Inevitable Foundation, Woody Harrelson, and Tony Nominee Katy Sullivan Deliver Testimony for New York Accessibility Fund

Only Murders in the Building’s James Caverly, DGA Disability Committee Co-Chair Ashley Eakin, and The Public Theater were among the other individuals and institutions that provided testimony in support of a proposed accessibility fund for New York-based productions. 

From left: Tony nominee and actress Katy Sullivan and NYC Council Members Linda Lee, Eric Dinowitz, and Chris Marte.

By Inevitable Foundation Staff

Inevitable Foundation, alongside actor and producer Woody Harrelson, Only Murders in the Building star James Caverly, and Tony nominee Katy Sullivan, provided testimony last month in support of a New York City Council bill that would establish a fund to cover the cost of disability accommodations and access personnel on local film, TV, and theater productions. 

The Oct. 23 meeting was led by District 23 Council Member and Chair of the Committee on Mental Health, Disabilities and Addiction, Linda Lee, and featured Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, District 11 Council Member Eric Dinowitz, and the bill’s sponsor, District 1 Council Member Chris Marte. During the Thursday morning event held at City Hall, Marte noted that Intro 1307 has amassed 20-plus co-sponsors since he introduced it in June, with the current proposal for the fund offering $430,000 in grant support to productions during its first year. 

The council member also cited findings from Inevitable’s Cost of Accommodations Report—including how disabled creatives’ access needs can, on average, cost as little as 1% of a production's budget—while speaking to how “making accommodations on set is not hard.” 

“New York City is the theater capital of the world and has the second-largest TV and film industry in the country. While we should be proud of how these industries have thrived in New York, we must also recognize their failures, and these industries have been failing people with disabilities,” Marte told fellow council members, in-person and virtual attendees. “With this bill, we are incentivizing productions to… meet the accessibility needs of their workers without impacting their budget.”

“When 28% of people in the U.S. have a disability, but less than 5% of the characters on screen and less than 1% of writers have disabilities, that is a failure. When 30% of actors have to pay for their own accommodation because productions refuse to make sets accessible, that's a failure. When disabled crew members are shamed for requesting reasonable accommodations, that is a failure,” he continued, highlighting data published in the Cost of Accommodations Report. “I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass Intro 1307 to not just make New York City a more equitable city, but to increase representation of people with disabilities backstage, on stage, and on the big screen.”

After Lee opened the floor to statements, several individuals and organizations, including Inevitable Foundation President Richie Siegel, spoke to the challenges around accommodations within the U.S. film, TV, and theater industries that Marte underscored. Much of that testimony mirrored the 2022 report’s anonymized statements of working disabled creatives. 

That includes testimony from DeafBlind musical theater writer Spencer J. Vigil, who explained how a required team of five ASL interpreters for rehearsals and shows cost them $2,400 out of pocket on a recent production. “I am still trying to pay this debt off,” they said in a statement. “I want to imagine a world in which I can plan my show around access first and not have to worry about living somewhere or paying for interpreters.”

From left: Casting director Rosalie Joseph and actor James Caverly sit on a panel to provide testimony during the NYC Council Committee meeting.

Suri Ellerton, film and TV producer at Glass Carousel Pictures and Same Name Productions, elaborated on how the structural and financial support the bill would create for creatives like Vigil is already happening in the U.K. film and TV industry. There, “access needs are not treated as optional or extraordinary—they are an expected and supported part of production, thanks in part to public funding mechanisms and cultural policies that prioritize inclusion.”

While speaking during the meeting’s virtual testimony, Siegel expressed how the city not only “has an opportunity to lead the nation with this forward-thinking, industry-strengthening policy” but also deliver “a win for the creative economy, for equity, and for New York’s leadership in entertainment.”

READ MORE | Cost of Accommodations Report Cited in New Bill to Fund Production Accessibility in New York City

“A major misconception is that accessibility is prohibitively expensive. In reality, our data shows that accommodations typically increase budgets by only single-digit percentages,” the  Inevitable Foundation co-founder said. “Yet, in today’s cost-conscious entertainment environment, even modest expenses can deter producers from hiring disabled professionals, especially on independent or lower-budget productions.”

Siegel continued: “This bill helps solve that disconnect. By offsetting the minimal costs of access, the fund will unlock a significant pool of untapped creative talent—11% of New Yorkers are disabled, yet less than 1% work behind the camera. The creation of a film, television, and theater accessibility fund would provide critical financial support to productions that commit to inclusive hiring and accessibility. And it would incentivize studios and producers to bring disabled talent into their projects.”

Ahead of Inevitable’s testimony, a written statement from actor Woody Harrelson about his experience filming the Bobby Farrelly-directed sports comedy Champions was read out by Rosalie Joseph. A former VP of casting for ABC and Senior Casting Executive at CBS, Joseph has been a leading advocate for the bill and fund, alongside fellow casting director Eric Goldberg. 

“Champions’ budget had to account for the unique needs of the disability community, which can often make it challenging for filmmakers to consider additional line items for access coordinators or accommodations. This reality contributes to the unfortunate scarcity of both actors and crew members with disabilities in the industry,” Harrelson stated. “I firmly believe that working on a set should be accessible to all qualified individuals, regardless of the associated costs. The proposed bill aims to address this issue by facilitating more consistent hiring practices for people with disabilities, which could lead to a more inclusive and diverse film industry.”

New Amsterdam casting director David Caparelliotis also championed the bill as “a huge yes to members of this community,” in the way the NBC show provided a “vital and timely yes” to the late performer John Christopher Jones. After being diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2009, The Village and Moonstruck actor “felt he had been rendered vestigial, remaindered and unvalued, despite the huge breadth and quality of his life's work,” according to Caparelliotis. “Too often, we as casting directors come up against limitations within the industry, be it fiscal— perceived or actual— ill-equipped spaces and/or facilities, and sometimes outright bias that deny actors in this community access to vital opportunities, oftentimes germane to their own experiences and talents.”

DGA Disability Committee Co-Chair and Inevitable Foundation Accelerate Fellow Ashley Eakin.

Upwards of 40 individuals appeared in person as well as virtually, collectively delivering over an hour of testimony in support of the bill. Among those in attendance were representatives from ReelAbilities International Film Festival, The Public Theater, and The Roundabout Theatre, as well as Caverly, Sullivan, Jenna Bainbridge (Broadway’s Wicked), SAG-AFTRA’s Chair of the National Performers with Disabilities Committee Christine Bruno, DGA’s Disability Committee Co-Chair and Inevitable Foundation Accelerate Fellow Ashley Eakin, and DPD Casting founder and Visionary Fellowship casting director Danielle Pretsfelder Demchick. 

Intro 1307 is a first-of-its-kind bill that would offset the costs of accommodations on New York City-based film, TV, and theater productions that never established a budget line item for access needs. The Accessibility Fund for Film, TV, and Theatre would be overseen by the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, with support from the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities and the Mayor’s Office of Talent and Workforce Development.