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My name is Albert Pyun.

Hello, I'm Michael Berryman.

I'm Carin Powell.

My name is Steven Heinig.

My name is William Crain.

I'm Ariel Baska.

Richard Burgin.

I'm Diana Elizabeth.

I'm Owen.

Nolan Tierce.

Hi, my name is Kevin Dale.

My name is Matty Zufelt.

My name is Samuel Cole Suchmann.

My name is Sabrina Cooper,

and I am a producer that has a company

called Black Castle Productions.

I think I might be the only Native American handicapped woman

that produces in Los Angeles.

I've been making feature films since 1980.

I'm an independent filmmaker and writer.

I’m working as a screenwriter, producer

and director on

different films, specifically within horror.

I am a director, producer, and a writer.

I have produced a few films.

One of them may be in your library called Blacula.

I am a writer and director.

I am an actor, I am a director, a producer,

an educator, an activist,

I have two production companies:

Dreaming Big On A Swing Entertainment

and my entertainment production company,

The Rainbow Butterfly Cafe.

I am an entrepreneur.

I have been making films since I was a kid and have

always had a passion for

making films and content

and just doing projects.

I am an actor.

My first job was working as a 3D artist

and just in general, I love art, sketching,

editing, and anything related to 3D.

I'm a filmmaker of Spring Break Zombie Massacre

and also Sam and Mattie Make a movie.

- I work at a fencing company in North Kingstown,

which is my practical job there, making money now.

And of course, Sam and Mattie's Spring Break Zombie Massacre.

I'm the director and co-founder of Signing Animation,

which is a nonprofit animation studio

for deaf and hard of hearing artists.

I have single sided deafness and I use my experience

in this community to

create one of the first animated shorts with a deaf protagonist.

Hopefully, well, definitely won't be the last.

I was born without one hand.

I was just made that way.

I don't have a really great story. Other than I was born that way.

I have Spinal Muscular Atrophy.

It's a genetic condition

so, something I was born with.

I'm pretty much completely

paralyzed from the neck down

so that informs

a lot of the creative choices that we make about

types of films, and types of content

types of stories too.

But I don't really view it as a hindrance.

In some ways it is, but in some ways it's also

an asset just to be able to.

play characters or write stories that,

other people aren't really in a position to.

My condition came about because

my father was at Hiroshima.

He was a Navy surgeon and neurologist.

So, after they dropped the bomb, he was at ground zero.

So of course, he was exposed to high levels of radiation,

which caused abnormalities in his genes.

And then I was born in 1948,

premature by a couple of months.

I was born basically

with synostosis of the cranium, which means the skull was fused.

There was no soft-spots, there was no

fissures to fill in. The skull would not continue to grow.

My brain would continue to grow.

I would go blind and then I'd be dead.

Now that was the effect of a fused cranium.

Now, Hypohidrotic Ectodermal Dysplasia

affects the largest system in our body, which is our skin,

and also the phalanges,

which are the ends of your fingers and your toes.

The ends of my fingers and my toes are never fully developed.

I had hair, but I had to have a haircut

at a Children's Hospital, age

I think it's three or four years old. I don't remember.

They basically cut through my skull, cut it in pieces

and used spacers from my pelvis, bone spacers.

So to encourage growth and we have

a fantastically formed skull

that at least is not deformed in any particular manner,

but saved a lot of money on haircuts.

Also, synostosis meaning this area of my skull,

not only was the skull fused,

but this area here is underdeveloped.

I had to have surgeries to correct my nose

so I could breathe through my nose, which is really great.

I can't perspire.

I don't have any working sweat glands.

I have muscular dystrophy

(Cartoonish skid)

the technical term is congenital myopathy.

So, that just means I've had it since birth.

and it's muscle weakness is basically what it is.

Like a severe form of muscle weakness.

Basically my skeletal muscles

My trach is there to help me breathe

But it also serves another purpose.

Where it helps me clear out secretions

mucus basically, flem

that builds up in my lungs.

If I don't clear that, that can lead to possible pneumonia.

So, it's important to clear out

It's important to cough

and I don't have a very strong cough because of the muscle weakness.

My disability is Cerebral Palsy

and Cebrebral Palsy is a

neurological disorder that affects

motor control though I've had it since birth.

When I was born,

when they put my mom into the delivery room,

they noticed my heartbeat had dropped

and when I was delivered, they did an emergency C-Section.

I was not breathing on my own.

So, the doctors worked on me for 45 minutes

before I started breathing on my own.

So again, Cerebral Palsy affects my speech.

I walk with a slight gait.

but when I grew up I was mainly in school with

disabled kids and non-disabled kids.

I went to college, I have a masters in fine arts and acting,

but in essence, Cerebral Palsy

is just a neurological disorder that affects

motor control and it affects people in many different ways.

the nothing that is not really typical

I have many friends with Cerebral Palsy

and we are all impacted differently.

I have vascular dementia because I had a bad stroke

and it's damaged my brain sufficiently enough

where I started having seizures.

And I think that's the worst aspect of

it is the seizures, you know, because I just I just drop.

Thinking clearly is really hard.

So it's very difficult to make films because, you know,

you have to be able to help people communicate

and I can't do that very well anymore.

I would say that's the most challenging part of the disease

in trying to work in film makes it almost impossible

because you just can't communicate.

I'm just stunned at how much this disease has

really affected me and has really affected

the rest of my body and my thoughts.

I sometimes just think it's static.

People, I think, that have

dementia or Alzheimer's.

There's a hulkiness to their speech because they're really taking time

so that they squeeze the images in the words out of the static

to go to the next sentence.

I was born blind and deaf on one side, and so I,

I never was categorized as having a full disability.

I was always half blind, half deaf.

