Accelerate and Visionary Fellows discuss how the three-day in-person experience in L.A. sparked celebration, creative development, and career connections.

*Accelerate and Visionary Fellows at The Preserve as part of the two-day inaugural Inevitable Foundation Fellow Summit in Los Angeles on Nov. 13-14.*

In mid-November, Inevitable Foundation convened disabled creatives and industry allies in Los Angeles for three days, as part of the Visionary Fellowship for filmmakers and the Accelerate Fellowship for screenwriters.

The program events—a Short Film Showcase and Fellow Summit—allowed our creative community and industry network to reconnect for a variety of professional and community development opportunities. Both aimed to spark intimate celebration and collaboration, and cultivate the conversations and connections that can shape careers.

“While we are proud of the last five years of work we have done through our Fellowships virtually, it’s always a unique opportunity to bring everyone together in person,” said Marisa Torelli-Pedevska, the foundation’s co-founder and Head of Writing Programs, at the kick-off of the Fellow Summit.

Added co-founder and President Richie Siegel: “These next days are a special opportunity to be in community with your peers in a moment, both in the industry and in the world, when community matters more than ever.”

Short Film Showcase

“Imagine your first pro game was the Super Bowl. You've done the hard work and trained, and now you get to enjoy being on this massive stage with all of this history. It's incredible,” says Visionary Fellow Alys Murray, while reflecting on the Nov. 12 screening of her short at The Academy’s Linwood Dunn Theater. “It makes you feel like you're not just another person who has a short film. You're a professional who has made something that’s more than just content, but art, and it's now part of this lineage of [cinematic] history.”

That’s particularly important for disabled members of Hollywood’s creative community, according to the New Orleans-based writer-director. Events like the Visionary Fellowship Short Film Showcase can make a filmmaker “belong in a way that you genuinely don't when you are part of a historically excluded group in this industry. It's a statement that says, ‘We're here, we can do the work, and we're a force to be reckoned with,’” Murray tells Inevitable Insider.

The screening debuted five movies—Filipe Coutinho’s 8 Tracks, Zayre Ferrer’s Bembé, Katherine Craft’s The Hog Queen, Murray’s Beware C*ckblocking Ghosts, and Monica Lucas’ Double Birthday Christmas Wedding—and served as a culmination of a year of short filmmaking for the fellows and the foundation. Composed of two private screenings and an industry reception, the event featured more than 300 attendees and brought together the writer-directors with their previously established community of reps and execs, as well as a new, expanded network of industry members.

Among those in attendance were representatives from Netflix, Disney, 20th Century, Shondaland, Mattel, United Talent, Panavision, Footprint Features, Arise Artists Agency, Brillstein Entertainment Partners, Kaplan/Perroine Entertainment, Stage Coach Entertainment, Loreen Arbus Productions, Bold Media Management, Industry Entertainment, DPD Casting, Water's End Productions, Sonoro Media, Off Camera Entertainment, and more.

For Visionary Fellow Ferrer, the program’s $55,000 grant provided immense support, enabling them to create their short film—a physical asset they can now take to the festival circuit and use to pitch their feature. But they tell Inevitable Insider that the reception also created a more direct and intimate opportunity to showcase their creative talent with reps as they seek new representation. Separately, Murray was able to use the event to connect with a writer who, after seeing her short, expressed interest in bringing her into their writers’ room for an upcoming project.

A group of five people smiling and dressed in formal attire stand on a red carpet in front of a blue backdrop with "Inevitable Foundation" written on it. — *From left: Katherine Craft, Zayre Ferrer, Alys Murray, Monica Lucas, and Filipe Coutinho attend the Short Film Showcase on Nov. 12 at The Linwood Dunn Theater.*

“I joke that I could have made my short film in Louisiana for $135 and a pack of cigarettes, and debuting the short film in a bar on Bourbon Street would've been fun,” Murray says about her experience leading up to the Visionary Fellowship. “But I obviously could not have gotten the actors. I couldn't have gotten a great DP. It would've been totally different.”

