Sponsored by SAG-AFTRA, with the support of the National Performers with Disabilities Committee, the 2022 Easterseals Disability Film Challenge was a huge success, culminating with its awards ceremony on May 5 at the Sony Pictures Studios Cary Grant Theater.
Twenty-five percent of Americans have a disability, making the community the country’s largest minority population, yet far too often, their important and varied stories go untold. The Easterseals Disability Film Challenge, a weekend-long filmmaking contest, addresses this underrepresentation by giving filmmakers the platform to collaborate and tell unique stories to help change the way the world defines and views disability.
Each year, aspiring storytellers are prompted to creatively write, produce and complete a short film, which is then judged by a noted and diverse group of entertainment industry talent. The films are not required to include disability in the storyline, but teams must include at least one person with a disability in front of or behind the camera. Challenge winners receive invaluable access to entertainment professionals, opening the door to an industry notoriously difficult to enter.
Photo: SAG-AFTRA National Performers with Disabilities Committee members along with other presenters at the Easterseals Disability Film Challenge Awards at the Sony Pictures Studios Cary Grant Theater. Top row, from left, Josh Greenstein, Phil Lord, Rick Glassman, Andrea Jennings, Sue Ann Pien, Diana Elizabeth Jordan, Nic Novicki, Chris Miller, Nicole Evans, Max Borenstein, Blake Stadnik and Paul Raci. Photo by Tommaso Boddi.