I was born with a very unusual congenital disease

that wasn't even diagnosed until I was 25.

But I didn't even know about it until I was 35.

And that disease caused me

brain tumors, various

kinds of problems that were of a neurological nature.

I was diagnosed with Intracranial Hypertension as a result,

my body produces too much spinal fluid, so

I actually had to have brain surgery

to have a shunt put in and actually vent everything

from my cerebral spinal fluid in my brain down to my stomach.

And so I actually have a tube that connects my brain in my stomach

as a result, because I was having migraines

literally every day for 28 days out of 30, I would have a migraine.

And finally, now that I had that surgery,

I'm down to like two migraines a month instead.

I was born with PHACES, P-H-A-C-E-S. It stands for

Posterior, Hemangioma, Arterial anomalies, Cardiac anomalies

Eye problems and Sternal cleft.

And so I was born with the Hemangioma

that overtook the right side of my face completely.

And it forced my right eye

closed for the first six months of my life

and it took my hearing on my ear.

I had to have ear surgery when I was four,

in order to save the ear.

I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease.

I had a brain tumor, an acoustic neuroma

that grew on the eighth cranial nerve.

I had intracranial hypertension, but in spite of that,

I knew I wanted to make movies.

And so I found a way through it to make a movie

with a really incredible partner.

There's been compounding, depression and trauma and,

you know, all of those things.

Complex PTSD is something that I also have.

And it's very important, I think, for people to understand

how all of these disabilities kind of inform each other.

Like, you can never really just have one thing in isolation.

Everything is comorbid.

Like everything relates to each other in

some interesting kind of way, whether you want it to or not.

I have Gout, which is uric acid

that forms in your joints and it's very, very painful.

I have

difficulty walking

whenever the gout flare happens.

I keep all my fingers crossed that it wouldn't happen or doesn't happen

when I'm doing a movie or TV show, I could use a wheelchair, I guess.

I have Down syndrome.

Same thing, Down syndrome.

With Down syndrome,

we do everything out loud pretty much, we have no filter. Yes. We say anything.

- And we also have the development of

short noses and short necks too.

I have high functioning autism.

What I have is officially known as Asperger’s syndrome.

On the autism spectrum, there are

there are different levels ranging from

low functioning autism to higher functioning,

where it's it's closer to what might be considered normal

by or neurotypical,

as is the official term for it.

And I am on the high functioning end of that spectrum.

The way it

impacts people is

difficult to describe, especially when it's

your only reference point, you know, when you live with it.

But what I would say is that what it boils down to is,

you perceive the world very differently

from people who don't have autism.

It's kind of like it's a very heightened

sensory perception

and that has its advantages and disadvantages.

The advantage of that is that

as a filmmaker, I have a very strong sensory quality

I can really capture, like the visceral feeling of something

and the sounds of the environment,

the little details,

because I'm very keyed into that

and the disadvantage of being autistic

is that when your senses are heightened,

it can make it very hard

in social situations and that's very much

the stereotype of autistic

people as being very kind of socially inept.

It's a very complicated thing,

but I've definitely made a lot of progress.

And, you know, I could see how different I was

five or six years ago,

how much I have grown since then.

And I hope to be,

you know, even better five or six years from now.

My disability is Down syndrome.

Down syndrome is an extra chromosome. It's added

and it affects different sides of the brain.

So it's an intellectual disability.

People with Down syndrome and autism,

they are sort of like this together

in a way, because it is sort of like the same brain.

So we share certain characteristics

with people with autism

and also

we share characteristics with people with Alzheimer's

and there are certain

aspects along side of that all together.

I am deaf.

The fact that I'm deaf I don't see as an issue

really.

All it means is that I can't hear it.

It doesn't have any impact on my capabilities or my skills.

I'm still able to be fully involved and

engrossed in animation and really a lot of it

simply has to do with my own drive and willingness to be involved.

When I was young

I drew a lot of comic books for other kids at school and stuff.

And and as I was doing that, then you start

to think about, you know, animation.

And I saw 2001 when it came out, when I saw that I said,

That's what I want to do.

It wasn't one break.

It was a series of

lucky circumstances.

And, you know,

you have to kind of rely on that and the momentum of the good fortune

of being in the right place at the right time and

that was really it.

I happened to walk in to the office

of this producer to pitch my project,

and he'd already thrown me out of his office.

The day I came in

was the day that a movie called Excalibur opened,

and immediately it did really well.

And he looked at my project and he said, "Let's do it".

The Sword And The Sorcerer.

The Sword And The Sorcerer is the first.

When you walk out onto the set and you have,

you know, film cameras,

35 millimeter film cameras, and

you have you know, like a 100 person crew.

And, you know, it's seeing all those people there

that are trying to realize what was in your head for so long.

And now they're trying to build in a reality so you could film it.

It was, I would say it was that moment. It was always very thrilling.

Every film when it starts, has that moment

for me, it's the thrill of seeing something that was in my head

come together, you know, on a soundstage or on a location.

It's really great.

The thing that I've learned over time is

like some of the films I've made early in my career,

you could see the effect that they had on audiences,

on certain people and fans

and so that also invigorates me and

it's very exciting

that something you made when you were in your twenties

somehow lives 30 somewhat 40 somewhat years later

and is still playing in theaters and stuff around the world.

And I hear from people and it's pretty exciting.

Everybody that has worked on my films

is somebody I wanted to work with

and I was really lucky in that a lot of them

won Academy Awards and

Emmy Awards

and so I've pretty much been blessed

in the way of being able to work with the people, really

talented, super, super talented people.

My career started in grade school.

We used to go to the movie and watch the 15 minute

serials and then watch the program.

It was usually two movies all day long

and it went on forever.

