The Easterseals Disability Film Challenge recognizes the talent and hard work that goes into creating a film and will be presenting awards to film challenge participants: Best Film, Best Director, Best Editor, Best Actor, Awareness Campaign Award and Best Writer.
As we get ready to announce our exciting 2023 prizes, learn more about each award and last years winners by selecting an icon below.
BEST FILM
BEST FILM
The Best Film award is presented to the leading producer based on the film’s incorporation of the required elements, production quality, creative storytelling and performances from all onscreen talent.
PRIZE
The 2022 award recipient received:
- $2,000 grants provided by NBCUniversal
- Dell Technologies computers
- One-year membership to IMDbPro, including access to the IMDbPro Discover tool, which empowers members to find other professionals to hire and collaborate with, based on a variety of key IMDb data, experience and expertise. Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, IMDbPro is the essential resource for entertainment industry professionals
- The winning films will be highlighted in a video playlist on the homepage of IMDb, the world’s most popular and authoritative source for information on movies, TV shows and celebrities
- One-year subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud – the platform for creating, collaborating, and inspiration consisting of apps, services and community to help you unleash your creativity
- Screenings at numerous Academy Award-Qualifying festivals, including the Heartland Film Festival, HollyShorts Film Festival, Bentonville Film Festival and NewFilmmakers LA
- One year membership to Film Independent
- Mentorship meetings with entertainment industry executives and talent
2022 Winner – “Mac & Cheese” (5:27)
Sommer Carbuccia
BEST DIRECTOR
BEST DIRECTOR
The Best Director award is presented to the director of the film with the most outstanding direction of acting, cinematography and storytelling.
PRIZE
The 2022 award recipient received:
- $2,000 grants provided by NBCUniversal
- Dell Technologies computers
- One-year membership to IMDbPro, including access to the IMDbPro Discover tool, which empowers members to find other professionals to hire and collaborate with, based on a variety of key IMDb data, experience and expertise. Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, IMDbPro is the essential resource for entertainment industry professionals
- The winning films will be highlighted in a video playlist on the homepage of IMDb, the world’s most popular and authoritative source for information on movies, TV shows and celebrities
- One-year subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud – the platform for creating, collaborating, and inspiration consisting of apps, services and community to help you unleash your creativity
- Screenings at numerous Academy Award-Qualifying festivals, including the Heartland Film Festival, HollyShorts Film Festival, Bentonville Film Festival and NewFilmmakers LA
- One year membership to Film Independent
- Mentorship meetings with entertainment industry executives and talent
2022 Winner – “Mac & Cheese” (5:27)
Amanda Pinto
BEST EDITOR
BEST EDITOR
The Best Editor award is presented to the writer of the film with the most outstanding editing. Dependent upon the genre/theme, judges base their decision on the editor’s ability to evoke emotions and support the overall storytelling. If the film has more than one editor the prize will go to the first billed editor in the credit sequence.
PRIZE
The 2022 award recipient received:
- $2,000 grants provided by NBCUniversal
- Dell Technologies computers
- One-year membership to IMDbPro, including access to the IMDbPro Discover tool, which empowers members to find other professionals to hire and collaborate with, based on a variety of key IMDb data, experience and expertise. Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, IMDbPro is the essential resource for entertainment industry professionals
- The winning films will be highlighted in a video playlist on the homepage of IMDb, the world’s most popular and authoritative source for information on movies, TV shows and celebrities
- One-year subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud – the platform for creating, collaborating, and inspiration consisting of apps, services and community to help you unleash your creativity
- Screenings at numerous Academy Award-Qualifying festivals, including the Heartland Film Festival, HollyShorts Film Festival, Bentonville Film Festival and NewFilmmakers LA
- One year membership to Film Independent
- Mentorship meetings with entertainment industry executives and talent
2022 Winner – “Mac & Cheese” (5:27)
Jake Nathanson
BEST ACTOR
BEST ACTOR
The Best Actor award is presented to the actor with the most memorable performance.
PRIZE
The 2022 award recipient received:
- $2,000 grants provided by NBCUniversal
- Dell Technologies computers
- One-year membership to IMDbPro, including access to the IMDbPro Discover tool, which empowers members to find other professionals to hire and collaborate with, based on a variety of key IMDb data, experience and expertise. Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, IMDbPro is the essential resource for entertainment industry professionals
- The winning films will be highlighted in a video playlist on the homepage of IMDb, the world’s most popular and authoritative source for information on movies, TV shows and celebrities
- One-year subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud – the platform for creating, collaborating, and inspiration consisting of apps, services and community to help you unleash your creativity
- Screenings at numerous Academy Award-Qualifying festivals, including the Heartland Film Festival, HollyShorts Film Festival, Bentonville Film Festival and NewFilmmakers LA
- One year membership to Film Independent
- Mentorship meetings with entertainment industry executives and talent
2022 Winner – “Seven” (5:18)
Natalie Trevonne
AWARENESS CAMPAIGN AWARD
AWARENESS CAMPAIGN AWARD
The Awareness Campaign Award is presented to the leading producer for the team that raises the most awareness for their film through marketing strategies.
PRIZE
The 2022 award recipient received:
- $2,000 grants provided by NBCUniversal
- Dell Technologies computers
- One-year membership to IMDbPro, including access to the IMDbPro Discover tool, which empowers members to find other professionals to hire and collaborate with, based on a variety of key IMDb data, experience and expertise. Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, IMDbPro is the essential resource for entertainment industry professionals
- The winning films will be highlighted in a video playlist on the homepage of IMDb, the world’s most popular and authoritative source for information on movies, TV shows and celebrities
- One-year subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud – the platform for creating, collaborating, and inspiration consisting of apps, services and community to help you unleash your creativity
- Screenings at numerous Academy Award-Qualifying festivals, including the Heartland Film Festival, HollyShorts Film Festival, Bentonville Film Festival and NewFilmmakers LA
- One year membership to Film Independent
- Mentorship meetings with entertainment industry executives and talent
2022 Winner – “ILY” (3:58)
Jennifer Montzingo
BEST WRITER AWARD
BEST WRITER AWARD
The Best Writer award is presented to the writer of the film with the most outstanding storytelling. Dependent upon the genre/theme, judges base their decision on the writer’s ability to evoke emotions through specific scenes as well as the films dialogue and story. If the film has more than one writer the prize will go to the first billed writer in the credit sequence.
PRIZE
The 2022 award recipient received:
- $2,000 grants provided by NBCUniversal
- Dell Technologies computers
- One-year membership to IMDbPro, including access to the IMDbPro Discover tool, which empowers members to find other professionals to hire and collaborate with, based on a variety of key IMDb data, experience and expertise. Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, IMDbPro is the essential resource for entertainment industry professionals
- The winning films will be highlighted in a video playlist on the homepage of IMDb, the world’s most popular and authoritative source for information on movies, TV shows and celebrities
- One-year subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud – the platform for creating, collaborating, and inspiration consisting of apps, services and community to help you unleash your creativity
- Screenings at numerous Academy Award-Qualifying festivals, including the Heartland Film Festival, HollyShorts Film Festival, Bentonville Film Festival and NewFilmmakers LA
- One year membership to Film Independent
- Mentorship meetings with entertainment industry executives and talent
2022 Winner – “Superhero Inc.” (4:31)
Christine Bélanger, Liz Whitmere