A Sundance Institute program dedicated to cultivating and supporting diverse artists with disabilities is back after a pandemic pause.
The Accessible Futures Initiative returns for 2021 after launching in 2019, Sundance announced internally on Friday. The virtual program will work with filmmakers across genres and consult on projects and career strategy over a multi-day workshop.
This also includes making the annual Sundance Film Festival more accessible, in partnership with Easterseals Southern California and RespectAbility, which provides inclusivity training.
“We seek to assist participating artists in honing their creative voice and craft, finding a cohort, and building support for them to help surmount critical barriers in the field that has systematically excluded artists with disabilities,” an internal memo obtained by Variety read.
This year’s selected filmmakers include Nasreen Alkhateeb, Virtic Emil Brown, Shaina Ghuraya, Cashmere Jasmine , Luna X Moya, and Jennifer Msumba. Their advisors for the intensive include Day Al-Mohamed, Rodney Evans,...
The Accessible Futures Initiative returns for 2021 after launching in 2019, Sundance announced internally on Friday. The virtual program will work with filmmakers across genres and consult on projects and career strategy over a multi-day workshop.
This also includes making the annual Sundance Film Festival more accessible, in partnership with Easterseals Southern California and RespectAbility, which provides inclusivity training.
“We seek to assist participating artists in honing their creative voice and craft, finding a cohort, and building support for them to help surmount critical barriers in the field that has systematically excluded artists with disabilities,” an internal memo obtained by Variety read.
This year’s selected filmmakers include Nasreen Alkhateeb, Virtic Emil Brown, Shaina Ghuraya, Cashmere Jasmine , Luna X Moya, and Jennifer Msumba. Their advisors for the intensive include Day Al-Mohamed, Rodney Evans,...
- 6/25/2021
- by Matt Donnelly
- Variety Film + TV
RespectAbility will have a heavy presence at Sundance this year, with a lineup of virtual panels and discussions, all on digital Main Street.
The disability advocacy group is presenting five conversations under the umbrella title the Accessibility & Inclusion Lab; two of the events are in collaboration with Film Independent.
A goal is to encourage authentic representation of disabled people on screen, and to help change how audiences view people with disabilities. Another goal is to give filmmakers the tools to make films more accessible, both for disabled crew members and for audiences.
According to Nielsen, the disability market influences more than a trillion dollars in disposable income. However, with one-in-five people in the U.S. having a disability, there is a startling lack of representation – just 2.3% of characters in the 100 top-grossing films of 2019 and 8% in family films.
“What we see and hear on screen influences how we act in real life,...
The disability advocacy group is presenting five conversations under the umbrella title the Accessibility & Inclusion Lab; two of the events are in collaboration with Film Independent.
A goal is to encourage authentic representation of disabled people on screen, and to help change how audiences view people with disabilities. Another goal is to give filmmakers the tools to make films more accessible, both for disabled crew members and for audiences.
According to Nielsen, the disability market influences more than a trillion dollars in disposable income. However, with one-in-five people in the U.S. having a disability, there is a startling lack of representation – just 2.3% of characters in the 100 top-grossing films of 2019 and 8% in family films.
“What we see and hear on screen influences how we act in real life,...
- 1/28/2021
- by Tim Gray
- Variety Film + TV
RespectAbility Entertainment Lab 2020 wrapped July 16, after 15 sessions intended to create an industry pipeline of professionals with disabilities behind the camera.
The five-week program is sponsored by the nonprofit RespectAbility and is run by four women with disabilities: Lauren Appelbaum, Tatiana Lee, Nasreen Alkhateeb and Leah Romond.
The program targets individuals who are interested in such jobs as writing, directing, producing, editing, sound and animation work.
It featured 30 participants, all of whom have experience in the entertainment industry prior to the Lab; however, most found they were stuck in assistant-level positions. The Lab is structured with two tracks: One for emerging talent and mid-career.
Speakers included reps from Bunim/Murray Prods., Film Independent, NBCUniversal, Sony Pictures Studios, the Walt Disney Studios, ViacomCBS and others.
The program is important because people with disabilities are frequently overlooked in Hollywood’s discussions about inclusion; their presence behind the camera is even rarer.
Lab members...
The five-week program is sponsored by the nonprofit RespectAbility and is run by four women with disabilities: Lauren Appelbaum, Tatiana Lee, Nasreen Alkhateeb and Leah Romond.
The program targets individuals who are interested in such jobs as writing, directing, producing, editing, sound and animation work.
It featured 30 participants, all of whom have experience in the entertainment industry prior to the Lab; however, most found they were stuck in assistant-level positions. The Lab is structured with two tracks: One for emerging talent and mid-career.
Speakers included reps from Bunim/Murray Prods., Film Independent, NBCUniversal, Sony Pictures Studios, the Walt Disney Studios, ViacomCBS and others.
The program is important because people with disabilities are frequently overlooked in Hollywood’s discussions about inclusion; their presence behind the camera is even rarer.
Lab members...
- 7/17/2020
- by Tim Gray
- Variety Film + TV
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