I mean until your parents came down to the movie at dark

and got you out by the ear and brought you home.

Eventually out of college, I went to a little theater group

to exercise some ideas.

I took a tour in Canada for about seven years,

worked for the National Film Board

and the Canadian Film board

and on and on to learn how to direct.

My goal was to be a director,

not knowing what that was all about.

But I did have my brownie hawkeye camera and I'm a photographer.

I went for photography

in high school and

I just had a knack for it.

I don't know if the lack of representation

for people who are disabled

is any more stringent in horror

than drama or action.

Crew members

say mean things behind the doors

and mean things behind the stages, you know?

I mean,

it's what it is.

I got all my jobs done without any problems.

I got the film done,.

and that's what was important.

I never really recognized

anything that looked like me

in the world until I saw Freddy Krueger at age three.

My right half of my face was completely inflamed and red

and I was called pizza Face Monster by everybody at preschool.

And I thought, This is strange.

I don't understand,

You know, I know I look different, but what do I look like?

And I had nothing to compare myself to.

And oddly, for me, it was very comforting

to see something out there in the world

that looked like me, even if it was from a horror movie monster.

And I had absolutely no problem with the fact that,

you know, The Phantom of the Opera and Freddy Krueger

were the first things I saw that looked like me.

I actually found that much, much more empowering

than watching Mask with Eric Stoltz, which is the only other story

of disfigurement that was available to me in the eighties.

And I really hated the idea

that I had to somehow automatically be,

you know, pure and sweet and innocent for people to accept me.

I loved the idea that you could have a story about someone

with disfigurement and disability that maybe went in a dark direction.

And, you know,

I know it wasn't written by people with disabilities,

and I know that a lot of the time, like particularly in Freddy's Dead,

it's not always the kindest characters with deafness and other kinds of

storylines, but for me,

I always felt like horror

was the place that I felt safe because it actually mirrored

how I felt about the world and how the world felt about me

and disabilities and horror for me

are as much about how you see yourself in the world

and how

you understand yourself as a monster

in horror.

And so when people say it's, isn't it terrible that we see

these deformed monsters on screen and so forth?

I agree with them.

That's not what we should be telling people, is the monstrosity,

But that doesn't mean we should take it off screen.

It just means we should have people crafting thoughtful narratives

behind the scenes that are actually telling us the kinds of stories

we should be hearing about disability.

Me and Mattie, we've been friends

since we were 8, in 2004,

and then our friendship has grown bigger and into a brotherhood now.

So we're like brothers now pretty much.

Yeah, I am a horror actor and filmmaker

with Matty pretty much.

I'm becoming a fan of horror because Matty's taught me about horror, so.

Yeah, yeah.

- We like blood and guts and gore and stuff.

- I actually got into the horror genre at that point.

- So, for the Spring Break Zombie Massacre movie.

I was in high school at the time, I was like eighteen.

I made a storyboard in high school in Hope High.

And then I showed it to my brother Jesse, my big brother Jesse.

He loved it and he said it had to happen.

- Our idea was to do their idea

and that infectious energy is what got us in.

But I think that their confidence gave us the confidence

to ask the next layer of people

and it was that same Sam and Mattie confidence.

They gave that next layer people the confidence to ask

if any of us were doing this for ourselves,

we probably wouldn't have gone as hard for it.

But I think Sam and Mattie's determination

and like unwillingness to compromise

in the service of this big party,

it gives everybody just an extra

jolt of energy to pull off the impossible.

And it's just been this insane rolling party adventure since then.

- We really needed to make the movie a zombie movie,

pretty much.

It was really fun

- My idea for the movie was to make it gorier.

It was like having the devil ripping blood intestines.

Then shoot my girlfriend with a splattering

shotgun blast and ripping a zombie's head off.

That came from my idea.

Yeah.

Basically, it's like two versions of the movie.

One is Spring Break Zombie Massacre,

second there's Sam And Mattie Make a Zombie Movie.

- The difference is like the movie itself

is like a character when you watch it

at first.

So when you first watch it, you see my hometown

Providence, like Jim in the basement.

It turns into this whole Spring Break Zombie Massacre

during spring break so it's really cool.

And the documentary is more about me

and Mattie's broship and friendship since we were 8.

- We also got Pauly D from the Jersey Shore.

- One celebrity on the top of their list,

the Jersey Shore's DJ Pauly D.

And he is in.

- They made a really good movie.

I love this movie.

I love watching it.

You watch this movie with the smile on your face the whole time.

And somebody asked me, they said,

You think they wanted you to have a smile on your face?

Absolutely.

This isn't you know, this isn't The Walking Dead.

This is Zombieland.

They wanted to entertain and it's totally entertaining.

Peter Farrelly,

Academy Award winning director of Green Book,

also behind comedy classics like Dumb and Dumber

and Something About Mary was executive producer of

Sam And Mattie Make A Zombie Movie.

- I promise you, I will know them till the end of my life.

And I hope they make more movies and I know they will because they're

those kind of guys, this isn't a one off for them.

They're not just coming in and saying,

hey, we're going to make a movie and now

we'll move on and build an airplane.

They're going to make movies. They're really good at it.

- Peter Farley is like a mentor.

Yeah, he is.

- Because I really look up to him as a producer

and a filmmaker because he made a lot of good movies,

like There's Something About Mary, Dumb and Dumber

and The Three Stooges because I'm a big fan of The Three Stooges.

That is my favorite movie.

- They were even guests on CONAN O'Brien.

- What I love about what you guys have done

is you met years ago,

you talked about this dream and you made it happen.

Here we are all these years later.

And you made your zombie movie and you had a premiere,

a premiere that the press attended.

Everyone loves the movie,

and then you fly out here to come on our show.

