Eight-year-old actress Scarlett Furgueson landed a major role for in an upcoming Dreamworks Animated TV show slated to air on Netflix. Easterseals worked with Universal and Dreamworks on a Voice Over workshop which was held at Dreamworks (with a preliminary voice over workshop held at Voice Caster casting office) for performers with disabilities, like Scarlett. These workshops have provided [...]
Actress Leah Zelaya, who uses a wheelchair, was suggested for a role in the Jennifer Lopez Universal film Marry Me (directed by film challenge judge, Kat Cairo) and was ultimately hired.
Rachel won the Best Actor award in the 2014 film challenge and was nominated again for best film in 2018. She went on to submit her winning short, “Committed” to the AT&T Film Awards, where she won the 2019 Underrepresented Filmmaker Award and a $5,000 cash prize. The film challenge is helping boost Rachel’s continued success. She [...]
Santina both wrote and starred in Take It Back, which was nominated for Best Film at the 2019 Easterseals Disability Challenge. Santina credits the film challenge for the creative drive it gave her, and the success that followed. She now has a TV comedy, “Pretty,” in development with CBS. Santina says the film challenge motivated her to [...]
Jamie Brewer was recognized as ‘Best Actor’ in the 2017 Film Challenge. The film she appeared in, “Whitney’s Wedding,” has screened in many film festivals internationally, and Jamie recently attended the South Dakota Film Fest where the film received rave reviews and fans were pleased to get the opportunity to meet and take photos with her. [...]
John Lawson’s film “Whitney’s Wedding” earned the 2017 “Best Actress Award,” starring Jamie Brewer. This comedic love story has gone on to win “Best Film Award” at the Focus on Ability Film Festival in Sydney, Australia. John Lawson's film from last year was also nominated for 2 Telly awards.
Shanalya Palmer’s film Jordan’s Cake was a finalist for Best Awareness Campaign in the 2018 Easterseals Disability Film Challenge. Shanalya went on to create a web series, Oh Jordan, based on her original film, and won a Bronze award at the 40th Telly Awards alongside big name winners, such as The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Late Show with [...]
Jenna Kanell won the 2015 Film Challenge’s “Best Film Award” for a film inspired by her brother who lives with Autism. “Bumblebees” has since played at more than 80 film festivals around the world, and was a “Judges’ Choice Winner” at the Focus on Ability Festival in Sydney, Australia. Jenna developed a popular TED talk [...]
Dear Easterseals Disability Film Challenge Participants, Out of an abundance of care for our community and to do our part in helping to reduce the spread of the coronavirus, we are postponing this year’s Easterseals Disability Film Challenge. We’ll announce a new date once we determine when we can safely come together. Know that Easterseals [...]
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 22, 2019 -- Easterseals Southern California, a nonprofit organization providing disability services, is proud to announce its partnership with Sundance Institute. As an Allied Partner, Easterseals will host “Abilities Unlimited: The Real ‘D’ in Diversity” at the Sundance Film Festival, a panel that calls attention to the need for persons with disabilities to be included [...]