The NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME) in June announced a bill intended to help establish a fund to make film, television, and theater sets in Manhattan more accessible to artists and production staff with disabilities.
The initiative is led by NYC Council member Christopher Marte with support from fellow members Farah N. Louis and Linda Lee. An official summary of the bill says the fund would “award grants to film, television, and theater productions that commit to hiring and accommodating persons with disabilities, including through the engagement of production access coordinators.” It would also “collect and analyze data on disability employment in the industry,” and provide guidance and resources on sets as needed.
“People with disabilities don’t feel safe in their work environment because their employers use [their disability] against them, whether it’s making them pay out of pocket [so] they can work in a space, or not hiring them because they believe they’re going to have to spend additional funds,” Marte said at an event announcing the fund in June, per Inevitable Foundation.
“This bill can, at the very least, be the start of making considerations for productions from the very beginning, so people with disabilities are not treated as an inconvenience,” he added.
MOME would oversee the granting program in conjunction with the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities and the Mayor’s Office of Talent and Workforce Development.
“For too long, disabled creatives have been told ‘maybe next time’ because ‘accommodations cost too much.’ This fund has the potential of erasing those excuses and setting a new gold standard for the entire industry, but only if implemented with the necessary [combination] of intention, accountability, and the ongoing leadership of disability communities,” ReelAbilities International Director of Engagement Lawrence Carter-Long told Able News in a statement about the fund.
He said ReelAbilities was “cautiously optimistic” about the bill. However, he noted that it would only be successful if the entire city of Manhattan intentionally worked to create more inclusive practices for disabled people. “Anything else would be yet another hollow gesture that leaves disabled talent waiting in the wings while the spotlight stays safely focused on the status quo.”
Carter-Long explained that people who use the resources provided by the fund should be focused on more than expanding a project’s budget to check off a diversity box.
“Access must be woven into every frame, every script, every stage. Not as an afterthought, but as the new baseline for creativity in New York City and a model for everywhere else,” he said, adding that people interested in accommodations on set must also provide disabled people “dignity, opportunity, and lasting changes” for the fund to make a real impact.
The announcement of the bill comes six months after Easterseals Southern California published a report surveying 800 people with disabilities about their feelings on the representation of the community in the entertainment industry. 83 percent of the adults surveyed in the report believe that studio executives have a responsibility to address the lack of disability representation in the entertainment industry.
Executives often cite the perceived cost of accommodations as a deterrent to hiring disabled talent or providing them with comfortable accommodations, per Inevitable Foundation’s 2022 report. The MOME fund would help entertainment creatives in New York easily access information about accommodating disabled workers and pay for
accommodations as needed.
If established and used with inclusion in mind, the fund would be a step forward for disabled creatives who are eager and able to work on sets that meet their access needs.