This is pretty spectacular.

Conan O'Brien.

- You know what's fun?

He's really tall and he was bigger than us.

- Yeah, he's taller.

Before the interview, they said,

do we have any requests.

So I said, "A chocolate fountain".

So I said that personally to Jesse.

And then he gave us a bunch of soda

and energy drinks in the fridge in the dressing room.

- We had a lot of caffeine.

- It turns out the true story has nothing to do with jetpacks or fighting zombies.

Behind the gore is a lesson in love.

- This whole thing was an excuse to hang out,

and it was a reason to hang out, And it was a way to hang out

that broke down so many barriers that he faces every day.

You know, without this giant zombie movie,

what would we have done all together?

How would I have gotten all my friends from New York here?

He knew that it was this vision that was bringing people.

They were coming for the zombie movie and they were staying because

we were all becoming really close friends.

And he built a family through a

horrifying, violent, insane zombie movie.

And he's a genius.

- They are looking for their next gig and hoping to find

a funder for a sequel.

- We're making sequel

- You'll see a lot more Sam and Mattie adventures

on the way too.

Sam! Mattie! Let's go brothers!

- It's completely changed my taste in movies.

I now like zombie movies.

You're going to make it.

- I met George Pal and got bit parts,

and for the last 40 something years it's been a blessing.

As far as The Hills Have Eyes the evenings were easy.

They were cool. The daytime was hot.

So if you have a disability,

number one, you want to be self-sufficient.

You want to have self reliance, you want to feel good about yourself.

You want to be able to take your skills

and abilities to the highest levels possible,

not only for the company, your boss, but for your own self esteem,

and also the fact that you're in an area or field that you actually care about.

Through working with Michael Landon on Highway to Heaven.

He hired a lot of people with disabilities.

He was very well known for that.

Through some of the people I met with, Michael Landon,

he got me involved with other organizations

that were specifically

in the film and television industry where people that have disabilities

can share information with producers,

executives, directors and whatnot to facilitate their performance.

Because if you can't deliver the performance

that is necessary to tell a story, then they'll hire somebody else.

But if you have that ability

and you have a disability or a limitation,

the quality of your work

oftentimes will be substantial enough to where

they will make accommodations.

Now, some people say, Oh, you're just helping out a bunch of losers

or a bunch of people. They can't do the job.

Hire a normal person.

Well, you know what? Nobody's normal.

You know, live with it.

So I was very direct with Peter Locke,

Barry Cahn and Wes Craven and said, Hey, look, here's the deal.

When we set up the camera, we know the shot,

know the frame, we know the action.

Then I want to be in a car with A.C.

or chill as much as I can to make sure I don't get heatstroke.

Yes, I pushed my limit a little bit because I was trying to be able

to take care of myself.

I managed to get through the shoots without a lot of difficulty

carrying the same protocol.

Being honest with my production company and

not everybody needs to know.

The people that need to know are your EMTs, your first aid people, etc..

So, if you do the job and you can tell a story and convey

the character to all of those emotional elements

that create a film or television episode,

then you can subsequently do it again.

So, that was my approach.

That's how it panned out.

And then also getting involved with a lot of

philanthropic organizations

that help children

understand their limitations, also their qualifications

and their potentials,

and from anti-bullying to drug awareness, etc, etc.

I've been involved with a lot of those programs.

When I met Paul Newman,

when I was doing The Crow with Brandon Lee,

Paul Newman introduced me to the Boggy Creek Organization

out of Saint Petersburg, Florida, and also the

Florida Cleft Palate, Facial Cranial Society.

And those people do wonderful work,

kind of like the Shriners and other organizations

where they find families with children in need,

they take care of their families homes

while the family travels with the child,

they meet the best doctors,

and they get all their surgeries done for free

and they get good follow up care.

It's a shame and it's not something available to

all peoples and families.

That would be

a better day.

When I started my career, always I wanted to

play roles that were not necessarily

disability specific,

but that evolve and tell a human story.

I also very passionate that when a role

calls for someone with a disability

that needs to be played by an actor

with that or a similar disability.

And I've been very passionate along with many other applicants

about advocating for authentic casting,

in film, television, and theater.

But I don't think it so much impacts

how I approach my acting.

I think it may impact how people see me and how people might cast me

depending on whether they have,

you know, what they may see as a limitation.

So, I think I've been impacted that way.

But my job as an actor is just to do my job

and create character and to create a nuanced

character and bring the writer’s words to life

and make a very nuanced,

complex character

In that way, I don't think my disability impacts me at all.

I do think my life experiences has given me

a rich emotional well to pull from though.

When we think about access, I think sometimes

we only think about wheelchair access

but the access in terms of a set can be very broad.

It can be allowing someone to eat when they need to eat

if they're a diabetic.

I need very few accommodations.

but usually when it comes to costuming, don't put me in a pair of heels.

So for me, I need very few accommodations,

but I always appreciate when they're asked, you know, I'm sure

if I were asked to climb a mountain in a film,

I'd probably need some accommodation or support, but I personally don't.

I have a lot that I need, but I appreciate

when a production company wants

to ensure that I'm able to do my job and that the thing, accommodations

allow the artists to do their job in an equitable environment.

The more marginalized you are,

the less of a disability you have,

either behind a camera or in front of the camera.

But saying that I'm also going to say,

I've been extremely lucky with my opportunities and I'm very, very greatful for that.

So even where there have been limitations,

I am so grateful for every opportunity I've had and I'd had a lot

and I love to see the glass as overflowing

not half empty and I'm aware of what goes on

but you take that information and that fuels me to continue to push

on what you know if the fuel that makes me be proactive

and push myself because,

I want to break down that barrier

or be part of the movement

that is breaking down those barriers.

