Purpose

The Easterseals Disability Film Challenge gives filmmakers—with and without disabilities—the opportunity to collaborate to tell unique stories that showcase disability in its many forms.

The film challenge is a 5 day filmmaking contest, open to all, that provides a platform for new voices in the entertainment industry. Each year, aspiring storytellers are prompted to creatively write, produce and complete a short film. Challenge winners receive invaluable access to entertainment professionals, opening the door to an industry notoriously difficult to enter.

History

As someone with a disability, actor, comedian and producer Nic Novicki launched the Disability Film Challenge in 2013 in response to the under-representation of talent with disabilities both in front of and behind the camera. Novicki created the challenge to give aspiring filmmakers the opportunity to showcase their work and provide them with meaningful exposure. In 2017, Novicki joined forces with Easterseals Southern California – the nation’s leading nonprofit supporting people and families with disabilities – to expand the event, now known as the Easterseals Disability Film Challenge.

Headshot of Nick Novicki

Nic Novicki

Founder & Director, Easterseals Disability Film Challenge

Nic Novicki is an actor, comedian and producer who has performed on six continents.

His television credits include: Boardwalk Empire, The Good Doctor, The Sopranos, Alone Together, Loudermilk, Jack and Triumph, The Neighbors, Austin and Ally, Private Practice and Drop Dead Diva. He has appeared in several movies, including L!fe Happens, Marry Me, November Rule, The Last 5 Years, Boston Girls, Aliens, Clowns & Geeks, Dead Ant and will soon be seen in the upcoming BitterSweet.

Nic has produced several feature films, television pilots and web series for companies including Sony, CBS, Air China, Maxim and Universal and is an active member on the Producers Guild of America’s Diversity Committee. Nic wrote for the CBS Diversity Showcase and has also written and directed several short films including A Little Broke, which was acquired by the TV station Shorts HD (now the DISH Network).

As a stand-up comedian, Nic has performed on AXS Gotham Comedy Live and traveled the world, including several tours through Armed Forces Entertainment, performing for troops in Kosovo, England, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, France. Egypt, Turkey, Jordan, Portugal and Spain.

Nic is a board member of Easterseals Southern California (ESSC) and the founder and director of the Easterseals Disability Film Challenge.

While 61 million Americans have disabilities, they are the most under-represented population in entertainment and media.  As someone with a disability himself, Nic created the Disability Film Challenge in 2013 in response to the under-representation of talent with disabilities both in front of and behind the camera to give aspiring filmmakers the opportunity to showcase their work and provide them with meaningful exposure. In 2017, Novicki joined forces with Easterseals –  the nation’s leading nonprofit supporting people and families with disabilities – to expand the event, now known as the Easterseals Disability Film Challenge.

During the Challenge, registered filmmakers – with and without disabilities – are given a span of 5 days to write and produce short films (three-to-five minutes) that Help Change the Way We View Disability, which are then judged in six award categories – Best Film, Best Director, Best Writer, Best Editor, Best Actor and Best Awareness Campaign – by a noted and diverse group of entertainment industry talent.

Since the Challenge launched in 2013, aspiring filmmakers from around the world have created more than 400 films which have been viewed online and at festivals. Winners have included Jamie Brewer, who won Best Actor in 2017 for her role in Whitney’s Wedding, has been acclaimed for her role on American Horror Story and was the first model with Down Syndrome to walk the runway at New York Fashion Week; Dickie Hearts, Best Filmmaker winner in 2015, who went on to win an HBO Project Greenlight digital series competition; and Jenna Kanell, winner of Best Film in 2015 who went on to give a TEDx Talk about her experience.

Nic attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, the school of Film and Television, UCB Theatre, and Temple University’s Fox School of Business. He resides in Hollywood, Calif.

Easterseals Disability Services Logo

For more than 100 years, we have worked tirelessly with our partners to enhance quality of life and expand local access to healthcare, education and employment opportunities.

Easterseals Southern California provides essential services and on-the-ground supports to more than 15,000 people each year—from early childhood programs for the critical first five years, to autism services, daily and independent living services for adults, employment programs, veterans’ services and more. Our public education, policy and advocacy initiatives positively shape perceptions and address the urgent and evolving needs of the one in four Americans with disabilities today. Together, we’re empowering people with disabilities, families and communities to be full and equal participants in society. Learn more at easterseals.com/southerncal.