The Canada Media Fund and Accessible Media Inc., in partnership with ReelAbilities Film Festival Toronto and the Miles Nadal JCC, are excited to launch the inaugural edition of the Accessible Writers’ Lab - a national program for writers with disabilities and established showrunners and senior writers to experiment with what an accessible TV writers room might look like. This experimental program is designed and led by Ophira Calof.
Deadline for submissions: August 4, 2022.
If you have questions about this project or require application support, we’re here to help! Please direct your questions to [email protected].
ASL VLOG
ABOUT THIS PROJECT:
The Accessible Writers’ Lab is an experimental process that will focus on collective accessibility, fostering relationships and knowledge sharing, with the intention of creating pathways for disabled creatives to thrive in the Canadian television industry. The schedule will be shaped, in part, by the needs and interest of the selected writers, and will culminate in a case study report to be distributed industry-wide.
- Location: Virtual (Zoom), with the possibility of hybrid meet-ups, depending on interest, geography and availability.
- Timeline: September-November with approximately 20 hours of scheduled workshops, along with discretionary time spent developing a scene or script individually, or with a partner.
- Payment: This program is free of charge, and will pay each participant a $1350 honorarium.
ReelAbilities Film Festival Toronto is committed to accessibility. The goal of this program is to discover ways to make a writers’ room more accessible to Disabled, d/Deaf, chronically ill, neurodiverse, Mad, sick and/or spoonie writers. We very much want to prioritize not just what you can make work, but what allows you to thrive. Please let us know what we can do to make this program accessible to you in your application (e.g. closed captioning, ASL interpretation, alt formats, reminder emails, note taking, project support, and more). We also understand that access needs can change and you will have more opportunities to share access needs in the future.
WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR:
This program is open to applicants who:
- Are Canadian citizens or permanent residents
- Are 18 years of age or older
- Identify as Disabled, d/Deaf, chronically ill, neurodiverse, Mad, sick and/or spoonie*
- Have an existing professional and/or personal writing practice (this may or may not include screenwriting)
- Are interested in writing for the Canadian television industry
- Are excited about collective accessibility and experimenting with unique writing methods
*This program’s understanding of disability embraces The Accessible Canada Act definition which is inclusive of visible and invisible disabilities, permanent, temporary or episodic in nature. We will honour the language writers use to self-identify, acknowledging that ableism, audism and sanism can be experienced regardless of your relationship with the word “Disability”.
If you are a showrunner or senior writer interested in being part of this program, please reach out to [email protected]. We’d love to connect!
HOW TO APPLY
You’re welcome to apply in whatever way works best for you. All of these formats will be considered on an equal basis; we want to receive the information in whatever way is best for you to share it. Some options for completing the application are:
- Fill out the Google form directly.
- Email an audio, video or text file with your answers to [email protected].
Deadline for submissions: August 4, 2022 If you have questions about this program or require application support, we’re here to help! Please direct your questions to [email protected].
Presenting Sponsor: Canada Media Fund
Industry Partner: Accessible Media Inc
Created By: Ophira Calof
