This year’s Media Access Awards celebration, in light of the current pandemic, will go virtual by streaming a video live on Thursday, November 19 at 6pm PT / 9pm ET, paying tribute to those individuals, series, and films that have redefined on-screen representation for the disability community, while advancing the portrayal and employment of people with disabilities in Hollywood.
Events
Upcoming
Film Independent Presents: Disability Inclusion Showcase
Immediately following the Media Access Awards, we invite you to join us for the Film Independent Presents: Disability Inclusion Showcase premiering the 2020 Media Access Awards presented by Easterseals.
The Showcase highlights the work of this year’s Media Access Awards honorees and those promoting representation of the disabled community, and features screenings and conversations celebrating honored talent: Ramy Youssef (Ramy), Danny J. Gomez (New Amsterdam) and Lauren Ridloff (The Walking Dead).
In Case You Missed It
Easterseals Disability Film Challenge: Home Edition
A pandemic simply couldn’t dampen this year’s enthusiasm, creativity and incredible participation in our “Home Edition” challenge. Our filmmakers outdid themselves – developing nearly 90 documentary shorts, personal accounts about disability in our lives today. Be sure to check out these amazing and poignant films – we are so touched by their honesty, skill and true depth and understanding.
Red Carpet Celebration
If you missed it, check out our digital red carpet awards celebration honoring this great talent in filmmaking. We have many special guests, too, who lent their voices to our cause for inclusion.
16th annual HollyShorts Film Festival
The 16th edition of the Academy Awards®-qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival November 9-15, 2020, features a panel presented by Easterseals Disability Film Challenge Panel at 3:00 p.m. PST on Saturday, Nov. 14, titled “Has the Covid workforce paradigm shift moved the needle enough to encourage greater disability inclusion and representation?”
Panelists Dr. Tonya Browning, Vice President, Dell Digital Design, Dell Technologies; Margot Nack, Senior Product Manager, Adobe's Video & Audio Team; and Grace Wu, Executive Vice President, Casting, NBC Entertainment, join moderator Tim Gray, SVP, Variety. The discussion will focus on whether the evolution of innovative, adaptive technologies and the greater flexibility in working environments since the onset of COVID-19 has influenced the way employers in the entertainment industry could look at increasing disability inclusion and representation.
Easterseals Disability Film Challenge winners will also screen via the festival’s new streaming platform Bitpix, along with the 6,000 festival submissions from 110 countries!
Disability Revolution Book Club
Let’s come together to celebrate our history, the fight for equal rights, inclusion, representation and so much more. Judy Heumann is a true American hero, a visionary leader, and pioneering activist. Her memoir is a must-read, now more than ever. Watch a lively and incredibly timely discussion with Judy Heumann, Kristen Joiner, and Ali Stroker, Lolo Spencer, and Emily Ladau.
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