Lights! Camera! Access! (LCA)

Legacy

Building on the legacy of Media Access Office (first liaison between the entertainment industry and disability community) and Media Access Awards in the 1980s, Lights! Camera! Access! was launched for the 20th Anniversary of the ADA in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy, hosted by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences to create training and disability talent pipeline.

Objectives

Increase disability employment in front of and behind the camera/keyboard across delivery platforms:
-TV, movies, advertising, news, theatre, interactive

Improve disability portrayals with authentic casting and owning the narrative

Increase access to entertainment and media with audio descriptions, captions, and ASL sign language interpreters

LCA six-month Career Exploration Summit series on Zoom

In the past, before the pandemic, LCA produced regional in-person summits hosted by our great partners:

Hollywood – Television Academy, Coelho Center for Disability Law, Policy & Innovation, ReelAbilities Film Festival Los Angeles and Viacom CBS

NY – ReelAbilities Film Festival NY, BBDO Worldwide advertising agency, City University NY, and NYU Ability Lab

Washington, DC – The White House and Gallaudet University

Chicago – Chicago Film Office/Cultural Affairs and Special Events and ReelAbilities Film Festival Chicago

Boston – Ruderman Family Foundation

Silicon Valley – Computer History Museum

Due to the pandemic, we are not able to gather in person so we have transformed the successful one-day LCA into two six-month series on Zoom:

Spring/Summer in collaboration with ReelAbilities Film Festival NY (April – September) and
Fall/Winter in collaboration with ReelAbilities Film Festival Los Angeles (October – March)

How to Customize LCA to Fit Your Unique Career Objectives (click here)