To celebrate Mother’s Day, RespectAbility Communications Apprentice Madison Essig spoke with Dani Izzie, advocate, activist and mother with a disability. Izzie’s journey to motherhood is the subject of the upcoming documentary film Dani’s Twins. [continue reading…]
Los Angeles, CA, April 22 – Natalie Trevonne returns to Easterseals Disability Film Challenge, playing Seven, a blind 19-year-old who is removed from her normal life after finding out she’s the next slayer and the only one who can save the world. Not fully understanding her true destiny, tensions run high as she trains with her watcher, Mr. Gordon (Jongman Kim).
During training, Seven experiences periods of self doubt. She runs away, finding a blind pianist (Jeremy Jeffers) playing a song her mentor used to play for her when she was scared. “When I am away, be strong for me,” she sings the lyrics that she wrote. “Oh, Lord, please be my strength.” [continue reading…]
Los Angeles, CA, April 22 – Each year, John Lawson looks forward to participating in the Easterseals Disability Film Challenge, assembling a team of disabled actors and filmmakers working alongside allies to create a short film in less than a week.
Filmmakers are given a theme to focus on in their projects, and the theme of this year’s challenge was to create a superhero film. Taco Tuesday opens with dramatic music, showing a sibling pair played by Jamie Brewer and Jay Disney rushing to stop a deadly crime.
Amelia (Brewer) has the ability to see into the future. She chooses to use her superpower to fight crime. Brewer is a young woman with Down syndrome best known for her roles in the FX horror anthology television series American Horror Story. She also appeared in the first music video starring actors with Down syndrome, Delta Spirit’s What’s Done is Done. [continue reading…]
Jennifer Valdes
Los Angeles, CA, April 21 – The Easterseals Disability Film Challenge is an annual filmmaking competition that aims to uplift disability representation and portrayal in the media. Each year the filmmakers are given a theme to focus on in their projects, and this year’s theme is “superhero.”
RespectAbility 2021 Entertainment Lab Alumna Jennifer Valdes wrote and directed a short film titled, “Invincible” working alongside an inclusive cast and crew comprised of both disabled and nondisabled people. The short film follows a character named Sam who is a wheelchair user, as she is faced with the daunting task of making it onto a wheelchair ramp as she grapples with her inner thoughts.
The film creatively uses the “superhero” concept of this year’s challenge to highlight Sam’s inner voices in a lighthearted and comical fashion through physical and verbal exchanges with sound effects. The internal battle between Sam’s thoughts are represented through satirical superhero tropes of “good” vs. “evil” as represented by Mr. Invisible, the evil supervillain and Mr. Invincible, who is the superhero. [continue reading…]
New York, NY, April 21 – Andy & Kaliope is a heartwarming short film that touches on the barely explored, yet significant, topic of disabled foster children. Created by Writer/Producer/Actress Rachel Handler and Directors Catriona Rubenis-Stevens and Crystal Arnette, Andy & Kaliope brings awareness to the realities of foster children who are disabled by following the challenges of a disabled foster child between homes.
As the film states, 30-50% of children waiting to be adopted in the United States have a disability. High medical costs often deter potential adopters. Historically, children with disabilities often were forgotten because they were not considered adoptable. Andy & Kaliope is changing the narrative by conveying that these preconceptions are finally starting to change. That being said, children such as Andy still are faced with heavy stigmatization or a lack of consideration due to their disability. Bringing awareness to the issue can help break down the barriers that get in the way of adoption and the insecurities that weigh disabled children down. As Andy himself mentions, there’s a lot of work to do but we’re finally starting to get there. [continue reading…]
Written by Dennis Tran and Vanni Le
Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, and Stephanie Hsu in Everything Everywhere All at Once
Los Angeles, April 14 – Everything Everywhere All At Once is an emotional, chaotic, and heartwarming film that takes the audience on a wild journey into an ever-changing multiverse. The film follows the overwhelmed Evelyn Wang, played by Michelle Yeoh, as she (unsuccessfully) tries to juggle everyday tasks, including running a laundromat with her passive yet upbeat husband Waymond (played by Ke Huy Quan in his dynamic return to acting since his child actor days), preparing for the arrival of her disapproving father, and struggling to connect with her “rebellious” queer and tattooed college dropout daughter. This anxiety-inducing opening act is topped off with Evelyn also trying to compile the right documentation for a trip to the IRS office.
