tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9739016788730125502024-03-14T02:32:07.009-04:00Media dis&datA database of news and information about people with disabilities and disability issues...
Copyright statement: Unless otherwise stated, all posts on this blog continue to be the property of the original author/publication/Web site, which can be found via the link at the beginning of each post.BA Hallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435630232157672557noreply@blogger.comBlogger11752125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-973901678873012550.post-32027153364715738432024-02-16T13:55:00.000-05:002024-02-16T13:55:16.624-05:00Call for Book Chapters: Social Media, Artificial Intelligence, and Disability in the Global South<p><span style="font-family: times;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK3zJHCHKEQunHnpAZEre7lPJumF1apMJmXCkUluu1ORlNANSYPeocx-yMX7zI3fVNkb-hk8ZC199AAPoaw6X0gzbcpOzDrF0nYfaMzQ-MqvNQbCNvw4E0zzQ9ZVqv6oX8LW4dOsxiYg0O7AuC49as4gobXXY4SILCuOfPwuRd1Pu-pvSXmvKpdLLvbfBf/s6460/global%20south.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3403" data-original-width="6460" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK3zJHCHKEQunHnpAZEre7lPJumF1apMJmXCkUluu1ORlNANSYPeocx-yMX7zI3fVNkb-hk8ZC199AAPoaw6X0gzbcpOzDrF0nYfaMzQ-MqvNQbCNvw4E0zzQ9ZVqv6oX8LW4dOsxiYg0O7AuC49as4gobXXY4SILCuOfPwuRd1Pu-pvSXmvKpdLLvbfBf/s320/global%20south.png" width="320" /></a></span></div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">CFP: <i>Social Media, Artificial Intelligence, and Disability in the Global South</i></span></h2><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times;">Editors: Tafadzwa Rugoho (PhD), Ngozi Emmanuel (PhD), and Beth Haller (PhD)</span></h2><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Abstract Submission Deadline: 30 April 2024</span></h2><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Social media and artificial intelligence (AI) have become integral parts of modern society, </span><span style="font-family: arial;">influencing communication, information dissemination, and social interactions. However, the impact o</span><span style="font-family: arial;">f these technologies on people with disabilities has received limited attention. This book aims to </span><span style="font-family: arial;">explore the intersection of social media, artificial intelligence (AI), and disability in the </span><span style="font-family: arial;">context of the Global South, with a focus on opportunities, challenges, and strategies for </span><span style="font-family: arial;">promoting inclusivity and empowerment. The rapid advancement of technology, particularly in the </span><span style="font-family: arial;">fields of social media and artificial intelligence (AI), has the potential to significantly impact </span><span style="font-family: arial;">the lives of people with disabilities in the Global South. This intersection presents both </span><span style="font-family: arial;">opportunities and challenges in terms of accessibility, inclusion, and empowerment. Understanding </span><span style="font-family: arial;">the dynamics between social media, AI, and disability in the Global South is crucial for harnessing </span><span style="font-family: arial;">the potential benefits and addressing the potential risks.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The book seeks to provide a comprehensive understanding of the ways in which social media and AI </span><span style="font-family: arial;">technologies impact individuals with disabilities in the Global South. Some of the key questions </span><span style="font-family: arial;">that this book aims to answer include: what is the level of exposure and usage of social media </span><span style="font-family: arial;">among people with disabilities in different countries of the Global South? What are the lived </span><span style="font-family: arial;">experiences of people with disabilities as social media users in countries of the Global South? How </span><span style="font-family: arial;">knowledgeable are people with disabilities about AI tools and how do these tools contribute to </span><span style="font-family: arial;">their independence, for example, AI voice technologies such as Siri and Amazon Echo? In what ways </span><span style="font-family: arial;">do people with disabilities use social media and AI technologies to navigate ableist societies? </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Overall, the book seeks to examine both the potential benefits and the unique challenges faced by </span><span style="font-family: arial;">people with disabilities in accessing and utilizing these technologies in diverse cultural, social, </span><span style="font-family: arial;">and economic contexts. The book also aims to explore strategies and best practices for promoting </span><span style="font-family: arial;">inclusivity, accessibility, and empowerment in this rapidly evolving landscape.</span></p><p><u><span style="font-family: arial;">Topics of Interest:</span></u></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Contributors are invited to submit original research chapters addressing, but not limited to, the </span><span style="font-family: arial;">following topics:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">� Accessible Design and User Experience</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">� The role of AI in the development of assistive technologies that enhance the communication, </span><span style="font-family: arial;">mobility, and independent living of people with disabilities in the Global South</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">� Social Media, Disability Activism, and Advocacy</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">� Addressing Bias and Discrimination</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">� Digital Divides and Inequities</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">� Privacy, Data Protection, and Ethics</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">� Case Studies of Successful Inclusive Social Media Campaigns</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">� Digital Storytelling and Representation of Disability</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">� Collaborative Approaches to Accessibility</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">� Social Media Influencers and Disability Advocacy</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">� Awareness, exposure, knowledge and usage of AI tools</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">� AI-Powered Assistive Devices and Accessibility Solutions</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">� Challenges of Linguistic and Cultural Diversity</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">� Policy and Legal Frameworks for Inclusive Digital Environments</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">� Social Media, AI, and Mental Health Support</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">� Training and Digital Literacy Programs</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">� Ethical Considerations in AI-Driven Disability Assessment</span></p><p><u><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></u></p><p><u><span style="font-family: arial;">Submission Guidelines:</span></u></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Authors are invited to submit an extended abstract (250-300 words) outlining the objectives, </span><span style="font-family: arial;">methodology, and key findings of their proposed chapter. The abstract should clearly indicate the </span><span style="font-family: arial;">relevance to the book's theme and the specific topic of interest. Please include the author's bio </span><span style="font-family: arial;">of less than 100 words and contact information.</span></p><p><u><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></u></p><p><u><span style="font-family: arial;">Important Dates:</span></u></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Abstract Submission Deadline: 30 April 2024</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Notification of Acceptance: 15 May 2024</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Full Chapter Submission: 30 September 2024 </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Review and Revision Period: 30 October 2024 </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Final </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Chapter Submission: 20 December 2024</span></p><p><u><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></u></p><p><u><span style="font-family: arial;">Submission Process:</span></u></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Please submit your abstract as a word document to docrugoho@yahoo.com also copy </span><span style="font-family: arial;">ne83@leicester.ac.uk . All submissions will undergo a peer-review process to ensure the quality and </span><span style="font-family: arial;">relevance of the chapters. Selected abstracts will be invited for full chapter submission, which </span><span style="font-family: arial;">should adhere to the provided formatting guidelines. Should you have any further inquiries, please </span><span style="font-family: arial;">do not hesitate to contact us at docrugoho@yahoo.com </span></p><p><u><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></u></p><p><u><span style="font-family: arial;">Editors:</span></u></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Tafadzwa Rugoho (PhD) is currently at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. He taught at several </span><span style="font-family: arial;">universities. He holds several qualifications in the areas of development, health, policy, law, </span><span style="font-family: arial;">sociology and management. Tafadzwa has authored more than 30 book chapters and scientific papers. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">He edited a book titled "Media and Disability- A Global South perspective. He coedited two books </span><span style="font-family: arial;">titled <i>Disability and Intersectionality, Perspectives from the Global South</i> and <i>Sexual and R</i></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>eproductive Health of Adolescents with Disabilities.</i> Tafadzwa is a disability activist.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Ngozi Emmanuel (PhD) holds a PhD in Media and Communication from the University of Leicester, </span><span style="font-family: arial;">England and has recently completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the same University. Her research </span><span style="font-family: arial;">explores the representation of disabilities in media and the intersection between cinema, ableism, </span><span style="font-family: arial;">and disabilities in the global south. One of the highlights of Emmanuel’s disability research and </span><span style="font-family: arial;">advocacy is the production of a toolkit for representing disabilities in television and cinema, </span><span style="font-family: arial;">which enabled her to further co-produce a Toolkit on-the-go with the Global Alliance for </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Disabilities and Media (GADIM), a US-based organisation. Emmanuel has received funding from </span><span style="font-family: arial;">agencies such as the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) to fund her research and </span><span style="font-family: arial;">disability advocacy.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Beth Haller (PhD) is Professor Emerita at Towson University in Maryland, USA. Haller is co-director </span><span style="font-family: arial;">and co-founder of the Global Alliance for Disability in Media and Entertainment (www.GADIM.org), </span><span style="font-family: arial;">which works to promote the inclusion of persons with disabilities in all aspects of mass media </span><span style="font-family: arial;">internationally. Haller’s new book, <i>Disabled People Transforming Media Culture for a More Inclusive </i></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>World </i>(Taylor & Francis), was published in 2023. Haller is co-editor of the 2020 <i>Routledge </i></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Companion to Disability and Media</i>. She is the author </span><span style="font-family: arial;">of <i>Representing Disability in an Ableist World: Essays on Mass Media</i> (Advocado Press, </span><span style="font-family: arial;">2010) and the author/editor of <i>Byline of Hope: Collected Newspaper and Magazine Writing </i></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>of Helen Keller</i> (Advocado Press, 2015).</span></p><div><br /></div>BA Hallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435630232157672557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-973901678873012550.post-67538223631505041362023-07-26T11:43:00.002-04:002023-07-26T11:49:28.035-04:00Report uncovers 'systemic discrimination' faced by people with disabilities in Australian screen industry <p><span style="font-size: 16px;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0ie4T0Droj3qGVnPe9zmy88o6cw7hNAf_t3JZGiwlGwwwqNGW0079mGFmAKdlXOwc4_gl12MycZLao6xFM7d8clWnU2PlLRzO2w1kBz1MKYpUJBhqKKrarKdTuYvqbOqoM2lgXftt1DP000HhzA9m3M0vFP5QlG8QyKJ8D4343e-StFXNimbN4EAdegtI/s862/Australia%20-%20disability%20in%20screen%20industry.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="575" data-original-width="862" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0ie4T0Droj3qGVnPe9zmy88o6cw7hNAf_t3JZGiwlGwwwqNGW0079mGFmAKdlXOwc4_gl12MycZLao6xFM7d8clWnU2PlLRzO2w1kBz1MKYpUJBhqKKrarKdTuYvqbOqoM2lgXftt1DP000HhzA9m3M0vFP5QlG8QyKJ8D4343e-StFXNimbN4EAdegtI/s320/Australia%20-%20disability%20in%20screen%20industry.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>from <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-09/report-uncovers-discrimination-disabled-people-screen-industry/102386284">ABC News in Australia</a>. <i>Photo of <span style="font-size: 16px;">Ade Djajamihardja and his wife Kate. </span></i><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">As an Asian-born Australian, Ade Djajamihardja is no
stranger to discrimination. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">But when he had his first stroke, he
was not ready for the disability that followed.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Mr Djajamihardja had a successful media career,
including as an assistant director for ABC TV, and a happy family life
with his wife Kate.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">When he woke
from his stroke in a hospital bed, he had mobility and vision impairment.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Fear of
being a burden<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">"When I
was in rehab hospital, I was being taught how to use my wheelchair for the
first time, and quickly became overwhelmed by how that would make me a massive
burden to Kate's life," he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">"And
that caused me to realise that I couldn't do that to her."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">He felt
suicidal until a nurse helped him reframe his perspective.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Now Mr
Djajamihardja has his own production company, <a href="https://www.a2kmedia.com.au/ ">A2K Media</a>, supporting people
with disabilities working in the media and entertainment industry across
Australia and Asia.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">His company
recently collaborated with researchers at the University of Melbourne on <a href="https://disability.unimelb.edu.au/home/projects/community-based-research-program/Disability-and-Screen-Work-in-Australia">a reportlooking at the treatment of people with disabilities in the media industry</a>,
which uncovered a range of unique challenges, from poor physical access to
discrimination and unequal pay.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Stigma
behind pay gap<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Melbourne
University creative writing lecturer and lead report author Radha O'Meara said
the pay gap for people with disabilities was the result of stigma.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">"The
screen industry has a lot more people employed in precarious contracts than
other industries [and] a lot of people talked about how ... they don't even
know who to go to, to ask about their pay," she said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">"Most
screen companies don't have HR departments."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The report
reviewed more than 500 people with disabilities who have worked in the screen
industry and found they routinely experienced low payment and precarious job
roles — all within a culture of “systemic discrimination” and prejudice.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“These
experiences suggest structural problems across the screen industry and its
culture,” the report found.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“They
reflect a lack of understanding of disability and a reliance on negative
stereotypes of disabled workers."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Forced to
direct through a monitor<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">One
Melbourne-based film and television director who uses a wheelchair
said the biggest problem he had encountered in the industry was physically
accessing sets.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">"I'm
required to kind of direct through a radio looking at a monitor because I can't
actually get to the second floor or the third floor… and that's something that
nobody seems to know how to fix," he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The
director, who wished to remain anonymous, said the lack of wheelchair accessible
buildings used by Melbourne production companies often prevented him from
winning contracts.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">"It's
less that it's difficult to get a job as a director but it's more difficult to
get a job in production," he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">"Almost
none of the post-production facilities are accessible, almost none of the
production facilities are accessible … for a TV show, you might need a two or
three story production office, and that'll be upstairs and then you're just
kind of stuck down downstairs."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">'Hesitancy'
to hire people with disabilities<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Sam Riesel
is a young production assistant with an intellectual disability and has worked
on both accessible and mainstream sets.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Mr Riesel
said his experience in mainstream productions had generally been good, but
there was a reluctance in the film industry to hire people with disabilities.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">"I do
think there is a tiny bit of hesitancy to hire someone with a disability in the
industry, but I do also think that the industry has opened up a lot more to all
that within the past few years," he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Sometimes
there is a concern in the industry that a disabled employee will need extra
supervision on set.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">"And
it's like, well, maybe at first a tiny bit, but eventually, once they've been
in the industry for long enough, they know how all that stuff works, or at
least they should," Mr Riesel said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">'Soft
bigotry of low expectation'<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Mr
Djajamihardja said people with disabilities were often not consulted about what
they needed to enable them to work successfully.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">He said the
industry had a problem with "soft bigotry of low expectation" for
people with disabilities, which affected how inclusive it was towards
employees.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">"I
faced [that] while trying to re-emerge back into the industry I love, and the
only one I have known my entire adult life," he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Dr O'Meara
said people often conflated disability with weakness, which created a work
culture of discrimination.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">And with
no-one to ask about making adjustments, no-one is taking responsibility for the
issue, according to Dr O'Meara.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">"Legally,
someone's got to take responsibility," she said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">"But
actually, in practice, when you're asking around the place you work, who do I
talk to, then everybody goes 'ah, not my problem'."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Hopes
report will lead to change<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Mr
Djajamihardja said he hoped the report would lead to change in the industry, in
the same way that he had to change his perspective on disability after his
stroke.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">"What
resonates most about living my life since acquiring my disability and their
associated barriers is that while it was the most unwanted and unexpected of
life's adversity barriers, it has also proven to be the most undeniable and
unstoppable of personal growth opportunities," he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Dr O'Meara
said non-disabled people had contacted her after reading the report expressing
surprise that they had worked with disabled people and not realised it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">"It's
just opened their eyes up to the kind of variety of disabled people's
experiences," Dr O'Meara said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>BA Hallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435630232157672557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-973901678873012550.post-41969902929092071552023-04-06T21:24:00.000-04:002023-04-06T21:24:26.418-04:00‘Dark Disabled Stories’ review: When the world isn’t built for you<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6pAEitl3G189gEiWUJpNqkuSvp6C1t8y313YeQHafquQYJoIuvzqzWchMUbZiz5vWlHekR0wXIXRE8X3gmKA_BAB5-qgv4ltqjqcMsVQJ0LQqIoWSLH5tiVVWp4SEJR4iBk3wqhTUnyYQGELRHnwPXEEdU75Lrm24c_fOTnxG-UijW8lh_17dhfUrnQ/s553/dark%20disabled%20stories.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="381" data-original-width="553" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6pAEitl3G189gEiWUJpNqkuSvp6C1t8y313YeQHafquQYJoIuvzqzWchMUbZiz5vWlHekR0wXIXRE8X3gmKA_BAB5-qgv4ltqjqcMsVQJ0LQqIoWSLH5tiVVWp4SEJR4iBk3wqhTUnyYQGELRHnwPXEEdU75Lrm24c_fOTnxG-UijW8lh_17dhfUrnQ/s320/dark%20disabled%20stories.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />From <i><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/09/theater/dark-disabled-stories-public-theater.html">The New York Times</a></i>:<p></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.25rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.875rem; margin: 0px 0px 0.9375rem; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;">Near the start of <a href="https://publictheater.org/productions/season/2223/dark-disabled-stories/">“Dark Disabled Stories,” </a>the playwright-performer Ryan J. Haddad’s richly provocative new show at the Public Theater, he tells a funny, sexy anecdote about a hookup at a gay bar that didn’t go the way he’d hoped.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.25rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.875rem; margin: 0px 0px 0.9375rem; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;">Haddad has cerebral palsy and uses a walker. In the story, he finds himself stranded without it — a plot twist that caused his audience, the other night, to breathe a soft sound of sympathy. Haddad must have been expecting this, because his reaction is right there in the script. He invites anyone who regards him as “sad or pitiable” to leave.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.25rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.875rem; margin: 0px 0px 0.9375rem; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;">“I am not here to be pitied and I am not a victim,” he says. “Is that clear?” Then, with startling sternness, an unscripted repetition: “<em class="css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Is that clear</em>?”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.25rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.875rem; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;">Quite. But one other thing needs to be made clear immediately, which is that Haddad is an actor and writer of extraordinary charm. Disarmingly witty, immensely likable, he is not about to spend his show lecturing you.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.25rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.875rem; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;"><br /></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.25rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.875rem; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;">He will make you laugh, though. And with his director, Jordan Fein, and fellow actors, Dickie Hearts and Alejandra Ospina, he will change the way you think about disability — and prompt you to think of accessibility as something that can deepen a dramatic experience when it’s built into the architecture of the piece.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.25rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.875rem; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;"><br /></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.25rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.875rem; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;">The autobiographical stories here — set on buses, or on Grindr dates, or on the pitted streets of New York — are calibrated to blast away condescension and replace it with something closer to comprehension. Partly, they’re about how arduous it can be to navigate a world that’s oblivious to your comfort and safety, because it wasn’t built with your kind of body in mind. But these stories are also about the body as an instrument of pleasure, a vessel of longing, a means of communication.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.25rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.875rem; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;"><br /></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.25rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.875rem; margin: 0px 0px 0.9375rem; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;">Presented by the Public and the Bushwick Starr, “Dark Disabled Stories” is a highly theatrical, gracefully layered model of inventive inclusivity. Haddad and Hearts, a Deaf actor who radiates charisma, play parallel versions of a character called Ryan. Haddad speaks the lines; Hearts signs them. (The director of artistic sign language is Andrew Morrill.) The written dialogue is projected, attractively, on the upstage wall.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.25rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.875rem; margin: 0px 0px 0.9375rem; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;">Ospina spends most of the show just offstage, periodically speaking audio description that is anything but intrusive. When she says that the set is not merely “very, very pink” but in fact “Benjamin Moore’s Island Sunset pink,” this is valuable intel for us all. (Set and costume design are by dots, lighting by Oona Curley, sound by Kathy Ruvuna, video by Kameron Neal.)</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.25rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.875rem; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;">Ospina also briefly takes the stage in her wheelchair to tell her own dark story, about what it’s like to be trapped in a subway station with the elevators out. It’s not the only tale that might make you wish, urgently, that the M.T.A. would send a delegation to see this play.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.25rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.875rem; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;"><br /></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.25rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.875rem; margin: 0px 0px 0.9375rem; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;">“Dark Disabled Stories” is in the Public’s most accessible theater, the Shiva on the first floor. Yet masks are required at only a few performances each week — the Public’s default policy.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.25rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.875rem; margin: 0px 0px 0.9375rem; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;">So on your seat before mask-optional performances, alongside your playbill, you’ll find a complimentary mask and a kindly worded note. “‘Dark Disabled Stories’ is a show grounded in disability cultural values. In disability culture, the community practices collective care to protect each other,” it says, asking that you mask up. The night I went, most people did.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.25rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.875rem; margin: 0px 0px 0.9375rem; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;">The note is signed, “Thanks from the company of ‘Dark Disabled Stories.’” But should the company have had to make that request? Among the takeaways from the play is how enervating it can be to have to plead constantly for access and understanding. A blanket mask requirement for this show would have been a reasonable accommodation.</p>BA Hallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435630232157672557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-973901678873012550.post-494003367998704062023-03-14T14:25:00.003-04:002023-03-14T14:26:45.795-04:00'An Irish Goodbye' star James Martin tells aspiring actors with Down syndrome 'don’t let people say you can’t'<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2bAdZkDfPhQ5gTmFzaDf3dnj0UOVGj3Gmaj426awDqW9eVvcUjKZBI3qiNHadpIc5uJtx7fam-t316SHUEF2mU9XVJtsyubskzXjhz4FFwnqcxpzLTl718XvIIwnt5vZx7OsWsr8MqB1TqXu1z-3FzNQj_hv6I7eV4RxiTmbTyMmtjX6PVJEOkz7wUg/s1024/An%20Irish%20Goodbye%20Martin.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="1024" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2bAdZkDfPhQ5gTmFzaDf3dnj0UOVGj3Gmaj426awDqW9eVvcUjKZBI3qiNHadpIc5uJtx7fam-t316SHUEF2mU9XVJtsyubskzXjhz4FFwnqcxpzLTl718XvIIwnt5vZx7OsWsr8MqB1TqXu1z-3FzNQj_hv6I7eV4RxiTmbTyMmtjX6PVJEOkz7wUg/s320/An%20Irish%20Goodbye%20Martin.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />From <a href="https://www.itv.com/news/utv/2021-12-24/star-tells-aspiring-actors-with-downs-syndrome-dont-let-people-say-you-cant?fbclid=IwAR1NNK9mT-b1lYE-ja4p6oi-77zuPOe5mhTGejI8vHU_bqYf8kOm4rzjXa4">ITV</a>. <p></p><p><i>Note: An Irish Goodbye won the Academy Award for <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-64903140">Best Live Action Short Film</a> on March 12, 2023.</i></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #22252f; font-family: zagma-vf, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; letter-spacing: -0.01em;">A Belfast actor receiving glowing praise for his starring role in new award-winning short film says people with Down's Syndrome with acting dreams should 'go for it'.</span></p><p class="A8Lwr BVYCX" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; clear: none; color: #22252f; font-family: zagma-vf, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; letter-spacing: -0.01em; line-height: 25.5px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0px;">James Martin (pictured) stars in black comedy <i>An Irish Goodbye</i>, which has already won the European Audience Award at Leuven International Film Festival in Belgium.</p><p class="A8Lwr BVYCX" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; clear: none; color: #22252f; font-family: zagma-vf, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; letter-spacing: -0.01em; line-height: 25.5px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0px;">It’s hoped that more awards could follow, after the movie also launched at the Oscar and BAFTA qualifying Leeds Film Festival in November to critical acclaim. </p><p class="A8Lwr BVYCX" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; clear: none; color: #22252f; font-family: zagma-vf, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; letter-spacing: -0.01em; line-height: 25.5px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0px;">The new movie is set against the backdrop of a working farm in rural Northern Ireland, and follows the reunion of estranged brothers Lorcan (Martin) and Turlough (Seamus O’Hara) following the untimely death of their mother (Michelle Fairley).</p><p class="A8Lwr BVYCX" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; clear: none; color: #22252f; font-family: zagma-vf, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; letter-spacing: -0.01em; line-height: 25.5px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0px;">Under the watchful eye of odd-ball parish priest Father O’Shea (Paddy Jenkins), the brothers’ pained reunion takes an altogether different course when they discover their late mother’s unfulfilled bucket list.