RespectAbility Entertainment Professionals Lab, Summer 2021
Cashmere Jasmine
Cashmere Jasmine is a first-generation disabled Afro-Caribbean writer and director from South Florida. She crafts genre-bending media that revolve around taboos and the complexities of identity seen through lenses of class, race, sexuality, and even criminality; deconstructing perceptions with her real-life experiences with dark humor featuring Antiheros that you love to hate.
Born to undocumented immigrants in South Florida, Cashmere Jasmine was homeschooled till she made it to New England for a little Ivy Education getting a double degree in Political Theory and Theatre Studies. After graduation, and being laid off my Merrill Lynch, she started assisting film directors. At these various production companies, she learned everything she could about making media – from sales to pre and post-production.
Cashmere’s journey led her from South Florida to Boston, to Southern California In Los Angeles, she worked as a freelance casting assistant and received a kidney transplant after an 8-year wait. While research and development finance lead for Amazon, she independently produced award-winning shorts that were accepted into over a dozen festivals. In 2021, she was a mentee of Amy Aniobi’s TRIBE, RespectAbility’s Summer Lab Fellow ‘21 as well as participated in Sundance’s Accessible Futures Intensive. Receiving Sundance’s Uprise grant she also wrote directed and produced Oreo, which became a Slamdance official selection in 2022. Cashmere continues to imagine new ways to tell disability-inclusive stories and continues to represent those perspectives in the writer’s room. She has recently completed the Disney Launchpad program and directed a short film that will be released on Disney+ Summer of 2023.
Learn More
After an extensive search and interview process, 30 individuals were invited to participate in RespectAbility’s Summer 2021 Lab for Entertainment Professionals. This 8-week, 24-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 22 – August 12, 2021. Participants include diverse people with physical, cognitive, sensory, mental health and other disabilities. This Lab is a recipient of The Roddenberry Foundation Impact Award. 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, The Harnisch Foundation, Pop Culture Collaborative, Sony Pictures Entertainment and The Walt Disney Company
- Gold Sponsors: A&E and Final Draft
- Silver Sponsors: NBCUniversal and ViacomCBS