It’s clear that Evelyn is dissatisfied with her mediocre life and the choices that led to it. Evelyn’s mind wanders off to escape from her reality, and her scatter-brained tendencies cause frustration from her family, yet create unintentionally comical scenes for the audience. She constantly insists that she is “paying attention” yet she completely zones out and starts daydreaming in the middle of a conversation with an IRS officer (played by Jamie Lee Curtis) about her questionable tax practices. [continue reading…]
L-R: Nasreen Alkhateeb, Isabella Vargas, Molly McConville, Kiah Amara, April Caputi, Alaa Zabara, Colin Buckingham
New York, NY, April 14 – ReelAbilities, the nation’s largest film festival focused on disability inclusion hosted its first ever Film and Television Accessibility Summit in NYC last week. I had the opportunity to attend the summit where a wide variety of panelists spoke on all matters related to accessibility, and how we all can contribute to creating an accessible, successful, and welcoming entertainment industry.
The summit virtually covered every area of the industry, from pre-production to post-production and marketing. Each panel was produced with a sharp eye for accessibility, serving as the perfect model on how all events should provide accessible spaces. The panels were hybrid, giving some people the ease of tuning in virtually. There were several ASL interpreters throughout, closed captioning, and other accommodations were easily added in as requested by the audience. It was a great example of how different people with different disabilities and needs can co-exist in this kind of space. For me, this was a refreshing thing to see and experience in action. It gave me plenty of ease and comfort as a participant, and I believe it also gave each panelist a comfortable space to really dive into talking about disability and accessibility. [continue reading…]
Los Angeles, CA, April 7 – “Being Michelle” is a powerful and emotional documentary film that follows the life of a Deaf woman with autism who has survived numerous instances of abuse and injustice at the hands of the U.S. incarceration system. The film had its world premiere at Big Sky Documentary Film Festival this week, and will soon screen at the Florida Film Festival as well. At its core, “Being Michelle” is a story about hope and resilience in the face of adversity due to one’s family upbringings, circumstances, and the ableist injustices of the U.S. incarceration system. No matter what you are going through, you are not alone, and this documentary is a reminder of that through the story of Michelle’s journey as she continues to be that ray of sunshine for others despite what she has gone through. Her story matters and is an example for others to be able to learn and take up space.
Throughout the film, audiences learn that Michelle experienced an abusive family dynamic growing up; a pattern and experience that unfortunately followed her into the incarceration system, where police officers were quick to condemn her due to a lack of understanding of her disabilities, and without really trying to understand her or why she was acting or behaving a certain way. The documentary really brings to light how society is quick to judge and make assumptions about someone without getting to know them, as in the case of Michelle, who was misunderstood and could not articulate what she wanted to say and express her emotions due to a lack of means to communication between the Hearing officers and prison employees and herself as a Deaf woman. [continue reading…]
Los Angeles, April 1 – RespectAbility announces today its participation in the second-annual Mental Health Action Day held on Thursday, May 19 with more than 1,400 other leading companies, brands, nonprofits and cultural leaders globally.
As the global conversation around mental health continues – including the White House’s new unity agenda strategy to address mental health in the United States – finding effective resources and knowing how to get help remains a challenge. Convened by MTV Entertainment Group, Mental Health Action Day was created with an open-source model that has effectively united and galvanized brands, organizational leaders, and cultural leaders to seamlessly integrate the message and spirit into their existing branding and voice. [continue reading…]
Los Angeles, CA, March 31 – As a Black girl, you are often made to feel small, and the moment you feel emotions you are seen as too emotional, confrontational, and other not so pleasant adjectives that are far too often used to describe Black women. There is this stereotype that we must be strong, and we can handle whatever life throws at us. Now, in some ways that may be true, but it’s a part of our heritage that was perpetuated on us since the beginning of slavery. I can tell you firsthand Black women are tired of the idea that we must be strong all the time. Sometimes we want to be vulnerable, experience joy, and feel like we can ask for help and support. But it’s sometimes even hard for us to ask for that support.
I had all these thoughts while watching “My Girl Story,” the insightful documentary produced by filmmaker and 2021 RespectAbility Entertainment Lab Alumna Tameka Citchen-Spruce. It tells the story of two young Black women who struggled with bullying and subsequent fighting in school. As Executive Producer on the film, Citchen-Spruce explains, “Growing up I never saw media representation that resembles my story. So it’s an honor to produce a story of the next generation of Black disabled girls.” [continue reading…]