</p><p class="A8Lwr BVYCX" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; clear: none; color: #22252f; font-family: zagma-vf, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; letter-spacing: -0.01em; line-height: 25.5px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0px;">James told UTV News he loved working alongside the cast. </p><p class="A8Lwr BVYCX" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; clear: none; color: #22252f; font-family: zagma-vf, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; letter-spacing: -0.01em; line-height: 25.5px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0px;">He said: “We had such fun, the atmosphere on set was fantastic.”</p><p class="A8Lwr BVYCX" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; clear: none; color: #22252f; font-family: zagma-vf, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; letter-spacing: -0.01em; line-height: 25.5px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0px;">James hopes the film will entertain people following a tough couple of years.</p><p class="A8Lwr BVYCX" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; clear: none; color: #22252f; font-family: zagma-vf, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; letter-spacing: -0.01em; line-height: 25.5px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0px;">”It’s the kind of film, that when you’ve been in lockdown for so long you just want to make people laugh. That’s why the film is very good and it’s a brilliant story.”</p><p class="A8Lwr BVYCX" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; clear: none; color: #22252f; font-family: zagma-vf, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; letter-spacing: -0.01em; line-height: 25.5px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0px;">James has already scooped a Best Actor award for his role in the drama Ups and Downs in 2017 and was also praised by fans for his starring role in Season 3 of ITV’s Marcella. </p><p class="A8Lwr BVYCX" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; clear: none; color: #22252f; font-family: zagma-vf, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; letter-spacing: -0.01em; line-height: 25.5px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0px;">He keeps in touch with co-star Anna Friel, and said it is great to have her support.</p><p class="A8Lwr BVYCX" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; clear: none; color: #22252f; font-family: zagma-vf, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; letter-spacing: -0.01em; line-height: 25.5px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0px;">“I don’t see her as an actor, I see her as a person. I would call her my work colleague. It’s good to have a work colleague like Anna Friel.“</p><p class="A8Lwr BVYCX" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; clear: none; color: #22252f; font-family: zagma-vf, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; letter-spacing: -0.01em; line-height: 25.5px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0px;">James, who is a Mencap NI Ambassador, is hoping to inspire other young people into acting.</p><p class="A8Lwr BVYCX" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; clear: none; color: #22252f; font-family: zagma-vf, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; letter-spacing: -0.01em; line-height: 25.5px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0px;">He said “I would say to people who have autism, Down’s Syndrome or some physical disability, I would say go for it, act your heart out”</p><p class="A8Lwr BVYCX" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; clear: none; color: #22252f; font-family: zagma-vf, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; letter-spacing: -0.01em; line-height: 25.5px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0px;">"It’s just one of those things, don’t let people say ‘you can’t act’, because you can act. It’s just one of those things in life.”</p><p class="A8Lwr BVYCX" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; clear: none; color: #22252f; font-family: zagma-vf, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; letter-spacing: -0.01em; line-height: 25.5px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0px;"><i>An Irish Goodbye</i> is the second short film from duo Tom Berkeley and Ross White and is produced by Floodlight Pictures with support from Northern Ireland Screen and BFI. </p>BA Hallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435630232157672557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-973901678873012550.post-72015171379130458132022-11-12T10:07:00.003-05:002022-11-12T10:09:44.380-05:00Elon Musk's destruction of Twitter is harming disabled people<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-variant-ligatures: no-discretionary-ligatures;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz_GdROwetUpBPaF9R7vum82xtvzgfPp90h-jOL8jf41r-CaMNoFjz8NlesuzVNJCHCbYpCx_DdTsr2HfRKq0E3Y2M49hhB-9NvsmzZPJ6ZRubYATkD711O15sUG69w6XCg_znlS3uMsXoSO7f9GV9Wa9BVNc84OqgnKmX5RVNG_ntR-JF8wp0zdVWMw/s768/DisabilityCivics-Twitter-Chat.webp" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="384" data-original-width="768" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz_GdROwetUpBPaF9R7vum82xtvzgfPp90h-jOL8jf41r-CaMNoFjz8NlesuzVNJCHCbYpCx_DdTsr2HfRKq0E3Y2M49hhB-9NvsmzZPJ6ZRubYATkD711O15sUG69w6XCg_znlS3uMsXoSO7f9GV9Wa9BVNc84OqgnKmX5RVNG_ntR-JF8wp0zdVWMw/s320/DisabilityCivics-Twitter-Chat.webp" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz_GdROwetUpBPaF9R7vum82xtvzgfPp90h-jOL8jf41r-CaMNoFjz8NlesuzVNJCHCbYpCx_DdTsr2HfRKq0E3Y2M49hhB-9NvsmzZPJ6ZRubYATkD711O15sUG69w6XCg_znlS3uMsXoSO7f9GV9Wa9BVNc84OqgnKmX5RVNG_ntR-JF8wp0zdVWMw/s768/DisabilityCivics-Twitter-Chat.webp" style="background-color: transparent; clear: right; font-family: "PT Serif", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;">From </a><a href="https://time.com/6230469/disability-users-twitter-elon-musk/?fbclid=IwAR17Hz9IihTZ6bYh1BgJa61ekrI3CqjmGTo8HwaCCBs_KXbzs0oTiyq95b0" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "PT Serif", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; text-align: left;"><i>Time </i>magazine</a>:</div></span></span></div><p></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-family: "PT Serif", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: 28px; margin: 28px 0px 28px auto; max-width: 640px; width: 640px;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: medium; letter-spacing: normal;">Pictured is a Twitter chat announcement from 2019. ID: </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-variant-ligatures: no-discretionary-ligatures; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Graphic with a white background with text: “<a href="https://disabilityvisibilityproject.com/2019/05/01/5-22-disabilitycivics-twitter-chat/">#DisabilityCivics Twitter Chat, Civic Participation & the Disability Community</a>, May 22, 2019, 4 pm Pacific/ 5 pm Mountain/ 6 pm Central/ 7 pm Eastern, Co-hosts: @LurieInstitute @IntersectedCrip @DisVisibility” On the left is a black Twitter bird and on the right is a computer screen with two caption bubbles coming out."</span></span></i></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-family: "PT Serif", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: 28px; margin: 28px 0px 28px auto; max-width: 640px; width: 640px;">On October 28, <a href="https://time.com/6232635/twitter-blue-fake-accounts-elon-musk/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #e90606; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">Twitter</a> users woke up to a new reality: <a href="https://time.com/6203815/elon-musk-flaws-billionaire-visions/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #e90606; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">Elon Musk</a> had taken over the platform and almost immediately <a href="https://time.com/6229960/twitter-bans-accounts-elon-musk-impersonators/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #e90606; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">begun making changes</a>. For people with disabilities who’d found an emotional support system on Twitter, anxiety over Musk’s upheaval was especially sharp. Twitter had been one of the most user-friendly social media platforms out there—with a world-class team that made sure it was usable by people who had a variety of different needs. Plus, it’d been a megaphone and a lifeline to the outside world, for those who’d been especially vulnerable during the pandemic and mostly stayed indoors. Everything was now up in the air.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-family: "PT Serif", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: 28px; margin: 28px 0px 28px auto; max-width: 640px; width: 640px;">One such user is <a href="https://twitter.com/StephTaitWrites" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #e90606; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">Stephanie Tait</a>, an author, speaker, and disability advocate who suffers from multiple chronic health issues related to Lyme disease. “There are a lot of people joking about how Twitter going away would be for the best because everyone would go outside and touch grass,” she says. “What’s difficult for our community is that we’re here trying to get people to understand that for some of us, that’s not an option.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-family: "PT Serif", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: 28px; margin: 28px 0px 28px auto; max-width: 640px; width: 640px;">Many users said they’d be leaving. The hashtag #TwitterMigration started trending. But for some people the stakes were higher than for others. For Tait and other users with disabilities, there’s much more at stake on Twitter than a timeline filled with jokes, memes, and news updates. Tait has used Twitter for years to build up her audience as an author and raise awareness about disabilities, and has garnered nearly 37,000 followers in the process.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-family: "PT Serif", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: 28px; margin: 28px 0px 28px auto; max-width: 640px; width: 640px;">For <a href="https://twitter.com/KarLeia" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #e90606; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">Karli Drew</a>, a writer, creator, and activist with nearly 20,000 followers who was born with a progressive neuromuscular disorder called spinal muscular atrophy, Twitter has been the source of a ton of career opportunities. She says that one change Musk already tried to institute—charging $8 a month for verification—was a threat to the livelihood of some users with disabilities.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-family: "PT Serif", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: 28px; margin: 28px 0px 28px auto; max-width: 640px; width: 640px;">“There are disabled public figures on Twitter who have already been verified and whose credibility and jobs have come out of that verification,” she says. “They wouldn’t be able to maintain that $8 fee.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-family: "PT Serif", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: 28px; margin: 28px 0px 28px auto; max-width: 640px; width: 640px;">If Musk’s ownership leads to a mass exodus from Twitter, or a potential bankruptcy, which <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-10/musk-tells-twitter-staff-social-network-s-bankruptcy-is-possible" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #e90606; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">he warned about</a> on Thursday, it could mean a huge loss: of essential social circles, of knowledge sources, and of financial resources for many. And if misinformation takes over and the disabled community doesn’t stay on the platform, those things are lost even if Twitter continues to thrive.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-family: "Zilla Slab", Lora, georgia, times, serif; font-size: 24px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; margin: 20px 0px 20px auto; max-width: 640px; width: 640px;">What Twitter means to users with disabilities</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-family: "PT Serif", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: 28px; margin: 28px 0px 28px auto; max-width: 640px; width: 640px;">When <a href="https://twitter.com/bibicosplays" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #e90606; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">Abi Oyewole</a> began regularly using Twitter in 2019, she was looking for answers. She says she sought out “disability Twitter” while dealing with a number of medical issues, including fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. Now, she has over 25,000 followers.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-family: "PT Serif", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: 28px; margin: 28px 0px 28px auto; max-width: 640px; width: 640px;">“I was looking for community and finding people like me, who were struggling with their health, really helped me come to terms with my own health issues,” she says. “At the time, it pretty much saved my life because I got some pretty important information. It was quite crucial to have that support and to know others that were going through the same thing.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-family: "PT Serif", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: 28px; margin: 28px 0px 28px auto; max-width: 640px; width: 640px;">Touted as the <a href="https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/insights/2020/the-journey-to-social-intelligence0" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #e90606; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">“world’s largest focus group,”</a> Twitter’s follower structure—you can follow someone without them following you back and vice versa—gives users the ability to both broadcast and access information from all corners of the platform. “Someone who is talking about their experience of living with a disability could potentially be reaching a large and broad audience thanks to the public and asymmetric nature of Twitter,” says <a href="https://www.umass.edu/spp/people/faculty/ethan-zuckerman" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #e90606; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">Ethan Zuckerman</a>, an associate professor of public policy, communication, and information at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-family: "PT Serif", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: 28px; margin: 28px 0px 28px auto; max-width: 640px; width: 640px;">That has allowed people with disabilities and other marginalized groups that experience discrimination and exclusion to build community in a way that isn’t possible on other platforms, Tait says. “When you have certain kinds of disabilities, especially when you have diagnoses that are not as common, you need sheer numbers to even have the odds of potentially finding somebody with the same condition as you,” she says. “Twitter’s made it a lot easier to find people that you have no connection to at all and say, ‘Hey, we have similar symptoms or similar diagnoses, or you’ve reached a diagnosis and I haven’t, or you have research that you’ve already done and that research is going to be really important to me now.'”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-family: "PT Serif", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: 28px; margin: 28px 0px 28px auto; max-width: 640px; width: 640px;">The megaphone effect of Twitter has also made it instrumental for organizing mutual aid, fundraising, and other forms of community care efforts for people with disabilities, Tait says. “If you’re just asking the same people in your immediate circle for help again and again, it only goes so far.” she says. “If you take away Twitter, it’s no exaggeration to say that there will be medical procedures that don’t happen.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-family: "PT Serif", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: 28px; margin: 28px 0px 28px auto; max-width: 640px; width: 640px;">Economically, too, it’s impacting people. Those who struggle to hold traditional jobs have built their entire business models around Twitter’s reach and amplification.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-family: "PT Serif", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: 28px; margin: 28px 0px 28px auto; max-width: 640px; width: 640px;">For Oyewole, Twitter has played an essential role in growing the online business that enables her to support herself. “I can’t work most jobs because I’m disabled and by being on Twitter, I’m able to promote my business quite easily,” she says. “Other platforms require you to pay so your work can be seen. But with Twitter, it can gain a lot of reach through support from your followers.”</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-family: "Zilla Slab", Lora, georgia, times, serif; font-size: 24px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; margin: 20px 0px 20px auto; max-width: 640px; width: 640px;">The factors that made Twitter special</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-family: "PT Serif", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: 28px; margin: 28px 0px 28px auto; max-width: 640px; width: 640px;">Unique in its ability to amplify marginalized voices, Twitter has become a vital tool for building and sustaining community among vulnerable populations, says Zuckerman.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-family: "PT Serif", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: 28px; margin: 28px 0px 28px auto; max-width: 640px; width: 640px;">“For years, people have been finding community on social networks when they have difficulty finding community in the physical world,” he says. “That could be people who are in small minorities in the communities where they’re living or it could be people for whom it’s difficult to access the physical world.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-family: "PT Serif", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: 28px; margin: 28px 0px 28px auto; max-width: 640px; width: 640px;">Just over a week after taking control of Twitter, Musk gutted the company’s accessibility team. That means the work those employees were doing to <a href="https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/company/2020/making-twitter-more-accessible" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #e90606; outline: 0px; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">make the platform accessible</a> for as many people as possible has stopped. For example: <a href="https://help.twitter.com/en/using-twitter/add-image-descriptions" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #e90606; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">adding image descriptions</a> to tweets for people who are visually impaired and <a href="https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/product/2022/designing-accessible-sounds-story-behind-our-new-chirps" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #e90606; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">updating Twitter’s sounds</a> to help make them pleasing to people with sensory sensitivities.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-family: "PT Serif", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: 28px; margin: 28px 0px 28px auto; max-width: 640px; width: 640px;">That’s not surprising to many experts, who’ve noted that Musk’s “free speech” goals seem in conflict with creating a space that’s welcoming to those who are easy targets for trolls and other bad actors.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-family: "PT Serif", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: 28px; margin: 28px 0px 28px auto; max-width: 640px; width: 640px;">“Musk’s vaunted commitment to free speech is meaningless if Twitter becomes a place that lets harassers and trolls operate with impunity,” Zuckerman says. “Allowing people to be harassed into silence is as least an effective form of censorship as banning users.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-family: "PT Serif", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: 28px; margin: 28px 0px 28px auto; max-width: 640px; width: 640px;">Musk also cut employees across Twitter’s human rights, product trust and safety, and ethical AI divisions, and platform safety seems to already be unraveling. On Wednesday, Musk took to Twitter spaces to explain how the platform wouldn’t devolve into a free-for-all for imposters and trolls. The next day, the site was rife with<a href="https://time.com/6232635/twitter-blue-fake-accounts-elon-musk/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #e90606; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;"> fake “verified” accounts</a>, and key privacy and security executives <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/10/23451198/twitter-ftc-elon-musk-lawyer-changes-fine-warning" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #e90606; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">quit</a>.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-family: "Zilla Slab", Lora, georgia, times, serif; font-size: 24px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; margin: 20px 0px 20px auto; max-width: 640px; width: 640px;">The cost of leaving Twitter</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-family: "PT Serif", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: 28px; margin: 28px 0px 28px auto; max-width: 640px; width: 640px;">Some users are quickly leaving the platform. In the days after Musk completed his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter, estimates from research firm Bot Sentinel suggested that Twitter may have lost more than a million users. Bot Sentinel found that around 877,000 accounts were deactivated and a further 497,000 were suspended between October 27 and November 1. That’s more than double the usual number of account losses, according to <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/11/03/1062752/twitter-may-have-lost-more-than-a-million-users-since-elon-musk-took-over/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #e90606; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">MIT Technology Review</a>.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-family: "PT Serif", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: 28px; margin: 28px 0px 28px auto; max-width: 640px; width: 640px;">Since then, downloads of Twitter alternate Mastodon have skyrocketed, with data analytics firm <span class="skimlinks-unlinked" style="box-sizing: border-box;">data.ai</span> reporting that Mastodon downloads in the U.S. increased by nearly 5000% during the 10 day period of October 27 to November 5.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-family: "PT Serif", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: 28px; margin: 28px 0px 28px auto; max-width: 640px; width: 640px;">But simply switching platforms is not an option for many users with disabilities. “A lot of people are finding support in communities on Twitter,” Zuckerman says. “Having that space go away or having it migrate to another platform where people have to figure out how to rebuild all the tools and infrastructure that they need to use that platform is a huge cost.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-family: "PT Serif", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: 28px; margin: 28px 0px 28px auto; max-width: 640px; width: 640px;">For Drew, losing Twitter would mean losing the social platform that’s most accessible to her. Drew’s spinal muscular atrophy causes muscle weakness. “It takes a while for me to type and I can’t take photos myself, so Instagram and TikTok and other platforms are more difficult for me,” she says. “With Twitter, I can easily say what I want to say without asking anyone for help or using up all my energy and time.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-family: "PT Serif", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: 28px; margin: 28px 0px 28px auto; max-width: 640px; width: 640px;">With the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbating health and isolation issues for many people with disabilities, Drew says that losing Twitter as a gateway to the world would be dire. “Personally, my following has dropped significantly and I’m already seeing it happening,” she says. “A lot of disabled people are feeling lost because we’re losing that sense of community. We’re a few years into the pandemic and a lot of us are still quarantining, so that’s kind of all we have left.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-family: "PT Serif", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: 28px; margin: 28px 0px 28px auto; max-width: 640px; width: 640px;">The problem with Twitter alternatives like Mastodon and Reddit where users organize themselves into different communities is they are siloed by topic and interest. That could make it hard for the same community to reunite on a new platform, and it would mean that if—for example—people with a particular disability coalesced around a particular online space, their posts wouldn’t have the same broad, universal reach.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-family: "PT Serif", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: 28px; margin: 28px 0px 28px auto; max-width: 640px; width: 640px;">“Even if you could somehow magically get all of disability Twitter to move to the same alternative social media platform, we would be siloed in a way where the rest of the world wouldn’t have to see us anymore,” Tait says. “If you push us to a site where we can find each other, but other people don’t have to see us anymore, it’s very dangerous for us because it becomes so much easier to marginalize us and to leave us behind.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-family: "PT Serif", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 17px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: 28px; margin: 28px 0px 28px auto; max-width: 640px; width: 640px;">One of Drew’s biggest concerns is that marginalized people will be left to fend for themselves on Twitter if too many people decide to leave the platform. “I don’t blame marginalized people who are leaving because the website could become an unsafe place without moderation and verification based on actual merits,” she says. “But as far as allies go, if we don’t have them sticking around, we’ll have nothing.”</p>BA Hallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435630232157672557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-973901678873012550.post-53843032349198039082022-08-03T22:07:00.001-04:002022-08-03T22:11:25.001-04:00Photographers and illustrators with disabilities, Shutterstock is offering monetary grants for work that authentically depicts disabled people<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwk3D8iQGsAmDfTOTVRWMfhlQT_uz0mU5ulyG04t8__RycYrLsKF3fgRsqeJolQ-g-cqPYgqAb9ODu31r16ih6BxW-majRH11ugL_flCAORvledLi-KmdyiR1kbYJv2g9gIB4YKxsb6MkrHJNeW6s0qVRWPvP6RmEVAvVD-rxRWpQ86PT4OtYeSh5oGQ/s1080/shutterstock%20promotion%20image.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwk3D8iQGsAmDfTOTVRWMfhlQT_uz0mU5ulyG04t8__RycYrLsKF3fgRsqeJolQ-g-cqPYgqAb9ODu31r16ih6BxW-majRH11ugL_flCAORvledLi-KmdyiR1kbYJv2g9gIB4YKxsb6MkrHJNeW6s0qVRWPvP6RmEVAvVD-rxRWpQ86PT4OtYeSh5oGQ/s320/shutterstock%20promotion%20image.jpg" width="320" /></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4fBSKIEoYBBB28yLk0Yevc26Kc5udj0Yqcvzf-aowexAwGvTOvgvoo95YpLYp1xfrIfy-KXI30ITS9abAnWshPv3RVdk2QMKtkSLY3YlAQApDO46krAXiCeZeHaKFab9XhAIde1NTZ338nPb4fra8eIT-aMdJjHbFJl0Y9e5qwYucNVar9EMcuVMSzQ/s1355/shutterstock%20diverse%20pwd%20guide%20page.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="358" data-original-width="1355" height="85" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4fBSKIEoYBBB28yLk0Yevc26Kc5udj0Yqcvzf-aowexAwGvTOvgvoo95YpLYp1xfrIfy-KXI30ITS9abAnWshPv3RVdk2QMKtkSLY3YlAQApDO46krAXiCeZeHaKFab9XhAIde1NTZ338nPb4fra8eIT-aMdJjHbFJl0Y9e5qwYucNVar9EMcuVMSzQ/s320/shutterstock%20diverse%20pwd%20guide%20page.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16pt; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16pt; text-align: left;"><b><i>Please share widely!</i></b></span></h2><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 16pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 16pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Photographers and illustrators with
disabilities, Shutterstock is offering monetary grants for work that
authentically depicts disabled people. Please consider submitting your work.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 16pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 16pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The <span style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Global
Alliance for Disability in Media and Entertainment </span></span><span face=""Tahoma",sans-serif" style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; color: black; font-size: 16pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;">(<a href="http://www.gadim.org/">www.<span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="border: none;"><span style="border: none;">GADIM.org</span></span></a></span><span style="color: black; font-size: 16pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">) has partnered with Shutterstock and the World Institute on
Disability (<a href="http://www.wid.org/">www.wid.org</a>) to offer $50,000 in
grants and a guide to increase and diversify portrayals of disabilities in the
Shutterstock content library.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 16pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 16pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Learn more and apply today: </span><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://shutr.bz/3vfisu2" target="_blank"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: blue; font-size: 16pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; padding: 0in;">https://shutr.bz/3vfisu2</span></a></span><span style="color: black; font-size: 16pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">Shutterstock,
in collaboration with GADIM and WID, has also created guidance on portraying
disabled people accurately in stock photography, <i>Authentic Portrayals of People
