HOLLYWOOD DISABILITIES FORUM KILLS!

HOLLYWOOD DISABILITIES FORUM PICS. PIC #1: DARYL "CHILL" MITCHELL ("BROTHERS"), AR, RJ MITTE ("BREAKING BAD"). PIC #2: from left to right: DAVID MILCH ("DEADWOOD"), JANIS HIRSCH ("BROTHERS"), OLIVIA RAYNOR (UCLA), CHILL MITCHELL, LINDA BOVE ("SESAME STREET"), ROBERT DAVID HALL ("CSI"), AR, VINCE GILLIGAN ("BREAKING BAD"), MARGARET NAGLE ("WARM SPRINGS"), RJ MITTE, PETER FARRELLY ("SOMETHING ABOUT MARY").

I borrowed the following copy about last Saturday's event at UCLA from my friend, Jason Boog, editor of the hip publishing blog, GalleyCat (http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat). It's a deft summary.

Saturday, Oct. 24, celebrities, screenwriters, actors, and writers mounted the first-ever Hollywood Disabilities Forum--an event for entertainment industry professionals to "explore opportunities and challenges of people with disabilities in entertainment." Comedy writers (and actors) Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant contributed that mildly controversial video(NOTE: SOON TO BE SEEN HERE) to support the cause.

The all-day event was held at UCLA's Melnitz Hall. GalleyCat caught up with Allen Rucker--the Writers with Disabilities chair for the Writers Guild of America, West and a critically-acclaimed author--to find out more about the event.

He explained: "The event was packed. Two morning workshops for aspiring actors and writers with disabilities had to turn people away. The afternoon keynote by 'Something About Mary' director Peter Farrelly was an hysterical primer on how things get done in Hollywood. After that, the panel of Farrelly, David Milch ("Deadwood" creator), Vince Gilligan ("Breaking Bad" creator), Daryl Mitchell (star of the new Fox series, "Brothers,"--the first sitcom ever to star in a man using a wheelchair), and others."

Rucker concluded by laying out the day's most controversial writing topic: "They discussed the creative inclusion of characters with disabilities into their work and argued, sometimes vehemently, over the issue of whether only actors with disabilities have the right to play characters with disabilities."

LOGO LOGO LOGO

This is the new logo for the WGA Writers With Disabilities Committee, dreamed up by Karol Silverstein and designed by Blaine Rucker.

Elegant, no?

HOLLYWOOD DISABILITIES FORUM...BE THERE!

I am the chair of the Writers With Disabilities Committee at the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and in that capacity, I am one of the producers (with SAG, AFTRA, et al) of a star-studded event on SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24TH, at UCLA. It's called the HOLLYWOOD DISABILITIES FORUM and it will bring together all kinds of Hollywood movers and shakers to talk about increasing the presence on TV and film of the 56 million disabled Americans out there.

After morning workshops for writers and actors with disabilities, RICKY GERVAIS will open the main proceedings with a taped welcome from London. Then writer/director PETER FARRELLY ("Something About Mary," "Kingpin," "The Ringer," "Me, Myself, and Irene," etc, etc) will give the keynote address.

Then a panel of serious writers and actors -- DAVID MILCH ("NYPD Blue," "Deadwood"), DARYL "CHILL" MITCHELL ("Brothers"), VINCE GILLIGAN("Breaking Bad"), RJ MITTE("Breaking Bad"), JANIS HIRSCH ("Will & Grace," "Brothers"), LINDA BOVE ("Sesame Street"), DANNY WOODBURN ("Seinfeld") -- will talk about the creative possibilities of disability-connected characters, humor, and story lines. Then we'll have cocktails and laugh about human frailties of all kinds.

For more info, go the FACE BOOK and search "Hollywood Disabilities Forum." Or contact diversity@wga.org.

This is a first of its kind event in Hollywood and has already gotten more response than we ever imagined. Let the gimp media revolution begin!