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Docuseries from the Emmy Award-winning creators of “Born This Way,” Bunim/Murray Productions, as well as Shopify Studios, begins streaming on Peacock and CRAVE on August 23

Los Angeles, August 11 – A powerful docuseries that spotlights the untold stories of four entrepreneurs with disabilities, Born For Business gives viewers an insider’s look at what it takes to launch and run a thriving small business. Just as each entrepreneur is on the brink of success, they must navigate the complications that the COVID-19 pandemic presents.

Chris Triebes of The Congregation Presents is a single father with spinal muscular atrophy (type III) who is making waves in the music industry with his concert production company, two venues, and music festival ticket service. He said he was interested in appearing on Born For Business due to the lack of representation of people with disabilities “who have a disproportionately low voice” in media, especially when it comes to portraying stories of proactive business owners making their own opportunities and succeeding. He laments the often-repeated tropes of pitied people with disabilities who are painted as helpless or unresourceful. “I want to help normalize disability,” he said in a conversation with the disability advocacy nonprofit RespectAbility. “I think I can be someone who’s good for that.”

The show also features: Qiana Allen of Culture’s Closet, a fashionista with lupus who opened a plus-sized boutique, which quickly became one of America’s top plus-size clothing stores; Collette Divitto of Collettey’s Cookies, a baker with Down syndrome who owns a successful cookie brand that employs people with disabilities; and Lexi Zanghi of Always Reason, a millennial entrepreneur with anxiety who runs a three-year-old fashion brand that will soon expand to its first physical location.

“For too long, people with disabilities have been shut out of the workplace,” said Jonathan Murray, Bunim/Murray Productions. “With Born For Business, we are showing how people with disabilities have long been using entrepreneurship to create an economic livelihood for themselves.” [continue reading…]

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Washington, D.C., August 11 – The logistics company Tortoise and the Valuable 500 Disability Business Initiative recently partnered up to present the first-ever Disability 100 Report. This report looked at Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 (FTSE 100) companies and their willingness to report inclusion measures regarding disability issues. The report covered accommodations, disability disclosures and public statements from company boards concerning disability inclusion. This is a concern because disability issues impact people across all other populations, and methods of inclusion are not typically shared publicly. To ensure more inclusion, there first must be transparency.

The report’s findings showed how much further corporations have to go to achieve disability inclusion. When it comes to managerial positions at FTSE 100 companies, according to this report, none of the executives or senior leaders have disclosed a disability. Only 20 of the 100 companies gave all employees the opportunity to disclose, and 8 of those 20 do not make that information public. One could argue that by not making this information public, FTSE companies are adding to stigmatization of workplace disclosure of disabilities.

Only 71 of the 100 companies meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, ensuring that their websites are accessible for people with various disabilities. The other 29 companies are arguably breaking the law by leaving out people with disabilities. Only 37 of the 100 companies have established disability resource groups. And as of 2020, only five FTSE company boards have released inclusive statements as part of their leadership agenda. [continue reading…]

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Sacramento, CA, August 11 – This week, the California Workforce Development Board’s Executive Committee met to discuss the status of workforce practices of the Golden State. In response to this meeting, RespectAbility, a national, non-partisan nonprofit organization, submitted testimony on how to implement best practices, advocate for greater inclusion and improve the standing of people with disabilities in the workforce.

“When it was passed with broad, bipartisan support in 2014, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) invested unprecedented resources into efforts to get people with barriers to employment into the labor force,” said Olegario “Ollie” Cantos VII, RespectAbility’s new Chairman. “Now, after the pandemic that has reshaped our economy, it is time to devote significant attention to supporting the economic advancement of students, job-seekers, and entrepreneurs with disabilities.”

There are more than 1.9 million working age (18-64) Californians living with some form of disability. Before the pandemic, 38.2 percent of the working age population of people with disabilities were employed. It is critical that California’s Workforce Development Board listen to the individuals with disabilities and advocates impacted by these unemployment rates. In order to make the workforce more inclusive, and to find practical ways to make the workforce more accessible for the entire population, RespectAbility collects, summarizes, and publicizes ideas on key workforce solutions. To learn more about RespectAbility’s advocacy work, please visit our Policy website. [continue reading…]

Los Angeles, August 10 – RespectAbility’s Summer 2021 Lab cohort was recently joined by Fanshen Cox, award-winning producer, actor, and head of strategic outreach at Pearl Street Films. Cox, who also served as a Faculty Advisor for the 2020 and 2021 Labs, shared numerous tips and extensive insight with the Lab Fellows, all about the ins and outs of pitching their projects, garnered from her years of experience working as an executive. She stressed the importance of having a fine-tuned elevator pitch of your project(s) ready to go at a moment’s notice, as well as mastering the art of following up.

