Crayola Studios has drawn up plans with Oscar-winner Geena Davis and her Bentonville Film Festival in June to host a pitching program for kids content creators—with Crayola planning to put the winning project into development. 

The program is for emerging kids content creators, and will give the finalists a chance during the June 15-21 festival to pitch their concept in front of a panel of industry judges, which includes executives from Crayola Studios and Walmart. 

Crayola Studios doesn’t have a number in mind for how many projects it wants to see pitched; the aim is to attract everything from scripted and unscripted series to theatrical film ideas, according to a spokesperson.

Submissions are open now on Crayola Studios’ website, and creators should submit a one-page elevator pitch that outlines the concept, the intended audience and how it aligns with the Crayola Studios brand. That brand’s pillars are: creativity, imagination and color. Crayola Studios, launched in 2023, is developing kids content across multiple genres, and it’s already working on Pablo Next Level, Rainbow Brite and The Neverending Pillow Fort. 

Sabrina Wiewel, EVP and head of Crayola Studios, is the new leader of its content arm following Victoria Lozano’s recent departure, which Kidscreen first covered. “We are looking for bold, original ideas that unleash the power of creativity one colorful story at a time,” Wiewel said in a release. 

The inclusion of Walmart also could be an opportunity to get in front of a major retailer that could potentially help turn a property into a larger franchise. The big-box store is the founding sponsor of the Bentonville Film Festival, now in its 12th year, which focuses on celebrating underrepresented voices and runs outdoor family movie screenings, competitions and panels. Held in the same city as Walmart’s headquarters of Bentonville, Arkansas, the festival drew more than 30,000 attendees in 2025, according to its website. 

Davis (Tootsie, Beetlejuice) is also known for the Geena Davis Institute, which researches gender representation in media, including kids content. “BFF has always been about providing opportunities for emerging storytellers to have their voices heard,” Davis said in a release. “Kids content wields a powerful influence on the imagination of a child as well as shaping how they see themselves, their possibilities and the world around them. Partnering with Crayola Studios—a brand that has deeply inspired creativity in children for generations—is an incredible opportunity to discover new talent.” 

Image courtesy of Bentonville Film Festival.