On Wednesday, June 9, we hosted an evening of networking and community building, led by RespectAbility staff, board and alumni of our Summer Lab for Entertainment Professionals with Disabilities. Attendees had the opportunity to join multiple Zoom breakout rooms for conversations with other likeminded creatives in the disability community, focusing on topics such as writing, directing, producing, self-advocacy and more. This event was only open to entertainment industry creatives who identify as deaf or disabled.
Each half-hour, we offered three or four rooms for attendees to join, including:
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| Building a Film Gang with Nasreen Alkhateeb | Becoming a Disability Inclusion and Accessibility Consultant with Lauren Appelbaum | Talking About Mental Health with Kelley Cape |
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| Ensuring Access for All: Audio Description with Alex Howard | Ask RespectAbility Staff Anything! with Vanni Le | Branding Yourself with Tatiana Lee |
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| Talking About Mental Health with Chad Moses of To Write Love on Her Arms | Getting a Job in a Writers’ Room with Marc Muszynski | Producing and Budgeting for Independent Documentaries with Victor Pineda |
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| Getting a Job in a Writers’ Room with Diana Romero | Working in the Entertainment Industry in ASL with Delbert Whetter* | Acting, Converting Allies, and Gaining Value by Giving Value with Kurt Yaeger |
*This conversation took place fully in ASL for folks who wanted to chat about working in the industry in ASL.
5:00 p.m. PT: Introduction (includes ASL interpreter and live transcript)
5:05 p.m. PT: Break Out Sessions 1
- Ask RespectAbility Staff Anything! with Vanni Le (includes ASL interpreter and live transcript)
- Getting a Job in a Writers’ Room with Marc Muszynski and Diana Romero (includes ASL interpreter and live transcript)
- Talking About Mental Health with Kelley Cape and Chad Moses of To Write Love on Her Arms (includes live transcript)
5:30 p.m. PT: Break Out Sessions 2
- Becoming a Disability Inclusion and Accessibility Consultant with Lauren Appelbaum (includes ASL interpreter and live transcript)
- Repeat Session: Getting a Job in a Writers’ Room with Marc Muszynski and Diana Romero (includes ASL interpreter and live transcript)
- Ensuring Access for All: Audio Description with Alex Howard (includes live transcript)
- Working in the Entertainment Industry in ASL with Delbert Whetter*
6:00 p.m. PT: Break Out Sessions 3
- Branding Yourself with Tatiana Lee (includes ASL interpreter and live transcript)
- Building a Film Gang with Nasreen Alkhateeb (includes live transcript – please attend the second session with Nasreen at 6:30 p.m. to have an ASL interpreter)
- Acting, Converting Allies, and Gaining Value by Giving Value with Kurt Yaeger (includes ASL interpreter and live transcript)
- Repeat Session: Working in the Entertainment Industry in ASL with Delbert Whetter*
6:30 p.m. PT: Break Out Sessions 4
- Repeat Session: Branding Yourself with Tatiana Lee (includes live transcript – please attend the first session with Tatiana at 6:00 p.m. to have an ASL interpreter)
- Repeat Session: Building a Film Gang with Nasreen Alkhateeb (includes ASL interpreter and live transcript)
- Producing and Budgeting for Independent Documentaries with Victor Pineda (includes ASL interpreter and live transcript)