A recurring theme of Cox’s presentation was the importance of knowing how to craft one’s own personal experiences and point of view into a compelling story. “No matter what you want to do in this industry, you are a storyteller always, first and foremost,” Cox emphasized to the 30 participants. [continue reading…]

Bentonville, Arkansas, August 4 – 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 seventh year. Chaired by Academy Award winner Geena Davis, BFF champions women and diverse voices.

According to festival programmers, out of all films selected for this year’s program, eight percent of the directors identify as having a disability, as well as four percent of the writers and four percent of the leads.

Below please find a guide to several of the films featuring disability in the plot or talent with disabilities. [continue reading…]

Narrative Film Selected for Competition Shorts of the Bentonville Film Festival

Washington, D.C., August 4 – An independent Hard-of-Hearing Yemeni-American Director and Cinematographer, Alaa Zabara recognizes the power of media to “change the hearts and minds of an audience, highlight the stories that need to be told, and to amplify the voices of the voiceless.”

Her newest film, Selahy “My Weapon,” is an official selection of the Bentonville Film Festival in Bentonville, Arkansas where it will screen during the first week of August. It will compete within the festival’s Competition Shorts program.

In 2015, Zabara and her family were evacuated from the crisis in Yemen, an event that has shaped her life and her storytelling goals as a filmmaker. To Zabara, it is important that audiences relate to her not as a filmmaker but as a human, “filling the distance that comes between each of us.” [continue reading…]

Los Angeles, August 4 – There’s no denying that the intersection of comedy and disability is historically shrouded in stereotypes and misinformation; however, this is far from the case with writer and actor Anna Marr’s latest short film, Walking Through Peanut Butter. With a run time of just under nine minutes, this comedic film inspired by Marr’s own experiences of living with narcolepsy manages to make audiences laugh while simultaneously breaking down false stereotypes of narcolepsy and educating viewers on the overwhelmingly misunderstood neurological sleep disorder.

The film follows a stubborn, overachieving recent college grad named Jessie (played by Marr) as she dives headfirst into the NYC comedy world while still coming to terms with her own narcolepsy diagnosis. During a recent Q&A with Bentonville Film Festival, where Walking Through Peanut Butter will screen during the first week of August, Marr explained that the premise of the film is very similar to her own journey with narcolepsy. [continue reading…]

Los Angeles, Aug 4 – When Erica Milsom and Krissy Cababa worked together at Pixar to release the animated short film Loop, they knew they were embarking on new territory. A continuation of a SparkShorts project, where Pixar creators work with a limited schedule and budget to bring a short story to life, Loop is the story of Renee and Marcus who embark on a canoeing journey and must learn to communicate as Renee is autistic and non-verbal.

During a recent RespectAbility Lab session, Cababa and Milsom joined the group to talk about the success and struggles that came with the creation of Loop. “For me, one of the best things about Loop was the fact that we were working with this character Renee, an autistic character, and Pixar had never done that before,” explained director Erica Milsom. “And all the thought that went into all aspects of the short to convey that in a realistic and truthful and honest and respectful way.” [continue reading…]

Ollie Cantos

Last week, I was privileged to have been elected the fourth Chairman of the Board of Directors of RespectAbility, a national non-profit non-partisan organization whose mission is to fight stigmas and advance opportunities so people with all types of disabilities can fully participate in all aspects of community.

Thirty-one years ago, the Nation and the world witnessed a historic moment as President George H. W. Bush signed the landmark American’s with Disabilities Act (ADA) into law. Resulting from years of advocacy by and for people with all types of disabilities and the organizations that represented them, the ADA marked the culmination of a bipartisan effort that united a number of stakeholders, both large and small, from all across the country. Almost immediately, the walls of discrimination began to come down within the areas of employment; state and local government programs, services, and activities; places of public accommodation; transportation; and telecommunications. [continue reading…]