RespectAbility Entertainment Professionals Lab, Summer 2020
Natasha Mooney Walton spent the first nine years of her career working as a product management and design leader at a number of startups and tech companies in Silicon Valley. After her company was acquired by Adobe in 2016, she helped create the company’s disability employee resource group, AccessAdobe.
In 2018, Walton founded Tech Disability Project, the first and only industrywide initiative dedicated to tech employees with disabilities. As a disability advocate and organizer, she’s learned the importance of storytelling in elevating underrepresented experiences. She is now leveraging her product management background to transition into unscripted television production in order to shape the disability stories we see on screen. Walton creates and curates disability culture content on Instagram at @disability.connect.
LEARN MORE
After an extensive search and interview process, 30 individuals were invited to participate in RespectAbility’s Summer 2020 Lab for Entertainment Professionals. This 5-week, 15-session virtual summer Lab series for people interested in – and with experience in – development, production and post-production, including careers as writers, directors, producers, cinematographers, animators and other production roles, will take place June 16 – July 16, 2020. Participants include diverse people with physical, cognitive, sensory, mental health and other disabilities. Learn more: www.respectability.org/respectability-la-lab.
This program, which continues building the talent pipeline of young professionals with disabilities looking to work behind the scenes, is made possible with support by:
- Platinum Sponsors: Murray/Reese Foundation and The Walt Disney Company
- Gold Sponsors: Cast & Crew, Comcast NBCUniversal and Final Draft
- Silver Sponsors: Fox Corporation and Sony Pictures Entertainment