“It did push me a bit more to ask people to come and do something that is out of my comfort zone, especially inviting my mentors. But people did show up and support it, which was really powerful,” adds Visionary Fellow Lucas, while reflecting on how the Showcase experience expanded their creative networking skills. “I feel like it's one of the moments I'll remember forever. It's really the first time that I was able to bring people together and celebrate something that I was really proud of.”

The reception also provided an opportunity to connect with other disabled creatives from Inevitable Foundation’s Accelerate Fellowship and Elevate Collective granting program. “We obviously already know and are friends with Monica, but we met the other four directors last night,” says 2021 Accelerate Fellow Greg Machlin. “There are two of them who direct horror-comedy, which is one of our genres. I would be very happy with either of them—Alys or Kat—directing a TV episode of ours in the future if we get a show or a short if we need a director.”

Fellow Summit

Machlin and Aoife Baker have been attending Inevitable Foundation’s virtual and in-person events almost as long as the organization has existed. Which is why Machlin, who was part of the 2021 cohort alongside writing partner Baker, says he doesn’t “think Inevitable gets enough credit for how they keep people involved after their fellowship year is over.” Adds Baker: “Today’s a good example of that.”

Baker is referencing the organization’s inaugural Fellow Summit, a two-day event held at The Preserve that brought together around 25 disabled creatives. From Nov. 13-14, screenwriters and filmmakers participated in exclusive panel conversations with Hollywood creatives, execs, and screenwriters; writers’ room simulations led by TV scribes from Emmy-nominated series; and networking and community-building experiences.

Featuring high-level executives, agency reps, showrunners, and writers, the intimate experience sought to expand how Inevitable can generate meaningful creative momentum and professional advancement for Hollywood’s disabled creatives—a group that faces compounding challenges even when the industry is not in flux.

“It's been really uplifting and really genuine,” Baker said about the two days of panels and the selection of speakers. “Two of them are mentors for us, and we've seen all of them in Inevitable Zooms before. But through a computer screen. So getting to meet in person, chat and introduce them to people that are other Inevitable Fellows that they would like and get those conversations going, that felt good.”

Panels focused on topics such as the state of the industry, pitching, and how to sell your next project, and featured talent like Ben Watkins (Cross), Clarence Hammond (Paramount Players), Danielle Sanchez-Witzel (Survival of the Thickest), Edward Katsis (Once Upon a Time), Gabe Marano (Hasbro Entertainment), Ilana Peña (Diary of a Future President), Joel Thompson (Rosewell, New Mexico), Krista Sipp (First Friday Entertainment), Matt Jordan Smith (Pageboy Productions), and Keisha Zollar (Dying for Sex).

“The panelists themselves have a big range of experiences, so if you have a question, they're going to have the answer,” says Baker. “I was texting our manager and was like, ‘I'm hearing things and putting them into action.’ These are good things to know about the industry in terms of what people are looking for and where things are going.”

Three people sit in director’s chairs in front of an "Inevitable Foundation" sign as part of a panel discussion. In the foreground is a group of six diverse people, including one in a wheelchair, listening to the panelists.

Three people sit in director’s chairs in front of an "Inevitable Foundation" sign as part of a panel discussion.

A group of people sit in a dimly lit conference room, intently focused on a presentation. They have laptops, papers, and drinks on black tables.

Three people sit in director’s chairs in front of an "Inevitable Foundation" sign as part of a panel discussion. The middle person, who is a Black woman with braids, speaks into a microphone.

People sit attentively at a long, black-covered table in a well-lit room with sheer curtains. A person in a wheelchair is visible in the foreground.

Three people sit in director’s chairs in front of an "Inevitable Foundation" sign as part of a panel discussion in the background. Several tables full of people listening to the panelists is in the foreground.

A group of people sitting outdoors at a table, attentively listening. They appear relaxed and engaged, with coffee cups and laptops on the table. Overcast lighting.

A group of people sit under a covered outdoor area with trees visible around them, using laptops and talking.