with Disabilities Guide</i>. You can download the guide here: <a href="https://tinyurl.com/ywj6ew2v">https://tinyurl.com/ywj6ew2v</a> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>BA Hallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435630232157672557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-973901678873012550.post-27935864037221043052022-05-22T17:19:00.001-04:002022-05-22T17:19:18.480-04:00Netflix launches its first-ever disability collection, ‘Celebrating Disability with Dimension,' expands accessibility features<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiObT6cRYDnp3eEhsQoKrLzg2GfyJaCoiNJDdZAEL3Za8FolUm9s6J1pi4B_2i5NDkBZPIH_WZeHXzL5LWhXDqUnqXEMsJOvjH7k02efrhJZpP5sfxhEXtPaLIC1MCUyqw-qOI9Fu42tmnDPwJ-nxO_FQ8YVHPMA1D4QjjxSJeHLPZAIv_0TAOCoxxO0g/s301/netflix%20disability%20dimension.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="167" data-original-width="301" height="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiObT6cRYDnp3eEhsQoKrLzg2GfyJaCoiNJDdZAEL3Za8FolUm9s6J1pi4B_2i5NDkBZPIH_WZeHXzL5LWhXDqUnqXEMsJOvjH7k02efrhJZpP5sfxhEXtPaLIC1MCUyqw-qOI9Fu42tmnDPwJ-nxO_FQ8YVHPMA1D4QjjxSJeHLPZAIv_0TAOCoxxO0g/s1600/netflix%20disability%20dimension.jpg" width="301" /></a></div> From <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2022/5/19/23130179/netflix-accessibility-audio-descriptions">The Verge</a>:<p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Netflix<span style="background-color: white; color: #424242; text-decoration-line: inherit;">’s closed captioning, subtitles for deaf and hard of hearing (SDH), and audio descriptions (AD) are all powerful tools designed to help make films and television shows more accessible to people with disabilities. But those kinds of features have also become integral parts of how</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #424242; text-decoration-line: inherit;"> </span>people from all walks of life<span style="background-color: white; color: #424242; text-decoration-line: inherit;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #424242; text-decoration-line: inherit;">consume the streaming platform’s content, and Netflix is</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #424242; text-decoration-line: inherit;"> </span>planning to give its subscribers<span style="background-color: white; color: #424242; text-decoration-line: inherit;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #424242; text-decoration-line: inherit;">more of</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #424242; text-decoration-line: inherit;"> </span>what they want<span style="background-color: white; color: #424242; text-decoration-line: inherit;">.</span></span></p><p id="DZFp0s" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #424242; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: inherit; vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In celebration of Global Accessibility Awareness Day, <a href="https://about.netflix.com/en/news/celebrating-global-accessibility-awareness-day" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: 1px solid currentcolor; box-sizing: border-box; color: #e2127a; font-style: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; transition: color 0.1s ease 0s, background-color 0.1s ease 0s, fill 0.1s ease 0s; vertical-align: inherit;">Netflix is gearing up</a> to expand its accessibility features across the globe and launching a new collection highlighting stories focused on people living with disabilities. <em style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: inherit;"><a href="https://www.netflix.com/browse/genre/81594474">Celebrating Disability with Dimension</a> </em>will function much like the platform’s other special collections that pull from Netflix’s catalog of existing content with the goal of promoting their visibility as users browse the service. In addition to the new collection, Netflix is also beefing up its AD and SDH offerings in more languages, including Spanish, French, Korean, and Portuguese.</span></p><p id="8WaFgt" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #424242; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: inherit; vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="font-family: arial;">When we recently spoke with Netflix’s director of accessibility, Heather Dowdy, she explained how, typically, people’s ability to use AD and SDH have depended on whether the networks airing content took the initiative to provide the features in multiple languages. While shows produced in France like <em style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: inherit;">Lupin </em>might have those features available in French, for example, English-speakers hoping to watch the series with English AD or SDH would only be able to do so if that accessibility was prioritized by the platform airing it.</span></p><p id="8WaFgt" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #424242; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: inherit; vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="font-style: inherit; text-decoration-line: inherit;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Dowdy said that while providing those features to those who need them is the core of the work she’s done at Netflix, one of the big reasons the platform’s been planning for this expansion is the fact that more subscribers are watching content from across the globe.</span></span></p><p id="EHSYiw" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #424242; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: inherit; vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="font-family: arial;">“We’re adding more titles because we recognize that folks are finding these inclusive stories all over the world,” Dowdy said. “We have some global hits when you think about with <em style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: inherit;">Squid Game</em> and <em style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: inherit;">La Casa de Papel</em>, and we want our members and others in other countries to be able to access that content as well.”</span></p><p id="i3LCNy" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #424242; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: inherit; vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Netflix says that 40 percent of its global user base regularly uses subtitles and that people have been watching hundreds of thousands of hours worth of shows like <em style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: inherit;">Lucifer</em>, <em style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: inherit;">Ozark</em>, and <em style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: inherit;">Seinfeld </em>with their audio descriptions turned on. Dowdy, who herself is a CODA, explained that Netflix also worked with members of the disability community to develop more robust AD guidelines meant to make the platform’s approach to accessibility more inclusive.</span></p><p id="QtLWhZ" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #424242; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: inherit; vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="font-family: arial;">“Things like race, gender, hair texture, skin tone — things that really bring our characters to life,” Dowdy said. “That’s evident visually, but then we’re able to put that in the audio description as well so that our members are involved in the conversations that we’re having around these characters.”</span></p><p id="vKO77p" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #424242; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: inherit; vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Netflix’s efforts have paid off with series like <em style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: inherit;">Bridgerton</em>, which the platform says is its number one most-watched show or film with subtitles in six countries. But the story’s been somewhat different from other global phenomenons like <em style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: inherit;">Squid Game</em>, whose English subtitles came under fire for being woefully inaccurate. Dowdy didn’t specify what steps Netflix plans to take as part of its new initiative to ensure that shows and movies’ original voices are maintained as the streamer localizes them. She did say, however, that the <em style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: inherit;">Squid Game </em>situation was a learning opportunity for Netflix that came as a direct result of viewers’ critical feedback.</span></p><p id="nPGAkb" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #424242; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: inherit; vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="font-family: arial;">“If our members with disabilities aren’t even able to access that title and give us the feedback to improve the SDH, then we aren’t serving all of the members the best way that we can,” Dowdy said. “So I think that’s an example of our continuously listening to members and incorporating that feedback to get better, which is something that Netflix is really good at doing.”</span></p>BA Hallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435630232157672557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-973901678873012550.post-7589917712138281572022-04-16T21:51:00.002-04:002022-04-16T21:51:25.334-04:00Hallmark to debut romance with lead character who has Down Syndrome<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdto0AVlK4D4UYXB3WdIE_NEs1F09vy0nmNsgXRQDpueNqnx_Z16CvkBuztrYXSGlQDXm7wYH4wSZDY1JGEDhocnumLW01Pfor9EOrGJi9XlZ_mp9eKlr73m-f-MjfIfF2puVKYMCBhPA529wl9AYIneD3w6fWF76oz5beEB-igkqNI8NREVhDgwXD0A/s780/Lily%20D%20Moore.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="438" data-original-width="780" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdto0AVlK4D4UYXB3WdIE_NEs1F09vy0nmNsgXRQDpueNqnx_Z16CvkBuztrYXSGlQDXm7wYH4wSZDY1JGEDhocnumLW01Pfor9EOrGJi9XlZ_mp9eKlr73m-f-MjfIfF2puVKYMCBhPA529wl9AYIneD3w6fWF76oz5beEB-igkqNI8NREVhDgwXD0A/s320/Lily%20D%20Moore.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />from <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/14/entertainment/hallmark-down-syndrome/index.html?utm_term=16501105833590b8db565a3bd&utm_source=cnn_The+Good+Stuff+4%2F16%2F2022&utm_medium=email&bt_ee=9iOU1ZScamIfCML4H13ZvuYIrsVnob3rQHxBtIt%2FIwllSuhNM7G1ruOFoIqJJwC4&bt_ts=1650110583361">CNN</a>:<p></p><div class="el__leafmedia el__leafmedia--sourced-paragraph" style="background-color: #fefefe; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; font-family: CNN, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><p class="zn-body__paragraph speakable" data-act-id="paragraph_0" data-paragraph-id="paragraph_6B327117-B63A-2E64-5F1E-2845F994E344" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: 1.66667; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">Hallmark Movies & Mysteries is diversifying its content.</p></div><div class="zn-body__paragraph" data-act-id="paragraph_1" data-paragraph-id="paragraph_B92ACF64-8F18-4936-3796-288F3094AD79" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: #fefefe; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; font-family: CNN, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: 1.66667; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-right: 0px;">The cable channel is set to feature a romance with a lead who has Down Syndrome.</div><div class="zn-body__paragraph" data-act-id="paragraph_2" data-paragraph-id="paragraph_4DEC7E9A-6CF2-4E3D-9C9E-289842B34782" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: #fefefe; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; font-family: CNN, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: 1.66667; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-right: 0px;">"Never Have I Ever" actress Lily D. Moore(pictured) is set to star in "Color My World With Love" as Kendall, "a talented artist with Down syndrome who creates beautiful paintings in the impressionist style that reflect the reality of her subjects as she sees them."</div><ul class="cn cn-list-hierarchical-xs cn--idx-4 cn-zoneAdContainer" data-layout="list-hierarchical-xs" style="background-color: #fefefe; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; font-family: CNN, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;"></ul><div class="zn-body__paragraph" data-act-id="paragraph_3" data-paragraph-id="paragraph_60E1B8A9-9FDA-7E0D-C4A5-2899A7EF032C" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: #fefefe; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; font-family: CNN, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: 1.66667; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-right: 0px;">Things take a romantic turn when she meets Brad, played by David DeSanctis, in a cooking class.</div><div class="zn-body__paragraph" data-act-id="paragraph_3" data-paragraph-id="paragraph_60E1B8A9-9FDA-7E0D-C4A5-2899A7EF032C" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: #fefefe; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; font-family: CNN, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: 1.66667; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-right: 0px;"><div class="zn-body__paragraph" data-act-id="paragraph_4" data-paragraph-id="paragraph_C5EF9358-96D9-BC64-DA60-2951B2C53CE9" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: 1.66667; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-right: 0px;">Erica Durance, Benjamin Ayres and Karen Kruper also star.</div><ul class="cn cn-list-hierarchical-xs cn--idx-8 cn-zoneAdContainer" data-layout="list-hierarchical-xs" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 15px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;"></ul><div class="zn-body__read-all" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 15px;"><div class="zn-body__paragraph" data-act-id="paragraph_5" data-paragraph-id="paragraph_3DEFBCB2-F410-BCC4-1386-2951237FBDAB" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: 1.66667; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-right: 0px;">"Thanks to the support of her mother, Emma (Durance), and grandmother, Bev Kruper), Kendall is happy and thriving," according to a press release provided to CNN. "Her life takes an exciting turn when she meets Brad (DeSanctis) in a cooking class at the local center for diverse learners and romance blooms. Emma has spent the last 22 years trying to protect her daughter and has reservations about Kendall and Brad's new relationship, especially when it quickly moves in a serious direction."</div><ul class="cn cn-list-hierarchical-xs cn--idx-11 cn-zoneAdContainer" data-layout="list-hierarchical-xs" style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;"></ul><div class="zn-body__paragraph" data-act-id="paragraph_6" data-paragraph-id="paragraph_B399707D-C074-5EFF-17F7-289C43CEDC55" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: 1.66667; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-right: 0px;">"Everyone has a dream to fall in love and get married one day, even people with disabilities," Moore said in a statement. "I hope viewers take away that 'Color My World With Love' is about painting your own story through your emotions and that we all have endless possibilities."</div><ul class="cn cn-list-hierarchical-xs cn--idx-13 cn-zoneAdContainer" data-layout="list-hierarchical-xs" style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;"></ul><div class="zn-body__paragraph" data-act-id="paragraph_7" data-paragraph-id="paragraph_EEA6F006-ECAF-66DE-2D58-289B9F09C934" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: 1.66667; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-right: 0px;">"Color My World With Love" is set to air later in 2022.</div></div></div>BA Hallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435630232157672557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-973901678873012550.post-38172239646939328182022-04-03T11:50:00.001-04:002022-04-03T11:50:59.231-04:00Disabled filmmakers demand UCLA amend Hollywood diversity report to document disabled, LGBTQIA+ representation<p> From <i><a href="https://variety.com/2022/film/news/ucla-diversity-coda-disability-activists-1235220403/">Variety</a>: </i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8RMzILbaEdAUrmcLCOldrr38QSL-0tKplTK6xISWbyI_qXfjgbe8HlZscqi1ZAZoJ5M-y7dGpKPXR6p2RHGRkyfT6xbnFRyRg4JaMMMAMQKJFQfH04ifvaTAZiepXaLRMvfz81xnU3U73zTU3txWOYjF1ybIlfxZxFTjtjxcYlpI0XnDzJUqCDvwITg/s1000/the%20dress%20film%20-%20actor%20with%20dwarfism.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1000" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8RMzILbaEdAUrmcLCOldrr38QSL-0tKplTK6xISWbyI_qXfjgbe8HlZscqi1ZAZoJ5M-y7dGpKPXR6p2RHGRkyfT6xbnFRyRg4JaMMMAMQKJFQfH04ifvaTAZiepXaLRMvfz81xnU3U73zTU3txWOYjF1ybIlfxZxFTjtjxcYlpI0XnDzJUqCDvwITg/s320/the%20dress%20film%20-%20actor%20with%20dwarfism.jpg" width="320" /></a></i></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Pictured is <span style="background-color: white; color: #363432; text-align: center;">Anna Dzieduszycka, an actor with dwarfism, who starred in the Oscar-nominated film from Poland, "The Dress."</span></i></span></p><p style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "IBM Plex Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.5; overflow-wrap: break-word;">UCLA’s latest Hollywood Diversity Report found some improvement in 2022 in regards to hiring women and people of color, but activist group <a data-tag="fwd-doc" href="https://variety.com/t/fwd-doc/" id="auto-tag_fwd-doc" style="border-bottom: none; border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0066cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.15s linear 0s, border-color 0.15s linear 0s;">FWD-Doc</a> is demanding that UCLA address other overlooked groups such as LGBTQIA+ individuals and the “invisible minority” — disabled people — in the industry.</p><p style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "IBM Plex Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.5; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><a data-tag="jim-lebrecht" href="https://variety.com/t/jim-lebrecht/" id="auto-tag_jim-lebrecht" style="border-bottom: none; border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0066cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.15s linear 0s, border-color 0.15s linear 0s;">Jim LeBrecht</a>, co-founder of FWD-Doc and co-director of the Oscar-nominated documentary “Crip Camp” (2020), states, “UCLA’s report that stands for promoting diversity is an egregious case of exclusion and perpetuates the misconception that people with disabilities do not exist in the entertainment industry. In light of ‘<a data-tag="coda" href="https://variety.com/t/coda/" id="auto-tag_coda" style="border-bottom: none; border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0066cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.15s linear 0s, border-color 0.15s linear 0s;">CODA</a>’s’ three Oscar wins at the recent 94th Academy Awards ceremony, this oversight reinforces FWD-Doc’s assertion that this report is incomplete and not comprehensive.”</p><p style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "IBM Plex Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.5; overflow-wrap: break-word;">He adds that other groups have been under-represented, such as LGBTQIA+ people, but were ignored in the study.</p><p style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "IBM Plex Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.5; overflow-wrap: break-word;">The ninth annual report, from UCLA’s Division of Social Sciences, covers the top 200 theatrical English-language releases in 2021, ranked by global box office, as well as all major streaming films based on total household ratings. The study says people of color rep nearly 43% of the U.S. population and will be in the majority by 2050. POC last year represented 38.9% of film leads and 43.1% of all actors, as well as 30.2% of directors and 32.3% of writers.</p><p style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "IBM Plex Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.5; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Women accounted for 47.2% of film leads, according to the study, and 42.2% among all performers. Women accounted for 21.8% of film directors and 33.5% of writers.</p><p style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "IBM Plex Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.5; overflow-wrap: break-word;">LeBrecht adds that since UCLA’s report is designed to “explore relationships between diversity and the bottom line in the Hollywood entertainment industry,” it is critical that other demographics be included.</p><p style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "IBM Plex Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.5; overflow-wrap: break-word;">FWD-Doc demands a public statement that acknowledges UCLA’s oversight and the damage it creates, imploring UCLA to commit to releasing a report on disabled representation, including Deaf, disabled and neurodiverse workers, in the film industry within six months. Additionally, FWD-Doc expects that the UCLA report on representation in television (due in Fall 2022) does not repeat this omission.</p><p style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "IBM Plex Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.5; overflow-wrap: break-word;">FWD-Doc says there are globally 1.85 billion people with disabilities, holding $8 trillion dollars in disposable income (this jumps to $13 trillion if you include their families), making people with disabilities the third largest economic power in the world — with more than the countries of Japan, Germany, and the U.K..</p><p style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "IBM Plex Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.5; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Filmmakers with disabilities are key to unlocking these audiences and the org says there are an estimated 500 filmmakers with disabilities and their allies.</p><p style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "IBM Plex Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.5; overflow-wrap: break-word;">The UCLA report states, “America’s increasingly diverse audiences prefer diverse film content.” FWD-Doc adds that so far there is a dearth of projects related to disabilities, despite audiences’ positive reaction to recent Oscar-nominated and winning films (“CODA,” “Audible,” “Crip Camp,” “The Dress,” “Feeling Through” and “Sound of Metal”).</p><p style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "IBM Plex Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.5; overflow-wrap: break-word;">The group says that by including disability in its research, UCLA can help focus industry attention on disabilities and ensure more projects made by filmmakers with disabilities receive funding to reach audiences.</p><p style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "IBM Plex Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.5; overflow-wrap: break-word;">FWD-Doc (Filmmakers with Disabilities) is a group of filmmakers with disabilities and active allies. The org seeks to increase the visibility of, support for and direct access to opportunities, networks and employment for Deaf, disabled, and neurodiverse filmmakers.</p><p style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "IBM Plex Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.5; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Aside from LeBrecht, group leadership includes co-founders Day Al-Mohamed, Lindsey Dryden and Alysa Nahmias and interim director Amanda Upson.</p>BA Hallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435630232157672557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-973901678873012550.post-2202155845441960952022-02-20T22:48:00.002-05:002022-02-20T22:48:37.878-05:00'I'm proving everyone wrong': Actors with Down syndrome enjoying new era of media representation <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi76ruUMvM6cvBGC_dLN3xJLFcBA9icWjBe5RUJIwzbQIO3DE-_buLHiBD8hnMJrUfsBwgBRv8KzcK5d403hf2oIsx371bDHaW3kugj8C0vfchhtoZmM8MFkqPi5KtZx517gpOonXJIf9PqN5w6vCenTb5bI_0Om93BYFOh6cu-M0uQZQ4iDOA8Sunp4A=s1920" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi76ruUMvM6cvBGC_dLN3xJLFcBA9icWjBe5RUJIwzbQIO3DE-_buLHiBD8hnMJrUfsBwgBRv8KzcK5d403hf2oIsx371bDHaW3kugj8C0vfchhtoZmM8MFkqPi5KtZx517gpOonXJIf9PqN5w6vCenTb5bI_0Om93BYFOh6cu-M0uQZQ4iDOA8Sunp4A=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br />From the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/actors-with-down-syndrome-1.6356219?fbclid=IwAR0NyMTEojYfvfN6ugfw3_NQVuZcYP0S67nsyxIIK-JSyuHFvIXCf9-F9Qw">CBC-Radio Canada</a>. <span style="background-color: white; color: #545454; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Pictured is Toronto performer Madison Tevlin, who will star in a new CBC series called "Who Do You Think I Am?," in which she interviews people who are misperceived because of their physical appearance. Tevlin says she's trying to disprove misconceptions about people with Down syndrome.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #545454; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span><p></p><p><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 28px; margin-top: 0px;">Madison Tevlin went viral in 2015 when her YouTube cover of John Legend's <em>All of Me</em> blew up.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 28px; margin-top: 0px;">The Toronto teen had only intended family and friends to see it, but she's now racked up more than eight million views and is onto her next gig: a CBC show.</p><section id="inread-wrapper-id-189188241" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"></section><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 28px; margin-top: 0px;">It's called <em>Who Do You Think I Am</em>, in which Tevlin interviews a roster of guests who are misperceived due to their exterior appearance.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 28px; margin-top: 0px;">Tevlin has Down syndrome, in which an individual is born with an extra copy of the 21st chromosome, leading to some cognitive and developmental disability. She wants to prove to the public that people with Down syndrome can do it all — and she's flashing her triple-threat status as an actor, singer and dancer to prove it.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 28px; margin-top: 0px;">"People may think that we can't do lots of things and assume things about us that [are] not always true," Tevlin told CBC News. "That we can't walk, we can't sing, can't dance, can't live on our own and can't do all these things.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 28px; margin-top: 0px;">"But actually, I'm proving everyone wrong."</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 28px; margin-top: 0px;">As film, television and the arts become more inclusive and social media platforms like TikTok give the disability community a space to thrive and build an audience, individuals with Down syndrome have greater avenues for finding success in the performing arts.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; line-height: 1.3;">'Part of our stories'</h2><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 28px; margin-top: 0px;">There's still room for improvement, but advocates say representation is getting better.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 28px; margin-top: 0px;">"Media representation of people with Down syndrome — and people with disabilities in general — it's changing rapidly. It's becoming more mainstream," said Chelsea Jones, an assistant professor at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ont., who researches critical disability studies and disability media.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 28px; margin-top: 0px;">"We're seeing people with Down syndrome cast as more characters on TV shows, for example, which is really exciting, and it has sort of this effect of normalizing disability and showing us that people with Down syndrome are part of our culture and part of our society and part of our stories," Jones said.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 28px; margin-top: 0px;">According to the Canadian Down Syndrome Society, about 45,000 Canadians have Down syndrome, and one in 781 Canadians are born with it. While television characters with Down syndrome are an increasingly frequent occurrence, the overall landscape has been dry — and some depictions lean on stereotypes, making actors with Down syndrome feel misunderstood.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 28px; margin-top: 0px;">"I think people think that people with Down syndrome can't do a lot, and they feel sorry for us," said Lily D. Moore, an American actress best known for her role as Rebecca in<em> Never Have I Ever</em>, the Netflix comedy created by Mindy Kaling.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 28px; margin-top: 0px;">"We can go to college; we can own our own businesses. We want to live independently and we want to follow our dreams."</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 28px; margin-top: 0px;">Like Moore, a handful of American actors with Down syndrome have had success, paving the way for others long after Chris Burke starred as Corky in <em>Life Goes On</em>. In 2019, Zack Gottsagen made headlines when he co-starred in the film <em>Peanut Butter Falcon</em> with Shia LaBeouf, later becoming the first person with Down syndrome to present at the Academy Awards. </p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 28px; margin-top: 0px;">California actor Lauren Potter starred in <em>Glee </em>for its six-season run, portraying feisty high school student Becky in the Fox musical comedy. Meanwhile, Jamie Brewer — also from California — has played Addie in the FX anthology series <em>American Horror Story</em> since 2011. Incidentally, those two shows were created by television producer Ryan Murphy.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 28px; margin-top: 0px;">Part of the push for more nuanced depictions of people with Down syndrome is due to widely held misconceptions about their capabilities. Some media depictions teeter into one-note tokenism, portraying people with Down syndrome as "cherub-like characters who are perpetually innocent," Jones said. </p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 28px; margin-top: 0px;">"They should be held to the same standard as other actors who — or as other characters, I should say — who have things happen to them, and sometimes things that make us cringe or make us uncomfortable."</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 28px; margin-top: 0px;">"I feel like it is getting better, for sure," Moore said. "Down syndrome people used to be portrayed as happy all the time and people feel sorry for us … We were not taken seriously. But now the TV and film industry is giving Down syndrome people bigger roles, and it's great."</p><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"></div><h2 style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; line-height: 1.3;">Other avenues for breakthroughs</h2><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 28px; margin-top: 0px;">Laura LaChance, the executive director of the Canadian Down Syndrome Society, said "individuals with Down syndrome have aspirations and dreams, and yet … there seem to be sort of these self-imposed or cultural limitations that people are showing us."</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 28px; margin-top: 0px;">She points to the emergence of TikTok as a venue for performers with Down syndrome, citing Toronto dancer Julia Slater — who has 1.2 million followers on the app — as a particular success story. </p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 28px; margin-top: 0px;">"Those [followers] are not all people who have Down syndrome," LaChance said. "She's found a niche for herself in performance on social media. Maybe not on the stage, but in the airwaves."</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 28px; margin-top: 0px;">Tevlin has found additional success through her TikTok and Instagram videos, where she frequently shares educational posts with her 132,000 followers about what it's like to live with Down syndrome.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 28px; margin-top: 0px;">The app has an "accessibility and useability … that makes it possible to create content and to generate an audience," said Jones.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 28px; margin-top: 0px;">John Tucker, an American actor who starred in the Emmy Award-winning series <em>Born This Way</em>, a reality series following individuals with Down syndrome as they work to overcome barriers, said the app has given people with disabilities the opportunity to show what they can do.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 28px; margin-top: 0px;">Tucker is on TikTok himself, where he interacts with fans of <em>Born This Way </em>and elevates his rap music career to an audience of 15,000 followers.</p><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 28px; margin-top: 0px;">More traditional venues for a pathway to stardom, like talent agencies, are evolving to make the process more welcoming to people with disabilities. </p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 28px; margin-top: 0px;">The Toronto- and Vancouver-based agency Ignite Artists offers free training and coaching to individuals with disabilities who have an interest in acting. </p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 28px; margin-top: 0px;">"The opportunities are still fairly slim, but the industry is changing very quickly and we have seen an uptick in auditions just this year as productions strive to be more representative," the agency said in an email to CBC News.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 28px; margin-top: 0px;">LaChance said that the Canadian Down Syndrome Society frequently shares casting calls in search of people with diversity in ability, which she says is a relatively new development.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 28px; margin-top: 0px;">"I think that [talent agencies] have increased their reach and they've increased their hiring opportunities and they are looking at people of diversity who do apply to Canadian talent agencies."</p>BA Hallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435630232157672557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-973901678873012550.post-70395218722593782392022-02-08T22:15:00.010-05:002022-02-08T22:20:14.794-05:00Troy Kotsur makes history as the first Deaf male actor to get Oscar nomination<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjotZVw3xzYYUkyHYbzrRKIh06EUGY762p_nQy814box9Za4bSbYJ1OnZ5-pWK5IXfYyoaW7ONS5DGGVfDaJAy9I-_m8zrvylL43vyWaq6ASHxHkmavrRgc6RRJwxjvhWuhS6cSPiy2_5YzshX0-BuE9abxDxIknpOIgMZYJy3L2WEnLeb-EixW1IUlPQ=s2048" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjotZVw3xzYYUkyHYbzrRKIh06EUGY762p_nQy814box9Za4bSbYJ1OnZ5-pWK5IXfYyoaW7ONS5DGGVfDaJAy9I-_m8zrvylL43vyWaq6ASHxHkmavrRgc6RRJwxjvhWuhS6cSPiy2_5YzshX0-BuE9abxDxIknpOIgMZYJy3L2WEnLeb-EixW1IUlPQ=s320" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">From </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/973901678873012550/7039521872259378239">The
New York Times</a>. Pictured are Deaf actors Troy Kotsur and Marlee
Matlin, who play deaf parents in “CODA.”</i></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">A couple of weeks ago in <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/973901678873012550/7039521872259378239">The
Hollywood Reporter</a>, Troy Kotsur compared the opportunities for deaf actors
like himself to one small hair in a beard’s worth of roles for those who can
hear.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">With <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/973901678873012550/7039521872259378239">Sian
Heder’s “CODA,”</a> which stands for Child of Deaf Adults, he plucked it
and made history. He’s the first deaf actor to be nominated for an Oscar. In
1987, <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/973901678873012550/7039521872259378239">Marlee
Matlin</a> became the first deaf performer to be nominated; she went on to
win the Oscar, for “Children of a Lesser God.” Matlin happens to be Kotsur’s
co-star in “CODA.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">Kotsur plays Frank Rossi, a deaf fisherman, gruff yet
surprisingly tender, trying to keep his business in Gloucester, Mass., afloat
with the help of his teenage daughter, Ruby (Emilia Jones), the only hearing
member of their family. Ruby has served as the interpreter for Frank, her
mother, Jackie (Matlin), and her brother, Leo (Daniel Durant) for most of her
life. But she longs to go to music school and become a singer, a dream her
parents can’t understand. (“If I were blind, would you paint?” Jackie asks.)
