New Global Disability Media Alliance Launches to Resource Nonfiction Disabled Storytelling
Disability Media Alliance is a New Collaboration of Disabled Film Festivals, Nonfiction Disabled Media Funders, and More Across the World
LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESS Newswire / July 22, 2025 /Today, a new international 501(c)(3) organization is launching out of Los Angeles, California, to ensure nonfiction disabled media makers can focus on the work of storytelling instead of fighting to exist.
Founded by a coalition of disability-led artist support organizations-1IN4 Coalition, AXS Film Fund, Documentary Association of Pakistan (DAP), FWD-Doc, and the Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project (QWOCMAP)-the Disability Media Alliance (DMA) exists to expand funding, foster a culture of access, and create conditions where disabled nonfiction media makers can build sustainable careers.
Rather than building new programs from scratch, DMA invests in the community organizations and practitioners who already know what works. These leaders, often under-resourced and overextended, bring deep expertise and lived experience to their work. DMA ensures they have the funding, networks, and influence needed to sustain their communities and amplify disabled voices in nonfiction media globally.
Why DMA, Why Now?
DMA was incubated through the Nonfiction Access Initiative (NAI), a research and pilot funding project supported by the Ford Foundation and housed at the International Documentary Association (IDA), in collaboration with FWD-Doc. Through this initiative, DMA 's leaders conducted community-driven research that affirmed deep inequities in the field:
Fully 80% of disabled filmmakers fund their work out of pocket
Most grants, labs, and festivals are not designed with disabled creators in mind
Disability-led programs are routinely refused institutional support
With discriminatory policies and ableist rhetoric on the rise, stories by disabled creators are more important than ever
"Our research verifies what people working in the field already knew," said Ranell Shubert, Executive Director of DMA and former NAI research lead. "Disabled storytellers are doing powerful work, but still spend too much time and energy trying to be included. At a time when support systems are being stripped away and misinformation is rising, their stories are essential. DMA was created to move resources where they 're most needed-resourcing disability-led organizations that already know how to support their communities."
DMA works to build a sustainable, global support system for disabled nonfiction creators through three primary tools: funding, research, and community building. By investing in and supporting trusted community organizations, DMA helps those closest to the work expand their reach, deepen their impact, and create meaningful, lasting change.
"Around the globe, disability film festivals and funders have been getting by on grit and goodwill. Imagine what could be done with adequate resources, coordination, and support?" asks Lawrence Carter-Long, DMA Board Chair. "To grow, we must first sustain. It has been impossible for disabled people to build a career creatively or financially because unavailable and inadequate support systems weren 't designed with us in mind. That must change. DMA is excited to help facilitate this necessary shift."
"There 's still a huge lack of real representation of disabled people in traditional media," said Jason DaSilva, filmmaker and founder of AXS Film Fund. "DMA is investing time, talent, and expertise to foster real, lasting progress. Increased visibility is the floor, not the ceiling. It only works when the work we 've done becomes a catalyst for more."
"Disabled creatives face overwhelming systemic barriers to filmmaking, and the disability-led media arts organizations that support them face similar institutional challenges around the world," said Cassidy Dimon, Executive Director of FWD-Doc. "Now more than ever, we need to come together to build power, share resources, and center disabled stories. I 'm excited about DMA 's potential to harness our collective strength to create a more accessible media ecosystem-one that supports both the sustainability of disabled artists and the organizations that uplift them."
"The media world already shuts out creators of color, especially those outside the U.S. or Europe," said Haya Fatima Iqbal, filmmaker and co-founder of the Documentary Association of Pakistan (DAP). "Now imagine being a disabled person on top of that. It 's isolating and nearly impossible to establish or expand a career. DMA matters because it sees and supports creators like us."
"As a visual effects artist, I know imagination is our greatest tool. Disability isn 't a boundary-it 's a possibility. We belong in every genre and every story," said Kaitlyn Yang, 1IN4 Co-Founder & Visual Effects Artist and Supervisor. "It 's meaningful to be part of DMA, working toward systemic change to elevate the inclusion of disabled people on and off screen."
Personal stories from disabled creators express the urgent need for DMA 's work:
"I spend so much time trying to access film festivals-finding the money for an ASL interpreter, flights, housing, meals. I barely have time to share my film with new audiences. That shouldn 't be the tradeoff."
"Try getting around Cannes in a wheelchair-it 's nearly impossible to find accessible housing. At Sundance, half the events are up stairs. We miss out, not because we lack talent, but because access isn 't built in. We need a culture of access-not one-time fixes."
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Disability Media Alliance is a new nonprofit organization building global infrastructure to resource disabled nonfiction media makers. We use research, funding, and community building to resource organizations that expand the impact of nonfiction disabled media makers globally. Learn more atDisabilityMedia.org.
Press Contact:
Ranell Shubert
ranell@disabilitymedia.org
SOURCE:Disability Media Alliance
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