Park City, Feb 5 – Feature-length films that premiered at Sundance such as Is There Anybody Out There?, Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, and The Tuba Thieves, as well as a number of shorts, explicitly included elements of disability and deafness throughout. However, several additional films featured casual inclusion of disability, which also helps [click to continue...]
Park City, Utah, Jan. 25 – Presented as an interview and told through both archival and scripted elements, Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie is about owning your narrative, which often is difficult for disabled individuals to do. All too often, society determines the worth of an individual based on preconceived notions. Even when the [click to continue...]
Park City, Jan. 19 – With one-in-five people having a disability in the U.S. today, the lack of representation – just 2.3 percent of characters in the 100 top-grossing films of 2019 and 8 percent in family films – means that millions of people are unable to see themselves reflected in media. The 2023 Sundance Film Festival (January 19 [click to continue...]
After grappling with a lot of diversity, equity, and inclusion issues throughout the past few years, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s Golden Globes will return to television this Tuesday, January 10, 2023. While the majority of films and television shows do not include any disability inclusion, it is important to note that several disability-inclusive films [click to continue...]
Throughout the month of October 2022, join RespectAbility for a virtual celebration including panel conversations and networking opportunities as we celebrate National Disability Employment Awareness Month. Please note that some sessions are open only to entertainment industry creatives who identify as deaf or disabled, as we seek to continue to build community. ASL Interpretation and [click to continue...]
Los Angeles, Aug. 15 – To continue to ensure accessibility for disabled entertainment professionals, the RespectAbility Entertainment Lab will host a virtual cohort this year, building on the success of a virtual format begun during the COVID-19 pandemic. Eighteen individuals and one writing duo, from the United States, Canada, Argentina, and Australia, will participate in [click to continue...]
Los Angeles, June 3 – As RespectAbility’s Entertainment Lab expands and returns with an in-person option, 20 individuals have been accepted into the Los Angeles Cohort of RespectAbility’s fourth annual Lab for Entertainment Professionals with Disabilities. RespectAbility, a diverse, disability-led nonprofit that works to create systemic change in how society views and values people with [click to continue...]
Los Angeles, CA, May 13 – Fans of Mickey Mouse who use ASL to communicate will be seeing themselves represented by a new character, Fig, a gnome friend who is deaf. Fig made his debut in Disney Junior’s “Mickey Mouse Funhouse” Friday. A drummer and music enthusiast, Fig and his sister Olive help Minnie and [click to continue...]
Washington, D.C., May 10 – As the disability community continues to feel the transformative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the disability advocacy nonprofit RespectAbility announces that Ariel Simms (they/them or she/her) has been named President and Chief Executive Officer. In this role, Ariel will foster new growth and opportunities, as part of a renewed vision [click to continue...]
Toronto, May 6 – Accessible Media Inc. (AMI), in partnership with the Canadian Media Fund (CMF) and Telefilm Canada, is launching a Disability Screen Office (DSO) in Canada to eliminate accessibility barriers and support and amplify disabled creatives. “It became apparent that there is currently no single program, incentive, or regulation that can cause the [click to continue...]