And the thought of having to navigate life on their own is terrifying.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">The critical response to Kotsur’s portrayal has been overwhelmingly
warm. Owen Gleiberman of <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/973901678873012550/7039521872259378239">Variety</a> called
him “an extraordinary actor”; Steve Pond of <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/973901678873012550/7039521872259378239">The
Wrap</a> declared him “a treasure as Matlin’s gloriously profane husband”;
and Peter Travers of <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/973901678873012550/7039521872259378239">“Good
Morning America”</a> said he was “hilarious and heartbreaking.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">The role has also earned Kotsur <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/973901678873012550/7039521872259378239">31
nominations</a>, including <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/973901678873012550/7039521872259378239">a
BAFTA</a>, <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/973901678873012550/7039521872259378239">a
Golden Globe</a>, the first Screen Actors Guild nod for an individual deaf male
actor and now an Oscar for best supporting actor. So far he has tallied nine
wins, including a Gotham Award and a Spotlight Award from the Hollywood Critics
Association.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">In a statement on Tuesday after the Oscar nominations were
announced, Kotsur said he was stunned, explaining, “I can still remember
watching Marlee win her Oscar on television and telling friends I was going to
get nominated one day and them being skeptical. I would like to thank everyone
for this huge honor.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">Despite the scarcity of jobs for deaf actors, Kotsur is not
exactly a stranger to the limelight. In 2003, he shared the role of Pap with a
hearing actor in the Tony-nominated 2003 American Sign Language adaptation
of <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/973901678873012550/7039521872259378239">“Big
River”</a> on Broadway. More recently he helped to develop a sign language
for the <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/973901678873012550/7039521872259378239">Tusken
Raiders</a> in “The Mandalorian.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">Still, “I’m so glad that they recognized me,” Kotsur told
The Hollywood Reporter of the accolades that have come his way, “not because
I’m deaf but because I’m a talented actor.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><br /><p class="css-axufdj evys1bk0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.25rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.875rem; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;"></p>BA Hallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435630232157672557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-973901678873012550.post-28275711989504857442022-01-15T19:19:00.003-05:002022-01-15T19:27:02.740-05:00How children’s author Cece Bell, ‘El Deafo’ give deafness a lead role in new Apple TV+ animated series<p style="margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></p><p style="margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">From Steven Aquino, the diversity, </span></b></p><p style="margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">equity </span></b><b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">& inclusion contributor at <i><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenaquino/2022/01/15/how-childrens-author-cece-bell-and-el-deafo-give-deafness-a-lead-role-in-new-apple-tv-animated-series/?sh=26fa077474a8">Forbes</a></i>: </span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjQjo4Louo9tONtesjDx7jIUEwdj_qpE9PqHzzZHQvplJpjM2EHBfsr9H5Y3aF9XmlIGeO8-jtzXyr8dZxVC2i6Yo89hlCCYTwIjYyFQel7uklKBBS7GJLs0lmJ2u1jZvVPGZcbWKMzw5hTjgQ7CgaToy8KFlVi-hMlIRI6pZfQi1rwVuVkd40vkoQZRQ=s1280" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjQjo4Louo9tONtesjDx7jIUEwdj_qpE9PqHzzZHQvplJpjM2EHBfsr9H5Y3aF9XmlIGeO8-jtzXyr8dZxVC2i6Yo89hlCCYTwIjYyFQel7uklKBBS7GJLs0lmJ2u1jZvVPGZcbWKMzw5hTjgQ7CgaToy8KFlVi-hMlIRI6pZfQi1rwVuVkd40vkoQZRQ=s320" width="320" /></a></div><p><span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;">Considering the world is entering into its third year amidst a pandemic, it’s hard to recall what life was like before it. At this point, 2019 feels like ancient history. It might as well have happened during the Jurassic period, when dinosaurs roamed the earth.</span></p><div class="article_paragraph_2" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem;"></div><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem;">As a tech journalist who’s covered Apple at close range for years, I remember 2019 for the star-studded event the company <a aria-label="held in March at Apple Park" class="color-link" data-ga-track="ExternalLink:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZmBoMZFC8g" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZmBoMZFC8g" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #003891; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank" title="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZmBoMZFC8g">held in March at Apple Park</a> to announce, amongst other things, the hotly-anticipated <a aria-label="Apple TV+" class="color-link" data-ga-track="ExternalLink:https://tv.apple.com" href="https://tv.apple.com/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #003891; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank" title="https://tv.apple.com">Apple TV+</a> streaming service. The glitzy event was the closest I’ve ever come to covering a red carpet show, only nobody wore their fanciest designer clothing. It was quite something to sit in the audience and watch Apple parade A-lister after A-lister onstage to hype up their new project: Oprah, Steven Spielberg, Jennifer Aniston, Jason Momoa—even Big Bird was there. Afterwards, as I was milling around the press area in the Steve Jobs Theater with Apple PR folks and fellow reporters, I distinctly remember being alerted at one point that JJ Abrams was standing twenty feet away. He was surrounded by other people, but to this day, it’s kinda cool to think I once was in close proximity of a celebrity.</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem;">When TV+ launched that November, it debuted with shows like <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Morning Show</em>, <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">See</em>, <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Dickinson</em>, <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">For All Mankind, </em>and more<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">. </em>And the roster has <a aria-label="grown considerably" class="color-link" data-ga-track="ExternalLink:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Apple_TV%2B_original_programming" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Apple_TV%2B_original_programming" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #003891; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank" title="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Apple_TV%2B_original_programming">grown considerably</a> since. One of its newest titles is the animated series <a aria-label="El Deafo" class="color-link" data-ga-track="ExternalLink:https://tv.apple.com/us/show/el-deafo/umc.cmc.775eomzc9ljfk7bop9shbu7m0?ctx_brand=tvs.sbd.4000" href="https://tv.apple.com/us/show/el-deafo/umc.cmc.775eomzc9ljfk7bop9shbu7m0?ctx_brand=tvs.sbd.4000" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #003891; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank" title="https://tv.apple.com/us/show/el-deafo/umc.cmc.775eomzc9ljfk7bop9shbu7m0?ctx_brand=tvs.sbd.4000"><em data-ga-track="ExternalLink:https://tv.apple.com/us/show/el-deafo/umc.cmc.775eomzc9ljfk7bop9shbu7m0?ctx_brand=tvs.sbd.4000" style="box-sizing: border-box;">El Deafo</em></a>, which premiered on January 7. It shows the journey of a young girl named Cece who loses a substantial amount of her hearing following an infection. In its <a aria-label="press release" class="color-link" data-ga-track="ExternalLink:https://www.apple.com/tv-pr/news/2021/12/apple-tv-to-premiere-new-animated-original-series-el-deafo-on-friday-january-7-2022/" href="https://www.apple.com/tv-pr/news/2021/12/apple-tv-to-premiere-new-animated-original-series-el-deafo-on-friday-january-7-2022/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #003891; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank" title="https://www.apple.com/tv-pr/news/2021/12/apple-tv-to-premiere-new-animated-original-series-el-deafo-on-friday-january-7-2022/">press release</a> announcing the show, Apple described Cece as “[learning] to embrace what makes her extraordinary.”</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem;">Apple’s trailer for <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">El Deafo</em> is <a aria-label="on YouTube" class="color-link" data-ga-track="ExternalLink:https://youtu.be/SqZ9ncOYRS4" href="https://youtu.be/SqZ9ncOYRS4" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #003891; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank" title="https://youtu.be/SqZ9ncOYRS4">on YouTube</a>.</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">El Deafo</em> is based upon the graphic novel of the same name, written by author and illustrator <a aria-label="Cece Bell" class="color-link" data-ga-track="ExternalLink:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cece_Bell" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cece_Bell" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #003891; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank" title="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cece_Bell">Cece Bell</a>. The book is autobiographical of sorts, as it mirrors Bell’s own childhood experience with being born hearing and then becoming deaf. In a recent interview with me, Bell said the impetus for the comic started a decade ago. She felt a need to come to terms with her deafness, as she was reticent to tell anyone she was deaf nor discuss it. Having already been a published children’s author, she figured what better way to confront her feelings than by writing for others. “I felt like the graphic novel would be the perfect format to try to share this story,” she said.</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem;">As for how <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">El Deafo</em> came to be for the small screen, veteran TV writer Will McRobb contacted Bell and expressed how much he enjoyed the novel and was interested in developing a version for TV. Bell was a fan of <a aria-label="his prior work" class="color-link" data-ga-track="ExternalLink:https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0574509/" href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0574509/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #003891; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank" title="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0574509/">his prior work</a>, so she felt comfortable working with him. (Both Bell and McRobb serve as executive producers.) “[It] all just sort of fell into place after that,” she said. “But it took somebody like him being [someone] I already respected for me to really dive into turning the book into a show.” The decision to make the show animated was an easy one as well, given the book is in cartoon form. Another reason for animating <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">El Deafo</em> was, of course, the pandemic. With the animation studio located in Ireland, it was easiest (and sensible given Covid) to work remotely by passing around notes and having virtual meetings. The remote aspect of production came in especially handy when doing the post-production audio work, which includes Bell’s voiceovers, both of which play crucial roles in the show.</p><div class="article_paragraph_7" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem;"></div><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem;">Bell described the audio work as a “very complicated, very tricky” process; she worked closely with engineers to get it right. In order to achieve maximum authenticity, Bell told them to “take beautiful sound and make it sound terrible.” The complicated and tricky part was Bell needing to explain to engineers what she hears and what it feels like, and then ask them to recreate it. Characters’ voices on the show are purposefully distorted, almost to an unintelligible level, to try to give audiences a sense of what Bell’s world sounds like. She clarified, however, that what’s heard in the show isn’t <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">literally</em> what she hears—it’s an approximation of what she <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">perceives</em> to hear.</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem;">“I was so involved [in the sound design], and I read more notes than you would ever want,” Bell said with a laugh.</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem;">One poignant point Cece the narrator makes in the pilot episode is that, although she lost her hearing, she <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">did not</em> learn American Sign Language. She became deaf in 1975, and explained deafness and sign language were not as socially accepted then as they are nowadays. Bell explained how, growing up, she attended a school dedicated to deaf children; communicatively, teachers pushed students to learn to talk vocally and become lip-readers rather than learn sign language. Bell had about four-and-a-half years of typical hearing and language, so she grasped the concepts of lip-reading quickly. Sign language was never an option for her, not only because it wasn’t taught but also because Bell “didn’t want to be pigeon-holed,” she said. She thought of herself as a hearing person, and felt learning sign language would stigmatize her as an official deaf person. Sign language is inherently performative, and Bell didn’t want to be gawked at by her peers. “I just felt like I was that kid who didn't want anybody to see me as a different person,” Bell said. “I didn't want anybody to look at me. That was me as a kid, but I don't think I really understood it [sign language] the way I do now.”</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem;">Bell is finally learning sign language, little by little, now that she’s an adult. It hasn’t been easy for her. “I’m very slow,” she said.</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem;">The addition of <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">El Deafo</em> to the TV+ lineup is significant not only for attrition’s sake—Apple’s used its nigh-infinite war chest to <a aria-label="pour considerable resources" class="color-link" data-ga-track="ExternalLink:https://www.theinformation.com/articles/apple-a-streaming-punchline-no-more?utm_source=sg&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=article_email&utm_content=article-6250&irclickid=XLiRP0yjgxyIWLPUVSRa73dbUkG3Di3eyTkWVs0&irgwc=1&utm_source=affiliate&utm_medium=cpa&utm_campaign=95368-Affinity.&utm_term=" href="https://www.theinformation.com/articles/apple-a-streaming-punchline-no-more?utm_source=sg&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=article_email&utm_content=article-6250&irclickid=XLiRP0yjgxyIWLPUVSRa73dbUkG3Di3eyTkWVs0&irgwc=1&utm_source=affiliate&utm_medium=cpa&utm_campaign=95368-Affinity.&utm_term=" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #003891; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank" title="https://www.theinformation.com/articles/apple-a-streaming-punchline-no-more?utm_source=sg&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=article_email&utm_content=article-6250&irclickid=XLiRP0yjgxyIWLPUVSRa73dbUkG3Di3eyTkWVs0&irgwc=1&utm_source=affiliate&utm_medium=cpa&utm_campaign=95368-Affinity.&utm_term=">pour considerable resources</a> into building the service’s catalog, with new content appearing all the time—but for representation too. For all of the incessant talk about subscriber numbers by analysts, the company deserves the utmost credit for being amongst a <a aria-label="select few streaming providers" class="color-link" data-ga-track="ExternalLink:https://www.netflix.com/title/81035566" href="https://www.netflix.com/title/81035566" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #003891; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank" title="https://www.netflix.com/title/81035566">select few streaming providers</a> to tackle disability representation in Hollywood with tenacity—and authenticity. Bell’s series joins the ranks of <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">See</em> and <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">CODA</em>, as well as the <a aria-label="recently-cancelled Little Voice" class="color-link" data-ga-track="InternalLink:https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenaquino/2021/08/05/report-apple-tv-drama-little-voice-cancelled-after-one-season/?sh=6af3d787ef3c" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenaquino/2021/08/05/report-apple-tv-drama-little-voice-cancelled-after-one-season/?sh=6af3d787ef3c" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #003891; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_self" title="https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenaquino/2021/08/05/report-apple-tv-drama-little-voice-cancelled-after-one-season/?sh=6af3d787ef3c">recently-cancelled <em data-ga-track="InternalLink:https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenaquino/2021/08/05/report-apple-tv-drama-little-voice-cancelled-after-one-season/?sh=6af3d787ef3c" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Little Voice</em></a>, as positive displays of disability. As disability has been historically portrayed in TV and film as something to be pitied and overcome—too often resulting in feel-good, patronizing fodder that the disability community derisively refer to as “inspiration porn”—Apple instead has positioned disability matter-of-factly. To wit, that being disabled is not something out of a Shakespearean tragedy—it’s simply part of who we are as humans. Put another way, Apple has taken the same thoughtfulness it uses for the <a aria-label="accessibility support for its products" class="color-link" data-ga-track="ExternalLink:https://www.apple.com/accessibility/" href="https://www.apple.com/accessibility/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #003891; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank" title="https://www.apple.com/accessibility/">accessibility support for its products</a> and applied it just as meaningfully to the shows it bankrolls for TV+. Apple is certainly not above criticism, but again, is deserving of <a aria-label="more recognition" class="color-link" data-ga-track="ExternalLink:https://rudermanfoundation.org/press_releases/ruderman-family-foundation-announces-latest-seal-of-authentic-representation-honors/" href="https://rudermanfoundation.org/press_releases/ruderman-family-foundation-announces-latest-seal-of-authentic-representation-honors/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #003891; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank" title="https://rudermanfoundation.org/press_releases/ruderman-family-foundation-announces-latest-seal-of-authentic-representation-honors/">more recognition</a> for its effort to boost inclusivity of our marginalized communities. It gives TV+ an undervalued differentiator as it competes in the market.</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem;">As for Bell’s relationship with Apple, she couldn’t have been more complimentary of her dealings with the company. “Overall, it’s just been a terrific experience,” she said. Bell has had “100% involvement” with <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">El Deafo</em> every step of the way, saying Apple has listened to her and given whatever support she needed. Executives never questioned, for example, Bell’s insistence that the lead voice actress be deaf and have similar life experiences to hers. I asked if the aforementioned disability-centric shows were factors into her signing on with Apple for <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">El Deafo</em>, and Bell said her deal was struck long before stuff like <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">CODA</em> arrived—in the days when TV+ carried a fraction of the content that’s available currently. Like seemingly everyone else on the planet, she adores <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Ted Lasso</em>, telling me it was the first show she watched. “This [being on Apple TV+] has been a happy accident, you know. I’ve ended up at the right spot,” she said.</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem;">Bell had kind words to say about Tara Sorensen, who leads creative development of children’s programming for Apple Worldwide Video. Sorensen, Bell told me, was adamant about <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">El Deafo</em> staying true by preserving its authenticity. Bell called Sorensen “a great, great advocate for the book from the beginning.” Bell noted that, although there were hiccups along the way—Bell often was the only deaf person in meetings—“everyone listened and was willing to absorb information,” she said.</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem;">The show is still very much in its infancy, but feedback on <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">El Deafo</em> has been terrific thus far. One of the comments Bell receives most often are notes from people who say they love the show, but felt they needed to adjust the volume of their TV because the show’s distorted audio made it seem like their set was broken. She also hears from many parents, who are excited for their children to see what other kids’ lives are like, and to be exposed to esoteric pieces of technology like hearing aids. Deaf children in particular, she added, are “very excited” to see themselves on TV and to personally identify with the experiences the animated Cece goes through. “It’s been really, really fun [working on the show], and I’m very relieved people are enjoying it,” Bell said.</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem;">Apple has <a aria-label="posted a video to YouTube" class="color-link" data-ga-track="ExternalLink:https://youtu.be/DnpGDjfyTiM" href="https://youtu.be/DnpGDjfyTiM" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #003891; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank" title="https://youtu.be/DnpGDjfyTiM">posted a video to YouTube</a> that features special commentary by Bell.</p><p style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem;">The three-part<em style="box-sizing: border-box;"> El Deafo</em> can be found now in Apple’s <a aria-label="TV app" class="color-link" data-ga-track="ExternalLink:https://www.apple.com/apple-tv-app/" href="https://www.apple.com/apple-tv-app/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #003891; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank" title="https://www.apple.com/apple-tv-app/">TV app</a>.</p>BA Hallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435630232157672557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-973901678873012550.post-84291793567317844962021-12-17T15:33:00.000-05:002021-12-17T15:33:01.821-05:00‘The Music Man’ once had a disabled character. Then he was erased.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi6CPFrvf36URXufdifWTax7DtGQOedatbGiOR_IIe2GJ6sfekjpH5B66GZ-UMqh0Guitvn8BWQQC-b3mDG7o3_1noFmqyMKv40R6XhKFBlRbyVMjYt316pO_2aDVaCTXe4Kf-JPR9X7gFZ5uWlU1y5CcMtAQNEYNmuB6da1KB0Z9VVM6zv0KdJSBWCkg=s1448" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="983" data-original-width="1448" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi6CPFrvf36URXufdifWTax7DtGQOedatbGiOR_IIe2GJ6sfekjpH5B66GZ-UMqh0Guitvn8BWQQC-b3mDG7o3_1noFmqyMKv40R6XhKFBlRbyVMjYt316pO_2aDVaCTXe4Kf-JPR9X7gFZ5uWlU1y5CcMtAQNEYNmuB6da1KB0Z9VVM6zv0KdJSBWCkg=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br />From <i><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/15/theater/music-man-disability-meredith-willson.html">The New York Times</a></i>:<p></p><p>Pictured: <span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>Michael
Phelan as Winthrop Paroo and Rebecca Luker as Marian Paroo in a 2000 revival of
“The Music Man” at the Neil Simon Theater in Manhattan.</i></span></p><span class="css-cnj6d5 e1z0qqy90" style="border: 0px; color: #888888; display: inline; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.01em; line-height: 1.125rem; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="css-1ly73wi e1tej78p0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; height: 1px; letter-spacing: 0.13px; line-height: inherit; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 1px;">Credit...</span><span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.13px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #333333; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;">By <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/amanda-morris"><span style="color: #333333;">Amanda
Morris</span></a>, </span></b><span style="font-size: 16px;">(<i>Amanda Morris is a 2021-2022 disability reporting fellow for the National desk. </i></span><a href="https://twitter.com/amandamomorris" style="font-size: 16px;" target="_blank"><i>@amandamomorris</i></a>)</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Many know
Meredith Willson’s 1957 Broadway musical, “The Music Man,” as a light comedy
centered on a cheeky scam artist who pretends to be a musician and sells the
idea of starting a boys’ band to a small town in Iowa. The show is being </span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/13/theater/hugh-jackman-the-music-man.html" style="font-size: 12pt;">revived
on Broadway starring Hugh Jackman</a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> and Sutton Foster, and will begin
performances this month.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But several
newly recognized drafts of the musical, written between 1954 and 1957, show
that originally, the story focused more on the town’s persecution of a boy in a
wheelchair — carrying a much more serious message than the final draft. At the
time, children with disabilities were routinely <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/21/nyregion/willowbrook-state-school-staten-island.html">institutionalized
in horrid conditions</a> and denied an education.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In the
version that debuted in 1957, the only character that doesn’t fall for the
scheme is Marian Paroo, a well-read single woman who has a shy younger brother
with a lisp, named Winthrop. But the con man, Harold Hill, manages to charm
Marian and wins her over in part by being kind to Winthrop and including him in
the band.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In the
earlier drafts, Marian’s younger brother was a character named Jim Paroo, a boy
in a wheelchair who, in some versions of the show, has limited use of his arms
and could not speak. Wherever Jim goes, townspeople want to lock him up, and in
some versions, this drives him to hide and live in the school basement instead
of at home.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Then, Harold
comes along and challenges the community’s assumptions about Jim by bringing
him into the band and finding an instrument he’s capable of playing with his
limited range of motion. An early title for the show, “<a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/silver-triangle/oclc/876739554&referer=brief_results" target="_blank">The Silver Triangle</a>,” highlights Jim’s instrument of choice
and contribution to the band.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“I think
that Jim was very much at the heart of the show,” said Dominic
Broomfield-McHugh, a musicology professor at the University of Sheffield in
England who discovered many of the earlier drafts in 2013 at the Great American
Songbook Foundation in Indiana. These discoveries were published in May in
Broomfield-McHugh’s new book, “The Big Parade: Meredith Willson’s Musicals from
‘The Music Man’ to ‘1491.’” The book explores the musical’s journey from “The
Silver Triangle” to “The Music Man” we know today — and has a chapter devoted
to the various early drafts of the show.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“When you
read the first draft, it feels quite thin until you get to the scenes with Jim
or about Jim, and suddenly it becomes very dramatic and serious,” he said. “I
still feel astonished when I look at it.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Sign up for
the Theater Update Newsletter Every week, stay on top of the
top-grossing Broadway shows, recent reviews, Critics’ Picks and more. Get
it sent to your inbox.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Most of the
songs and scenes in earlier drafts are also significantly different, according
to Broomfield-McHugh. In one deleted song, Jim, who is nonverbal in this
version of the show, starts to sing onstage alone.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“What
Willson was trying to do was to sort of say, even though he can’t physically
speak, he has all these thoughts and ideas going around in his head,”
Broomfield-McHugh said.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Though
Willson’s writing of disability was sometimes gimmicky in ways that could now
be seen as offensive — in one scene, music inspires Jim to stand up for the
first time — Broomfield-McHugh believes that the playwright was trying to spark
a conversation about how people with disabilities were treated at the time.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He found
evidence that the playwright had visited organizations for disabled children
but couldn’t find any other personal reasons that Willson may have had for
writing about this issue.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Just 10
months before the show opened, Willson dropped the character of Jim, replacing
him with Winthrop at the urging of producers who felt there was no place for
serious representations of disability onstage.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“But I sense
such a frustration in him that he really, really tried for years to make it
work like this,” Broomfield-McHugh said.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">One memo
urged Willson to change the character, stating that “physical disability in a
child is impossible to view in any terms but pity and sentiment, the problem is
to find some other form of disability besides physical.” The memo is undated
and unsigned, but Broomfield-McHugh believes it was written in early 1957 by an
employee of a producer. He found it in Wisconsin Historical Society archives,
tucked in the back of a script that belonged to the producer Kermit
Bloomgarden, who took over production of the show in 1957.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Another
letter to Willson, written in 1955 by the playwrights Jerome Lawrence and
Robert E. Lee, says, “The easy solution is to dump Jim Paroo,” but that doing
so “might conceivably reduce a major work to the dimension of mere
entertainment.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Today, audiences
can more regularly see disabled actors onstage thanks to efforts by small
theater companies like The Apothetae, which produces works centered on the
disabled experience; and Theater Breaking Through Barriers, an Off Broadway
organization that regularly casts actors with disabilities.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But on
Broadway, which can elevate shows into mainstream commercial hits, authentic
representations of disability are still few and far between, said Talleri A.
