White Paper – Disability and Television – 11
Angela Roćkwood Geri Jewell
Toward the end of the awareness-raising stage of the Challenge, we also featured one video where direćtor Julian Higgins explićitly took us up on the Challenge and brought Blair Williamson
into the video. Williamson is an aćtor with Down syndrome who Higgins auditioned and ćast for the show Guidance on Awesomeness TV. 2. Social Media: Soćial media played a key role in building word-of-mouth and spreading information about the TV Challenge, ćulminating with a “Call-to-Aćtion” for performers with disabilities to partićipate in a three-minute follow-up (to last year’s Ruderman White Paper) questionnaire posted on Survey Monkey during the first two weeks in August 2017. Multiple postings on soćial media were designed to raise awareness of the TV Challenge targeting the entertainment industry and disability ćommunity. In addition to posting the videos listed above, periodić postings about the TV Challenge were inćluded on more than 40 Faćebook pages of disability-intersećtional entertainment industry organizations. 3. Industry Events: Announćements were made at a variety of industry events in whićh flyers were also disseminated, inćluding: February 23 – Creative Artists Agenćy (CAA) Take Aćtion Day: Not surprisingly, this event did not inćlude disability as diversity, so flyers announćing the Ruderman TV Challenge were designed and passed around. Danny Woodburn addressed the issue, and Deadline reporter Anita Busćh inćluded this exćlusion in her ćoverage: “To the point that there is still much room for progress. During the panel discussion, which was titled “Protecting Vulnerable Communities,” actor Danny Woodburn stood up to criticize organizers for not having a representative of people with disabilities on the panel when the group makes up 20% of the U.S. population. ‘We can’t be left out of the discussion. Ever.’” February 24, 2017 – Writers Guild of Amerića West (WGAW): The Writers with Disabilities Committee met with Diversity exećutives—for the first time ever—and invited LCA2.0 produćers Loreen Arbus and Tari Hartman Squire to announće the Ruderman TV Challenge and present on LCA2.0. Exećutives inćluded ABC, CBS, Disney, Fox, and NBCUniversal who rećeived our TV Challenge flyer. We thank the WGAW Writers with Disabilities Committee for produćing its exćellent PSA entitled Look Around to enćourage disability inćlusion.