Park City, January 17 – In 2020, filmmaker and disability advocate Juliet Romeo reached out to Slamdance co-founder Peter Baxter, stressing the need for a program for and by disabled filmmakers. Conversations turned to action and Slamdance Unstoppable was born. In 2021, the virtual Slamdance Film Festival included a showcase of disability-inclusive short films. In [click to continue...]
Park City, January 16 – With one-in-five people having a disability in the U.S. today, the lack of representation – just 1.9 percent of characters in the 100 top-grossing films of 2022 and 8 percent in family films – means that millions of people are unable to see themselves reflected in media. The 2024 Sundance Film Festival (January [click to continue...]
After numerous disability organizations including RespectAbility and FWD-Doc lobbied for disability inclusion, the 2023 UCLA Hollywood Diversity Report is tracking the disability status of actors for the first time. “Recently, a few of the data sources used for this report have begun to collect information about disability,” the report states. “As more than one source [click to continue...]
Ben Spangenberg began as a Fellow in our National Leadership Program shortly after I started working at RespectAbility. By 2017, he was managing the National Leadership Program. Ben truly gave his all when working with Fellows. He knew personally how it felt to be discriminated against in the workplace due to a disability, and he [click to continue...]
While more than 20% of adults in the U.S. live with a mental health condition, a new study has found that mental health conditions continue to be rare in popular films. This study, the third of a series since 2016, was conducted by the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative in partnership with the American Foundation for [click to continue...]
Dances With Films (DWF:LA), now in its 26th year, champions the unflinching spirit at the very core of the independent film scene. Always prioritizing important storytelling above all else, this year’s theme of “Peace, Love, & Celluloid” is a nod to some of its powerful programming that promotes healing, highlights social justice, and celebrates inclusivity [click to continue...]
The Bentonville Film Festival (BFF) took to the screens – both live in Arkansas and virtual on computers and TV sets throughout the country – for its ninth year. Chaired by Academy Award winner Geena Davis, BFF champions women and diverse voices. According to festival programmers, “over 30% of the (competition) program is comprised of [click to continue...]
Los Angeles, May 1 – A recent study by NRG and Deaf West Theater shows at least 79% of deaf consumers believe that there has been more representation of their community in TV and film compared to a year ago. One actress contributing to this representation across genres is Shaylee Mansfield. At just 14 years of age, [click to continue...]
Los Angeles, April 28 – A new Annenberg Inclusion Initiative Report examining Netflix’s U.S. original, live-action, fictional series and films is changing the landscape in the entire entertainment industry. This report, which is the second in a series, looks across Netflix films and series in 2020 and 2021 and follows the inaugural collaboration from 2021 [click to continue...]
Los Angeles, March 16 – During Sunday’s Academy Awards, many firsts were celebrated in terms of diversity and inclusion, including disability representation. Best Picture Everything Everywhere All at Once showcases representation of ADHD, while writer/director Daniel Kwan, who also took home an award for directing, has ADHD himself. Best Live Action Short An Irish Goodbye [click to continue...]
