Tal Anderson
Actor & Author
"There's not enough emphasis put on the importance of seeing someone on screen who you can relate to. It makes you feel seen, and is the kind of validation that's so critical for building self-esteem and confidence, especially for kids."
Keely Cat-Wells
CEO & Founder of Making Space | HRTS Foundation Board Member
"Businesses that do really engage in disability inclusion initiatives have 28% higher revenue, two times the net income, [and] 30% higher profit margins... But I am very, very excited for the time that we don’t have to continuously legitimize our existence within spaces based solely on our economic power and value."
Cole & Charisma
YouTubers & Social Media Influencers
"As our content began reaching a wider audience, we realized that we had an opportunity to not just entertain, but educate, as well. There are so many stigmas to dispel, curiosities to state, and laughs to be had; we became hooked on sharing our world and raising awareness. And the most beautiful part: you can, too!"
Jerome Core
Amazon MGM Studios/PV DEIA Content Head
Easterseals Southern California Board Member
"We as a community are tired of the talking, the panels, the 'what can we do better?' questions. These discussions have been happening for years now and we’re still asking the same questions. How about the industry just make the changes instead of talking about them. Hire more disabled creators, put them in lead roles, take a chance and see what happens."
Ashley Eakin
Writer & Director
"Greenlight projects led by disabled talent. Every underrepresented community that is now thriving needed an ally to be their champion. We need bold, passionate, fearless executives to create real change. The stories we create have the ability to fundamentally reshape the way disabled people are perceived in society."
Nicole Lynn Evans
Actor, Writer, Producer
"There's not enough emphasis put on the importance of seeing someone on screen who you can relate to. It makes you feel seen, and is the kind of validation that's so critical for building self-esteem and confidence, especially for kids."
Shaina Ghuraya
Writer, Producer, Director | Co-founder of the Disabled BIPOC Film Collective
“We need so much more authentic content featuring folks with disabilities. There is a definite gap in the romance department. My hope is that more authentic content around intimacy and relationships is greenlit, because I believe that romance deepens folks' empathy. Also... we're hot.”
Danny J. Gomez
Actor & Disability Advocate
"We as a community are tired of the talking, the panels, the 'what can we do better?' questions. These discussions have been happening for years now and we’re still asking the same questions. How about the industry just make the changes instead of talking about them. Hire more disabled creators, put them in lead roles, take a chance and see what happens."
Rachel Handler
Actor & Writer
“As a disabled creative and amputee, I started writing and producing my own films to explore facets of the disabled experience that I wasn't seeing on screen. I participate in the Easterseals Disability Film Challenge almost every year, meeting collaborators both in the lead-up to the event and in celebration once all the films have premiered.”
John Hoffman
Executive Producer, Writer, Director & Showrunner
"As a writer, casting director or producer, you don’t have to write a disabled character. All you have to do is write a character and then consider someone with a disability for it, because that’s all we are. I’m a character."
Emily Ladau
Author & Media Consultant
“I don't just want to see a token disabled character in a movie or on TV every once in a while. That's not true disability representation. Disabled people belong everywhere in the media industry—behind the scenes, informing every aspect of a media project, working at every level of a company. I want to see disabled people in the background, as supporting characters, and in leading roles. Inclusion in Hollywood needs to be a movement and not a moment."
Kristen Lopez
Author & Journalist
"The roles for disabled characters, regardless of acting, has increased from 1.9% to 2.4%...So how do you look at the concept of people thinking, ’well, we can just add disabled characters from AI', instead of actually just upping that number?"
Kelli McNeil-Yellen
Writer & Producer, DARUMA | Film Marketing & PR Consultant
"We cast authentically, bootstrapped the entire process, and I truly believe we have a better product because of it. I feel like we’re riding a wave and setting a blueprint. The success of this film hopefully means people are going to sit up and go, 'My God, there’s an audience, there’s revenue."
Nic Novicki
Comedian, Actor, Found of the Easterseals Disability Film Challenge & Easterseals Southern California Board Member
"A lot of times, accessibility does not require more money, it requires more planning —strategically planning ahead and integrating accessibility from the very beginning.”
Lolo Spencer
Actress, Entrepreneur & Disability Advocate
"Stop making it weird. Don’t make it weird. Everybody shows up in the way they need to show up in that particular space."