I've worked

among the general hearing populace

for many years in different capacities.

And so I've learned how to navigate that

and how to work with hearing people,

whether it be in the mode of writing back and forth

or sometimes using my voice

to communicate in whatever ways we can.

It's just a matter of finding what works for all of us.

I think when it comes to jobs in general,

the application process can be difficult.

I have a lot of experience and

there are ways that I can show that.

But the application process, sometimes I get screened out

because

of the Americans with Disabilities Act,

there is a law in place that does mean that I

can apply and I do qualify.

But oftentimes I am passed by in that application process

because they are expecting someone who can voice for themselves

and they don't expect to have to bring an interpreter in.

There are times that they will offer to bring an interpreter in

or do a an interview remotely,

and then they don't actually set that up in place.

I think with some of the studios that I've worked with, they've followed

through with that, they've provided that communication access.

So working with signing animation and other studios has been

better than working with other people.

If they knew that I was deaf and had the skills,

why not go through with an interview and give me the opportunity

to display my skills

rather than just dumping it in the trash at least give me that opportunity.

And so I think it's a deaf person working in that hearing world.

There's always that thing in the back of our mind of what we need to do to make

every single interaction go smoothly and how we can navigate that.

And that's something that not a lot of hearing

people will necessarily have to think about.

There are times that some people

are intimidated with working with me,

and so they'll just go off and talk to other people.

At one point

I ended up waiting in a line of people

not getting the answers that I needed through H.R.

And so I finally was able to write an email and get through

and get the answers that I needed.

So it's a matter of finding those different modes

of communication and sometimes it can be a lot of work to do that.

It's an extra layer that we have to navigate versus

if everyone knew sign language, it would be easy and simple.

A funny story.

When I was four, my parents always let me watch, well,

my grandparents always let me watch

horror films, which my mom wasn't necessarily happy about.

But then Halloween time would come around and I loved all of the scary outfits

and the stories, and it was just so much fun.

Then when I got into drawing, there was so much

that I just needed to get on the paper that was in my mind.

And when I decided to go into 3D,

I realized I was

I had more of a connection with that kind of material

when I was looking at the horror stories and the 3D art that came along with it.

So it's just really horror is the perfect fit for me,

whether it be in animation or theater,

any kind of art that's dark, I love it.

I'm an entrepreneur

so, during the last couple of years,

I've been building an exoskeleton for physical therapy.

It's based on ideas that I've had about

not really having enough access to physical therapy.

Turns out, that's a big problem for a lot of other people as well.

So we're building some

powered knee braces and elbow braces

to help people recovery after surgery.

I have always enjoyed horror films.

Watching them because there is a lot of

special effects and practical effects

When I was in college, I wrote a film called Angels Of Mercy.

It's a horror film, but also

There is some comedy, dark comedy in it as well,

but it's really

a critique on the medical model of disability.

So there's persons with disability played by myself

and some medical professionals

that have different ideas about what it means

to have a disability and to live a full life.

That's kind of how the conflict comes,

but it's also a home invasion thriller as well.

So it all takes place over one night,

in an isolated area in the woods and it kind of goes from there.

I wrote it with my creative partner, Andrew.

We also produced it together,

so, it was a self funded film

with crowdfunding

as well as private investment.

We really learned a lot

about how to finance films as well

during the project.

So we made a lot of mistakes, but we learned

what doesn't work.

Yeah, I did it in a

pretty, pretty strappy way

Which was great, I think it's a very good asset to have

to be able to make projects for

a little amount of money or a lot of money.

depending on how you look at it.

Andrew directed it

and I play the main character and we both

edited it together.

That's kind of the beauty of how we produced it

and self-financed it.

We were able to take our time.

We had to make the best product we can

and not rush it out before it's ready.

We've been in operation since January 2020.

We started up just before the pandemic hit.

So that means that we're a fully remote work space.

We don't actually have a physical office.

And I've actually found that that means a greater amount of equality

among the crew, because in most workplaces there's people

who can come into the office and people who work from other places.

And when we've got everybody working from somewhere else,

that means that nobody gets the preference of being at the office.

And that means that we have a very international crew,

we're majority deaf, hard of hearing, and we've got crew from, I think, five

different countries at this juncture, as well as everywhere in the U.S.

from Alaska to Florida.

So we have a crew of, I believe, 64 at this point.

There are a lot of

them, and I still am able to remember all their names.

We're reaching that tipping point where I'm going to start forgetting.

Yeah, they're fantastic artists.

A lot of us had the experience in the animation industry,

where we got our training and we went into the recruitment pipeline

and then were greeted with questions about, "Well, how do we even communicate?",

which the studio should already have answered.

So we have an interesting mix in the studio of

students who are coming from school who we want to capture and like,

you know, compensate them well and make sure that they get

those 2 to 3 years of experience on their resume.

We have "lapsed professionals" is the term that we use

for people who got their animation degree and then had to go

do something else for a while because of that chilling reception

from the animation industry. We have people who were able

to find their niche in the industry and are working also with us

because they're tired of working with just hearing people

all the time.

It's really interesting.

Plus, we have the whole range of ways of hearing or not hearing

because the bar for entry at the door is

do you worry that the way you hear is going to affect your advancement

or placement in the animation industry hear or don't hear?

And if the answer is yes, then come on in.

So we have people with bilateral cochlear implants who never learn sign,

people who are fifth generation signing, who are hard of hearing,

single-sided deaf, like me,

I think, yeah, we have, we have the entire range.

It's pretty great.

A lot of imaginary barriers are raised

which aren't in fact there and are in fact most of the time illegal

and the amount

with which employers are still getting away

with stuff, you know, in this day and age is honestly... it's shocking.

