FWD-Doc Wins MIPCOM Cannes Diversify TV Behind the Scenes Impact Award
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MEDIA CONTACT: Amanda Upson
FWD-Doc Wins MIPCOM Cannes Diversify TV Behind the Scenes Impact Award
Los Angeles, CA and Cannes, France (October 19, 2022)
SUMMARY: Director and Producer Lindsey Dryden, co-founder of FWD-Doc, accepted the MIPCOM Cannes Diversify TV Behind the Scenes Impact Award on behalf of FWD-Doc and its over 600 members.
Emmy-winning Director and Producer Lindsey Dryden accepted MIPCOM Cannes Diversify TV Behind the Scenes Impact Award on behalf of FWD-Doc, its over 600 members, and disabled people performing the daily unrecognized and unpaid work to advocate for authentic representation in media as well as access to production, exhibition, and distribution.
In accepting the award Dryden said, disabled filmmakers are “valuable not because we're somehow inherently inspiring as disabled people, but because we're brilliant storytellers and talented collaborators. FWD-Doc members represent the world’s 1 billion disabled people, and we’re bringing untold stories and under-served audiences together. We have access to a global audience with $13 trillion dollars in disposable income. We invite you to contact FWD-Doc, work with us, join our broadcast partners, and let’s work together to lift up incredible disabled talent and tell those untold stories.”
Dedicated to championing and promoting diversity and inclusion in all its forms across the international television industry, the sixth edition of MIPCOM Cannes Diversify TV Awards occurred during MIPCOM on Wednesday 19 October 2022 and were broadcast live on OneMIP.
The Behind the Scenes Impact Award recognizes a person or team whose influence, actions, determination and/or vision behind the scenes – from early stage, final production or anywhere along the process – stands as an inspiration to all television creators and audiences worldwide to support and champion diversity and inclusion in the workplace and/or across a single, or multiple, projects. Alyssa Milano presented the Behind the Scenes Impact Award.
FWD-Doc’s membership is global and growing, with members working in all roles of film and TV, at all levels of experience from Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning to current film school students. In addition to technical industry skills, FWD-Doc’s membership possesses valuable expertise on how to reach a massive, ignored market.
While companies in the entertainment industry compete to reach new audiences, they continue to ignore underserved disabled viewers. Estimates suggest this market to be $8 trillion of disposable income, making disability communities the 3rd largest economic power in the world - larger than the UK, Germany, and Japan (Per Accenture white paper, disability communities hold $13 trillion in disposable income globally when expanded to friends and family).
FWD-Doc seeks critical support for vital programs for its membership and invites the industry to support its efforts by donating through its fiscal sponsor, Center for Independent Documentary https://www.documentaries.org/fwddoc?rq=fwd-doc or reaching out to hello@fwd-doc.org to arrange sponsorship.
Unfortunately, industry events continue to be overwhelmingly inaccessible to disabled people in the industry. Industry events can seek feedback by encouraging ALL attendees to report accessibility via the Accessibility Scorecard.
ABOUT FWD-Doc: FWD-Doc (Filmmakers with Disabilities, www.fwd-doc.org) is a group of over 600 filmmakers with disabilities (FWDs) — and our active allies.
FWD-Doc seeks to increase the visibility of, support for, and direct access to opportunities, networks, and employment for D/deaf, disabled, and neurodiverse filmmakers. We aim to foster greater inclusion of D/deafness, disability, and neurodiversity within the broader entertainment industry.
FWD-Doc is supported by grants from the Ford Foundation, Field of Vision, Perspective Fund, and other generous organizations and individual donors.
FWD-Doc LEADERSHIP INCLUDES: co-founders Day Al-Mohamed (on leave), Lindsey Dryden, Jim LeBrecht, and Alysa Nahmias, advising member Kyla Harris, and Interim Director, Amanda Upson.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: For more information, go to https://www.fwd-doc.org/. To download FWD-Doc’s Toolkit for Inclusion and Accessibility: https://www.fwd-doc.org/toolkit. To download FWD-Doc’s Engagement Pack with resources aimed at filmmakers, commissioners, funders, buyers, decision-makers, business affairs, and exhibitors, and includes templates for use across the industry: https://www.fwd-doc.org/engagement-pack.
ACCESSIBILITY SCORECARD: For more information on how to make your media events accessible, go to https://www.fwd-doc.org/film-event-accessibility-scorecard-2023.
#FWDDoc #Accessibility #DisabilityIsDiversity #OmissionIsErasure