A group of participants from the Easterseals Disability Film Challenge (EDFC)—celebrating 13 years of leadership advocating for disability inclusion in the entertainment industry in 2026—have come together to form the first-ever Disability Loop Group, providing background for the hit, original animated feature film GOAT, in theaters now.
This is the first film voiced by the Disability Loop Group, which was launched a year ago with an EDFC workshop held on the Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) studio lot that included coaching, feedback and advice from animation executives. SPE has been a key sponsor and host of EDFC for seven years.
A loop group is a team of actors who record background voices and audio during post-production. Their work enriches the “soundscape” of films, television shows, video games and commercials by creating ambient noise, crowd reactions and authentic background dialogue. Loop groups bring video-based projects to life by adding atmosphere and realism.
In Theaters Now!
From Sony Pictures Animation, the studio behind Spider-Man™: Across the Spider-Verse, and the artists that made KPop Demon Hunters, GOAT is an original action-comedy set in an all-animal world. The story follows Will, a small goat with big dreams who gets a once-in-a-lifetime shot to join the pros and play roarball—a high-intensity, co-ed, full-contact sport dominated by the fastest, fiercest animals in the world. Will’s new teammates aren’t thrilled about having a little goat on their roster, but Will is determined to revolutionize the sport and prove once and for all that “smalls can ball!”
Directed by Tyree Dillihay, the film features the voices of Caleb McLaughlin, Gabrielle Union, Stephen Curry, Nicola Coughlan, Nick Kroll, David Harbour, Jenifer Lewis, Aaron Pierre, Patton Oswalt, Andrew Santino, Bobby Lee, Eduardo Franco, Sherry Cola, Jelly Roll and Jennifer Hudson.
About the Disability Loop Group
The formation of the Disability Loop Group followed the casting of ESSC board member and EDFC founder and director Nic Novicki as Lego Spider-Man and longtime Film Challenge participant Danielle Perez as Sun-Spider in Sony Pictures Animation’s Oscar®-nominated and critically acclaimed Spider-Man™: Across the Spider-Verse.
Both Perez, who utilizes a wheelchair, and Novicki, a little person, are professional actors who were recommended for their roles in the film by Academy Award®-winning writers/producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller, longtime supporters of the Film Challenge.
Said Novicki, “Sony Pictures has been an incredible champion of the Easterseals Disability Film Challenge and disability inclusion in entertainment far beyond the competition. Like Will in GOAT, these talented artists earned a chance to show what they can do. Seeing so many people with disabilities recognized for their skill and invited to contribute to a major studio film is truly exciting. Don’t miss GOAT in theaters!”
In addition to Novicki and Perez, the Disability Loop Group consists of other talented actors who have a disability and are all experienced as voiceover artists and actors, who have worked on a long list of hit films and TV shows—including Loop Group Coordinator Brock Powell and Bella Cosper, Francine Daniels, Tobias Forrest, Danny J. Gomez, Eileen Grubba, Joe Guintu, Diana Elizabeth Jordan, Gwyn LaRee, Mark Povinelli, Vincent Rutley and Mia Schaikewitz.
