The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Nonprofit finds jobs for disabled Georgians
Showability advocates for greater representation in arts, film and TV.
Norma Stanley proudly talks about the first paycheck earned by her daughter Sierra as an extra on the NBC series “Ordinary Joe,” filming in Atlanta.
“Sierra got a check,” said Stanley. “I am so excited. It’s not a lot of money — $200 — but it’s beautiful and it’s her first opportunity to work.”
Sierra, 33, is among a growing number of people with disabilities who are finding work in Georgia’s entertainment industry. Sierra worked with ShowAbility, an Atlanta nonprofit that advocates for greater representation and that finds jobs in the arts, film and television industry for people with “visible and invisible disabilities,” such as autism, deafness and physical disabilities.
When Sierra was 9 months old, she was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and microcephaly, a birth defect that can cause developmental delays, vision and mobility issues.
On “Ordinary Joe,” Sierra, who is mostly nonverbal and requires a wheelchair when she leaves the house, and oth
ers were cast as extras for a scene that required them to visit a disability expo.
“We don’t know if she really understands what happened,” said Stanley, who guided her daughter’s wheelchair on the set. “I love the fact, though, that they are starting to recognize the opportunities that need to be given to people with a disability.”
Showability works to get disabled Georgians like Sierra both in front of and behind the camera. It was formed in 2009 by professional singer Myrna Clayton, who is also a cultural ambassador for the U.S. State Department.
“Unfortunately, people think that those on the disability spectrum don’t have the intellectual capacity to do certain jobs and that’s not the case,” said Showability executive director Clayton, whose nonprofit was initially called Abel 2. ”It’s kind of like when whites thought Black folks couldn’t do certain things.”
She said it’s important that inclusion and diversity in the film and television industry goes beyond race, gender and sexuality. It should also include those with disabilities.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 61 million adults in the United States live with a disability, the highest number being in the South.
“They’re invisible to us,” Clayton said. “They’re hidden in plain view, not because of them but because of us.”
Clayton wants to change the landscape and push for greater representation and access. She even takes issue with the word disability.
“It says what they can’t do,” she said. “You disable devices, you don’t disable people. They are not objects that are broken and need dismantling.”
Showability has a database
of talent and to field requests from casting agents seeking authentic actors on the disability spectrum for the film and television industry. Other programs include a talent show, a disability awareness career day and a virtual inclusive arts master class, which targets people with disabilities and their caregivers.
Since March 1, Showability has helped get 10 people with disabilities hired onto film production crews for television in Georgia and they hope to expand elsewhere.
Several years ago, Clayton was set to perform at a local church when she noticed a young singer with a physical disability struggle to get up three steps to the pulpit. A few years later she tried unsuccessfully to locate him to see how he had progressed. “I was just a fan,” she said. “But no one knew anyone with a disability who sang. That just frustrated me. Even today when I ask people to name a performing artist with a disability, they struggle, which doesn’t make sense.”
She ticks off a list of famous names including singer and musicians Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles and actress Marlee Matlin, who was born hearing but became deaf at 18 months. Singer and pianist
Kodi Lee, the 2019 “America’s Got Talent” winner, is blind and autistic.
While there have been strides, advocates say more needs to be done and there are still instances where actors who don’t have disabilities are cast in roles playing characters who do.
Local organizations are important because they can identify and develop a pool of talent, said Jay Ruderman, president of the Boston-based Ruderman Family Foundation, which advocates on behalf of people who are disabled.
Over the last five years, the foundation has received pledges from four major Hollywood studios — CBS Entertainment, NBC Universal, Paramount Pictures and Sony Pictures Entertainment to audition actors with disabilities in every new studio production.
“Film and television affects the way we see society,” said Ruderman. Viewers often spend more time in front of their television sets than they do with their neighbors across the street.
“The impact is greater than legislation because it’s changing cultural norms,” and helping erase the stigma association with people who have disabilities.
Marti King Young, of Snellville, an assistant to the producer on the FX limited series “Class of ‘09’, worked with Showability to play matchmaker finding
work for a young man with autism as a production assistant in the art department on the show.
She has a 21-year-old son, Elijah Haney, who is on the autism spectrum, so the issue “was already on my radar because I want him to have a lot of opportunities and in my line of work in film and television, there’s not much out there. There’s a whole group of people we’re leaving out in the industry - people with special needs or disabilities.”
It can be difficult to place some applicants because the work in the industry can be fast-paced and the hours can require someone to be there in early morning or late at night, she said. So transportation can be an issue if the person doesn’t drive.
When she first approached the producer, he was all in. Today that young man is “just flourishing.”
She also found work for a woman who has multiple sclerosis, a chronic disease affecting the central nervous system. The woman, who has a health degree, is now working on the production’s COVID-19 health and safety team. A third person, who is in a wheelchair, is working in the art department on a different show.
“The entertainment industry can lead the way in changing the negative perception of humans with disabilities,” Clayton said. “They are capable, vibrant and smart.”