McRae, a founder of National Disability Theater.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">There have
been some successes. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/09/theater/ali-stroker-oklahoma-tony-awards.html">Ali
Stroker</a> made history in 2019 as the first actor in a wheelchair to win
a Tony Award for her role as a flirty fiancée, Ado Annie, in ‘Oklahoma!’; <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/24/theater/a-wheelchair-on-broadway-isnt-exploitation-its-progress.html">Madison
Ferris</a>, who has muscular dystrophy and uses a wheelchair, played Laura in a
2017 production of “The Glass Menagerie.” There was also the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/13/theater/tiny-tim-a-christmas-carol-disabled-actors.html">casting
of a disabled actor in the role of Tiny Tim</a> in “A Christmas Carol” in
2019; a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/28/theater/review-spring-awakening-by-deaf-west-theater-brings-a-new-sensation-to-broadway.html">2015
revival</a> of “Spring Awakening” by Deaf West Theater, which featured
deaf and hearing actors side by side; as well as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/21/theater/q-and-a-martyna-majok-putting-immigrant-lives-on-center-stage.html">Martyna
Majok</a>’s <a href="https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/martyna-majok" target="_blank">Pulitzer-winning 2017 Off Broadway play</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/07/theater/cost-of-living-review.html">“Cost
of Living,”</a> about people with disabilities.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Even with
this progress, many disabled characters are not written in well-rounded ways,
and actors without disabilities are often cast in these roles, McRae said.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">To her
knowledge, the character of Nessarose in “Wicked” — who uses a wheelchair — has
never been played by a disabled actress on Broadway, and the same was true for
the character of Crutchie, who uses a crutch in the show “Newsies.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Look how
far we haven’t come,” said Gregg Mozgala, an actor with cerebral palsy and the
founder and artistic director of the Apothetae. “Or how far we have yet to go.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Part of the
problem is inaccessibility for acting training programs, said Mozgala, who is
also the director of inclusion for the Queens Theater’s program <a href="https://queenstheatre.org/programs/theatre-for-all/" target="_blank">Theater
for All</a>, which helps support and train disabled playwrights and actors. In
his own acting program at the Boston University School for the Arts, he was the
only person who identified as disabled and said many actors with disabilities
have been told to sit out of certain classes, such as movement classes, because
professors felt uncomfortable teaching students with disabilities.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Another
barrier is the perception of audiences. Nicholas Viselli, the artistic director
of <a href="https://tbtb.org/who-we-are/company.html" target="_blank">Theater
Breaking Through Barriers</a>, said audiences still feel uncomfortable watching
disabled actors or characters onstage. For the plays he stages, he said he
often receives donations from people who say they think the work is important
but don’t want to come see it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“When you
advertise disability, it becomes a turnoff,” Viselli said. “People are like,
‘I’ll feel bad for them. It will perhaps diminish my experience.’”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In the end,
the version of “The Music Man” without Jim was a hit; it won five Tony Awards,
including best musical, ran for 1,375 performances and was adapted into
an <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1962/08/24/archives/screen-preston-stars-in-music-manfilm-version-of-stage-comedy-opens.html">Oscar-winning
movie</a> in 1962.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“The Music
Man” has <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2021-06-22/commentary-music-man-broadway-hugh-jackman" target="_blank">since been criticized</a> for making light of its con
artist’s problematic, predatory behavior, such as a scene in which he follows
Marian home and tries multiple times to seduce her.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The legacy
of “The Music Man” may have been different if Willson’s original vision had
made it onto the Broadway stage in a way that authentically represented people
with disabilities. Many of the stigmas and barriers it tried to confront still
persist, according to Penny Pun, the managing director of the National
Disability Theater.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“A lot of
these works are being put down before they even see the light of day,” Pun
said. “So how do we know if they have mainstream appeal? They never get a
chance.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">-----------------------------------------------------------------</p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><i>A version of
this article appears in print on Dec. 16, 2021, Section C,
Page 3 of the New York edition with the headline: In Early
Scripts, ‘The Music Man’ Included a Disabled Character. <a href="http://www.nytreprints.com/">Order Reprints</a> | <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/section/todayspaper">Today’s Paper</a> | <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/subscriptions/Multiproduct/lp8HYKU.html?campaignId=48JQY">Subscribe</a></i><o:p></o:p></span></p><header class="css-gmndr5 euiyums1" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 3.75rem 0px 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="css-sklrp3" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 600px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;"><div class="css-1e2jphy epjyd6m1" style="-webkit-box-align: center; align-items: center; border: 0px; display: flex; font: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.25rem; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;"><div class="css-233int epjyd6m0" style="border: 0px; display: inline-block; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /><br /></div></div></div></header>BA Hallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435630232157672557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-973901678873012550.post-70169615037291787082021-12-15T18:14:00.007-05:002021-12-15T20:35:42.404-05:00Please stop comparing disability mimicry to blackface by Dominick Evans<p><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhV3ASNsV2LyxbW93E11Gmvf-Y-TXy5oFdU2hijyH1hiuKIFx15EldqoeifTLqC3z01zxOHXGH5R28o5CrUPq0dd63VhKciO4rrBIRHXTPQTPCD4HpVzk5YtaqdTJeCyqFCMSbute71qCDh9t1Ju7_7cNzxGRdfejXQwG-y-j4JPOc32gNbAVeGphNVMw=s800" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhV3ASNsV2LyxbW93E11Gmvf-Y-TXy5oFdU2hijyH1hiuKIFx15EldqoeifTLqC3z01zxOHXGH5R28o5CrUPq0dd63VhKciO4rrBIRHXTPQTPCD4HpVzk5YtaqdTJeCyqFCMSbute71qCDh9t1Ju7_7cNzxGRdfejXQwG-y-j4JPOc32gNbAVeGphNVMw=s320" width="320" /></a></i></div><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span face=""Segoe UI",sans-serif">Note:
This is a reprint of Evans, D. (2017). "Please stop comparing
disability mimicry to blackface," on the Dominick Evans website,
which experienced a breach and was shut down. Reprinted with permission, 2021.</span></i></p><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Segoe UI",sans-serif"><b>By Dominick
Evans</b>, (He/They), Hollywood Inclusion & Representation Consultant, Filmmaker,
Writer, Streamer, Influencer, and FilmDis Founder. <i>Evans is pictured.</i><o:p></o:p></span></p><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Those of us
who are white in the disability community need to have a conversation about
cultural appropriation. There are black and brown disabled people in our
communities. They often go ignored, are not listened to, and they are speaking
out about the things that our greater community does that are harmful to them.
One of those things is culturally appropriating terms that have been taken from
concepts relating to racism and the oppression of Black and brown bodies. I
know it gets tiring to hear this new term or that new term, but when it comes
to those who are multiply marginalized in our community, we need to actually
listen to what they are saying.<br />
<br />
I spend all day, most days studying film, television, and other media. We've
had this discussion before, and I think it's an important one we need to have
again. We as disabled people and our allies need to stop calling the unfair
casting of non-disabled people as "disabled" and the exclusion of
disabled actors from media such as film and television as "cripface."
The term has specifically been taken from blackface, and I see the comparison
between the two over and over again. We spoke about it during our #FilmDis
discussion back in 2015, which was led by disabled POC. They have told us to
stop doing this over and over again, and I don't know if the message is not
getting through to everyone, but I believe we should listen.<br />
<br />
I know that we have struggled to find a word or phrase, although, generally,
using "cripping up" has been better accepted, and I've also started
using disabled mimicry, which I think fits simply because mimicry is often
embedded in (often unintentional) mockery. Whether non-disabled actors intend
to mock us is not relevant to using the term, because whether there is malice
or not that is what happens. It is a mockery of disability, through the weird
vocal intonation or accents we hear when portraying CP or Deaf characters, the
twitching, writhing bodies portraying strokes or spasticity, the rigidity of
body posture, curling and flopping of wrists, or whatever physically
stereotypical things these actors take on to portray what they think it means
to be disabled. Yes, disabled bodies do some of these things, but they do so
naturally and organically. It's not something easily done if your body does not
curl or twist or writhe or flap on its own, and often becomes to focal point of
disabled portrayals by non-disabled performers.<br />
<br />
Nobody is saying this is not bad or horrible. In fact, it is very harmful. It
harms the disability community, which is why I scoff at the defense of actors
doing it. I recently saw an article asking if we should take away the Oscars
from actors like Tom Hanks and Daniel Day-Lewis for their performances that are
nothing short of disabled mimicry. Even Day-Lewis, who I know some disabled
people support, associates disability with nothing more than physically curling
up his body and contorting it, while using his voice to grunt and growl. All of
these factors have turned disability into nothing more than physical
characteristics, and that is the personification of disabled mimicry. Take away
their Oscars for doing real harm to actual disabled people? What a novel idea!
While it is nice to think of that in retrospect, we need to look forward about
what can be done to prevent this in the future.<br />
<br />
I digress.<br />
<br />
Going further, I see the comparison between disabled mimicry and blackface not
just in how we talk about disabled people being excluded, but also in comparing
the oppression. Blackface comes from a long tradition of outright mocking Black
people. Disabled mimicry is mocking, but rarely have I seen it done
specifically as a form of mocking. Instead, it is done by people who think they
know what disability is about or they think it is a great way to get to the
Oscars, and they probably aren't that far off. Often, the actors think they are
do-gooders taking on a "challenge" while writers and directors seek
praise for "inclusion."<br />
<br />
Blackface has long been done insidiously, not just to remind Black people of
their place in society, but also to remind us white folks of our supposed
"superiority over Black people. Looking back at cinema, the legacy
of Birth of a Nation (1915) has painted Black people as foolish,
intellectually inferior, a joke, a silly child. We see the infantilization of
disabled people in film and other media, as well, but it comes from an entirely
different place. Rather, it is done to make us look dependent, burdensome, or
is even used as a plot device. Both forms of oppression are bad and cause harm
to the communities they represent, but they have such different histories the
comparison becomes problematic.<br />
<br />
Consider the fact that there are disabled Black people who not only have to
deal with disabled mimicry, but also blackface. Comparing the two can make
these individuals feel invisible. This is what I've been told by numerous Black
disabled activists, more than once when talking about disability, race, and the
media. Add in the fact that over 80% of roles are male, 70% are white, and over
99% are cisgender and heterosexual when it comes to disabled roles, and Black
and brown disabled women and trans folks are already feeling very excluded from
the media. We need to start including Black disabled people, especially women
and trans folks, not only in the discussion about media, but in the creation of
it. That is hard to do when we consider we may be isolating Black disabled
folks by comparing their/our oppression as disabled people, with their
oppression as Black people.<br />
<br />
Disabled mimicry comes from a place where disabled people have no voices
because it is often assumed we cannot speak for ourselves. It comes from a
place of ignorance about disability. It comes from people who may think they
are doing something good for our community, but who are actually harming it
because they have no concept of what our community is or what we believe or
represent. Can it be malicious? Absolutely! Do I think most people are doing so
maliciously? I don't believe so, and I have consumed a large amount of media
that includes disabled characters and storylines. Where the problem comes in is
that these creators don't want to listen. They are not exactly aiming to mock
us. They would have to understand disability to know how. I don't think most of
them even understand enough about disability to knowingly do that, but it does
mock us and it does harm us.<br />
<br />
Blackface was always meant to mock and dehumanize Black people, and therein
lies the difference. At the heart of this discussion it comes down to intent.
Whitewashing may have become more insidious like disabled mimicry, but the
comparison is not helping anyone. At the heart of this is the fact that Black
disabled people have asked us to stop the comparison, and we need to listen to
what they have to say.<br />
<br />
You do not have to believe me, but please listen to the Black disabled voices
in our community:<br />
<br />
Anita Cameron, legendary disability rights activist with ADAPT and Not Dead Yet
says, "Cripface is appropriative and erases the history of Black folks and
how we were insulted, ridiculed and put down by the White film establishment.
When cripface is compared to Blackface, it is insulting, inappropriate and flat
out wrong. Just don't do it. And yes, I'm Black and disabled. If I see that
comparison taking place I will call it out! Blackface was meant to be cruel to
Black folks."<br />
<br />
As a community, we as disabled people have plenty of valid reasons for why
disabled mimicry is not okay. Instead of pointing out how other groups are
oppressed and excluded, I believe it would be much better if we chose to
develop our own talking points about why disabled mimicry or "cripping
up," whatever we choose to call it, is harmful, and when we do, let's
include the multiply marginalized voices in our community, in the process.<br />
<br />
Edited to include quotes.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"></p><div style="text-align: center;"><i style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"><b>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</b></i></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><span face=""Segoe UI",sans-serif" style="color: #674ea7; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">You can find Dominick Evans here:</span></b><span face=""Segoe UI", sans-serif" style="color: #674ea7; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><span face=""Segoe UI",sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Website -</span></b><span face=""Segoe UI",sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <a href="https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.filmdis.com%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cbhaller%40towson.edu%7C9eec3f74f0834d7dbfef08d9bff9ef61%7Ccbf9739249f649dda8a619f710efcc35%7C0%7C0%7C637751902455526079%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=G%2BxRYFvo1Fw7sYy1LWixBVO4%2BS%2FGswkivYHGv5WAYYQ%3D&reserved=0" target="_blank" title="Original URL: http://www.filmdis.com/. Click or tap if you trust this link."><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: blue; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">FilmDis</span></a></span><span face=""Segoe UI",sans-serif" style="color: #201f1e; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><span face=""Segoe UI",sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Discord -</span></b><span face=""Segoe UI",sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <a href="https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdiscord.gg%2FPazARkZ&data=04%7C01%7Cbhaller%40towson.edu%7C9eec3f74f0834d7dbfef08d9bff9ef61%7Ccbf9739249f649dda8a619f710efcc35%7C0%7C0%7C637751902455526079%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=zIqbOcazHQVIOKVjueMx3sEJwDSDz%2BOyGerjLDZn4wQ%3D&reserved=0" target="_blank" title="Original URL: https://discord.gg/PazARkZ. Click or tap if you trust this link."><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: blue; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">CripCusader Community</span></a></span><span face=""Segoe UI",sans-serif" style="color: #201f1e; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><span face=""Segoe UI",sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Twitter -</span></b><span face=""Segoe UI",sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <a href="https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fdominickevans&data=04%7C01%7Cbhaller%40towson.edu%7C9eec3f74f0834d7dbfef08d9bff9ef61%7Ccbf9739249f649dda8a619f710efcc35%7C0%7C0%7C637751902455526079%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=hiF0yoR6%2F4cGH3qBJW6SHmUNAn9LyLooM%2F9a7ty03bI%3D&reserved=0" target="_blank" title="Original URL: http://twitter.com/dominickevans. Click or tap if you trust this link."><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: blue; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">@DominickEvans</span></a></span></p><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 16px;"></span><p></p>BA Hallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435630232157672557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-973901678873012550.post-43981197833101175612021-12-02T17:38:00.000-05:002021-12-02T17:38:04.896-05:00Global Alliance for Disability in Media and Entertainment (GADIM) partners with FilmDis for TV study<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdGA-4Ps3FpQ6l_jZ-yV05qrcmcC3mjzeyHhwvYLmBZcydLN3R9fSu7aVtQRYHg7VyYaHLRs0kU4J-lfkMDGwJu2ZVNREWIyBwKQBWyd8ID0OchORaBkVdT345HRFO3vQfR-MZRjVddbUk/s1000/FilmDis+study+image+for+web+page.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Picture on left is of "Hollyoaks" star Tylan Grant, who is the first autistic actor to play an autistic character on British television. Pictured on the right is Sammi Haney, who plays Dion's best friend on the Netflix show "Raising Dion." Sammi, who is a wheelchair user, was born with Osteogenesis Imperfecta Type III. The text beneath the pictures says, "The FilmDis study shows that only 11% of disabled characters on TV are played by disabled actors" (FilmDis, 2019)." border="0" data-original-height="710" data-original-width="1000" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdGA-4Ps3FpQ6l_jZ-yV05qrcmcC3mjzeyHhwvYLmBZcydLN3R9fSu7aVtQRYHg7VyYaHLRs0kU4J-lfkMDGwJu2ZVNREWIyBwKQBWyd8ID0OchORaBkVdT345HRFO3vQfR-MZRjVddbUk/w320-h227/FilmDis+study+image+for+web+page.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN_n1TXsWl34CzHytfsCi7Y5a3nlhhGNmjIZSiJe3A836wOvkSpfMo5ZzNsACs3oLPs0MGbRNbmKCZgcyEqTpAGoFJFvKP6dfWSnTdBOkRLQrJq64k1BQ6EPeraj5nKbB-M76R8i-_hnhS/s2570/Gadim+logo+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1224" data-original-width="2570" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN_n1TXsWl34CzHytfsCi7Y5a3nlhhGNmjIZSiJe3A836wOvkSpfMo5ZzNsACs3oLPs0MGbRNbmKCZgcyEqTpAGoFJFvKP6dfWSnTdBOkRLQrJq64k1BQ6EPeraj5nKbB-M76R8i-_hnhS/s320/Gadim+logo+2.jpg" width="320" /></a><br /></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Email: </span></b><a href="mailto:bhaller@towson.edu"><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">bhaller@towson.edu</span></b></a><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 4;"> </span>December
3, 2021<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Website: </span></b><a href="https://www.gadim.org/"><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">https://www.gadim.org/</span></b></a><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">GADIM partners with
FilmDis; revamps website<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">FilmDis study shows
that almost 90% of disabled characters on TV are played by nondisabled actors<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">December 3, 2021</span></b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> - The Global Alliance for Disability in Media and Entertainment
(GADIM) is pleased to announce its new partnership with </span><a href="https://www.filmdis.com/"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">FilmDis</span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">, a media monitoring organization created by
screenwriting and directing duo, Dominick Evans & Ashtyn Law. GADIM, which
was founded in 2016 by journalist Patricia Almeida in Brazil, lawyer Cátia
Malaquias of Australia, and professor Beth Haller of the USA, was created to
promote the inclusion of persons with disabilities in mass media. GADIM also
announces its website redesign.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">GADIM sponsored the </span><a href="https://www.filmdis.com/our-work/research-projects/#thumb2"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">second FilmDis study</span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">, which examined disability representation on scripted entertainment
television in 2019/2020. The study found 1,198 disabled characters across 30 TV
networks & streaming services, but it was rarely authentic
representation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only 128 characters,
about 11 percent, were played by disabled actors, which is defined as the actor
having at least one of the disabilities they portrayed.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Other significant findings were that
almost 43 percent of the disabled characters were cisgender white males. For
more information about the study, visit GADIM’s Media Analysis Study web page, </span><a href="https://gadim.org/project/media-analysis-study/">https://gadim.org/project/media-analysis-study/</a>.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Evans and Law explain that “there is much more to
disabled lives than what we see (on TV), and with Hollywood in desperate need
of fresh stories and voices, disabled creators and their ideas for television
are ripe for the picking. Hollywood just needs to let the stories bloom.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">GADIM’s revised website has several significant new
features such as pages for media Best Practices in advertising, news, and
entertainment media and a page about how mass media can make their content more
accessible.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“The partnership with FilmDis and the revamped website
allows GADIM to better reach its goal of helping mass media globally to improve
their portrayals of disability,” said co-director Beth Haller. “GADIM believes
that people with disabilities must be involved in all aspects of mass media content
to convey their authentic stories.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">GADIM’s mission is informed by Article 8
(Awareness-raising) of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). </span><a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities/the-convention-in-brief.html"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">A summary of Article 8</span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> states: “As a change of perceptions is essential to
improve the situation of persons with disabilities, ratifying countries are to
combat stereotypes and prejudices and promote awareness of the capabilities of
persons with disabilities.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">GADIM activities include being judges for the MIPCOM
Diversify TV Excellence Awards for the international television industry,
providing feedback on disability representation for Lionsgate Films, and
co-hosting a conference on Disability, Media, and Human Rights in 2018 in
Perth, Australia.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">GADIM will become a registered non-profit in 2022.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">December 3 is the International Day of Persons with
Disabilities, and on this day, GADIM joins the international </span><a href="https://www.wethe15.org/"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">#WeThe15
campaign</span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> in an effort to promote
accessibility and inclusion globally for the 15% of the world’s population who
live with a disability (1.2 billion people).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">For more information about the FilmDis study, contact
Dominick Evans at </span><a href="mailto:info@filmdis.com"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">info@filmdis.com</span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">###<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></p>BA Hallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435630232157672557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-973901678873012550.post-81631398163210547712021-11-24T15:18:00.001-05:002021-11-24T15:18:44.299-05:00Annie Live! casts Alan Toy as Franklin D. Roosevelt — the first polio survivor to take on the role<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkUYeB7jPlCnS79x7urgL_xXPF2rVX64gbc6t4SVwjuzHJjchZ-f3jl3iPE5rl87oOG4mHcfphXCv-EuubU7hl2Mu5r4HvvcX8GRW5JLVM6bMadXBdIS0ew22TL0X9HuGdWeFWKDJJ_ejz/s768/Alan+Toy+as+FDR+in+Annie.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="431" data-original-width="768" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkUYeB7jPlCnS79x7urgL_xXPF2rVX64gbc6t4SVwjuzHJjchZ-f3jl3iPE5rl87oOG4mHcfphXCv-EuubU7hl2Mu5r4HvvcX8GRW5JLVM6bMadXBdIS0ew22TL0X9HuGdWeFWKDJJ_ejz/s320/Alan+Toy+as+FDR+in+Annie.png" width="320" /></a> <br /><br />from <a href="https://people.com/tv/annie-live-casts-alan-toy-as-franklin-d-roosevelt/"><i>People</i> magazine</a>:</p><div class="paragraph" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-family: Lora, serif;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 712px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><a href="https://people.com/tv/annie-live-musical-heading-to-nbc/" style="box-shadow: rgb(255, 241, 0) 0px -3px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-stretch: normal; font-style: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 28px; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Annie Live!</em></a><em style="box-sizing: border-box;"> </em>has found its Franklin D. Roosevelt. </p></div><div class="paragraph" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-family: Lora, serif;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 712px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">On November 15, NBC announced that Alan Toy has been cast in the role, making him the first polio survivor to play the 32nd president in the beloved musical. Both Toy, 71, and Roosevelt contracted polio resulting in paralysis. </p></div><div class="paragraph" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-family: Lora, serif;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 712px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">"It is a huge honor to join such a talented ensemble," Toy said in a press release. "FDR has always been a role model of accomplishment for me, and I'm thrilled to be able to play him." </p></div><div class="paragraph" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-family: Lora, serif;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 712px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">"I tip my hat to NBC and the producers of 'Annie Live!' for authentically casting a person with a Disability for this role," the actor and activist continued. "I'm proud to represent the community and hope that we will continue to see more of the Disability Community in roles across entertainment media." </p><div class="paragraph" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 712px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Toy joins a star-studded cast for the upcoming live musical, airing Thursday, Dec. 2 on NBC. <a href="https://people.com/tag/taraji-p-henson/" style="box-shadow: rgb(255, 241, 0) 0px -3px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-stretch: normal; font-style: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 28px; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">Taraji P. Henson</a> will star as Miss Hannigan, <a href="https://people.com/tag/harry-connick-jr/" style="box-shadow: rgb(255, 241, 0) 0px -3px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-stretch: normal; font-style: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 28px; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">Harry Connick Jr.</a> as Daddy Warbucks, <a href="https://people.com/tag/nicole-scherzinger/" style="box-shadow: rgb(255, 241, 0) 0px -3px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-stretch: normal; font-style: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 28px; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">Nicole Scherzinger</a> as Grace and newcomer <a href="https://people.com/theater/annie-live-casts-celina-smith-in-title-role/" style="box-shadow: rgb(255, 241, 0) 0px -3px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-stretch: normal; font-style: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 28px; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">Celina Smith</a> as Annie.</p></div><div class="paragraph" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 712px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><a href="https://people.com/tag/tituss-burgess/" style="box-shadow: rgb(255, 241, 0) 0px -3px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-stretch: normal; font-style: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 28px; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">Tituss Burgess</a> has taken on the role of Rooster Hannigan, while <a href="https://people.com/tag/megan-hilty/" style="box-shadow: rgb(255, 241, 0) 0px -3px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-stretch: normal; font-style: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 28px; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">Megan Hilty</a> is filling in as Lily St. Regis after <a href="https://people.com/tag/jane-krakowski/" style="box-shadow: rgb(255, 241, 0) 0px -3px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-stretch: normal; font-style: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 28px; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">Jane Krakowski</a> tested positive for a <a href="https://people.com/health/jane-krakowski-recovering-safely-breakthrough-covid-megan-hilty-fills-annie-live-role/" style="box-shadow: rgb(255, 241, 0) 0px -3px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-stretch: normal; font-style: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 28px; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">breakthrough case of COVID-19</a> earlier in November.</p><div class="paragraph" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 712px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Henson, 51, previously <a href="https://people.com/tv/taraji-p-henson-as-miss-hannigan-annie-live-first-look/" style="box-shadow: rgb(255, 241, 0) 0px -3px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95); font-stretch: normal; font-style: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 28px; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">opened up to PEOPLE</a> about playing her iconic character. "Playing the villain is always fun," she said in October. "With Miss Hannigan, there is so much to work with and dig deeper into. It's just such a fun and iconic character to play."</p></div><div class="paragraph" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 712px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">She also expressed excitement about the project's timing, airing just as families are coming together to celebrate the holidays.</p></div><div class="paragraph" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 712px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">"Holidays are an opportunity to bring people together and prioritize happiness and, for me, that's what musicals do," she says. "They're joyous and fun and make you think and just make you feel as though you're part of a larger community."</p></div><div class="paragraph" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 712px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Annie Live!</em> airs Thursday, Dec. 2 (8 p.m. ET) on NBC. </p></div></div></div>BA Hallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435630232157672557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-973901678873012550.post-36393949114822106582021-09-27T21:03:00.000-04:002021-09-27T21:03:03.911-04:00British children's TV show, 'CBeebies,' hires first presenter with Down syndrome<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEM_el8sf6QkjixgTpEHYrRafyXCiZDXBiPEqBuxW0MuBGfw2wS7dJjTmraEqpxvGTvKF9kGEOEkdQGwv_QLBesSqTc6pbjOrSXTWBP_Su4bnOmM38nDwyyZ_csBbPNgd5paF1coa_2NHj/s700/george+webster+cbeebies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="700" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEM_el8sf6QkjixgTpEHYrRafyXCiZDXBiPEqBuxW0MuBGfw2wS7dJjTmraEqpxvGTvKF9kGEOEkdQGwv_QLBesSqTc6pbjOrSXTWBP_Su4bnOmM38nDwyyZ_csBbPNgd5paF1coa_2NHj/s320/george+webster+cbeebies.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />from <i><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/sep/21/a-brilliant-role-model-cbeebies-hires-first-presenter-with-downs-syndrome">The Guardian</a></i>:
