![]() ![]() She said picketers chatted both about Iger’s comments and the anonymous studio executive. Hours before Lucas’ interview with The Times, she had spent the morning picketing in front of Disney, alongside actors new to the lines and writers who’d been striking for weeks. Lucas added that the infuriating comments help empower the workers on strike, as when Bob Iger told CNBC that writers and actors were not being “realistic” in their demands. “Whoever that executive is, is saying that they’d rather have homeless children than a little less profit for their shareholders.” ![]() “It’s cruel, it’s inhumane and it speaks to this pervasive problem that we have in our society, which is profit is the ultimate good that people seek out,” says Lucas. With writers and actors on strike, the studios have a full-blown labor revolt on their hands - and they have no one but themselves to blame. Disabled people are going to be the first to be affected in terms of their money dwindling quicker.”Ĭompany Town Column: The studios thought they could handle a strike. “The average person has to pay for rent and food, and disabled people have to do that, plus all of the costs for what they need. To that end, Inevitable Foundation has disbursed more than $750,000 in direct funding to disabled writers, podcasters and directors in its first three years. A disabled person needs to make on average $17,690 more annually than an able-bodied person to achieve the same quality of life. “It just costs more money to be disabled,” says Torelli-Pedevska. The emergency relief fund disperses unrestricted cash grants to union and nonunion members who identify as disabled, including those with mental health conditions or chronic illnesses. So, Siegel said, Inevitable turned to showrunners like Julie Plec, Ashley Lyle, Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz for funding, plus individual donations and other foundations. Pre-strike, the group received substantial funding from the studios, who, of course, were now on the other side of the table and wouldn’t be donating to a relief fund. Forty-three percent said they had less than three months of savings and 67% said they had less than six months. In a survey conducted leading up to the strike, Inevitable Foundation found that 57% of writers surveyed said they would lose work or income if there was a strike, with a potential loss of more than $2 million in earnings. “The writers that are multiply and historically marginalized, among them, are the ones that are going to hurt the most from the strike,” says co-founder Richie Siegel. But observers say the disruptions of recent years have taken a toll. With writers and actors sidelined by strikes, Comic-Con 2023 still attracted throngs of fans. But when it was clear a strike was imminent, Inevitable Foundation shifted its focus to creating an emergency relief fund.Įntertainment & Arts At Comic-Con, a striking Hollywood absence leaves some with mixed feelings Even before the strike, the group had launched an initiative to promote hiring disabled writers - not just disability consultants, who are paid less than writers and often don’t have decision-making authority. If you’re able to create change at that starting point, it’s going to have the biggest trickle-down effect,” says Inevitable Foundation co-founder Marisa Torelli-Pedevska. He also stresses that disabled workers are not a monolith: “Representation isn’t enough if it’s misrepresentation.” “You’ll have shows with disabled characters and there won’t be a writer with that disability in the room,” says O’Donnell, who has retinitis pigmentosa, a rare eye condition that slowly results in vision loss. O’Donnell says that if screenplays are written by AI based on previously existing material, it will only further produce stories full of tropes and cliches. “If disability is on the caboose of the writing chain, we will be the first people to get pushed out of jobs,” he tells The Times. He is also worried about AI being exploited to minimize the role of screenwriters. ![]() Sheridan O’Donnell is another filmmaker who received financial support from Inevitable Foundation. ![]()
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