Easterseals Takes Center Stage at Sundance 2025

In January, representatives from Easterseals Southern California attended the 2025 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. From a discussion with TheWrap to the announcement of the 2025 Easterseals Disability Film Challenge genre, Easterseals’ footprint was unmissable at the festival. 

TheWrap Panel: Reimagining Hollywood

While at Sundance, Easterseals participated in an insightful discussion, hosted by TheWrap, about the state of disability inclusion in Hollywood. Easterseals Chief Advancement Officer Nancy Weintraub and Easterseals Disability Film Challenge Founder Nic Novicki sat down with TheWrap CEO Sharon Waxman to discuss a ground-breaking new report conducted by Easterseals. This report shows that representation of disabilities in media has stagnated despite a U.S. audience commanding $490 billion in spending power.  

Watch the full panel discussion on TheWrap’s website to hear more about what Easterseals is doing to address disability representation in entertainment.  

Learn more about the report and how Easterseals is putting disability in Hollywood front and center by visiting our Reimagining Hollywood webpage.  

Easterseals Disability Film Challenge Announcement  

On Saturday, January 25th, Nic Novicki, founder of the Easterseals Disability Film Challenge, announced this year’s film challenge genre: Thriller and Suspense!  

The 12th annual film challenge will kick-off on April 1st, so interested filmmakers must register by March 31. Winners will be announced in May at an awards ceremony at Sony Pictures Studios. Learn more about the Easterseals Disability Film Challenge on our website.  

More Highlights from Sundance 

This year, Easterseals Southern California had the honor of being Sundance’s official press inclusion sponsor to help ensure diverse coverage of the festival. We also had the opportunity to support the launch of Shoshannah Stern’s directorial debut, Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore, a documentary about Marlee Matlin’s life and journey as the first deaf actor to win an Oscar.  

“The Sundance Film Festival attracts the world’s most creative minds and innovative thinkers in entertainment,” said Brynne Jones, Easterseals Senior Director of Partnerships. “Over the years, Easterseals has had a presence at Sundance to ensure that the disability community continues to be at the table. We look forward to seeing the fruits of these important conversations and initiatives as our Reimagining Hollywood report reaches new audiences.”  

If you’d like to partner with Easterseals Southern California in our efforts to support disability representation in Hollywood or want to learn more about our Reimagining Hollywood report, please reach out to Brynne Jones, Senior Director of Partnerships.