You would think that the ADA would be taken a bit more seriously and it's not.

The Americans with Disabilities Act is also known as the ADA.

ADA AA stands for Americans with Disabilities Act Amendment Act.

In 2008, the Americans with Disabilities

Act for the ADA was amended

by Congress because Congress felt courts

were interpreting the definition of disability too strictly

and that individuals who should have had protections

under the ADA did not.

So they kind of loosened the definition of disability

so that more people would have protections under the ADA.

The ADA says discrimination based

solely on disability is illegal, it's discriminatory.

Does that mean it's not going to happen?

No, it is going to happen.

When we're looking at Title 1, the nondiscrimination requirement

applies to all aspects of employment

application, interview,

hiring, training, promotion,

benefits of employment,

and even discipline.

You can't learn to act a disability.

That's a lived experience that you can't teach someone else how to act it.

And so when you don't cast authentically,

that means that you're losing out on that really great representation.

Your film just isn't going to be as good without casting authentically.

And so one thing that we do at Respect Ability

is in order to impact who is in front of the camera,

we've been working on building up the pipeline of behind the camera.

And so we run a lab program that is specifically geared toward

disabled filmmakers, writers, directors, cinematographers, both below

and above the line crew, animators, kind of every area behind the camera,

including folks wanting to go into studio executive positions.

But this is again

where this power of storytelling comes into play

when we show that authenticity in storytelling

is something that consumers are willing to throw their weight behind.

That's that's a really interesting phenomenon

that I've noticed and especially within the last five years, where

people want these cultural stories, these authentic viewpoint stories,

and they want to know that the people who are making it, that's their experience.

So they want to they want to feel that there's a real story coming from there,

that it's not just some figurehead who's

offering one person's opinion on that viewpoint.

And that's

something that is incredibly valuable to the community

and that streaming services and people who are making

media are just starting to pick up on.

The transition has been a little bit awkward though.

In large part,

we're here to talk with studios about how to make that transition happen

because most of the time when we talk with people now,

they're rarely the people who have openly said,

"You know, you need an interpreter, we won't hire you."

Most of the time,

they're the people who genuinely want to bring on hard

of hearing and deaf talent and just don't yet know how.

And we can shame them for not already knowing

or we can tell them how to do it and make it so that the door is open for us.

And so we capitalize on the second part.

There was an actor who should go nameless,

who seemed very interested

in one of the projects that I was creating.

This is a sci fi short that I did,

and she came to audition.

I thought we were mano y mano and

After the in-person audition,

she sent me a very disturbing

email, the crux of which was,

I don't want to do the project

basically because you're disabled.

That was it in a nutshell.

No reason, no "I don't like the project", but I don't think

you have the ability to do this because you are disabled.

I don't remember exact words, but it was

it was really upsetting,

and really offensive.

You're going to run into that. It's image based.

It's an image based medium.

The film industry. Images are what sell

the product.

Unfortunately,

the image they have in their mind

doesn't come from a place of love.

It often comes from a place of greed.

I think

those people, if you want to call them

the "Karens" of the world or whatever, I think a lot of the times,

they got their own baggage and issues

and I think they project a lot on to other people, their own insecurities.

So it's really not your problem. If you're disabled,

somebody is treating you poorly because you're disabled.

It's not your problem, it's not you.

It's them. They're more disabled than you'll ever be.

You know, they have their own disability.

Unfortunately,

there's no cure for being a dick head.

I faced a lot

like when I was a kid back in the nineties,

It was pretty much being called “retard”

and I'd been bullied.

And it was tough for a while.

Until when

I got a little bit older,

I started to realize that there's a lot of people out there

that care about me.

I haven't really faced anything since I became an actor.

No discrimination

and keep on persevering.

I did a TV series called Nosferatu as a background extra.

I had a great time filming that in Rhode Island.

It was so much fun.

And now Clowns In The Woods That was a tremendous piece of work.

That was actually my first horror film

and actually was also my first

big major film role that I ever had because that made me

want everything from here on out

and I had a great time on set.

Everyone was very lovely and

it was working with amazing people on set.

It felt like a big massive family.

I don't use special things to drive a car.

I don't use special things to get around.

So in the government's eyes, I'm technically not handicapped,

but to a random person looking at me, I am.

So they assume that.

So I have been in this industry for now 12 years, in film,

before I used to teach dance and actually choreograph and I own dance studios

and it was quite interesting, the shift to get into film

and what people thought of me just by looking at me.

So I don't use anything special,

but everyone assumes that I need special attention.

I was hired in New Orleans on a feature and the AD

got word that I was not with one hand

and told the person who hired me that they were going to have to let me go

because she didn't think that I could carry a box.

So they did not send

me the call sheet the day that I was supposed to be on set.

And I called frantically around because I didn't want to be late to set.

I was like, at 4 a.m., I'm going, Okay, when do we go to set?

When do we go to set?

And then finally I got a hold of I think it was the UPM

and this was a very large movie, like multimillion dollar movie.

And I was told, well, we didn't think you could carry a box,

so we're not going to have you on set.

So we don't need your help anymore.

I've decided that I'm just going to go full throttle as Black Castle Productions,

because clearly people need to be shown that just because you're made differently

doesn't mean that you're not a value and aren't as great as someone

that has two hands.

I have a property called Phantasmagoria

and it's based off of a 1993 video game by the same name.

It was the first video game that had live actors in CG environments.

It was also the first game to have to be rated because it was so gory.

But you watch it now and you're like, What?

You know, it's not gory, you know, it's kind of cheesy.

So I have been working on that project for quite a while.

I actually just found my DP for another thriller horror

that we're doing that's called Evil Squared.