Five people sit around a table engaged in discussion. An open laptop, notes, and a plate with food is visible on the able. The mood is collaborative and focused.

A group of people sit around a large, white, round table in a casual meeting. One person is in a wheelchair, visible on the left. The atmosphere is engaged and collaborative.

Four people sit around an outdoor table, engaged in conversation, creating a relaxed and social atmosphere. Drinks and snacks are on the table.

The second day of the Summit also allowed fellows to stretch their artistic and professional muscles in a simulated working environment. Writers joined either a dramedy or comedy room, where they explored developing storylines for an original TV show concept. 2022 Accelerate Fellow Anton Ray and his writing partner, Paul Masterson, have both done mock rooms before. Still, the duo, who participated in the dramedy experience with Julia Bicknell (Yellowjackets), say it was a well-run hyper-condensed replication of the blue-sky phase in writers’ rooms.

“You can't replace the opportunity to get to work with people like Julia, who was great,” Ray tells Inevitable Insider. “The fact that she said at the end, ‘You're all ready for rooms, let me read your stuff. Send me your stuff’—that is the real opportunity. When professional writers have these mock experiences with us, they see how much they can slot us into their rooms. We're not an unknown quantity. She knows what it's like to work with us at least for a short period of time, and now she's going to read us and remember us the next time she's leading a room, staffing, or she has a friend who's looking to find a writer.”

For Lucas, who was also a part of Inevitable Foundation’s 2022 Accelerate Fellowship cohort, the comedy room, led by Elevate Collective Member Zollar (Astronomy Club: The Sketch Show), felt out of her typical creative comfort zone. But participating in the simulation with other members of the Inevitable community took some of the performance pressure off, allowing her to focus more on delivering her best ideas, collaborating with fellow writers, and building room skills.

“It can sometimes be hard for me to read a room and understand the dynamics,” Lucas says, while discussing how she felt “less fear” around contributing. “But I didn't have a lot of time to do that, so it was nice that I was able to come into a space that already felt comfortable and inviting. I didn't have to worry so much about learning the personalities.”

Community Building

Reflecting on the entire L.A. week experience, Machlin tells Inevitable Insider: “This event is serving three different purposes, and doing all of them really well.”

Alongside the educational and creative opportunities, Machlin is speaking to the chance to find the people—vertically and laterally—who can help disabled creatives take the next step. For him and Baker, that’s meant reconnecting with 2021 Fellow Shaina Ghuraya to reestablish their co-working and creative check-in schedules. “It's getting to be in person and talk about what we're each going through in our career, what we need, and to say, ‘Let's figure out how to get that.’”

“A lot of work comes from your peers,” adds Ferrer, speaking to how the Showcase and Summit allowed program participants to connect to help develop each other’s careers. “If somebody was looking for low vision writers, depending on what style they wanted, I know that Sheridan O'Donnell exists. I know Kat Craft exists. And I know what they can write, so I could recommend them to someone, which happens a lot [in the industry].”

Following the fellow dinner at Botanica, Ray also pointed to Ghuraya, who expressed that she had been “feeling disconnected and unable to write, but that dinner fed her soul. It was being back around all of us and realizing she still belonged here. Now she's reinvigorated to get back behind the keyboard for herself. That's huge,” says Ray. “The continued support makes it feel like our success is inevitable. This community is not going to leave its people behind.”

“So much of every business, but especially TV, is about connections and relationships,” adds Masterson. “I think it's the combination of both the practical business side and also the longevity of just not losing heart. Community is key, not only for continuing on, but also for long-term planting of seeds.”

It all harkens to what makes Inevitable Foundation’s work so distinct and so impactful. “I sat down with a handful of folks I haven't really spent a lot of time with, and got to chat with people who I've only ever really known through Writer's Therapies or through Zooms,” the Accelerate and Visionary Fellow says. “That was wonderful because one of the things that I value the most about Inevitable is its community. It's one of the best communities that I've been a part of in Hollywood.”