Hollywood Webinars

Presented in partnership with Thriving Roots Initiative and Cleveland International Film Festival

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This panel aimed to discuss in more depth some of the issues facing Deaf/disabled people in the criminal justice system as experienced by the protagonist in the feature length documentary film, Being Michelle. The panel brought together Deaf leaders and advocates as well as individuals who have experienced human rights abuses in the criminal justice system. [continue reading…]

Presented in partnership with DreamWorks Animation and Mainframe Studios

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Presented in Partnership with DreamWorks Animation

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Have you seen DreamWorks Animation’s Madagascar: A Little Wild on Hulu or Peacock TV yet? For six seasons, RespectAbility Vice Chair Delbert Whetter, along with Jevon Whetter and Justin Maurer, consulted on this series, which includes a deaf character who uses sign language; the character’s sister also signs. Chimpanzee siblings Dave and Pickles are breaking barriers and are part of a movement changing the landscape of disability representation in children’s television and streaming content. Dave and Pickles have a meaningful story arc throughout the entire series and Dave is not defined by his deafness.

New this season, a little girl named and modeled after deaf actress Shaylee Mansfield trades cards with Dave at the zoo. She was animated by using a video reference of her performing the role. In what is possibly a first for deaf performers, she is credited alongside the “audible” voice actors for her “sign over” performance in the episode “‘Gloria’s Got ‘Em All.”

Learn from the team’s ASL consultants as well as Executive Producer Johanna Stein and Actress Shaylee Mansfield on how they worked together to bring about dynamic deaf characters. [continue reading…]

When we think of diversity in the arts, do we consider the 1-in-5 people who live with a disability? Due to a lack of accessibility and stigma, artists with disabilities rarely get to take the stage to tell their own stories. This event featured a conversation with industry leaders about writing for disabled voices. [continue reading…]

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For many folks who are looking to start a career in the Entertainment industry, whether in development, writing, production, marketing, and everything else in between, the starting point is film school. Since the best way to improve on-screen representation of people with disabilities is to hire more disabled people in all aspects of the storytelling and filmmaking process, how can film schools ensure full accessibility for disabled students and faculty? This event was a conversation with RespectAbility Summer Lab alumni and current working Entertainment professionals, Laura Alsum, Michael Dougherty, Tyler Hoog, Andrew Reid, and Faith Strongheart. We discussed their lived experiences as disabled individuals who have navigated film school, and shared some best practices for schools to ensure accessibility for all.
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At L.A. ComicCon, we hosted a panel on disability inclusion in film and television. Attendees learned how inclusion can positively impact their bottom line and stretch their marketing dollars for their feature film or television project. [continue reading…]

Throughout the month of October 2021, RespectAbility hosted a series of virtual celebrations, panel conversations and networking opportunities to celebrate National Disability Employment Awareness Month. Through a combination of forward-facing panels and breakout networking rooms, participants learned about writing, directing, producing, self-advocacy and more.

Liz Amelia Green

Liz Amelia Green, an alumna of the RespectAbility cohort of the WarnerMedia Access Early Career Bootcamp who also is a filmmaker as well as a volunteer financial counselor, hosted a session on personal finance and budgeting. The session was geared toward disabled creatives and filmmakers. Liz discussed budgeting, saving, the basics of investing and compound interest, insurance, and building a secure financial future so you can live and give. For all attendees, Liz offered up to two free additional 15-minute one-on-one sessions to dive deeper into individual situations.

This event is part of a larger series of events. Learn more: https://www.respectability.org/ndeam-entertainment-summit

With an Introduction by Wynne Lum, Environmental, Social and Governance, Bank of America Charitable Foundation

Throughout the month of October 2021, join RespectAbility for a series of virtual celebrations, panel conversations and networking opportunities as we celebrate National Disability Employment Awareness Month. Through a combination of forward-facing panels and breakout networking rooms, participants will learn about writing, directing, producing, self-advocacy and more. 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. Learn more: https://www.respectability.org/ndeam-entertainment-summit.

Sheridan O’Donnell

In January 2020, writer and director Sheridan O’Donnell was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa. In October 2021 he was completing his feature debut, Little Brother, starring J.K. Simmons (Whiplash), Philip Ettinger (HBO’s I Know This Much Is True) and Daniel Diemer (Netflix’s The Half Of It), which is currently in post production. In this session, O’Donnell shared his personal experiences navigating production with his vision loss, accepting his disability, and finding ways to advocate for himself and other filmmakers with disabilities. Creatives who identify as blind/low vision were encouraged to attend. [continue reading…]