Los Angeles, June 24 – As many writers know, the writing process itself can sometimes feel like a lonely, isolating task. Oftentimes this process happens in the early morning hours before a day-job, or in the middle of the night for writers who prefer to put their thoughts on paper (or computer screen) in the quiet hours when other members of their household are asleep, or others may write in shorter spontaneous sessions here and there throughout the day as time allows. However, this feeling of loneliness was replaced with support and comradery on Tuesday, June 22 when a group of RespectAbility’s Summer Lab for Entertainment Professionals with Disabilities newest cohort gathered virtually over Zoom to talk about all things writing and directing with Ashley Eakin and Andrew Reid, two writers and directors who are both currently working in the industry, and are also alumni of RespectAbility’s 2020 Summer Lab. [continue reading…]

Parade features an amputee child crocodile and longhorn, a dolphin using a wheelchair, a blind bird with glasses and a walking stick, a llama with a bandaged leg, and a frog with glasses

Los Angeles, June 24 – Nickelodeon’s Blue’s Clues & You put out a music video for LGBTQIA+ Pride Month (June) called “The Blue’s Clues Pride Parade Sing-Along Ft. Nina West!” The sing-along video follows a Pride parade full of diverse families who march proudly down the street. This diversity is not exclusive to the LGBTQIA+ community, they also took the opportunity to represent people with disabilities and many other marginalized communities in a profound way. [continue reading…]

Leah Romond. Photo by Liz Bretz

Los Angeles, June 24 – Leah Romond has proven herself to be an unstoppable force after making a full transition from litigation to film production. This shift in her career was brought on by a brain injury that affected her work as a full-time litigator in a major Los Angeles firm. Romond is now a successful film producer as well as an attorney. Her latest project, Best Summer Ever, was slated to premiere at SXSW 2020 before the global pandemic hit. Despite this, the film rightfully earned the SWXSW Final Draft Screenwriters Award.

Romond spoke to the newest incoming cohort of Respectability’s Summer Lab for Entertainment Professionals with Disabilities during an information session on Physical Production led by RespectAbility’s Senior Production Advisor Nasreen Alkhateeb, as well as Marissa Erickson, both of whom are alumni of the 2019 Lab. Erickson, who worked for Disney as a production assistant for several shorts that premiered on Disney+ earlier this summer, also worked on Best Summer Ever with Romond as a production assistant. “Networking is the key,” Erickson told Lab participants. [continue reading…]

Massimo in Luca

Los Angeles, June 24 – Disney/Pixar’s newest film Luca has tackled several areas of inclusion – including one often not highlighted – disability. This film features characters who are sea monsters including Luca (Jacob Tremblay) and Alberto (Jack Dylan Grazer) who travel to land and meet a new human friend Giulia (Emily Berman). When Luca and Alberto meet Giulia’s father Massimo, viewers see that he only has one arm. When Luca asks him how it happened, he says in a scary voice, “A sea monster ate it.” After a beat, he reveals he was just kidding and that he was born like that. This is the only acknowledgment of his disability. It is refreshing to see a character with a disability like this and have it be just part of him and not a big plot point. It really hammers home the lesson of acceptance in this movie. The dad not having an arm at first made him really scary, but it is just a part of him that people don’t understand.

Ashley Eakin, a writer/director who was born with a limb difference, also agrees that Luca has handled this representation well. “Luca is a great example of how we can include representation of people with different bodies in all of our content. Too often the character with some type of disability or limb difference is the villain or scary. While Massimo is brash, he is also a talented chef and caring father. They even make light of the way he lost his limb with ultimately explaining it was just the way he came into the world.” [continue reading…]

Los Angeles, CA, June 24 – “You help the most marginalized person, everybody else rises,” Cheryl L. Bedford told the 30 emerging and mid-career creatives participating in RespectAbility’s Lab for Entertainment Professionals with Disabilities, which kicked off the first session of its third round this Tuesday. Bedford who returned as a keynote speaker after rave responses from Lab alumni, spoke about being “a rebel and a trouble-maker” in the entertainment industry.

“Turning fear into action” and “fighting for the marginalized” are two key points of Cheryl’s work, but the most inspiring part of listening to her speak is how she embodies that spirit of activism in every aspect of her life and action, offering complete support to those who have been kept down while calling out the others who don’t show up when they say they will. She opens the door for everyone to boldly proclaim “I’m that person.” [continue reading…]

Los Angeles, June 24 – The first day of this year’s Entertainment Lab for Professionals with Disabilities introduced the Summer 2021 cohort to a group of successful Lab alumni who have used the program to springboard into their entertainment careers prioritizing disability inclusion. Two of these individuals include Ava Rigelhaupt, a 2020 Lab alumna who also served as a RespectAbility Entertainment Media and Communications Fellow in Spring 2021, and April Caputi, a 2019 Lab alumna. Caputi now is working as a Casting Associate through The Walt Disney Company’s Executive Incubator Program while Rigelhaupt just started as a Casting Intern with Nickelodeon. [continue reading…]

JQ International, a frequent cosponsor of RespectAbility webinars, celebrates the lives of LGBTQ+ Jews and their allies by transforming Jewish communities and ensuring inclusion through education, support, and identity-enriching events. From Shabbat dinners to holiday gatherings to educational panels to inclusion training for institutions, JQ’s community engagement, educational programs and support services promote the healthy integration of LGBTQ+ and Jewish identities. JQ envisions a world where all LGBTQ+ Jews feel a strong sense of self, pride, and community – a place where LGBTQ+ Jews and their allies are supported by those that embrace their needs and celebrate their unique gifts.

What does resilience mean to you? Depending on where you are in life as well as your responsibilities and challenges, you might define resilience in different ways.

Maybe it’s about staying flexible in mind and spirit. Maybe it’s about working through whatever anger or frustrations you hold within so you can find that happiness that eludes you. Maybe it’s about that determination and creativity that will help you live the life you want and deserve to enjoy.

Resilience as well as flexibility, are ideas we keep close to our hearts and minds at Shutaf Inclusion Programs in Jerusalem. We’re a year-round program that offers inclusive informal education programs for children, teens and young adults of all abilities, regardless of labels, financial limitations, cultural and religious differences. [continue reading…]

New York City, June 17 – Primary elections are underway in NYC and New Yorkers are thinking hard about the issues that matter most to them. Accessibility and disability and social justice are at the forefront of many minds, which makes All Riders: The Fight for Accessibility a perfect film to watch before heading to the booth. Shot the year before the COVID-19 pandemic, All Riders takes a poignant look at the intersectionality of unmet access needs within the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).

Often thought of as synonymous with accessible transportation because of its extensive transit system, The Big Apple has continually fallen short of its goal to become “the most accessible city in the world.” Out of over 400 stations, less than 30% are accessible, a portion of those accessible in only one direction, and with daily elevator failures close to 25% based on data from 2014-2015, that can leave New Yorkers with less than 20% of stations accessible at any one time across the massive five borough system. This is a dismal number considering the Americans with Disabilities Act, which celebrates its 31st birthday this July, requires that all stations be accessible under federal law. [continue reading…]