“Over 70 million Americans and 1.3 billion globally have disabilities,” said Nancy Weintraub at “Reimagining Hollywood: A New Lens on Disability”, Panel on American Pavilion during the Cannes Film Festival. Weintraub is the Chief Advancement Officer at Eastseal’s Southern California. For over a century has been the leading organization for disability and advocates in the United States
Eastseals work heavily to increase the opportunities for disabled artists in film And the television industry, and Weintraub was united by actors, writers, producer and founder of Eastseal’s Disability Film Challenge, Nic Novicki, for a lively conversation on the state of introduction of disabilities in entertainment – and the importance of authentic representation.
Watch the video above.
“One in four of the population has a disability, but we are in less than 3 percent of film and television programs,” said Novicki, who has appeared in “The Sopranos” and “Boardwalk empire”, said. The time is right for inclusive changes. So Novicki founded Easterseal’s Disability Film Challenge, “An annual film competition where you make an one-to-five-minute film that has someone with a disability in front of or behind the camera. The films need not be about disabilities, it’s just about including people with disabilities.” The challenge winners then have sought after access to already established entertainment industry’s professionals as a price.
Earlier in the year at Sundance, Easteseals launched a new report When it comes to representing disabilities on the screen that Weintraub explained “on how far we have come up with the introduction of disability, but also realizes that there are more opportunities to grow together. Over 50 gifted individuals with disabilities helped compile it. We had a national survey in October 800 adults with disabilities.”
Novicki, which has been in over 40 television programs and films, revealed that the film challenge had resulted in 135 films being created this year from all over the world. Eastseal’s report From earlier this year, an important point from Novicki contained: “Many times the availability does not require
More money, it requires more planning – strategic planning forward and integrates accessibility from the beginning. “Money doesn’t have to be a barrier.
Both Weintraub and Novicki love to celebrate success with their ongoing work to increase inclusion. “There have been some fantastic success stories recently,” Novicki said. “‘Wicked’! Marissa Bode is a wheelchair user. The future is light. ‘Coda,’ wins Oscars, an all-deaf role. ‘
“The merchant, disposable income for disability in the United States is $ 490 billion, and that means over $ 1.3 trillion globally,” Weintraub said. “Not only do we have a critical mass of people who want to see themselves represented, but they are a big part of the market. Authentic disability representation has financial incentives.” The report showed that the audience wants more representation and wants networks and studios to fix the lack of representation.
“I wondered why more people with disabilities did not create their own content. I wanted to play a gangster. So I started shooting it myself,” Novicki said. “I started creating my own opportunities. I created the Disability Film Challenge and it started small. We had 5 films that first year. I partnered with Easterseals in 2017. Now we have had 850 films created from around the world over the last 12 years. These become working databases. The Casting Society of America Shares these Films. With the Challenge, It’s Not Talking About The Problem of the Lack of Representation, It’s About Being Part of the Solution. “
“Amazon MGM Studios is a partner in the challenge,” Novicki said. “They went out to us and were looking for an actor in the autism spectrum. We were able to send dozens of talented actors from the challenge. Nic Sanchez stopped booking a role in that movie, which was” The Accountant “follower and worked with Ben Affcheck. It is a challenging landscape, but I am not optimistic because it is a global population with a global population with people
“Stories need not be about disability,” Weintraub noted. “Many of the stories that come out of the challenge are to see people with disabilities such as mothers, fathers, lawyers, doctors, gangster, villains and being in romantic relationships as well. The studios can see them in roles outside roles that are only about their disability.”
“People with disabilities have largely not received the same amount of auditions and opportunities,” Novicki said. Weintraub added, “There are many background masses in movies. Always consider putting people with disabilities in these. Again, it is one of four, so they should also be represented everywhere.”
“When you talk about one of four of the population,” Novicki continued, “You also talk about your neighbor, your son, your father, your uncle. Everyone has their own connection to disability. It’s just about how do you meet them? It happens here (on Kanes). This is the largest film market in the world. “
“The disability community wants to see themselves represented. There is so much pride in our society,” Novicki said. “I am proud to have a disability, to be a small person, to be part of this society. With 1.7 billion there is much more room for awareness. There are many success stories. We have much of our own in the challenge, but there is still room to grow.”
Watch the video above to find out how to send movies to Challenge Disability Film and learn more about Eastersal’s disability.
