival (Tribeca Enterprises): Tribeca is a major annual film festival operating in-person screenings and complementary programming, comparable to LUNAFEST in its use of traveling/community screenings and emphasis on elevating independent filmmakers, though at much larger scale.
• Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF): TIFF is a Canada-headquartered film exhibition event with significant screening volume and nonprofit-style cultural mandate, sharing geography and festival-based screening model with LUNAFEST's US/Canadian footprint.
• New York Film Festival (Film at Lincoln Center): Operated by Film at Lincoln Center, NYFF is a major nonprofit-hosted film exhibition event comparable in cultural-mission positioning and ticketed-screening revenue model to LUNAFEST.
• AFI FEST (American Film Institute): AFI FEST is an institute-backed film festival with nonprofit orientation and curated programming, comparable to LUNAFEST in its mission-driven film exhibition model.

Others

• Women Make Movies: Women Make Movies is a nonprofit distribution and exhibition organization specifically focused on women filmmakers, serving as an adjacent ecosystem enabler whose mission and content pipeline directly overlap with LUNAFEST's.

Emerging players

• Independent Film Festival Boston: IFFBoston is a regional independent film festival combining in-person screenings with nonprofit-supported programming, sharing LUNAFEST's model of short-film curation and community-aligned screening events.

Regional players

• Hot Docs: Hot Docs is a Canada-based documentary festival with traveling 'Doc Soup' screening series across North America, the closest model analog to LUNAFEST's traveling-festival distribution and nonprofit-aligned screening partnerships.

Direct peers

• Athena Film Festival: The Athena Film Festival is a women-focused film festival hosted at Barnard College, making it the closest direct peer to LUNAFEST in terms of thematic focus on women filmmakers and curated short-film programming.
• Bentonville Film Festival: Founded by Geena Davis, the Bentonville Film Festival focuses on women and underrepresented filmmakers through a festival-plus-screening tour model, structurally similar to LUNAFEST's traveling festival concept.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Lunafest