RespectAbility Announces 2022 Entertainment Lab Attendees

RespectAbility, a non-profit organization that seeks to combat stigma around people with disabilities, has announced participants in its fourth annual lab for professionals with disabilities.

The lab, now in its fourth year, aims to develop young people with disabilities by connecting them with executives and creatives working in film, television and broadcast. Lab alumni currently work for Disney, Netflix, Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures, Showtime, and more.

After two years of virtual labs, the six-week program returns with in-person and virtual editions, the latter for those who don’t have access to a personal option. Participants are people with physical, cognitive, sensory, mental health and other disabilities.

This year’s fellows to participate in the private lab are: Abigail Bruhl, Ayla Harrison, Crystal Garcia, David Bornstein, Eden Haddad, Emily Timerman, Erica Ellis, Jackie Todd, Jacqueline Gerdn, Jeremy Montgomery, John McEng, John Moran Kornberg, Peter Lee , Roma Murphy, Scott Jones, Sheridan Odonelli, Sophie Lebow and Vanessa Pegam. (Virtual lab participants will come later.)

“The Entertainment Lab is a unique program that combines RespectAbility’s mission, the founding mission of the entertainment industry, to create more opportunities for people with disabilities who want to work,” said Lauren Appelbaum, founder and CEO of RespectAbility Lab. The aim of this program is to continue to build a talent pool of young professionals with disabilities trying to work behind the scenes. “We don’t want anyone to have an excuse not to find a writer, animator, director or other position with a disability.”

“All these studios, which house fellow labs on their lots, provide a level of comfort and awareness when our alumni return for job interviews,” said Delbert Wetter, co-founder of the lab with Appelbaum. “Furthermore, the importance of communicating and sharing information in an accessible environment between influential Hollywood executives and decision makers and these incredibly talented professionals cannot be underestimated.”

Host companies include Bunim-Murray Productions, DreamWorks Animation, Endeavor, Lionsgate, Sony Pictures Entertainment and The Walt Disney Company, along with additional speakers Netflix, Nielsen, Warner Bros. Discovery and WGA West.

“I started 10 years ago as an assistant, but RespectAbility allowed me to write an interview about the work of my first writer hired because they had direct connections, and I finally got the job,” said Ashley Ekin, a lab graduate. Shia Mirzai added, “At the RespectAbility Lab, I found a community of like-minded people and allies working towards the same goal: engaging and representing inclusive people.”