Inevitable Foundation Launches First-of-Its-Kind Production Company

By Mikey O’Connell

Richie Siegel and Marisa Torelli-Pedevska CR: Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times

Inevitable Foundation continues to ramp up its efforts to platform disability in Hollywood with the launch of its own production company.

The first-of-its-kind Inevitable Studios will serve as the content wing of the advocacy and research non-profit, focusing on the development, production, and marketing of film and television told through a specific diversity lens. Key to the initiative is the hiring of disabled writers and filmmakers, who make up a fraction of the entertainment industry workforce, but the programming goals are hardly niche.

“We’re looking for commercial projects across all genres that have disability in the DNA,” says Inevitable co-founder Richie Siegel. “That can mean a lot of things, but these are not projects that have disability slapped on — checking some box, where it feels performative. Think about a film like A Quiet Place. If you remove deafness and sign language, there is no movie. The whole thing falls apart. That’s a litmus test for how to build a story where disability is baked in.”

Across three films, that horror franchise has grossed more than $900 million at the global box office. But the fact that there are few examples beyond A Quiet Place, though Siegel eagerly praises Ramy Youssef-produced Ramy and Mo, underscores the dearth of intrinsic diversity in storytelling.

Such inadequacies are more noticeable when taking the scope of disability into account. Inevitable cites a disability community — covering those with physical disabilities, invisible disabilities, chronic illnesses, neurodiversity and mental health conditions, in addition to their family, friends and caregivers — that represents more than 70 million Americans across 20 million households. “It is such a large audience that you’d think someone must have already done this,” adds Siegel.

Siegel and his fellow co-founder, screenwriter Marisa Torelli-Pedevska, have envisioned a production arm since the foundation launched at the top of 2021. “We always knew we wanted to make stuff,” he says. “But we wanted to spend a lot of time building up the relationships with writers, filmmakers, agents, and managers. I think we’ve developed our tastes and have a really strong understanding of what the audience wants. Now we can really cook.”