Meet Our Grantees

An incredibly talented and ambitious group of disabled creatives: writers, directors, filmmakers, and more.

Fran Carpanini Fran Carpanini

Monica Cecilia Lucas

Monica Lucas is a neurodivergent, Puerto Rican screenwriter who writes stylistic character dramas about women and girls wrestling back power from the systems that seek to diminish them.

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August Collucci August Collucci

Zayre Ferrer

Zayre (they/them) is a screenwriter who was was born in Panama and grew up in Brooklyn.

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August Collucci August Collucci

Alys Murray

Alys Murray (she/her) is a screenwriter, novelist, and filmmaker from New Orleans, Louisiana, who writes genre fare for the romantic in all of us.

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August Collucci August Collucci

Filipe F. Coutinho

Filipe Coutinho (he/him) is a writer and filmmaker living with OCD with a passion for character-driven, inclusive, and commercial stories.

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Saga Darnell Saga Darnell

Simone Hawthorne

Bronx-born writer Simone, is a proud mom, who thrives on playing devil's advocate, and uses her writing to explore the complexities of human nature.

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Saga Darnell Saga Darnell

Jamey Perry

Jamey, a paraplegic TV writer, actor, and adaptive athlete from Seattle, is dedicated to using disability to offer new perspectives.

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Saga Darnell Saga Darnell

Ashley Eakin

Ashley, a writer/director with a physical disability, has directed for Disney+, Apple TV+, and Netflix, and is committed to changing the portrayal of disabled people in media.

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Ali Abbas Ali Abbas

Shea Mirzai

Shea Mirzai (he/him) is an Iranian-American, LGBTQ+ writer/producer, a Person Who Stutters, and Co-Chair of the WGA’s Disabled Writers Committee.

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Ali Abbas Ali Abbas

Alex Lora-Cercos

Alex Lora-Cercos (he/him) is a Spanish filmmaker who writes about the complexities of the human condition and believes in the power of cinema to reflect and effect change.

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Ali Abbas Ali Abbas

Matilda Feyiṣayọ Ibini

Matilda Feyiṣayọ Ibini (she/they) is an award-winning bionic playwright, screenwriter and author of Nigerian heritage from London who writes thought-provoking narratives that explore themes of identity, belonging and empowerment.

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Ali Abbas Ali Abbas

Melanie Abrams Fierstein

Melanie Abrams Fierstein (she/her) specializes in brow-raising dramas and true stories, combining her experience in politics with her unique perspective as a disabled woman.

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Ali Abbas Ali Abbas

Natalia Temesgen

Natalia Temesgen (she/her) is a playwright, TV writer/producer, who has written TV episodes for Dear White People on Netflix, Julia on Max, and Reasonable Doubt on Hulu.

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Ali Abbas Ali Abbas

Anne Hamilton

Anne Hamilton (she/her) is a director and screenwriter who writes about women, mental health, neurodiversity, and cancer.

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Ali Abbas Ali Abbas

Roma Murphy

Roma Murphy (she/her) has always wanted to make the world a better place, but as a comedy writer, she suspects she’ll probably make it worse.

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Ali Abbas Ali Abbas

Obiageli Odimegwu

Obiageli Odimegwu (she/her) grew up in Nigeria and worked on Wall Street before breaking her parents’ hearts by transitioning into screenwriting. Obiageli writes about outsiders in harrowing situations.

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Ali Abbas Ali Abbas

Cheryl Meyer

Cheryl Meyer (she/her) is a small-town girl with big-city dreams who dabbled in every job both in front of and behind the camera before becoming a bonafide scribe. As a physically disabled writer, she brings her unique perspective to narratives and loves to write about complicated women in messy situations.

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Ali Abbas Ali Abbas

Andrew Reid

Andrew Reid (he/him) is a disabled Jamaican-Cuban storyteller who migrated to the United States at the age of 10. He gravitates toward genre films and untold dramas within the world of disability, mental health, and the Caribbean community.

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Ali Abbas Ali Abbas

Kryzz Gautier

Kryzz Gautier (she/her) is a Queer, Afro-Latina, formerly undocumented writer-director from the Dominican Republic, who specializes in character-driven, grounded sci-fi and genre at large.

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Ali Abbas Ali Abbas

Charlie and Chris Frazier

Charlie and Chris Frazier (he/him) have written for film and television for ten years. They often center their stories on characters with disabilities, rooted in their own experiences with Cystic Fibrosis.

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Ali Abbas Ali Abbas

Hari Ziyad

Hari Ziyad (he/they) is a certified death doula, the bestselling author of Black Boy Out of Time, and the creator and former Editor-in-Chief of RaceBaitr.

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