<br /><br /><div><p class="dcr-1m34hpq" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #121212; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The BBC’s preschool TV channel <a data-component="auto-linked-tag" data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/cbeebies" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #6b5840; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">CBeebies</a> has appointed George Webster as its first presenter with Down syndrome. The 20-year-old will join the channel as a guest presenter from the CBeebies House, hosting segments and links between programmes from Salford’s MediaCityUK.</p><p class="dcr-1m34hpq" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #121212; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">An actor, dancer and ambassador for the disability charity Mencap, Webster was announced as a presenter on Monday. In a video posted on social media, he said: “I feel so proud and I’m feeling so excited to start”, adding that he was looking forward to cooking and dancing in his new role.</p><p id="sign-in-gate" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #121212; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></p><p class="dcr-1m34hpq" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #121212; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Webster, who is from Leeds, previously appeared in an educational video for the BBC’s Bitesize strand on misconceptions around the genetic condition.</p><p class="dcr-1m34hpq" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #121212; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Many expressed their delight online at his announcement, especially parents of disabled children. Actor Sally Phillips, who has a son with Down’s syndrome, <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://twitter.com/sallyephillips/status/1440046795925557248" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #6b5840; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">wrote</a>: “Oh CBeebies I could not love you more. This means so much to us and isn’t George amazing!!”</p><p class="dcr-1m34hpq" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #121212; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Elsewhere, Mencap described Webster as “a brilliant role model”.</p><p class="dcr-1m34hpq" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #121212; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">CBeebies, aimed at children under seven, has been praised for its diverse content in recent years. In June 2020, following the death of George Floyd, mixed race presenter Ben Cajee informed young viewers about his own experiences with racism. A series of two-minute films titled My Black History Heroes, highlighting figures including Barack Obama and Mary Seacole, is currently airing on the channel.</p><p class="dcr-1m34hpq" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #121212; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Reactions to Webster’s appointment contrasts with the reception some 12 years ago to then-CBeebies presenter Cerrie Burnell, born with her lower right arm missing, and whose appearance on the channel in 2009 led to a barrage of complaints.</p><p class="dcr-1m34hpq" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #121212; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Burnell Tweeted the news about Webster’s appointment, with the words “absolute joy”, as well as retweeting <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://twitter.com/SavvyJustine/status/1439902995949494273" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #6b5840; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">another message</a> which posited that perhaps “the world has turned” in the intervening years.</p></div>BA Hallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435630232157672557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-973901678873012550.post-62380232324039355112021-09-18T20:42:00.005-04:002021-09-18T20:43:19.472-04:00Emmys stage will feature accessible, ADA-compliant ramp — Here’s how it happened<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQXjtqJQ5brCk8xKQFE1AoI1mfYM7DtSvTQK9GI0TuuJ4g6QzrTueA5MC1kiULtcU35nAPTPbg_ip6v7RY9cRP9ZhW0MeGdXQybdLvEYCLCQP7s8V2OYIL_45FKk4ZGS_N1deKDowDvlOO/s681/James-LeBrecht-and-Emmy-Statue.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="383" data-original-width="681" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQXjtqJQ5brCk8xKQFE1AoI1mfYM7DtSvTQK9GI0TuuJ4g6QzrTueA5MC1kiULtcU35nAPTPbg_ip6v7RY9cRP9ZhW0MeGdXQybdLvEYCLCQP7s8V2OYIL_45FKk4ZGS_N1deKDowDvlOO/s320/James-LeBrecht-and-Emmy-Statue.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>from <i><a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/emmys-2021-stage-ramp-ada-compliant-1235015798/">The Hollywood Reporter</a></i>:<p></p><p><span face="kepler-std, serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: -0.05px;"><i>Pictured is James LeBrecht and the Emmy Award statue at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences </i></span></p><p style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1rem; padding-left: 5.8rem; padding-right: 5.8rem;"><span style="font-family: arial;">When the select in-person attendees get settled in their seats for the 2021 Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday night, they’ll see the stage feature a new addition: a ramp.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1rem; padding-left: 5.8rem; padding-right: 5.8rem;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The accessible, front-facing design was overseen by CBS Entertainment and the Primetime Emmys’ producers and follows <a href="https://dredf.org/2021/09/07/73rd-primetime-emmy-awards-complaint-of-ada-violations/" rel="nofollow" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">an ADA complaint</a> filed on Sept. 7 by Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF) and lawyer Michelle Uzeta on behalf of James LeBrecht, who co-directed and co-produced the Oscar-nominated documentary <em style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;"><a data-tag="crip-camp" href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/t/crip-camp/" id="auto-tag_crip-camp" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">Crip Camp</a></em> alongside Nicole Newnham.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1rem; padding-left: 5.8rem; padding-right: 5.8rem;"></p><p style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1rem; padding-left: 5.8rem; padding-right: 5.8rem;"><span style="font-family: arial;">LeBrecht was notified that a ramp had been built as of Thursday evening, and according to the director, CBS confirmed to his reps that “anyone sitting in the audience will have unimpeded access to an ADA-compliant ramp” which “has been constructed as a fully-integrated, visible portion of the stage.”</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1rem; padding-left: 5.8rem; padding-right: 5.8rem;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It’s a step towards broader and more standard accessibility at Hollywood awards shows that LeBrecht says he supports, though it was an effort at least six exhausting weeks in the making. For the disabled director and disability rights advocate, muddled and slow communications from CBS Entertainment and The TV Academy meant that while the goal has been achieved, questions still remain about whether entertainment institutions understand what was at the heart of his ask for disabled members of the entertainment industry.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1rem; padding-left: 5.8rem; padding-right: 5.8rem;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Addressed to Executive Vice President, Diversity, Inclusion & Communications at CBS Entertainment Tiffany Smith-Anoa’i and TV Academy president Maury McIntyre, the complaint alleges that both the TV Academy and CBS Entertainment were in violation of the American Disabilities Act and California civil rights law prior to building the ramp. Specifically, that what was first presented to LeBrecht was insufficient in meeting ADA standards because the options did not actually provide “the full and equal enjoyment… of any place of public accommodation.”</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1rem; padding-left: 5.8rem; padding-right: 5.8rem;"><span style="font-family: arial;">According to the complaint, the planned accommodations did not satisfy LeBrecht’s and his legal representation’s reading of the law. The filing states that Smith-Anoa’i advised “that individuals who cannot climb the stairs to the stage can go backstage to access the stage,” with another suggestion that “a staff member can bring a microphone to individuals’ seating area.”</span></p><p style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1rem; padding-left: 5.8rem; padding-right: 5.8rem;"><span style="font-family: arial;">“Separate is never equal,” the complaint asserts adding that the backstage route would be “not a directly connecting route” per the ADA, and would visibly other a potential winner. Both options ultimately fail to comply with the ADA, it argues, while additionally conveying “disrespect and exclusion.”</span></p><p style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1rem; padding-left: 5.8rem; padding-right: 5.8rem;"><span style="font-family: arial;">LeBrecht told <em style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;">THR</em> that he had been in contact with both the TV Academy and CBS Entertainment ahead of filing the public complaint. “As the Emmys were approaching and following <em style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;">Crip Camp</em>‘s extraordinary experience at the Oscars — where it wasn’t simply compliance with the law, but it was inclusion at every step of the way that had an equal experience to people who could walk — I just wanted to try to effect a change,” he explained about why he reached out.</span></p><p style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1rem; padding-left: 5.8rem; padding-right: 5.8rem;"><span style="font-family: arial;">He first brought the issue forth to the “management at TV Academy” through one of its advisory boards, after which he was told to pursue the issue with CBS Entertainment as the decisions around the design and accessibility of the stage are left up to the producers of the show. (A rep for the TV Academy confirmed this while redirecting <em style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;">THR</em> to CBS for comment on this story.) That’s when LeBrecht says that he and several others got on a call with Smith-Anoa’i and started the conversation.</span></p><p style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1rem; padding-left: 5.8rem; padding-right: 5.8rem;"><span style="font-family: arial;">LeBrecht, who also sent a long email regarding the issue, lauded the executive who “really took to heart what we were talking about and understood the difference between compliance and inclusion, and what do those optics look like.” But he noted that he came away with no answer as to how CBS Entertainment would approach its stage accessibility issue. Once he finally heard back, he says it was to offer what was noted in the complaint. After that, repeated follow-ups yielded little information.</span></p><p style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1rem; padding-left: 5.8rem; padding-right: 5.8rem;"><span style="font-family: arial;">“I appreciated the efforts, but I felt like I needed to get the attention of people up at the top, too, because I just felt like if I’m talking about inclusion and you keep on coming back with compliance, you’re either not getting the message or you don’t care,” he said. “How often do I have to say there’s a difference between compliance and actually serving people with dignity?”</span></p><p style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1rem; padding-left: 5.8rem; padding-right: 5.8rem;"><span style="font-family: arial;">CBS did not return a request for comment.</span></p><p style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1rem; padding-left: 5.8rem; padding-right: 5.8rem;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The issue of what full equitable treatment looks like doesn’t end with critiques of microphones and backstage ramps. For LeBrecht, it also concerns the use of lifts, which TV Academy president McIntyre <a href="https://variety.com/2021/tv/awards/emmy-telecast-plans-tv-academy-ceo-re-election-1235065854/" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">confirmed to<em style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;"> Variety</em></a> were available during last week’s Creative Arts Emmys. Lifts take a long time, the director says, before noting they can also be “insulting” to the independence of people with disabilities.</span></p><p style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1rem; padding-left: 5.8rem; padding-right: 5.8rem;"><span style="font-family: arial;">“You are not actually getting yourself there under your own power, and it makes you look helpless,” he says.</span></p><p style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1rem; padding-left: 5.8rem; padding-right: 5.8rem;"><span style="font-family: arial;">While LeBrecht has praised the Oscars — one of his first big industry awards events — that show was also lobbied and aware that at least some of its nominees needed equal stage access. It’s something LeBrecht was told the TV Academy tried to confirm by reaching out to all of this year’s attendees — limited due to the show’s COVID protocols and precautions. It was relayed to him that no one with a disability had been nominated.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1rem; padding-left: 5.8rem; padding-right: 5.8rem;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/disabilityandhealth/infographic-disability-impacts-all.html#:~:text=61%2520million%2520adults%2520in%2520the,is%2520highest%2520in%2520the%2520South." rel="nofollow" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">According to the CDC</a>, around 26 percent of Americans live with a disability, with millions estimated as having an invisible disability — in other words, a disability, whether it be cognitive, mobility-related or otherwise, that is not immediately visibly apparent. That can include joint or bone issues that people might otherwise treat as mere pain, but that would be supported, like wheelchair users, with a ramp. But LeBrecht also tells <em style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;">THR</em> that after successfully lobbying for “a ramp at the front of the stage” while promoting <em style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;">Crip Camp </em>at Sundance, it became clear that not just disabled attendees were benefiting.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1rem; padding-left: 5.8rem; padding-right: 5.8rem;"><span style="font-family: arial;">“The fact of the matter is that that ramp was a real asset because that stage had this little dance number with a bunch of men doing a routine and they used the ramp in their choreography. They were thrilled to see the ramp because there were only going to be stairs,” he recalled.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1rem; padding-left: 5.8rem; padding-right: 5.8rem;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Still, for LeBrecht, there’s an even bigger issue at hand with that kind of effort. “Do we have to reveal our disabilities?” he asks. “I mean, why force someone to do that?” Especially, he says, when there’s already law that demands equal access regardless of whether a disability is disclosed.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1rem; padding-left: 5.8rem; padding-right: 5.8rem;"><span style="font-family: arial;">“This is why the ADA was passed. The intention of the ADA, among a lot of other things, was our participation in society be as equal as possible to people who do not have disabilities.”</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1rem; padding-left: 5.8rem; padding-right: 5.8rem;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The director says it is important for industry events and companies building these stages to understand that “the ADA is a base for disability rights. Not the ceiling.” And that’s ultimately what the rejection of othering accommodations, and his continued push for a front-stage ramp, was about. “In our society, do we accept that people with disabilities will take a separate route, especially when it’s completely possible to be inclusive when you’re building a stage from scratch?”</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1rem; padding-left: 5.8rem; padding-right: 5.8rem;"><span style="font-family: arial;">While LeBrecht shares that the experience was at times painstaking and frustrating, particularly the weeks lacking communication about the ongoing efforts, he lobbied for and was made aware of other positive efforts the show enacted or is at least trying to put in place.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1rem; padding-left: 5.8rem; padding-right: 5.8rem;"><span style="font-family: arial;">“I was told that there are going to be [American Sign Language] interpreters available if needed. That’s fabulous. I also requested that they provide live audio descriptions for the broadcast, as well,” he said. “I know they’re trying to make that happen. That takes a while to coordinate, let alone get a sponsor to pay for it.” (Google <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/oscars-diversity-historic-firsts-for-non-acting-categories-and-ceremony-accessibility-4173310/" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">sponsored audio description</a> for April’s Academy Awards.)</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1rem; padding-left: 5.8rem; padding-right: 5.8rem;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The Oscar-nominated director knows that the industry — and much of society — is still catching up when it comes to equal access, but LeBrecht also says that it’s time.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1rem; padding-left: 5.8rem; padding-right: 5.8rem;"><span style="font-family: arial;">“We’re asking people to do things that they haven’t done before,” LeBrecht admits. “But the ADA was passed 31 years ago. Why do we still have to ask for these things? Live audio description may or may not be actually law, but why does it take law for people to say we have a responsibility for everyone in society and not just those who are quote-unquote non-disabled?”</span></p><div class="admz" id="adm-inline-article-ad-x-14" style="border-bottom: 1px solid var(--border-color-grey-light); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0px; border-top: 1px solid var(--border-color-grey-light); box-sizing: border-box; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 1rem; padding-bottom: 1rem; padding-left: 5.8rem; padding-right: 5.8rem; text-align: center;"><div class="adma boomerang" data-device="Desktop" data-width="300" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="pmc-adm-boomerang-pub-div ad-text" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;"><span face="kepler-std, serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 22px;"></span></div></div></div><p style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1rem; padding-left: 5.8rem; padding-right: 5.8rem;"></p>BA Hallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435630232157672557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-973901678873012550.post-92090512091135878342021-09-17T23:26:00.002-04:002021-09-17T23:26:46.864-04:00PBS' AMERICAN MASTERS season finale will explore life of Helen Keller<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJBMhSu7JpSRcwXTn7WFXLrxkmer9aPugnvm2vp8YFMy0mYFxdWOJ8gQddRjQBxQt_BTDEKVozPb42LooWaBka8kaLm2GZa_zDgz8sZbIZ0f5Zs44mX4ORDbT5TcHNZ6XuwAGMUhhBfpdA/s1325/helen+keller+on+american+masters.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="1325" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJBMhSu7JpSRcwXTn7WFXLrxkmer9aPugnvm2vp8YFMy0mYFxdWOJ8gQddRjQBxQt_BTDEKVozPb42LooWaBka8kaLm2GZa_zDgz8sZbIZ0f5Zs44mX4ORDbT5TcHNZ6XuwAGMUhhBfpdA/s320/helen+keller+on+american+masters.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>from <a href="https://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwtv/article/AMERICAN-MASTERS-Season-Finale-Will-Explore-Life-of-Helen-Keller-20210916"><i>Broadway World</i></a>:<p></p><p><u>Note:</u> Anyone interested in learning more about Keller's work as a writer for magazines and newspaper, can consult <i><a href="https://www.advocadopress.org/byline-of-hope/">Byline of Hope, Collected Newspaper and Magazine Writing of Helen Keller</a></i>, edited by Beth Haller of Media dis&dat. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 21px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/helen-keller-documentary/18386/">"American Masters: Becoming Helen Keller"</a> examines one of the 20th century's human rights pioneers in honor of National Disability Employment Awareness Month. The new documentary rediscovers the complex life and legacy of author and activist Helen Keller (1880-1968), who was deaf and blind since childhood, exploring how she used her celebrity and wit to advocate for social justice, particularly for women, workers, people with disabilities and people living in poverty.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 21px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Closing the series' 35th season, American Masters: Becoming Helen Keller premieres nationwide Tuesday, October 19 at 9 p.m. on PBS.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 21px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">American Masters tells Keller's story through rarely seen photographs, archival film clips and interviews with historians, scholars and disability rights advocates. Narrated by author, psychotherapist and disability rights advocate Rebecca Alexander, the film features on-camera performances from Tony- and Emmy Award-winning actor Cherry Jones reading Keller's writings.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 21px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Actor and dancer Alexandria Wailes provides American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation of Keller's words with all other ASL interpretation by writer and rapper Warren "WAWA" Snipe. The program also features audio description by National Captioning Institute and closed captioning by VITAC.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 21px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Keller first came into public view at a young age, soon after her teacher Anne Sullivan taught her to communicate. As she progressed through her education, graduating from Radcliffe College, Keller steadily gained international attention. Though she lived until age 87, became an accomplished writer and activist, Keller continues to be immortalized as a child, such as in the U.S. Capitol with the statue of her at a water pump. She recounted this moment from her youth in her first autobiography, "The Story of My Life," later made famous by the book's stage and screen adaptation, "The Miracle Worker."</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 21px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">"American Masters: Becoming Helen Keller"<b style="font-style: italic;"> </b></span></span><span style="color: black;">delves beyond the mythologized disability icon to present a critical look at her rich, decades-long career and some of its controversies, including her support of socialism and her changing positions on eugenics. The film reveals little-known details of Keller’s personal life and examines her public persona and advocacy, including the progressive reforms she helped achieve. Speaking out for civil rights at great personal cost, Keller supported women’s suffrage, the NAACP, access to health care and assistive technology as a human right, and workers’ rights as a member of the Socialist Party of America and the labor union Industrial Workers of the World.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 21px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "segoe ui", Roboto, "helvetica neue", Arial, "noto sans", sans-serif, "apple color emoji", "segoe ui emoji", "segoe ui symbol", "noto color emoji"; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 21px; margin-top: 0px;"><br /></p>BA Hallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435630232157672557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-973901678873012550.post-12295287496348013052021-09-17T23:07:00.005-04:002021-09-17T23:07:40.355-04:00Selma Blair opens up about MS diagnosis, says she'll act again 'if there's the right thing'<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeMrQaZjXdCkjaP1y62eDW4dz89zzRNGpaqR8RqBhyphenhyphen0cjYnrINK4efurKZL05F4eG4PsWRncxzVC3RKBu0ezvwrIyckDglWhmeBMhyphenhyphensaEcI88S9VKWbe5D0ziI6tyvoza6odryfJIsYum3/s1920/Selma-Blair-MS-Documentary-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeMrQaZjXdCkjaP1y62eDW4dz89zzRNGpaqR8RqBhyphenhyphen0cjYnrINK4efurKZL05F4eG4PsWRncxzVC3RKBu0ezvwrIyckDglWhmeBMhyphenhyphensaEcI88S9VKWbe5D0ziI6tyvoza6odryfJIsYum3/s320/Selma-Blair-MS-Documentary-2.jpg" width="320" /></a> From <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/selma-blair-ms-diagnosis-will-act-again-if-the-right-thing-234255468.html">Yahoo News</a>:</p><p><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Yahoo Sans", YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.385em; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em;">All those years <a class="link rapid-noclick-resp" data-rapid_p="21" data-v9y="1" data-ylk="slk:Selma Blair" href="https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/tagged/selma-blair/" style="background-color: transparent; color: #188fff; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">Selma Blair</a> had appeared in fan-favorite movies — <em>Cruel Intentions,</em> <em>Legally Blonde and The Sweetest Thing</em>, just to name a few — she was suffering. </p><p style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Yahoo Sans", YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.385em; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em;">"I'd compare myself to people. I didn't understand people didn't hurt every day," Blair said in an interview with <a class="link rapid-noclick-resp" data-rapid_p="22" data-v9y="1" data-ylk="slk:Variety" href="https://variety.com/2021/film/features/selma-blair-ms-documentary-1235065540/" rel="nofollow noopener" style="background-color: transparent; color: #188fff; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><em>Variety</em></a><em> </em>published Thursday. "I've hurt since I can remember."</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Yahoo Sans", YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.385em; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em;">The actress recalls particularly tough times after the birth of her son, Arthur, the now 11-year-old she shares with ex-partner Jason Bleick.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Yahoo Sans", YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.385em; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em;">"I really couldn't move,” she said. "The pain was so intense in every joint, in my hip, everything."</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Yahoo Sans", YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.385em; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em;">So when Blair finally received a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, which she shared with the world in 2018, she actually felt relief.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Yahoo Sans", YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.385em; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em;">"If I could have acknowledged that there was something real — a label that people understood — it would have just helped me emotionally," Blair said of the days she was left wondering what was going on with her body. "If I could have found this label and given myself some solace that I was actually a fucking trouper, I would have been much easier on myself."