And then we're also working on a take of The Tell-Tale Heart,

but it's called The Eye, and that's also in the horror genre as well.

And it's funny because I just got finished with a gay web series,

so you couldn't be like at the opposite ends of the spectrum.

But I have to say that with Black Castle, we don't have to do one genre

because I'm a person that likes all genres.

I don't like one, but horror is always fun.

Oh, we also have another one that has to do with a puppet.

It's called Terror on the Shelf, and it's a

kind of an elf on the shelf,

not a spoof, but it's a take on elf on the shelf,

except for maybe the elf is a little on the naughty side kind of thing

that we're working with some puppeteers from Jim Henson's puppeteers.

So we've got four projects in the work that are horror related.

Not by choice,

just because they were great stories and they all happen to be horror.

The film industry is so competitive.

I think most people who have a disability, if they can hide it,

then they're going to hide it because people want any edge they can get.

And when you have like thousands of people competing for any kind of acting role,

then if you have a disability,

it's hard to get hired compared to the people that don't have it,

since it's already very hard to get hired even for fully abled

actors and in production crew,

the most important thing is always doing good work

As long as you could show people

that you're really talented, that you're really good at what you do,

then I think you can be open about having a disability.

In my career as a filmmaker,

that is probably where I've had

the fewest problems with people

not understanding me in my,

unique way of looking at things.

The nice thing about horror and low budget independent

film in general is that, this is where the outcasts go.

This is like anybody who's doing this to begin with

is maybe a little bit abnormal themselves, so that makes it easier,

I think, for people who are autistic or people who have other,

you know, issues, other disabilities or differences

that makes it easier to fit in because it's kind of like a family of freaks.

And I mean that in the best possible way.

I've been a massive fan of the horror genre when I was a younger kid.

I've always enjoyed it. I think what I like is

that horror kind of plays on

on peoples' unconscious or conscious fears.

I think there's an honesty in horror films that

often don't get in other films.

I'm a firm believer in the power of storytelling to change views in society,

and I feel that that horror is one of the most potent tools

that we have for that change, because it's a way for us to take

our basic instincts, our selfishness, the things about us

that tend to drag ourselves and each other down and externalize them

into forces like The Invisible Man, the Swamp Thing, zombies,

to externalize them, give them a name and recognize them when they come up again

in our own interactions with each other.

Like I said, I saw Freddy Krueger at age three

and I was kind of hooked on horror from that moment on at age three.

Problem is, my parents were intensively anti-horror

and anti-sci fi, anti-anything weird.

We don't want any of that.

And so for me, growing

up, I had very little access to things

that were horrific except when I went to my friends' houses.

And so we would stay up all night watching

movie marathons of like bad horror from the eighties.

And it was magical.

Being an actor in a horror film is even more fun.

I grew up on the Universal Studios, the Classic Monsters, AMC...

I read books, scary stories,

scary stories are designed to pull you out of your present

situation, time and space and experience something new.

I like science fiction.

I'm more of a science fiction guy than horror.

Hills Have Eyes, of course, being on on the poster helped a lot you know I've played scary guys

but I've also done a lot of comedy and drama and adventure.

Been to the Amazon, done Westerns.

I have to watch it during the day

because I have an overactive imagination,

if I watch it at night by myself,

even though I know how it's made.

I work in this industry, I know exactly what's going to go on.

But because my imagination is a bit

on the overactive side for horror, I have to watch it during the day or

I need to watch it with someone.

I've liked horror...

it's a little bit of

what the French say, "Je ne sais quoi".

I really don't know why.

You know, it's sort of like "why is the moth

attracted to the light bulb out on your porch?"

Maybe there's something

metaphysical about horror

that innately attracts me to it.

Drama and comedy and romance and

all that in horror, all in that one genre.

The power to to change interaction lies

in these kinds of externalizing stories and safe catharsis where

you can sit down and know that the movie is going to last two and a half hours max,

that you are going to see resolution

and that kind of lesson

that you can learn carries out into the rest of your life.

And horror is just an incredibly vivid,

visceral, gut level style of learning in that way.

People learn really quick when they're scared.

But horror was always my first love.

And for me, horror

and sci fi were really where my head was

because I felt it was the only thing that represented

my world in some way.

The inner world made outer only happened for me in the horror genre.

We love horror so much, it's like our life.

Yeah, it's like our religion.

We live and we breathe

Spring Break Zombie Massacre. It's like our baby.

We love it.

The movie is our baby and we're the fathers of the movie.

And watching him grow is amazing.

We're looking to release a sequel in 2024 or 2025.

Mike Mignola is a huge deal in the comic book world.

He's the creator of Hellboy, and

so we actually are working on a documentary at the moment.

It's directed by Jim Demonakos, who has been doing all of these interviews

with some really fabulous creators that Mike Mignola

has worked with over the years.

He has so many fantastical creations in his head

and he can add to any world he's given.

I have a few scripts that are in the works.

One of them is a horror film and the other one is a comedy film.

Even the comedy is ` definitely dark comedy.

So I do have a horror project.

This one would be a trifecta for me in terms of the horror genre.

It's pretty horrifying, pretty scary.

and I hope you

stay tuned and come see it.

I have Dreaming Big On A Swing Entertainment

which is my theatrical film company and

The Rainbow Butterfly Cafe,

which is my entertainment production company.

So, I have two production companies.

I'm just an independent filmmaker

who would like to reach a wider audience.

I always wanted to win an award.

That might be a great next step in maybe

foreseeing other murals.

I would like to work with budgets that are a little bit higher but not too high.

I wouldn't want to get into like blockbuster territory where it's like,

here's $100 million and now you have to do what we say.

I would prefer more like, here's $5 million and you do whatever the hell you want.

