Our ‘Disability and Screen Work in Australia: Report for Industry 2023’ Won the Screen Well Initiative of the Year Award!
Image shows a navy blue rectangle with two images side by side. On the left is a yellow circular laurel motif with lettering inside. Large bold lettering (in white) reads ‘Screen Well 2023’ and (in yellow) ‘Awards’. The subheading below (in white) reads ‘Initiative of the Year ‘Disability & Screen Work in Australia: Report for industry 2023’ A2K Media. On the right is the cover image of the report, surrounded by a thin yellow frame. On the top right hand corner of the cover is a light teal box, with ‘2023’ written in bold lettering, with the ‘20’ in grey and the ‘23’ in white. Behind this is a photo of Ade Djajamihardja, an Asian Australian man seated in a manual wheelchair wearing black-rimmed glasses, a navy suit jacket and blue denim jeans. He is talking to the camera operator who is obscured by an aluminium lightbox stand. They are surrounded by large lightboxes on tripod stands and a boom microphone. Behind Ade is a purple wall with a metallic modern art canvas hanging above a fireplace. A sunny white coffee station area is visible next to an open door in the background. The right bottom corner of the photo is overlaid with undulating light teal waves. The bottom third of the cover image is a white rectangular section with the title of the report which reads (written in grey) ‘Disability and Screen Work’ (and in teal) ‘in Australia’. The subheading below (written in grey lettering) reads ‘Report for Industry’. Beneath this smaller grey text reads ‘Prepared by Dr. Radha O’Meara, Dr. Laura Dunstan, Anna Debinski and Catherine Ryan. Supported by Melbourne Disability Institute and A2K Media. Within the white rectangular section, on the bottom right, the black and white A2K Media logo and the royal blue and white University of Melbourne logo, are separated by a thin vertical grey line.
As a quick follow on from our last post - we are the proud recipients of the inaugural Screen Well Award for ‘Initiative of the Year’!
Congratulations again to the other finalists and winners from the other categories! But before we pat ourselves on the back, we’d like to acknowledge that today is ‘World Mental Health Day’.
We recognise that the term ‘mental health’ can often be whitewashed, and feel it is important to highlight that it also represents a formal demographic within the disability community. We also feel that understanding and appreciation of mental health is very lacking in today’s world. For many of us this day holds some difficult connotations. Especially as our environment is often the root cause of many mental health challenges. To us, the term ‘challenges’ includes society’s negative attitudes and misunderstandings. That is why we commissioned our research, to share this message with our industry. We see this as an important ‘first step’, and nothing more. Wherever you are on your journey today, we hope that you can join us in this moment of Disability Pride. We will continue to advocate for change.
Our enormous thanks go to everyone who contributed to Disability and Screen Work in Australia: Report for Industry 2023. This award is shared by you!
In case you missed it, and you’d like to share the celebration with us, the Screen Well Awards ceremony is available to view on the Screen Well website. It is open captioned and runs for approximately 10 minutes. We were absolutely blown away by the ceremony and very much recommend you check it out. Amazing work by Ben Steel and the Screen Well team!
Here’s to continuing to make the screen industry a better place for all of us.
If the content of this article has brought up any feelings of discomfort for you, we encourage you to head to the Screen Well website for a list of support services.
You are not alone and your experience matters.