2025 Easterseals Incapacity Movie Problem Launches at Sundance

Introduction

The twelfth annual Movie Problem was as soon as once more formally launched throughout this yr’s Sundance Movie Pageant by actor, comic, producer and incapacity advocate Nic Novicki, a board member of Easterseals Southern California and founder and director of the Movie Problem. Novicki introduced the 2025 competitors’s style of “Thriller & Suspense” in the course of the panel Reimagining Hollywood: A New Lens on Incapacity Inclusion, introduced by Easterseals Incapacity Companies.

Principal Merchandise

Celebrating 12 years of management advocating for variety, fairness and inclusion within the leisure trade, the 2025 Easterseals Incapacity Movie Problem (EDFC) opens Jan. 25, with the competitors to be held April 1-6. The awards ceremony might be held Could 8 at Sony Photos Studios.

As soon as once more this yr – along with the normal Movie Problem awards of money, items, subscriptions, mentorships and screening alternatives – the EDFC might be awarding seed fund/movie ending grants. Made doable by a grant supplied by Adobe, as a part of the Adobe Movie & TV Fund, the EDFC grants are introduced to be used in additional creating the awardee’s submitted brief movie and/or to speed up the event of their initiatives into function movies or episodic collection.

5 2025 Movie Problem winners – within the classes of Greatest Movie, Greatest Director, Greatest Author, Greatest Actor and Greatest Editor – will robotically obtain a $5,000 grant. Moreover, 5 grants of $25,000 can even be made out there to all previous EDFC members who could submit their earlier Movie Problem submissions for consideration by a evaluate committee, with winners introduced at this yr’s EDFC awards ceremony. The grant can even fund EDFC workshops and different actions all year long.

The twelfth annual Movie Problem was as soon as once more formally launched throughout this yr’s Sundance Movie Pageant by actor, comic, producer and incapacity advocate Nic Novicki, a board member of Easterseals Southern California and founder and director of the Movie Problem. Novicki introduced the 2025 competitors’s style of “Thriller & Suspense” in the course of the panel Reimagining Hollywood: A New Lens on Incapacity Inclusion, introduced by Easterseals Incapacity Companies.

Because the Movie Problem was launched in 2013, aspiring filmmakers have created and submitted greater than 750 brief movies (a file 135 final yr) from practically each state and from across the globe, together with submissions from Austria, Bolivia, Canada, England, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, India, Eire, Israel, Singapore, Timor-Leste and The Netherlands.

In keeping with the CDC, 25% of U.S. residents, greater than 70 million folks, have a incapacity, making it immediately’s largest minority inhabitants. But, in accordance with a examine launched final summer time by USC’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, the variety of talking characters with a incapacity in a serious movie was simply 1.9% in 2022. GLAAD additionally revealed a report in 2022 which discovered that solely 2.8% of collection regulars on primetime broadcast TV (22 of 775) have been characters with disabilities. And per the most-recent Ruderman Household Basis examine, about 95% of characters with disabilities in Hollywood’s high movies and TV exhibits are performed by able-bodied actors.

This information is additional supported by a brand new multi-media report, Reimagining Hollywood: A New Lens on Incapacity Inclusion, simply launched throughout this yr’s Sundance Movie Pageant by Easterseals Incapacity Companies.

“Incapacity continues to be steadily neglected in discussions,” stated Novicki, who not too long ago voiced Lego Spider-Man in Columbia Photos/Sony Photos Animation’s award-winning movie Spider-Man: Throughout the Spider-Verse. “Because the leisure trade continues to try to construct a extra various and inclusive office, we should proceed to maintain incapacity within the dialog. We’re honored to be a useful resource to Hollywood for expertise with disabilities and recognize the trade’s long-standing help of the Easterseals Incapacity Movie Problem. That help has enabled us to have the ability to showcase excellent new expertise and supply instructional workshops all year long. These alternatives have led members from throughout the nation and all over the world to distinguished success in entrance of and behind the digicam.”

Earlier Movie Problem winners and members have gone on to land roles or direct segments of such in style movies and TV exhibits as The Accountant 2, Spider-Man: Throughout the Spider-Verse, New Amsterdam, Superstore, The Good Physician, Loudermilk, Dahmer, The Handmaid’s Story, Marry Me, Moxie, Particular, Good Bother, Curb Your Enthusiasm, One Day at a Time, Dollface, So Assist Me Todd, NCIS: Origins, NCIS: Hawai’i, NCIS: New Orleans, Dragons: The 9 Realms, Pupstruction, Not Fairly Narwhal, Interview With the Vampire, Greatest Foot Ahead, As We See It, Rising Up and Fortunate Hank, amongst others.

Moreover, Problem movies have gone on to win awards at an array of different movie festivals; members have earned accolades and grants from prestigious organizations all over the world (together with admission to the Sony Photos Tv Various Administrators Program and being introduced the AT&T Underrepresented Award), given Ted Talks; and lectured in regards to the expertise at Harvard.

Throughout the Movie Problem, registered filmmakers are given a span of 5 days over the designated timeframe to put in writing and produce brief movies (one-to-five minutes), primarily based on the yr’s introduced style, which promote incapacity inclusion. Submitted movies are judged in six award classes: Greatest Movie, Greatest Director, Greatest Actor, Greatest Author, Greatest Editor and Greatest Consciousness Marketing campaign.

