"Things are opening up in film, television and theatre with respect to issues of disability—there has been progress. At the same time, the surface has barely been scratched," says Sharon Jensen, executive director of the Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts.
Based in New York City, the Alliance, formerly the Non-Traditional Casting Project (NTCP), is a national nonprofit established in 1986 to address and seek solutions to racism and exclusion in theatre, film, and television; Jensen came on as executive director in 1989. Three years in, NTCP expanded its mission to include artists with disabilities. "When I first came on board, I tried to raise cultural awareness," Jensen says. "I routinely asked casting directors, 'Would you consider an actor with a disability?' Nine out of 10 times they said, 'No, not this time,' or 'Maybe, later, which seldom came.' Now, one out of three casting directors will say, 'What an interesting idea.' I hadn't thought of that. Let me think about it.' "
Today, because of its ongoing commitment to full inclusion, the Alliance is considered an established leader in the arts and entertainment field with respect to these issues.
An early environment of cultural diversity shaped Jensen's interest. "My parents had a global view," she says. "They recognized there were many cultures in the world, many ways to think, approach life, and contribute. We often had guests from different parts of the world whom my parents had met on their travels who would stop by to visit and stay in our home, which could barely accommodate our nuclear family, in my small hometown in Michigan—one gentleman stayed for six weeks! Living in a multicultural environment was the norm for me. I went to college with a girl who had cerebral palsy. In my 20s, I made friends in the deaf and hard-of-hearing community and learned sign language," Jensen explains. "One thing built upon another. Prior to coming to the Alliance, I had either worked for or led nonprofit arts organizations for 17 years. When this opportunity came along, it was a perfect fit."
Jensen believes "education—the earlier the better—is critical to understanding the lived experience of disability" and Christine Bruno, Disability Advocate for the Alliance, agrees. Bruno, who has cerebral palsy, understands the hurdles faced by artists with disabilities and the trepidation of decision makers such as producers, directors, and casting directors.
"In addition to my work with the Alliance, I'm also an actor and teaching artist with an M.F.A. in acting and directing. As such, I have an inherent understanding of the challenges performers with disabilities face and am able to answer their questions and help address their concerns," Bruno explains. "I'm also a direct liaison between disabled performers and decision makers, who often have limited knowledge of disability. A large part of my job as Disability Advocate is to guide, support, and educate decision makers through the process of working with disabled artists, from initial consultation through performance."
"As a teaching artist, I visit New York City schools with a team of other artists. We promote disability awareness using a variety of tools, including puppets, monologues and scenes, and theatre games to introduce mostly nondisabled children to disability. With the older kids, I share my personal story and facilitate question-and-answer sessions. The best part is that all my jobs—Disability Advocate, actor, and teaching artist—feed into one another and each influences the other in a positive way," Bruno says.
"What we've found," Jensen explains, "both with respect to artists of color and those with disabilities is that before you can have real change, you need a sensitized environment in which change can occur." To that end, the Alliance works with every sector of the industry and at every stage of the process, from initial idea through production.
Jensen says, "One of the Alliance's strengths is bringing professionals together around these issues. Our goal is to expand thinking that will then lead to a change in practices. Therefore, on an ongoing basis, we invite casting personnel, directors, writers, union and guild representatives, producers, artists, disability experts, network executives, and educators to participate in a variety of discussion formats, from small roundtables to large resource events." Jensen explains. "The feedback has been incredibly positive, including comments that range from 'eye-opening' to 'life-changing.' Unless industry professionals have had a direct experience with disability, most haven't considered the options or thought about it before. People are open to new experiences and to change, but we have to talk about it."
In 2006, the Alliance launched Disability in Entertainment and Arts Link (DEAL)—a direct result of bringing industry professionals together around the issue of disability. "DEAL was specifically born out of two events: The first, a collaboration of the Alliance, Columbia University Seminar on Disability Studies and Columbia University Arts Initiative, focused on theatre and casting practices and was held in 2005 at the Public Theater in New York City. We invited leading disabled and nondisabled artists and decision makers to participate in an open discussion about issues of disability," Jensen explains. "One hundred-thirty five professionals—performers, producers, writers, directors, casting directors, and educators—attended. Following that symposium, a highly respected theatre and television writer suggested we hold a similar event specifically for writers. Partnering with The Dramatists Guild of America, Inc.; New Dramatists, Writers Guild of America, East; and the WGA, East Foundation, Written on the Body: A Conversation About Disability (full transcript available on the Alliance website) was held in April 2006 at HBO in New York City."
DEAL is a collective of arts and entertainment professionals dedicated to the full inclusion of people with disabilities in all sectors of American arts and entertainment whose mission is to help artists and decision makers in every sector of the industry develop projects that reflect the changing landscape of disability, introduce provocative ideas about disability, and put forth a more authentic representation of what it means to be a disabled person in the 21st century. Utilizing the expertise, talents, and access to resources and information of each of its members, DEAL was expressly created to aid industry professionals at every stage of the creative process—from development of the initial idea through production, marketing and public presentation.
The growth that has taken place over the last decade, Jensen and Bruno stress, has been a joint venture. "It's taken like-minded people and organizations with common interests working for change, such as the Tri-Union Performers with Disabilities Committees and the Media Access Office in California. Our mutual efforts have increased opportunities for the available talent pool of disabled artists, and we hope, provided role models for younger, aspiring disabled artists to demonstrate that a life and career in the arts is possible," Jensen says.
"Often our work is behind the scenes and under the radar. We get involved, not only in New York City where we are based, but all over the country." The Alliance has consulted on such projects as Academy Award–winning There Will Be Blood and NBC's Law & Order: Criminal Intent. "We worked with the executive producer of Law & Order: Criminal Intent on the episode "Silencer," which was about a murder on a deaf campus," Jensen explains. "They employed 51 deaf actors for that episode, seven as principals and 44 background actors. That's unprecedented."
"Nationally, the entire talent pool of performers with disabilities is between 900 to 1,000 and that includes actors with years of experience and training, background actors, and actors who are just starting out," Bruno explains. Comparatively, the combined membership of SAG, AFTRA, and Actors' Equity is approximately 150,000. (According to an article in the March 3 issue of Variety, an estimated 40,000 actors hold dual membership in SAG and AFTRA.) Those numbers and the fact that just 1.5% of SAG members identify as having a disability and of that 1.5 percent, just half of one percent has had speaking roles (according to a 2005 UCLA report), are a pretty clear indication that "this profession is lagging behind other professions, because so much of it is about the visual representation of what we see on stage and screen," Bruno says.
Given those odds, how then has this four-person nonprofit become nationally recognized for its 20-year commitment to inclusion in the industry? Jensen explains, "We're a small organization, but we can both initiate and respond to issues quickly. We try to reach people where they are, whether they are new to the issue or more advanced. We try to help them take next steps. Every day we learn something we didn't know before, and we're reminded there's always further to go and more to be done."
For more information on Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts, visit www.inclusioninthearts.org.
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