Hollywood Inclusion

Los Angeles, April 1 – The theme of this year’s Easterseals Disability Film Challenge was “mockumentary,” and RespectAbility 2020 Summer Lab alumna Rachel Handler and Catriona Rubenis-Stevens’s comedic satire balanced with an inspired message truly champions their short film, So You Wanna Be an Actor, as a vehicle to promote authentic disability inclusion in entertainment. As director, writer, producer and lead actress of the film, Handler’s creative direction helped her filmmaking team highlight how limiting the casting process in Hollywood can often be for people with disabilities, all in under five minutes.

During one of the film’s opening scenes, the camera angle is focused only on a prosthetic leg of an aspiring young actress, to which this rising star responds, “Hey, my eyes are up here.” Not only is this a hilarious juxtaposition of dialogue because of the phrase’s more adult connotations, it also is a satirical metaphor that shows how cinematic objectification is truly intersectional and isn’t exclusive to sexualization. [continue reading…]

Los Angeles, April 1 – The 2021 Easterseals Disability Film Challenge has provided some fantastic short films again this year, and as always, gives great examples of best practices when it comes to disability representation in entertainment. For those unaware, the Easterseals Film Challenge is a filmmaking competition where competitors are given a topic along with a series of other elements to include, and must write, direct and edit a short film all in a single weekend, while involving people with disabilities in front of and behind the camera.

This year, 2019 RespectAbility Lab Alumna Natalie Trevonne created a short mockumentary called NayNay Too Bomb. Trevonne wrote and stars as the title character in this hilarious short film. [continue reading…]

Los Angeles, April 1 – Last week, HBO Max became the latest streaming giant to add audio description to their content. They join the ranks of other huge streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Apple TV+ and Disney+ to provide accessible content to their audiences.

For those who are unaware, audio description is a secondary audio track, which consumers can turn on and off, that narrates the scene in between lines of dialogue to help low-vision/blind viewers better understand the scene. Audio description helps blind consumers get the full experience of a piece of entertainment, similar to how captioning helps deaf consumers. With the addition of this service, HBO Max now joins other streaming services like Netflix, which has been providing audio description on all of their original content for several years. [continue reading…]

Los Angeles, April 1 – Diving In is a fun and exciting short film premiering at the Aspen Film Festival this year. A familiar story about the thrills of high school crushes, the quick seven-minute film follows Alex’s epic adventure to delete the texts his friends sent to his crush before she can read them. It’s tough to say more about the film without spoiling it, as it is only seven minutes long, but it is most definitely a must see. The film is full of clever comedic characters, hilarious moments, and brilliant cinematography. It’s truly a feat just how much this crew was able to accomplish in only seven minutes.

Diving In is a shining example of how people with disabilities can and should be depicted in media. [continue reading…]

Los Angeles, CA, March 18 – After launching a new campaign to inspire the love of reading featuring a diverse group of talent from across the Disney family, Disney is shining the spotlight on two actresses with disabilities who are reading Disney books.

This is important, as almost seven million children in America have a disability; to see readers with disabilities represented in this campaign gives children with disabilities the confidence they can be part of the next generation of storytellers. [continue reading…]

Los Angeles, CA, March 18 – Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 SXSW Festival was canceled. However, this year many of the best films from 2020 are returning to SXSW. Best Summer Ever is one such film. This musical, filled with talented individuals with disabilities, is a must-see.

Best Summer Ever is a musical directed by Michael Parks Randa and Lauren Smitelli and co-written by Randa, Smitelli, Will Halby, Andrew Pilkington and Terra Mackintosh, produced by the nonprofit Zeno Mountain Farm. Given the production’s deep connections to the disability community, it comes as no surprise that Best Summer Ever is one of the most disability-inclusive films I have ever seen. [continue reading…]

Los Angeles, March 11 – In today’s cultural landscape, we are seeing an unprecedented explosion of media that presents a fusion of entertainment and education. Resources like these allow people to look for help in an inviting, compassionate situation before venturing out into other social spaces. We Got You is a podcast that both entertains and educates teens on mental health issues and other disabilities that often are stigmatized or rarely spoken of in an earnest manner. It is through anecdotes that the show explores the truths of its collaborators’ unique predicaments.

Hosted by Samantha Logan of 13 Reasons Why and All American, each episode focuses on a single issue as presented through the narration of teenagers of various backgrounds. This format allows for frank and accessible discussions of real, lived experiences without the barriers of clinical jargon and other hurdles for non-specialists. [continue reading…]

Los Angeles, March 4 – The Good Doctor is not unfamiliar with handling issues of diversity and inclusion especially when it comes to people with disabilities. In the most recent episode, “Decrypt,” that aired on February 22, The Good Doctor once again showed audiences that telling stories about disability with authentic casting creates dynamic stories.

While the hospital is dealing with a cyber attack from hackers looking to extort the hospital for their data, the doctors have two patients they must save before it’s too late. [continue reading…]

Washington, D.C., March 2 – After a long hiatus due to production delays relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, NBC’s New Amsterdam returns to the screen Tuesday evening. Since Season 1, New Amsterdam overwhelmingly has been an example of best practices through the hiring of actors with disabilities, working with consultants to ensure accurate storylines and including conversations about diverse topics within the disability community.

During summer 2020, Executive Producer David Schulner and Casting Director David Caparelliotis spoke to a group of 30 disabled individuals working behind the camera who were taking part in the 2020 Lab for Entertainment Professionals with Disabilities by the disability advocacy nonprofit RespectAbility. Caparelliotis and Schulner joined RespectAbility’s VP, Communications Lauren Appelbaum for a conversation on how New Amsterdam is a case study in best practice of on-camera representation. [continue reading…]