I think That's the sweet spot.

Authentic casting is a really important topic right now, and I think that every

underrepresented community right now is for authentic casting.

And when we each push for it, we get to help each other as well.

Are we greatly

underrepresented in the industry?

F Yeah! Totally!

If there was someone who's paraplegic or someone who's disabled

and they have the ability

to perform or the ability to create

whatever it is they're supposed to be creating I would hire them right away.

Now does everyone think like that? I would hope they would.

As soon as someone that's "normal" sees

a person that maybe is different, they automatically assume

and I think that comes down to education

and maybe people like me

that just constantly goes around talking to people saying, “Look,

if I can do this, could you imagine what all those other people over there can be

and you're just not giving them a chance because of how they look

and nothing more than that.”

I do think that's changing, and I think that will change when

filmmakers take

you and other filmmakers are taking

their careers into their own hands.

I think the way we change the narrative is to write the narrative.

And encourage more disabled

filmmakers, disabled screenwriters.

We just really need to see more creators

with disabilities given a chance, given support.

There's so many films that have able bodied characters

playing people with disabilities and

yeah, not saying

it's wrong across the board,

but there are a lot of people with disabilities that want to be actors too.

I don't want hearing people to

not understand

what it feels like to be deaf.

And at the same time I have the skills that it takes and they're evident.

They would have little,

very little confidence in investment being well taken care of.

There are a lot of people with dreams who never get to achieve their dreams.

And it is

nightmarish for them.

There needs to be a grand

social awakening.

I would like to see again more equity

in front of and behind the camera.

Make sure that we're making things as equitable, not equal,

but equitable as possible so that everybody has

what they need in order to succeed within the industry.

I think that's very important going forward.

More inclusion.

That's what I want to see

and maybe

lowering the cost of joining the union

because

I've wanted to be a union actor for a while now,

but I've been non-union

and I might have to wait a little longer to get to where I want to be.

And I

think the industry really needs to step up to the plate.

Because the more we can have

disabled individuals involved throughout the entire

creative industry, the more that disabled characters will be written,

disabled actors will be cast, disabled stories will be told.

And the disability community, or the disability market,

according to Nielsen, is valued at more than $1 trillion.

So by including disability,

you are going to have a big market wanting to support.

And what's really great about the disability

community is you can be showing one disability, for example,

someone who is an amputee or has autism.

And as long as that representation is good and authentic,

you're going to get support from all the other people with disabilities.

And here in America, one in four adults has a disability.

So it is a large population of people

that can come out and support your work if it's done correctly.

So what we need is people to make their decisions

based on the heart, not the head, because they can get you all screwed up

if you're listening to the wrong people.

When approaching the industry and understanding that there are a lot of

imaginary barriers that they have put up in the way, it's

important to connect with your community and figure out what you deserve.

Dream your dream and the way you need to dream it.

And take actions in the way that feels right for you.

You may not have the support, but don't let that stop you.

Make your own content.

That's exactly what I had to do.

I got tired of people not hiring me for the stupidest things under the sun

and I just got fed up with it and started doing my own content.

I got with a group of friends who supported me.

I could do whatever they could do and it took a while.

It took me years to find these people,

but once I found them, we just started making content.

Speak up for yourselves

and ask for that access.

If we are given the access,

then we will find that the skills are comparable

to those who don't have those

debilitating disorders or disabilities.

So my advice would be to speak up, ask for what you need.

You're going to go through a lot of experiences

that are extremely discouraging

and really what you have to do

is you have to be insanely persistent.

You have to stick to what you're doing

passed the point where any sane person would give up,

and those are the people that make it in movies.

Don't quit, just keep trying.

And whatever it is that you work on

Whatever tool that

you have, whatever tools you have, get them to the finest point to the

to the to the breaking point, just to the very top.

Perseverance,

have perseverance,

also have an amazing heart

positivity 100%

just in this industry

you can't be negative.

So, you've got to have positivity.

And to have fun

and really be spontaneous and

really go with the flow.

Focus on making something that

you want to make. Find your own truth,

I guess.

Because chances are that if you enjoy

making whatever it is you're going to make

sombody else is going to enjoy it too.

There's so many people that will be able to enjoy what you're making,

so just enjoy what you're doing

and make something that you would enjoy seeing

rather than trying to pander to the audience.

You will find a way to tell your story.

Whatever it is.

If it has to come out of you, it will.

Keep doing what you're doing and people get offended,

so what?! Just do it. Have fun.

Have fun with unfiltered entertainment.

Go ahead. Make it anyway you want.

If people say it's too violent, too gory, just say I don't care.

This is my heart this is my passion, this is my work and

give it your all.

My name is Sabrina Cooper and I am Horror Able.

My name is Kevin Dale and I am Horror Able.

I'm Steven Heinig and I am Horror Able.

I'm Carin Powell and I am Horror Able.

Hi, I'm Owen Kent I’m a horror filmmaker and I’m Horror Able.

My name is Richard Burgin and I am Horror Able.

Hi, I'm Ariel Baska and I am Horror Able.

I'm Michael Berryman and you're not ,

and I am Horror Able.

My name is William Crain

And I am Horror Able..

My name is Nolan Tierce

I am an actor in the horror genre

and I am Horror Able.

I am Mattie Zufelt

I'm a filmmaker.

I am Horror Able.

Yeah, I am Sam Suchmann.

I am Horror Able.

I say

that definitely and definitely a hardcore horror fan.

Make some room for the horror fans.

Put the Disney and Nick fans on the side.

Hi, I'm Diana Elizabeth Jordan, I'm an actor, I'm a producer,

I'm a director, I'm an educator, dreamer, creator, and I am

proud to be a Horror Able.

Bye, bye!