RespectAbility Labs for Entertainment Professionals with Disabilities

Headshots of 20 RespectAbility 2022 in-person Entertainment Lab Participants

2022 Los Angeles Cohort

6th Annual Entertainment Lab

We are excited to announce some new changes to our Lab programs for 2024! Please read all details carefully below before applying, as timing and formats have changed from previous years.

2024 Entertainment Lab Dates:
Virtual: May – September 2024 (Tuesdays)

In-Person Intensives: 1-3 days each, exact dates to be announced
Fellows must provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination to participate or have a medical reason for why they cannot be vaccinated. There may be regular testing requirements to attend in-person events.

Apply Now for 2024!

The priority deadline to apply is January 5, and the late deadline is January 12.

diverse group of summer lab participants with disabilities posing for photo on Walt Disney lot

2019 Entertainment Lab Alumni visiting The Walt Disney Company Lot in Burbank, California

We will be expanding the 2024 Virtual Lab to a five-month program (May – September 2024) where Fellows will meet once per week, replacing the previous 6-week virtual program. This will allow Lab Fellows more time in between sessions to put the information they are learning into practice, while building community with each other outside of Lab sessions.

The RespectAbility Entertainment Lab is for disabled creatives working in development, production and/or post-production, and careers as writers, directors, producers, cinematographers, animators, and other production roles. This is not a program for actors.

During the Lab, Fellows will enjoy:

  • Interactive presentations, roundtables, and other workshops with high-level executives and talent from major studios, networks, and production companies
  • Informal networking with your cohort and alumni from previous cohorts
  • Opportunity to pursue an independent creative pursuit (script, short film) and receive feedback through mentorship, project workshops, and table reads

In addition, our 6-week in-person Lab in Los Angeles, CA will be replaced with up to five new in-person intensive sessions geared toward Fellows who are looking for more advanced career opportunities in specific creative areas. These intensives will be hosted in Los Angeles by RespectAbility’s various industry partners for cohorts of up to 5 Fellows each. Topics for intensives will vary from physical production to writing and from documentary filmmaking to animation. They will take place between May – November 2024 and will be open to both new applicants and Lab alumni.

Since 2019, the RespectAbility Entertainment Lab has been achieving two goals:

  1. Create an ecosystem of disabled creatives supporting each other by developing and elevating a community of disabled entertainment professionals working behind-the-scenes in television, film, and streaming.
  2. Connect disabled creatives to studio executives and other decision makers who will provide mentorship leading to higher employment rates among the talent pipeline of alumni. No one should have an excuse that they could not find a disabled writer, director, producer, or any other creative professional.
Summer Lab participants seated around a table listening to a lecture

2019 Summer Lab alumni learning from Jonathan Murray

Lab alumni currently are working at Disney, Netflix, Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and more.

View previous speakers by viewing past years’ programs on the Entertainment Lab 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, and 2019 pages.

RespectAbility provides ASL interpreters and captioning for all events, and welcomes other accommodations requests. For questions pertaining to the Entertainment Lab, please contact Isabella Vargas at Lab@RespectAbility.org or 323-315-5718.

Important Details for Lab Applicants

  • Fellows should exhibit leadership skills to complete their own projects.
  • A bachelor’s degree is not required.
  • Commit attendance for all Lab sessions, with exceptions for medical reasons.
  • The value of this Lab is thousands of dollars. However, there is no cost to apply for or participate in this competitive program.
  • While people at all income levels are encouraged to apply, extra consideration will be given to people on SSI, SNAP, and TANF.
  • Up to 20 candidates will be selected for the Virtual Lab. Up to 5 candidates will be selected for each LA-based intensive.
  • Your application materials will be evaluated by RespectAbility staff members as well as industry advisors who are experts in each field.

RespectAbility’s Labs are supported in part by:

Coverfly, Final Draft, Golden Globe Foundation, The Harnisch Foundation, Murray/Reese Foundation

Recipient of The Roddenberry Foundation Impact Award

 

Entertainment Lab Programmatic Team

head shot of Lauren wearing an orange blazer, smiling and facing the camera color photo Lawon Exum smiling headshot wearing a black suit and black bow tie Lesley Hennen smiling headshot Isabella Vargas smiling headshot
Lauren Appelbaum
SVP, Entertainment & News Media, Lab Founder
Lawon Exum
Entertainment & News Media Director
Lesley Hennen
Senior Associate of Entertainment Pipeline Programming, 2020 Lab Alumna
Isabella Vargas
Entertainment Media Coordinator, 2022 Lab Alumna

2024 Industry Advisors

 

 

Aisha Becker-Burrowes smiling headshot wearing a purple blazer Christine Cadena smiling headshot headshot of Stacie wearing bright red lipstick and red blazer
Aisha Becker-Burrowes
RespectAbility Advisory Council
Co-Founder, FEMINIST
Christine Cadena
RespectAbility Board Vice Chair
DEIA Expert
Stacie de Armas
RespectAbility Advisory Council
SVP, DEI, Diverse Insights, Intelligence & Initiatives, Nielsen
headshot of Nicole Go, an Asian woman, wearing a blue blouse headshot of Karen Horne, a Black woman, wearing a blue blouse Noriko Louison smiling headshot
Nicole Go
RespectAbility Advisory Council
DEIA Content & Production Manager, Amazon MGM Studios
Karen Horne
RespectAbility Board Member
Senior Executive/Diversity Equity + Inclusion Pioneer/Expert
Noriko Louison
Sr. Research and Curriculum Manager, 9 Story Media Group
headshot of Kristen McGregor Deirdre Morales headshot Roc Su headshot
Kristen McGregor
Showrunner / Director / Writer of Kids and Family Content
Deirdre Morales
Children’s Media Writer / Supervising Producer at The Loop Lab
Roc Su
Head of Cultural Consulting, Gold House
Nathan Varni smiling headshot wearing a blue shirt and grey blazer Delbert Whetter smiling wearing a suit jacket and glasses Toby G. Wong headshot smiling wearing glasses and a purple scarf around her neck
Nathan Varni
RespectAbility Advisory Council
Executive Director of Current Programming, ABC
Delbert Whetter
Lab Co-Founder & RespectAbility Board Vice Chair
COO & Head of Business Affairs, Exodus Film Group
Toby Wong
RespectAbility Advisory Council
Marketing & Business Executive
Alex Yellen with camera equipment
Alexander Yellen
Director, Daruma, and Director of Photography

Archive

Screenwriting software Final Draft, which forged a multi-year partnership in 2020 with RespectAbility, provided free licenses of Final Draft 12 for all 2023 Lab Fellows, as well as other educational resources.

Final Draft logo in blackCoverfly logo in red