</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Yahoo Sans", YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.385em; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em;">Blair revealed last month that she was "<a class="link rapid-noclick-resp" data-rapid_p="23" data-v9y="1" data-ylk="slk:in remission" href="https://people.com/health/selma-blair-is-in-remission-from-her-multiple-sclerosis-my-prognosis-is-great/" rel="nofollow noopener" style="background-color: transparent; color: #188fff; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">in remission</a>" after undergoing a stem cell transplant in 2019, a process documented in her upcoming nonfiction film, <em>Introducing, Selma Blair</em>. </p><p style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Yahoo Sans", YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.385em; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em;">The treatment — which was suggested to Blair by actress Jennifer Grey, whom she had never met before — sounds excruciating: chemotherapy for two months to reduce her immune system to almost nothing, then the transplanting of cells previously taken from her body in an effort to rebuild that same system. </p><p style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Yahoo Sans", YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.385em; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em;">The procedure was so delicate that the 49-year-old had to film herself in some instances. No one was even allowed in her room because of the high risk of infection.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Yahoo Sans", YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.385em; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em;">Despite the MS, Blair has continued to appear onscreen. She says that she might even act again in the future "if there's the right thing."</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Yahoo Sans", YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.385em; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em;"><span style="font-weight: 700;"><em>Introducing, Selma Blair</em></span><span style="font-weight: 700;"> premieres Oct. 15 in theaters and Oct. 21 on Discovery+.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Yahoo Sans", YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.385em; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em;"><br /></p><div class="caas-share-section xray-side-rail" style="-webkit-box-flex: 0; background-color: white; color: #1d2228; display: flex; flex: 0 0 183px; font-family: "Yahoo Sans", YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; max-width: 183px; position: relative; z-index: 11;"><div class="caas-share-buttons sticky-flow sticky-active" style="-webkit-box-flex: 0; -webkit-box-pack: end; flex-grow: 0; justify-content: flex-end; position: fixed; top: 165px; z-index: 10;"><div class="caas-xray-wrapper caas-xray-wrapper-type-pills caas-xray-wrapper-position-left" style="position: relative;"><div class="caas-xray-pills-container" style="position: relative;"><div class="caas-xray-pills-list-wrapper" style="margin-bottom: 8px; margin-right: 10.9062px;"><ul class="caas-xray-pills xray-as-popup caas-xray-pills-left xray-pills-ready" data-xray-id="xray-popup-0" style="list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; max-width: 170px; overflow: visible; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; transition: opacity 0.4s ease-in-out 0s, visibility 0.4s ease-in-out 0s;"><br /></ul></div></div></div></div></div>BA Hallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435630232157672557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-973901678873012550.post-22754804339958189032021-07-22T23:58:00.004-04:002021-07-30T10:20:33.691-04:00Apple taps ‘CODA’s Siân Heder to helm & write Judy Heumann’s memoir ‘Being Heumann’; ‘Oklahoma’ Tony Winner Ali Stroker eyed to star<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJPzQf6MQuQDs26EVUfLhlLGMY7T5Vl31p3YcBg-jXP-HJU2riFl0x14V3T5LHf5-xpWvaocykev1-d6oM19rhVfOFhSk-YVtcWSLRcggJU1iEh4mVdur8FveHhcXtjigV9PUxX_GbcahC/s681/Sian-Heder-Being-Heumann.jpg" style="clear: right; display: inline; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="A picture of director Siân Heder, a white woman with medium-length light brown hair. A picture of the book Being Heumann" border="0" data-original-height="383" data-original-width="681" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJPzQf6MQuQDs26EVUfLhlLGMY7T5Vl31p3YcBg-jXP-HJU2riFl0x14V3T5LHf5-xpWvaocykev1-d6oM19rhVfOFhSk-YVtcWSLRcggJU1iEh4mVdur8FveHhcXtjigV9PUxX_GbcahC/w320-h180/Sian-Heder-Being-Heumann.jpg" title="Sian Heder and Being Heumann book" width="320" /></a> <br />From <i><a href="https://deadline.com/2021/07/coda-sian-heder-judy-heumann-being-human-apple-movie-oklahoma-tony-winner-ali-stroker-in-sights-to-star-1234798304/">Deadline</a></i>:</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px;"><a data-tag="apple" href="https://deadline.com/tag/apple/" id="auto-tag_apple" style="border-bottom: 2px solid rgb(215, 121, 121); box-sizing: border-box; color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">Apple</a> Original Films has landed rights to a package based on <a data-tag="judy-heumann" href="https://deadline.com/tag/judy-heumann/" id="auto-tag_judy-heumann" style="border-bottom: 2px solid rgb(215, 121, 121); box-sizing: border-box; color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">Judy Heumann</a>’s bestselling memoir <em style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a data-tag="being-heumann" href="https://deadline.com/tag/being-heumann/" id="auto-tag_being-heumann" style="border-bottom: 2px solid rgb(215, 121, 121); box-sizing: border-box; color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">Being Heumann</a></em>. Siân Heder, whom <a href="https://deadline.com/2021/06/sian-heder-overall-deal-apple-coda-little-america-1234772136/" style="border-bottom: 2px solid rgb(215, 121, 121); box-sizing: border-box; color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">Apple signed to a multi-year overall deal</a> in the wake of winning an auction for her Sundance sensation <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">CODA</em>, is adapting the film to direct. <a data-tag="ali-stroker" href="https://deadline.com/tag/ali-stroker/" id="auto-tag_ali-stroker" style="border-bottom: 2px solid rgb(215, 121, 121); box-sizing: border-box; color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">Ali Stroker</a>, the first actress who uses a wheelchair for mobility to appear on Broadway and the first to win a Tony for her work in<em style="box-sizing: border-box;"> Oklahoma</em>, is being eyed to star.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; margin-top: 1rem;">Heder will produce the film with <a data-tag="david-permut" href="https://deadline.com/tag/david-permut/" id="auto-tag_david-permut" style="border-bottom: 2px solid rgb(215, 121, 121); box-sizing: border-box; color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">David Permut</a> through his Permut Presentations, and Heumann’s managers John W. Beach and Kevin Cleary of Gravity Squared Entertainment. Heumann and her co-author Kristen Joiner will be executive producers. Alex Astrachan is co-producer.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; margin-top: 1rem;">From the time she contracted polio in 1949 in Brooklyn which confined her to a wheelchair, and was deemed a fire hazard at age 5 and told to stay home, Heumann has been a crusader for the rights of the disabled. The book was published last year by Beacon Press, and expands the activism of Heumann that was part of the Barack & Michelle Obama-produced documentary <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Crip Camp</em>, for which Heumann won a Critics’ Choice Award for Most Compelling Living Subject of a Documentary. The movie will explore her efforts to plan the 504 Sit In in San Francisco, an important protest that led to standardizing rights for the disabled. She went on to a distinguished career, including serving in the Clinton Administration as the Assistant Secretary for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in the Department of Education.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; margin-top: 1rem;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">CODA</em> (which stands for Children Of Deaf Adults) will be released by Apple globally on August 13 in theaters and on Apple TV+. The film swept the awards at Sundance, including the Grand Jury Prize, and Heder’s deal with Apple includes a first-look on features, as well as an exclusive deal for series written and developed by her. Heder’s partnership with Apple includes recent collaborations on the critically acclaimed, NAACP- and Spirit Award-nominated series<em style="box-sizing: border-box;"> Little America</em> as well as <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">CODA.</em></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; margin-top: 1rem;">Heder is repped by ICM Partners, Mosaic Media Group and attorney Mitch Smelkinson; Stoker is with KMR Talent, Schachter Entertainment and Schreck Rose Dapello.</p>BA Hallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435630232157672557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-973901678873012550.post-11309290387551669052021-07-14T19:11:00.012-04:002021-07-30T10:24:30.458-04:00Marlee Matlin to Hollywood: Disability is ‘not a box to be checked off’<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ys_ggczkNi2v1xJuAWHZhsMuJum7Xu2-Iyo8c-7PtotT1gfJglMD6RJvYRLdGhF92vBRrp-rNEVRAiMBQ3WjKnmpKvfEQqPxNlGXON3WAvDNYfR5E1uGgZK3UvZwxHn0_91JGZtlF3yQ/s2000/CODA+movie+poster.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="The movie poster for the film CODA, which pictures the 4 stars sitting on the back of a pickup truck" border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="1333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ys_ggczkNi2v1xJuAWHZhsMuJum7Xu2-Iyo8c-7PtotT1gfJglMD6RJvYRLdGhF92vBRrp-rNEVRAiMBQ3WjKnmpKvfEQqPxNlGXON3WAvDNYfR5E1uGgZK3UvZwxHn0_91JGZtlF3yQ/w213-h320/CODA+movie+poster.jpg" title="CODA movie poster" width="213" /></a></div><br />From <a href="https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/marlee-matlin-coda-73648/?fbclid=IwAR1zFq9Yq_ZMAIewA-H4aOJPuoZJbSZe0pZ0aSGXHHCqdT_wu0WFqMFDT08"><i>Backstage</i> Magazine</a>:</div><p></p><p></p><div class="section section--ad" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-family: Matter-Regular, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: no-contextual; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: 0.32px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 1080px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"></div><p></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-family: Matter-Regular, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: no-contextual; font-weight: 400; hyphens: manual; letter-spacing: 0.32px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-top: 1em; orphans: 2; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">“We need other Oscar winners who<strong style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Matter-SemiBold, sans-serif; font-weight: 400;"><span> </span></strong><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 400;">are deaf,” says Marlee Matlin, the only deaf actor to win the coveted award. “We need to see more deaf actors hired, more<span> </span><a href="https://www.backstage.com/magazine/tag/disabled-actors/" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #677af6; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">disabled actors</a><span> </span>hired—and not only actors. I’m<span> </span></span><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 400;">talking about producers, directors, writers—giving the entire Hollywood workforce an opportunity for deaf people and disabled people to participate.” </span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Matter-Regular, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: no-contextual; hyphens: manual; letter-spacing: 0.32px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">What about Matlin’s other Academy Award record: her status as the youngest best actress winner in the ceremony’s history? “That one I’d like to keep,” she says with a shameless grin. “Anyone over 21, fine! Go ahead—win the Oscar. I don’t care.”</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Matter-Regular, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: no-contextual; hyphens: manual; letter-spacing: 0.32px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">That grin of Matlin’s appears often over the course of our hourlong video interview. Alongside Jack Jason, her producing partner and sign language interpreter for almost 40 years, the star of the upcoming indie film “CODA” is effervescent and wry, quick to follow an irreverent joke with a proud “Yeah, I said it. So what?” expression.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Matter-Regular, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: no-contextual; hyphens: manual; letter-spacing: 0.32px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">And it’s clear Matlin is the kind of person who knows who she is, what she wants, and most of all, what she’s owed when it comes to accessibility for the Deaf and disabled communities—her call to arms since growing up legally deaf in suburban Illinois. “You have to keep reminding people that we’re still here and that we still deserve access just like everybody else,” she says. “I’m </span><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">looking at theater [stage productions]: They’re still not open-captioned. We’re talking about televisions; we’re talking about press conferences. When the president is speaking on TV about a national emergency, you need to have an interpreter right there on the screen, because the captions don’t cover it all.”</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Matter-Regular, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: no-contextual; hyphens: manual; letter-spacing: 0.32px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">The most recent in an endless list of examples? At a screening of “Cruella” with her family, Matlin’s caption glasses worked just fine until the film’s first song. “They don’t provide captions for the music lyrics!” She shakes her fists, at a loss for words. “Oh, I was just burning up.” Deaf audience members should always be able to choose between a variety of accessibility options, she says. “They can’t decide for us.” </span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Matter-Regular, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: no-contextual; hyphens: manual; letter-spacing: 0.32px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">The actor and activist is all too familiar with the two-steps-forward, one-step-back dance of championing inclusivity. An outspoken member of the National Association of the Deaf, she fought for the passage of the 1990 Television Decoder Circuitry Act, which requires TVs to include closed-captioning technology. In 2010, she found herself again appealing to Congress to demand the same of streaming sites—on the 20th anniversary of the <a href="https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/keely-cat-wells-c-talent-disabled-actor-progress-71635/" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #677af6; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Americans With Disabilities Act</a>, no less.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Matter-Regular, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: no-contextual; hyphens: manual; letter-spacing: 0.32px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-top: 1em; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Matter-Regular, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: no-contextual; hyphens: manual; letter-spacing: 0.32px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">But Matlin’s impatience and frustrations are forever tempered with optimism. “I think we’ve come a long way,” she says. “People are learning as we go along.”</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Matter-Regular, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: no-contextual; hyphens: manual; letter-spacing: 0.32px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Just look at the sea change that’s transforming the entertainment industry. “A Quiet Place” and its new sequel prominently feature American Sign Language, while Lauren Ridloff is poised to star as the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first authentically deaf superhero in “The Eternals.” <a href="https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/theater-companies-celebrating-actors-disabilities-8448/" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #677af6; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Deaf West Theatre</a> has taken over Broadway, including with its 2015 production of “Spring Awakening,” in which Matlin starred. And this year’s Academy Awards recognized “Crip Camp,” a documentary on the disability rights movement; best picture nominee <a href="https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/susan-shopmaker-sound-of-metal-casting-director-72860/" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #677af6; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">“Sound of Metal,”</a> which features deaf characters; and <a href="https://www.feelingthrough.com/" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #677af6; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">“Feeling Through,”</a> Doug Roland’s live-action short film that included Matlin and Jason as executive producers.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Matter-Regular, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: no-contextual; hyphens: manual; letter-spacing: 0.32px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Featuring a deaf-blind character played by deaf-blind star Robert Tarango, “Feeling Through” is a prime example of a project that “walked the walk and talked the talk,” as Matlin puts it. She signed on as a producer upon her first viewing—“18 minutes of probably the most incredible feeling I’ve ever </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.32px;">had, that really struck me at my core,” she says. The film has appeared in accessible screenings and talkbacks across the country, winning more than a dozen festival awards in addition to the Oscar nod. If all of Hollywood took authenticity as seriously as Roland did, Matlin says, there wouldn’t only be “little inclusivity cliques.”</span></p><div class="section section--ad" id="ads__container_article_0" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Matter-Regular, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: no-contextual; letter-spacing: 0.32px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 1080px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;"></div><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Matter-Regular, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: no-contextual; hyphens: manual; letter-spacing: 0.32px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Matter-Regular, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: no-contextual; hyphens: manual; letter-spacing: 0.32px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">So is there hope for the industry to make good on its promises of authentic minority casting, representation, and opportunities? Are artists with disabilities finally getting their due? “There are a lot of people in the business—people who are deaf—who are busier than ever,” says Matlin. “It’s all opening up! And people are very, very excited! And that’s great, and I don’t want to diminish the excitement. But I don’t want this all just to be the flavor of the year—deafness and disabilities just this year, and then, next year, we’ll move on to something else. It’s not a box to be checked off.”</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Matter-Regular, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: no-contextual; hyphens: manual; letter-spacing: 0.32px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">The 2021 Oscars also marked a watershed moment for Matlin, who returned as a presenter 34 years after the last time disability in entertainment received mainstream attention: her winning feature debut, Mark Medoff and Hesper Anderson’s “Children of a Lesser God,” from director Randa Haines. The producers of the 1986 film had seen Matlin as a supporting character in a local Chicago production of Medoff’s play, and selected her after a yearslong, nationwide search for an authentically deaf actor. “That was my first Hollywood experience,” she says, reflecting on her whirlwind introduction to the industry. “The whole world was watching…. There I was, thrust onto the world stage.”</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Matter-Regular, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: no-contextual; hyphens: manual; letter-spacing: 0.32px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">What many people don’t know is that within 48 hours of winning the Golden Globe for her performance, Matlin checked herself into rehab for drug and alcohol abuse. She learned of her Oscar nomination, and began working with Jason on coordinating press interviews, from behind closed doors at the Betty Ford Center near Los Angeles. “The bottom line is: I listened to myself. I listened to what I needed to do in order to be healthy and proceed with a clear mind,” Matlin explains. “So now, it’s been 34 years that I’ve been sober,” she adds proudly.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Matter-Regular, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: no-contextual; hyphens: manual; letter-spacing: 0.32px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.32px;">As if that full-circle moment at this year’s Oscars wasn’t enough, bookending it is Matlin’s buzzy new film. “CODA,” which won the</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.32px;"> </span><a href="https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/sundance-film-festival-award-winners-recap-coda-hive-72597/" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #677af6; cursor: pointer; letter-spacing: 0.32px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">2021 Sundance</a><span style="letter-spacing: 0.32px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.32px;">Grand Jury Prize, sold to Apple TV+ for a record-breaking sum and is premiering Aug. 13. It’s the story of Emilia Jones’ Ruby, a hearing child of deaf parents (known as a Child of Deaf Adults, or CODA) who is torn between familial loyalty and pursuing her dreams of becoming a singer. Playing her family are Matlin and her Deaf West co-stars Troy Kotsur and Daniel Durant in roles that, according to writer-director Sian Heder, the project’s initial investors tried giving to hearing actors.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; hyphens: manual; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><b><span face="Matter-Regular, sans-serif" style="font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: no-contextual; letter-spacing: 0.32px;">See the "CODA" trailer here: </span><span face="Matter-Regular, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: no-contextual; letter-spacing: 0.32px;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pmfrE1YL4I"><span style="background-color: transparent;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pmfrE1YL4I</span></a></span></span></b></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Matter-Regular, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: no-contextual; hyphens: manual; letter-spacing: 0.32px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">“I felt like I would rather see the movie not get made than see it get made with hearing actors playing deaf roles,” says Heder, noting Hollywood’s offensive tendency to reward nondisabled performers in disabled parts. “There are amazing stories in those worlds, and there are amazing actors. I mean, I was stunned by the talent in the Deaf community…. It was an asset to the project to have the kind of creative freedom that came along with having authentically cast actors.”</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Matter-Regular, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: no-contextual; hyphens: manual; letter-spacing: 0.32px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">“I said to [the producers], ‘If you don’t listen to me, and you don’t respect me and my community, then I won’t be in the film,’ ” reveals Matlin. “People think that, like with makeup or a costume, you can just put on being deaf or being disabled. It doesn’t make sense, because there are so many deaf actors out there who can represent our community.”</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Matter-Regular, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: no-contextual; hyphens: manual; letter-spacing: 0.32px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">“CODA” also marks a long-overdue milestone for Matlin; from “The West Wing” to “Dancing With the Stars” and her Emmy-nominated performances on “Picket Fences,” “Seinfeld,” <a href="https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/get-cast-law-order-special-victims-unit-2631/" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #677af6; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">“Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,”</a> and “The Practice,” her onscreen appearances have almost never included </span><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">deaf scene partners. “I think it was a </span><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">very different experience for her to be </span><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">acting alongside two other deaf actors and be able to improvise and have unscripted moments,” says Heder, who hired ASL masters to establish a cohesive signing dialect and learned the language herself to facilitate on-set communication.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Matter-Regular, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: no-contextual; hyphens: manual; letter-spacing: 0.32px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">As it turns out, ASL is an ideal language for a film set, where directors can give actors notes from far away or while cameras are rolling. “Suddenly, the whole crew was signing even when there weren’t deaf actors on set,” says Heder with a laugh. “Like, you’re working boat to boat and you need to communicate with someone, and you don’t have a walkie! I think people are daunted by how [procedures] would have to change in order to create an accessible set. But I will also just say: Moviemaking is problem-solving.”</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Matter-Regular, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: no-contextual; hyphens: manual; letter-spacing: 0.32px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"></p><div class="section section--ad" id="ads__container_article_1" style="box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: 0.32px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 1080px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;"></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; hyphens: manual; letter-spacing: 0.32px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a data-gallery="" href="https://d26oc3sg82pgk3.cloudfront.net/files/media/edit/image/44034/original.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #677af6; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" title="article image"></a></span></p><p></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-family: Matter-Regular, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: no-contextual; font-weight: 400; hyphens: manual; letter-spacing: 0.32px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 400;">Matlin would do it all again in a heartbeat. She remains, as ever, cautiously optimistic about the progress the film’s success may indicate: “I hope that with ‘CODA,’ we can start a trend again where deaf actors, as we did with ‘Children of a Lesser God,’ carry the film,” she says. “I want to see more of us carrying films, rather than playing third and fourth and fifth on the IMDb list.”</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Matter-Regular, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: no-contextual; hyphens: manual; letter-spacing: 0.32px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">How, then, do we capitalize on the industry’s momentum and create inclusive spaces in front of and behind the camera? “In order to make sure that it doesn’t stop,” answers Matlin, “we need to continue creating; we need to continue collaborating. We need to continue! I mean, you can’t just sit back quietly and complain. You have to be proactive. And I’ve always been that way. That’s part </span><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">of the business.”</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Matter-Regular, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: no-contextual; hyphens: manual; letter-spacing: 0.32px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">That advice goes for getting cast as much as fighting for inclusivity. Aspiring actors looking to endure only a handful of auditions, as Matlin has, should follow her lead. “I’m the kind of person who thinks, Who is it that I can reach out to? It’s not necessarily easy to do. But it shouldn’t stop you from giving it a try.” When a character on <a href="https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/aaron-sorkin-netflix-the-trial-of-the-chicago-7-72714/" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #677af6; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Aaron Sorkin</a>’s series “Sports Night” mentioned having a deaf sister, Matlin reached out to say she was a fan and, yes, asked for the part. Not long after she took Sorkin to lunch—“Chinese food,” she remembers—he created Joey Lucas on “The West Wing” for her. “So I’m always happy to approach people, to be assertive,” she says with a shrug. “I’ve never been one who’s been afraid. I hustle.”</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Matter-Regular, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: no-contextual; hyphens: manual; letter-spacing: 0.32px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">A quote from Matlin’s memoir, “I’ll Scream Later,” gets to the root of that philosophy. Reflecting on a childhood spent in frustration over her inability to communicate, she writes, “Whoever or whatever was trying to hold me back—I would fight against it as if my very life depended on it. And I now believe that it did. That fight, that intensity, that relentless need to break through and connect, has, in many ways, propelled me through this life.”</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Matter-Regular, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: no-contextual; hyphens: manual; letter-spacing: 0.32px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">For deaf or disabled artists, or anyone from underrepresented communities struggling to gain access to the business of authentic storytelling, the roadblocks—and the odds of getting past them—are abundantly clear. But what can Matlin do but meet every challenge head-on? “You can de-challenge it,” she advises. “I don’t know if that’s even a word! It means that you can either barrel through it, break the barrier, or just simply walk around it.”</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Matter-Regular, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: no-contextual; hyphens: manual; letter-spacing: 0.32px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Matter-Regular, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: no-contextual; hyphens: manual; letter-spacing: 0.32px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Matlin’s ultimate point is quite simple: Dare to claim what you deserve. “It’s up to you,” she says. “It’s up to you.” </span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Matter-Regular, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: no-contextual; hyphens: manual; letter-spacing: 0.32px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br /></p>BA Hallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435630232157672557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-973901678873012550.post-9969527786421855322021-06-11T14:26:00.005-04:002021-07-30T10:25:41.082-04:00'I am not ashamed': Disability advocates, experts implore you to stop saying 'special needs'<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Iw9zl9YQM4C9p0UQJsB2YE4iAfo07zAZS-M_YoeriLTa3Db0JPxdB0JUZ3VSkHXxlkEoz4Ys3F5aefHsbwKdCuQY0MJfusa7eApXqU39q6g0vXNHnTqAMjD_cCjsEVM3gJ3UvLpI3QXH/s400/saytheword+hashtag.