Winners obtain invaluable entry to leisure leaders and sources, opening the door to an trade notoriously tough to enter, as effectively obtain as quite a lot of prizes to assist them obtain their profession targets, together with:

• $2,000 money prize awards to every winner.
• $5,000 seed fund/movie ending grant supplied by Adobe to winners of Greatest Movie, Greatest Director, Greatest Author, Greatest Actor and Greatest Editor to additional develop the successful brief movie and/or to speed up the event of their initiatives into function movies or episodic collection.
• Dell Applied sciences computer systems.
• One-year premium membership to IMDbPro, the important useful resource for leisure trade IMDbPro empowers professionals to decide on whether or not to self-identify as a member of the incapacity group and handle the show of this data on their IMDb and IMDbPro identify pages and in IMDbPro search outcomes. IMDbPro labored intently with ESSC and different organizations to develop this function, which is meant to help expertise, significantly from under-represented communities, seeking to be found and advance their careers; and makes it simpler for trade decision-makers to seek out traditionally excluded forged and crew to rent and for collaboration.
• Screenings at Academy Award-qualifying festivals, together with the Heartland Movie Pageant and HollyShorts Movie Pageant.
• Mentorship conferences with leisure trade executives and expertise, together with Robert Baltazar, Vice President, TV Programming DEI for NBCUniversal; Ivana Lombardi, Director of Movie, Netflix; Karen Noble, Director, Filmmaker & Content material Methods, Common Filmed Leisure Group; Tiffany Smith-Anoa’i, Govt Vice President, Leisure Variety & Inclusion, West Coast, Paramount International; and others to be introduced.

The 2025 Movie Problem might be judged by a various group of influential leisure trade expertise, together with: Nicole Castro, Managing Director, Hollyshorts Movie Pageant; director Kat Coiro (She Hulk, Useless to Me, Marry Me); Jerome Core, head of Inclusive Content material for Amazon MGM Studios & Prime Video; director and activist Jenni Gold (CinemAbility: The Artwork of Inclusion); Tim Grey, Govt Vice President of the Golden Globes; Stacey Wilson Hunt, Contributing Editor, The Hollywood Reporter; Andraéa LaVant, incapacity inclusion skilled and founding father of LaVant Consulting; filmmaker and activist Jim LeBrecht (Crip Cramp, Battlefield Earth, Pitch Black); mannequin/actress Jillian Mercado (The L Phrase: Technology Q); IMDb Founder & Govt Chair Col Needham; three-time Emmy nominated journalist Allison Norlian; actor Mark Povinelli, President, Little Individuals of America; journalist Richard Propes, The Impartial Critic; journalist Cara Reedy (CNN, NPR, The Guardian); Gil Robertson, President, African-American Movie Critics Affiliation; actor, dancer and Deaf advocate Shaheem Sanchez (Sound of Metallic); journalist Lindzi Scharf (Los Angeles Occasions, Leisure Weekly, WWD); producer and leisure government  Annalisa Shoemaker; Movie Impartial Nominations Director Jennifer Wilson; actor and comic Danny Woodburn (Mirror Mirror, Jingle All of the Approach, Seinfeld); and others to be introduced.

The Easterseals Incapacity Movie Problem is made doable by the generosity of its supporters: Adobe, Amazon MGM Studios, Dell Applied sciences, Golden Globe Basis, IMDbPro, Intel Company, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Paramount International, Sony Photos Leisure and The Walt Disney Studios.

Easterseals Incapacity Movie Problem

As somebody with a incapacity, actor, comic and producer Nic Novicki launched the Incapacity Movie Problem in 2013 in response to the under-representation of expertise with disabilities each in entrance of and behind the digicam. Novicki created the problem to offer aspiring filmmakers the chance to showcase their work and supply them with significant publicity. In 2017, Novicki joined forces with Easterseals Southern California – the nation’s main nonprofit supporting folks and households with disabilities – to increase the occasion, now often called the Easterseals Incapacity Movie Problem.

Easterseals Southern California

Easterseals Southern California is main the way in which to full fairness, inclusion and entry by life-changing incapacity and group providers. Easterseals Southern California supplies important providers and on-the-ground helps to greater than 19,000 folks annually – from early childhood packages for the vital first 5 years, to autism providers, every day and impartial residing providers for adults, employment packages and extra. Their public schooling, coverage and advocacy initiatives positively form perceptions and handle the pressing and evolving wants of the one in 4 Individuals with disabilities immediately.

For guidelines, laws and to register: DisabilityFilmChallenge.com

Questions? E-mail: [email protected]

The Easterseals Incapacity Movie Problem stands as a beacon of hope and motion in an trade usually criticized for its lack of variety. By offering a platform the place disabled filmmakers can thrive, this initiative not solely celebrates expertise but additionally pushes the narrative in direction of a extra inclusive Hollywood. The grants, mentorships, and publicity provided right here aren’t simply profession boosts; they’re steps in direction of normalizing incapacity in media, the place tales of all types might be informed authentically. But, the journey is not full. As we have fun the strides made, we should additionally acknowledge that the combat for equitable illustration continues. The leisure trade is inspired to look past tokenism, embracing this problem as a mannequin for systemic change, making certain that the display displays the varied world we dwell in – Disabled World (DW).

Attribution/Supply(s):
This quality-reviewed publication was chosen for publishing by the editors of Disabled World (DW) on account of its important relevance to the incapacity group. Initially authored by Easterseals Incapacity Companies, and revealed on 2025/01/29, the content material could have been edited for model, readability, or brevity. For additional particulars or clarifications, Easterseals Incapacity Companies might be contacted at easterseals.com. NOTE: Disabled World doesn’t present any warranties or endorsements associated to this text.