RespectAbility Entertainment Professionals Lab 2024
Nancy Pickett
Nancy Pickett is a disabled filmmaker with a focus on documentary and nonfiction content. She independently produced her first feature-length film, a documentary about pediatric cancer, in high school. The Golden Truth is available to stream on Amazon Prime. Her short films, which cover a range of topics from human trafficking to arts education, have been recognized by film festivals across the country and the News and Documentary Emmy Awards, where she received the prestigious Mike Wallace Memorial Scholarship for her coverage of U.S. healthcare reform in Is Healthcare a Human Right? which used her personal experience with chronic illness to explain the Affordable Care Act.
Thanks to generous support from the National Association of LGBTQ Journalists Facebook Journalism Scholarship, AAPD/NBCUniversal Tony Coelho Media Scholarship, and others, Pickett graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in telecommunication from the University of Florida Online. She now is pursuing her master’s degree in Public Interest Communication, where she is learning strategies to ensure that her films go beyond raising awareness to create tangible social change.
Learn More
After an extensive search and interview process, 25 individuals were invited to participate in the Virtual Cohort of RespectAbility’s 2024 Entertainment Lab taking place May 7 – September 24, 2024. This 5-month Lab aims to develop and elevate the talent pipeline of disabled entertainment professionals working behind-the-scenes in television, film, and streaming, while connecting them with industry professionals and creatives. Participants include people with physical, cognitive, sensory, mental health, and other disabilities ranging in age from people in their 20’s through their 60’s. The Lab is a recipient of The Roddenberry Foundation Impact Award.
