Organized by the U.S. Department of Labor, this year’s National Disability Employment Awareness Month theme is “Access to Good Jobs for All.” The month of October aims to ensure Americans with disabilities, have opportunities to obtain jobs and grow in their career paths.
SAG-AFTRA is celebrating by supporting productions that feature performers with disabilities. To raise awareness about some of the stereotypes that performers with disabilities face in the entertainment industry, SAG-AFTRA’s National Performers with Disabilities Committee created a series of video vignettes, “Inclusion: Time to Get Real.”
According to a 2023 study by the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative about inequality in popular films, out of 1,700 films that were examined, only 2.2% of speaking characters were depicted with a disability, and 95% of disabled characters are played by abled-bodied performers. SAG-AFTRA’s videos are intended to call attention to this underrepresentation of disability in the entertainment industry.
“We want fans who watch these videos to use their voices to inspire the industry to change by demanding the inclusive content they want to see,” said Nicole Cyrille, Co-vice Chair of the National Performers with Disabilities Committee.
The premise for these videos came from a list of common reasons why employers hesitate to hire individuals with disabilities in their productions. This list was created by a performer with a disability who also shared some ideas for the video from their personal experiences as an employee in the industry.
The three videos, “You Are So Brave,” “True Cringe” and “Can’t Do What?” take a light approach to a serious topic and encourage the audience to reflect on behaviors they might have towards performers with disabilities. They also reassure the community that SAG-AFTRA is committed to creating a more inclusive industry.
The videos have been released in four variations, English, Spanish, English with audio description and Spanish with audio description — all of which include captions.
Vice Chair of the National Performers with Disabilities Committee, Jack Patterson, expressed that these videos allow for deeper conversations about disabilities and encourage performers to continue pursuing their careers. The committee hopes to bring awareness to this difficult message by using humor and leveraging platforms like social media to increase the number of views.
“It all comes down to an element of respect, respect for the audience with disabilities, and respect for performers with disabilities,” Patterson said. “Treating us with respect opens a major financial market and greater, richer creative content.”.
SAG-AFTRA National Board Member and actress Michelle Hurd said there are not enough recognizable performers with disabilities in the industry. “Our [performers with disabilities] are incredibly talented individuals,” Hurd said.,” They should have those opportunities.”
Hurd also encouraged prominent figures in the entertainment industry who can draw more interest to shed light and celebrate performers with disabilities in hopes of helping find more opportunities for the community.
The committee hopes the series will inspire industry employers and allies to advocate for equal opportunities for persons with disabilities.
“Information is power, and kindness is powerful. Those two things together can make us a much richer community,” said Hurd. “So, let’s open up our doors. Let’s open up our arms. Let’s have kindness and information lead us. Not fear, but love, lead us.”
Two additional vignettes will be released in the upcoming weeks and can be found on the SAG-AFTRA YouTube channel and website.