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Text box that says Disabled. #SayTheWord" border="0" data-original-height="162" data-original-width="400" height="130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Iw9zl9YQM4C9p0UQJsB2YE4iAfo07zAZS-M_YoeriLTa3Db0JPxdB0JUZ3VSkHXxlkEoz4Ys3F5aefHsbwKdCuQY0MJfusa7eApXqU39q6g0vXNHnTqAMjD_cCjsEVM3gJ3UvLpI3QXH/w320-h130/saytheword+hashtag.png" title="Disabled. #SayTheWord" width="320" /></a></div><br />from <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/health-wellness/2021/06/11/disabled-not-special-needs-experts-explain-why-never-use-term/7591024002/">USA Today</a>: <p></p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">In our daily lives, we may encounter phrases like "I am disabled" or "My child has special needs." And to someone who is not part of the <a class="gnt_ar_b_a" data-t-l=":b|e|inline click|${u}" href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/2021/04/27/best-summer-ever-celebrates-disability-inclusion-film/7358125002/" rel="noopener" style="color: #303030; text-decoration-color: rgb(0, 152, 254); text-decoration-thickness: 2px; text-underline-offset: 2px;" target="_blank">community</a>, this wording may seem synonymous. But it's not. </p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Most experts and advocates vehemently oppose the term "special needs," and believe we need to eliminate it from our vernacular. Furthermore, they say avoiding the term "<a class="gnt_ar_b_a" data-t-l=":b|e|inline click|${u}" href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/2021/02/15/sia-new-movie-music-angers-autism-community/6735331002/" rel="noopener" style="color: #303030; text-decoration-color: rgb(0, 152, 254); text-decoration-thickness: 2px; text-underline-offset: 2px;" target="_blank">disabled</a>" only leads to stigmatization. </p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">For some, the term "special needs" feels offensive. </p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">"I am disabled by society due to my impairment," says <a class="gnt_ar_b_a" data-t-l=":b|e|inline click|${u}" href="http://www.latinxdisabilitycoalition.com/lisette-torres-gerald.html" rel="noopener" style="color: #303030; text-decoration-color: rgb(0, 152, 254); text-decoration-thickness: 2px; text-underline-offset: 2px;" target="_blank">Lisette Torres-Gerald</a>, board secretary for the National Coalition for Latinxs with Disabilities. "My needs are not 'special;' they are the same, human needs that everyone else has, and I should be able to fully participate in society just as much as the next person."</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">It can also be counterproductive. </p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Researchers from a 2016 study found people who are referred to as having "special needs" are seen more negatively than those referred to as having a disability.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Lawrence Carter-Long went viral with the hashtag <a class="gnt_ar_b_a" data-t-l=":b|e|inline click|${u}" href="https://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2016/02/25/468073722/disabled-just-saytheword" rel="noopener" style="color: #303030; text-decoration-color: rgb(0, 152, 254); text-decoration-thickness: 2px; text-underline-offset: 2px;" target="_blank">#SayTheWord </a>several years ago in an effort to promote the use of "disabled."</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Carter-Long, communications director for the Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund, says the word disabled connects members of the community "to each other, our common history, and to the lineage of all those who fought, protested and persisted so that one day we could be proud of disability history too."</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Torres-Gerald says there is power in the word disabled.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">"I am not ashamed to be disabled; I consider it a difference that allows me to view the world in a different way than other people."</p><h2 class="gnt_ar_b_h2" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Unify Sans", "Helvetica Neue", "Arial Nova", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 26px; margin: 28px 0px 18px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">The history of the term 'special needs'</h2><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">It's not clear where the term "special needs" originated; one theory is "special needs" arose following the launch of the Special Olympics in the 1960s, according to <a class="gnt_ar_b_a" data-t-l=":b|e|inline click|${u}" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5256467/" rel="noopener" style="color: #303030; text-decoration-color: rgb(0, 152, 254); text-decoration-thickness: 2px; text-underline-offset: 2px;" target="_blank">the 2016 study</a> published in "Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications." </p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">The National Center on Disability and Journalism says <a class="gnt_ar_b_a" data-t-l=":b|e|inline click|${u}" href="https://ncdj.org/style-guide/" rel="noopener" style="color: #303030; text-decoration-color: rgb(0, 152, 254); text-decoration-thickness: 2px; text-underline-offset: 2px;" target="_blank">special needs</a> "was popularized in the U.S. in the early 20th century during a push for special needs education to serve people with all kinds of disabilities."</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Data shows it permeated the public consciousness over the last few decades. Special needs has grown increasingly popular in books the past several decades, while "handicapped" has decreased significantly.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">The term is not a legal one – in fact, it only appears about a dozen times across thousands of pages of laws in the U.S. "Never once are children with disabilities or adults with disabilities referred to as children with special needs or adults with special needs," according to the study. "Rather, individuals with disabilities are always referred to in U.S. law as individuals with disabilities."</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Jamie Davis Smith, whose daughter is disabled, points out that people with disabilities are entitled to certain rights as a result – from movie theater seating to Medicaid and more.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">"Special needs" doesn't offer the same legal protections.</p><h2 class="gnt_ar_b_h2" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Unify Sans", "Helvetica Neue", "Arial Nova", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 26px; margin: 28px 0px 18px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span color="inherit" face=""Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 30px;">The term 'special needs' is harmful, experts say</span></h2><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">"Special needs" has actually become a "dysphemism" – a derogatory term as opposed to a softer one. Like saying "loony bin" instead of "mental hospital." </p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><a class="gnt_ar_b_a" data-t-l=":b|e|inline click|${u}" href="https://twitter.com/Quinns_quirks" rel="noopener" style="color: #303030; text-decoration-color: rgb(0, 152, 254); text-decoration-thickness: 2px; text-underline-offset: 2px;" target="_blank">Quinn West</a>, a disabled artist living in Chicago, grew up going to a mainstream school and felt the impact of the term "special needs." </p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">"Abled people assume that saying 'special' means a 'good special' when disabled kids who went through the system know that kids would use 'special' as an insult," West says.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">West says it makes those who are disabled sound like an extra burden, when that's not the case; "I’m deaf, so like everyone else I need communication. That need isn’t anything extraordinary. It’s the same need for human connection, but I just need an accommodation to do so."</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Nila Morton, a 22-year old college student, disabled advocate and model in South Carolina, says that words matter. "It’s OK to say 'disabled' and 'disability,'" Morton says. "Those words aren’t bad. The only reason they are seen as bad is because of the able-normative view of disability."</p><h2 class="gnt_ar_b_h2" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Unify Sans", "Helvetica Neue", "Arial Nova", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 26px; margin: 28px 0px 18px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">What parents say about their children with disabilities</h2><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Parents may be more comfortable using "special needs." But their children most likely won't take that with them into adulthood.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">"While it is used by parents of disabled kids, as those kids become young adults, they do not use this term," Lauren Appelbaum, vice president of communications at RespectAbility says.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Smith doesn't want her <a class="gnt_ar_b_a" data-t-l=":b|e|inline click|${u}" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/parenting/wp/2017/09/28/my-daughter-doesnt-have-special-needs-shes-disabled/" rel="noopener" style="color: #303030; text-decoration-color: rgb(0, 152, 254); text-decoration-thickness: 2px; text-underline-offset: 2px;" target="_blank">disabled daughter</a> Claire to have "special" treatment. Her daughter simply requires extra support. "I think it's really important that non-disabled people, people who don't know people with disabilities, understand that I'm not really asking for anything that special for my daughter, I'm just asking that she be able to participate in her community, in life, on an equal basis as my other kids," she says.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Parents who opt to use the term are not coming from a bad place.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">"Parents, like all of us, are prone to adopt whatever is common in the ecosystem that surrounds them," Carter-Long says. "And since most folks aren’t born into disabled families, it’s no surprise that they just adopt whatever their friends and neighbors do. Even if it’s unintentionally bigoted. Even if it harms their kids in ways they don’t quite understand."</p><h2 class="gnt_ar_b_h2" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Unify Sans", "Helvetica Neue", "Arial Nova", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 26px; margin: 28px 0px 18px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">What you should be saying instead</h2><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><a class="gnt_ar_b_a" data-t-l=":b|e|inline click|${u}" href="https://twitter.com/NCDJ_ASU/status/1401336547669012482?s=20" rel="noopener" style="color: #303030; text-decoration-color: rgb(0, 152, 254); text-decoration-thickness: 2px; text-underline-offset: 2px;" target="_blank">The National Center on Disability and Journalism</a> recommends never using it: "Our advice: avoid the term 'special needs.' Disabled is acceptable in most contexts, but we advise asking the person to whom you’re referring what they prefer."</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Sonja Sharp, a metro reporter with the Los Angeles Times, prefers identity-first language: "disabled" over "person with disabilities." "It's cleaner, it's simpler, and it's more reflective of my reality," Sharp says. "The law defines me as disabled."</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">For Sharp, disability is at the core of her identity.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">"Every significant experience – school, friendships, puberty, sex, career, marriage, motherhood – has been shaped by this body, made different because of this body," she says. "I am disabled the way I am Jewish – intrinsic and inseparable from me."</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br /></p>BA Hallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435630232157672557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-973901678873012550.post-82337902655449281462021-05-15T15:56:00.008-04:002021-07-30T10:26:31.332-04:00Creators-Directors of film "Drought," now on Amazon Prime, say authentic casting can happen in any production<p><em style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: "Work Sans", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></em></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><em style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: "Work Sans", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNXWK0L2QKo1qYlw9lyOYOISVQ237E2LZs2_0sdVlSVHM5QBK9EoCIfLVn6zGjRMlQveZmMDbjvV6C4dgD5zbbD3-5gLAkxKnESkTprkm2pZ3m6rv5isSHNJCKqR4A1cP1Ywoy4KRzl_KI/s650/Drought_Still.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="In the picture, (L-R) Hannah Black, Owen Scheid, Megan Petersen and Drew Scheid in Drought." border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="650" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNXWK0L2QKo1qYlw9lyOYOISVQ237E2LZs2_0sdVlSVHM5QBK9EoCIfLVn6zGjRMlQveZmMDbjvV6C4dgD5zbbD3-5gLAkxKnESkTprkm2pZ3m6rv5isSHNJCKqR4A1cP1Ywoy4KRzl_KI/w320-h221/Drought_Still.jpg" title="Cast of "Drought"" width="320" /></a></em></div><em style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: "Work Sans", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In the picture, (L-R) Hannah Black, Owen Scheid, Megan Petersen and Drew Scheid in</em> Drought. </div></em><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;">from <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/973901678873012550/8233790265544928146"><span style="color: blue;">MovieMaker</span></a>.<br />
<i>By Drought filmmakers Megan Petersen and Hannah Black</i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;">
Megan Petersen and Hannah Black are the creators-directors-producers of </span></i><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Drought<i><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">, which was just released on
Prime Video. Black wrote the script, and she and Petersen also act in the
film. </span></i>Drought<i><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;"> is set in a small,
southern, drought-ridden town in 1993, where Sam (Black) tries to find a better
life for her brother Carl (Owen Scheid) who is on the autism spectrum and
fascinated by weather. She decides to steal their mother’s ice-cream truck and
chase a storm. </span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Here are Petersen and Black describing some of the
challenges they faced and overcame on the film.</span></i></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">On the surface, it may appear that our North
Carolina-based film had everything going in its favor: We have Mark and Jay
Duplass on as executive producers, for crying out loud. But when gearing up for
production, we had a couple of assumed challenges, and then real challenges,
that we never anticipated. We’ll give you our top three of each.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
<b><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Assumed Challenge No. 1: Finding a stellar team outside major film
markets will be tricky.<br />
</span></b>FALSE! We are proof it’s possible to make a movie where you live,
and that it can even an advantage. After searching nationwide for both cast and
crew, we teamed up with two incredible production companies in our town, Lighthouse
Films and Brightermoon Entertainment. They led us to an extremely talented
11-person crew, many of whom were stepping into multiple roles they’d never
done before. The cast was also all local to our town.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
This was not because of budget or compromise. North Carolina breeds some
talented, hardworking, and kind individuals and making this film was proof.
Speaking of amazing local talent…</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
<b><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Assumed Challenge No. 2: Casting an actor on the autism spectrum
will be hard.<br />
</span></b>Not a challenge! Period. End of story. Anyone telling you different
is lying or to put it quite bluntly… they didn’t even try. If there was
anything challenging about casting the role of Carl authentically, it was that
there were so many talented autistic actors that we had more choices than we
knew what to do with.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
<b><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Assumed Challenge No. 3: You can’t create a convincing period
piece on a micro budget.<br />
</span></b>Sleepy southern towns are stuck in time y’all! A grocery with manual
registers, check. An ice cream truck from the early ’90s, check. What made it
all convincing was our Art Dept, Set Decorator, Props, and Editor, Parrish
Stikeleather, a talented director and writer who happens to also be good at
everything. His eye for detail and complete understanding of the script
made <i><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Drought</span></i> seem perfectly ’90s in the South. What
else does the South bring? Summer heat. Yes, heat is tough. Especially when it
is 105 degrees and nine people are filming in an old ice cream truck with no
air conditioning. However, it added to the authenticity and gave it the real
southern summer feeling we were wanting.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
Well. With all these assumed challenges proving less difficult than we
expected, the rest must have been really easy, yeah?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
Cue the real challenges!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
<b><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Real Challenge No. 1: Wearing a lot, like a lot, a lot, of hats on
our first feature.<br />
</span></b>How does one act in an important emotional scene while seeing the
grip truck stuck in sand or knowing a real storm is headed your way? To be
honest, we look back and don’t know how our brains didn’t explode. A particular
challenge was acting in scenes while pushing aside all other tasks that needed
to be taken care of. We learned that it all comes down to trust. But how do you
get trust? Well, you put together an amazing team. It was important not only
for us as actors, but also directors, to trust in our team so we could be
present in each scene. When you have an amazing team (see Assumed Challenge No.
1), this real challenge becomes much easier to handle.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
<b><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Real Challenge No. 2: Life goes on. So does death.<br />
</span></b>Spoiler alert: The world continues spinning when you are shooting
your movie. Who knew?! This means that things can happen. Like, really serious,
Debbie Downer, soul crushing shit. There is no sugar coating this challenge. On
Day 6 of production, Megan got the worst call anyone can get, receiving the
news that her mother had passed away. We could get into the really tough
decisions Megan had to make (trust us, you can’t even imagine) or the difficult
calls that Hannah had to decipher making while wanting to be there for her best
friend, but that could be a whole story of its own. The reality is, it was
hard. Maybe the hardest moment during the making of this whole movie. Enter our
perfectly wonderful and empathetic crew to save the day again. Their support,
kindness, and belief in the movie kept the train rolling. Megan took time away
while the rest of the team kept moving. When she came back to set, everyone was
there with open arms and kept a keen watch on her through the rest of the
shoot. In turn, she showed strength and grace that was out of this world. That
was the day we all became family.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
<b><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Real Challenge No. 3: Hurricane.</span></b> Just when we
thought we’d made it through the hardest thing a production could handle, a
big, fat category 4 hurricane was headed straight for our town. One of the
hardest challenges in any step of filmmaking is losing momentum. We were 12
days into an 18-day shoot and had to make the gut-wrenching call to stop
production. The hurricane had a devastating hit on our town and surrounding
areas. We were not sure if our locations were even still standing after the
storm. The big lingering question mark was, were we going to finish this movie?
Since you’re reading this, the answer is “Yes,” but at the time, we truly did
not know what the future would hold. After a scene rewrite, cast and crew
scheduling Tetris, and a two-month pause, our team came back together to finish
out the movie in 44 degree weather; a vast difference from 105. But we did it!
Once again, this rockstar cast and crew from NC prevailed!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
At this point, we had a movie! A real life movie! We entered into festivals
and…we got in!!! They were traveling us out to these festivals?! They were
booking us hotels and throwing us parties and networking events and connecting
us to audiences!!! We had arrived to the indie filmmaker’s big time!!!! Then…</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
<b><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Bonus Real Challenge:</span></b> <b><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">A global pandemic.<br />
</span></b>The difference here is we<i><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;"> all</span></i> went
through this one together. Our sold out World Premiere at our home state
RiverRun International Film Festival was cancelled and our festival run was
looking quite different than we expected. However, we learned about digital
marketing, networking with filmmakers across the country thanks to Zoom, and
felt close to the amazing festival professionals, since we all had to work
together to make it a success.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
Maybe the coolest thing that happened was having our film play at the drive-in
at <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/973901678873012550/8233790265544928146"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #0077ee; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">our hometown festival, Cucalorus</span></a>. Our cast & crew
and folks from our amazing community filled every parking lot space in
Wilmington, North Carolina, and there, we finally got to see our work on the
big screen. All the challenges faded away as the car horns started honking with
the roll of the credits. A moment we will never forget.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
While this may seem like a cautionary tale of why to never make a movie, it is
in fact the opposite. It’s why you can and should make your film despite any
curveball thrown your way. The theme of our film’s story is that “there is no
such thing as normal.” We guess you could say it also applies to the making of
this movie, and all movies really. Normal doesn’t exist. There isn’t one path
to take. So, if you have a story, please tell it. Find your path, gather your
team, keep pressing through, and, as cheesy as it sounds, don’t give up, even
when it gets really hard. The world needs to hear your voice too.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
<i><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Megan Petersen and Hannah Black’s </span></i>Drought<i><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;"> is now available for rent or purchase exclusively on Amazon
Prime Video.</span></i></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><br />BA Hallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435630232157672557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-973901678873012550.post-71920519053598301132021-04-23T12:19:00.009-04:002021-07-30T10:29:39.445-04:00Why ‘Crip Camp’ deserves to win the Oscar for Best Documentary<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCdtDVW0kPc1osqrvPG_aAVhFaps-9F9DG9LvH43T1TMFSdYOiSGxhsvli_ob4xOz66BmOwmXS6GG-aXD2UX0jklO63_jCZik0HOd3XbVWyNekfqejoWeJSz8J6675XScwp7y4JBdLyqSK/s800/crip-camp.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="In a scene from the documentary, a young Black camp counselor stands behind a white teenage young man in a wheelchair. Behind them is a rolling green hill with white buildings that are camp dormitories" border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCdtDVW0kPc1osqrvPG_aAVhFaps-9F9DG9LvH43T1TMFSdYOiSGxhsvli_ob4xOz66BmOwmXS6GG-aXD2UX0jklO63_jCZik0HOd3XbVWyNekfqejoWeJSz8J6675XScwp7y4JBdLyqSK/w320-h180/crip-camp.jpg" title="Crip Camp scene" width="320" /></a></div><br />By <a href="https://www.indiewire.com/2021/04/crip-camp-should-win-best-documentary-feature-1234629283/">Kristen Lopez at IndieWire</a>:<p></p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I spend a lot of my time talking about the state of disability representation in media. It’s never been a good time to be disabled, and movies and television have only perpetuated the belief that our lives are sad, broken, and fodder for able-bodied inspiration. I’ve prefaced my answer to the question, “What’s the best disabled movie?” with “Well, nothing’s perfect but….” for years.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">That all changed when I watched Jim LeBrecht and Nicole Newnham’s “<a data-tag="crip-camp" href="https://www.indiewire.com/t/crip-camp/" id="auto-tag_crip-camp" style="border: 0px; color: #005da4; cursor: pointer; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Crip Camp</a>.” There are two competing storylines within the Netflix documentary. The first is about Camp Jened, a summer camp in the Catskills. Full disclosure: I never got the opportunity to go to summer camp and I’ve been bummed ever since. My parents knew nothing about summer camps for the disabled when I was growing up, and even if they had, as first-time parents of a disabled child they lacked the confidence to send me out on such a voyage to the unknown.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In one key moment in “Crip Camp,” the kids talk about the assumptions their families make about them. Really, the entire documentary focuses on breaking down assumptions about those with disabilities. These kids are perceived to be perpetual virgins, to be dumb, to be otherwise lesser-than. Their parents care, but these kids know their parents underestimate them. I love my parents, but we’ve had our fair share of discussions about the regrets I’ve had through life feeling like they didn’t encourage me. Hearing these teens talk so frank, it showed what I’d been missing being the only disabled girl in my bubble.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">More importantly, “Crip Camp” is the story of how Camp Jened galvanized these kids to become activists for the Disabled Rights Movement. Their time at this camp, feeling the true freedom and equality they didn’t find at home, caused them to understand that they (and by extension all of us with disabilities) have the power to ask for more than what we get.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Some viewers might balk at the subject matter of “Crip Camp” as too didactic or dour. But let’s be honest here: That’s the ableism talking. For too long, disabled narratives have been presented as sad and educational because, again, our lives are generally shown through the prism of being sad and educational. That’s not what “Crip Camp” does. Instead, it shows what disabled narratives can be.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In <a href="https://www.indiewire.com/2020/03/crip-camp-directors-jim-lebrecht-nicole-newnham-documentary-1202217733/" style="border: 0px; color: #005da4; cursor: pointer; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">an interview last year with Newnham and LeBrecht</a>, the latter discussed how he saw this film as “a golden opportunity” to finally tell the type of disabled stories he’d always wanted. LeBrecht wanted to tell a story about his time at Jened, a place where he found liberation, joy, and a sense of normalcy outside of his home. Newnham said she’d watched LeBrecht “spend a lot of his time and energy as an advocate for better representation for people with disabilities,” especially disabled filmmakers, so when he brought up his time at Camp Jened it seemed, for LeBrecht especially, “like a golden opportunity.”</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The problem is, because the disabled landscape on film and TV remains heavily skewed towards white men, and disabilities remain aesthetically relatable to the able-bodied, “Crip Camp” challenges all of those assumptions. These kids at Camp Jened aren’t just talking about sex or having a crabs outbreak — summer fun for the average kid, amiright? — they’re doing it and not being conventionally attractive. Disability remains so stigmatized because people aren’t used to seeing disability as it is.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">An able-bodied, proportionate woman sitting down in a wheelchair is not the same as someone with brittle bone disease in a wheelchair, or someone who is quadriplegic. Seeing someone with polio or spina bifida talking about sex, there’s an immediate shock from the able-bodied audience because they’ve never interacted with a person who has that disability, let alone hear about their sex life. If disabled people were shown in all different forms, as they are in “Crip Camp,” that shock would disappear.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">When the pandemic first started, I saw it as <a href="https://www.indiewire.com/2020/04/disability-media-health-crisis-1202220789/" style="border: 0px; color: #005da4; cursor: pointer; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">an opportunity to confront the systemic inequalities</a> that keep disabled people feeling like they aren’t part of society. If the last year has had anything passing for a silver lining, it’s that aspects of daily life that people with disabilities have long wanted to happen finally did.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Crip Camp” brings a similar reckoning. If it won the <a data-tag="best-documentary" href="https://www.indiewire.com/t/best-documentary/" id="auto-tag_best-documentary" style="border: 0px; color: #005da4; cursor: pointer; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Best Documentary</a> Feature, that would be a clear example of what disabled audiences want to see. To reward its success would prove, once again, that there is a way to make disabled stories fun and accessible to everyone.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">This year’s Academy Awards ceremony is poised to make history on a few fronts, from Best Director frontunner Chloé Zhao’s win to the possibility of Viola Davis being the second Black woman to win Best Actress. But if “Crip Camp” wins, it will represent another groundbreaking achievement — LeBrecht would be the first disabled director to win an Oscar — and it would be just as significant.</p>BA Hallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435630232157672557noreply@blogger.com