"Be The One"

"Be The One" {Music Video} from Life Stage Films on Vimeo.

2012 Media Access Awards Celebrate Disability Awareness and Inclusion in Media and Entertainment

Late Night Funny Man Jimmy Kimmel to Host Awards Reception
with Jane Lynch, Helen Hunt, and many more on hand

Media Acc

Los Angeles, CA (September 11, 2012) – The 2012 Media Access Awards will be held on October 10, 2012, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. with a breakfast and an awards ceremony at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. This annual event honors individuals in the entertainment and broadcast industries for their efforts in promoting awareness of the disability experience, accessibility for people with disabilities, and the accurate depiction of characters with disabilities. Emceed by Emmy-winner Jimmy Kimmel (Jimmy Kimmel Live), coming off the heels of hosting this year’s Primetime Emmy Awards, honorees of the 2012 Media Access Awards will include television writer-producer tour-de-force Shonda Rhimes, creator of Grey’s Anatomy, and Lauren Potter, star of FOX’s hit comedy, Glee.  Among the presenters will be Emmy winner Jane Lynch (Glee), Oscar winner Helen Hunt (As Good As It Gets, Mad About You), Oscar nominee John Hawkes (The Sessions,Winter’s Bone), RJ Mitte (Breaking Bad), the cast of Sundance Channel‘s Push Girls, and more.

Read more of the SAG-AFTRA ONE UNION article HERE.

College Urged For ‘Glee’ Character With Down Syndrome

When students on Fox’s “Glee” graduated this season, many considered college. Now a Twitter campaign is calling on the show’s writers to make the same plan for a character with Down syndrome.

Using the hashtag #College4Becky, a social media push launching this week is encouraging the “Glee” writers to send Becky Jackson to college at the end of the show’s next season. Though the character is believed to be a rising high school senior, little has been said about her future.

“All of Becky’s friends on the show are heading off to college next year. That’s something she can do too — but we haven’t yet heard what her plans are after graduation,” reads an open letter to the writers of “Glee” from the campaign’s organizers at Think College, a national clearinghouse on college options for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities that’s housed at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

“If you make college plans for Becky, you’ll be raising the expectations of all your viewers with Down syndrome and other intellectual disabilities,” the letter reads.

Read more of Michelle Diament's Disability Scoop article HERE.

‘R-Word’ PSA Receives YouTube Award

See Shawn Heasley's Disability Scoop article HERE.