MEDIA BY PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES:
People with disabilities are rarely portrayed or heard from in the mainstream media. When images of people with disabilities do appear, we often see stereotypes such as: “the bitter cripple,” the inspirational hero overcoming adversity” or as "set dressing” a token presence superfluous to the story. In this unique program, the only one of its kind in the country, individuals with disabilities are creating their own original content and changing the way people with disabilities are represented in the media. ConnecTV, a program that is part of Downtown Community Televison Center (DCTV) provides a select group of aspiring filmmakers the opportunity to create films by and about the disability community.
OUR GOALS:
ConnecTV is forging a future for themselves and other producers with disabilities. Our goal is to establish our program so that we can continue to create respectable media, train producers to become influential voices for the disabled, invite other filmmakers to showcase their pieces and educate the general public about disabilities.
THE WEBSITE:
ConnecTV.org is the first disability web channel in the US - a portal to showcase our award winning documentaries, our international video conferences with members of disability organizations throughout the world, information on the latest assistive technology, news and coverage of national events regarding disability. We look forward to hosting media from other producers with disabilities. We are extremely excited about connecting our audience to the many topics and resources available. We intend to create a web community that better represents our lives and concerns. As video producers we are equipped to create significant content at any moment. With improved Internet technology and greater computer access,we can have a direct relationship with our audience without having to go through a regional cable or satellite carrier. Our content is always available, our viewers have no constraints.
ACHIEVEMENTS
ConnecTV’s documentaries have won 14 national and international film awards ranging in style from cinema verite documentaries to stop-motion animation. “Fork Over the Chopstick” won the short animation category in the Brooklyn International Film Festival in 2005 and Picture This Film Festival (Canada).
Since 2002, the ConnecTV Production Program has been training new producers with disabilities providing them with the resources to produce their own documentaries. These original shorts have been screened in eight different festivals in England, Japan, New Zealand, Bahrain and Yugoslavia. Audiences and film critics value the unique perspective that these producers bring to their documentaries. For example: Lei Chang (More Than Two Million) was a successful advertising executive and art director when cervical paralysis ended her career. She knows firsthand what it feels like to adjust to the new circumstances of a disability. Carmelo Gonzalez (One Night Sit, The Move) and Diana Naftal (One Night Sit, Disarmed and Dangerous) have been classified as “disabled” for their entire lives and have struggled against the low expectations and discrimination caused by that label. These filmmakers don’t have to “put themselves in someone else’s shoes.” They’ve been facing these challenges all their lives. For this reason, they create honest stories based on their personal experiences.
BACKGROUND
In 1999, Downtown Community Television Center (DCTV) started its first program specifically for people with disabilities: Media Instruction for the Disabled (MIFD). In this nine-month video training program, students collaborated on producing two original documentary shorts. In 2000, MIFD students tackled studio production, creating three episodes of their own talk show. With new funding in 2002, MIFD evolved into ConnecTV, a comprehensive broadcast TV-training program. As a result, ConnecTV has trained 36 students in video production with 12 students completing the full three-year course.
People with disabilities are rarely portrayed or heard from in the mainstream media. When images of people with disabilities do appear, we often see stereotypes such as: “the bitter cripple,” the inspirational hero overcoming adversity” or as "set dressing” a token presence superfluous to the story. In this unique program, the only one of its kind in the country, individuals with disabilities are creating their own original content and changing the way people with disabilities are represented in the media. ConnecTV, a program that is part of Downtown Community Televison Center (DCTV) provides a select group of aspiring filmmakers the opportunity to create films by and about the disability community.
OUR GOALS:
ConnecTV is forging a future for themselves and other producers with disabilities. Our goal is to establish our program so that we can continue to create respectable media, train producers to become influential voices for the disabled, invite other filmmakers to showcase their pieces and educate the general public about disabilities.
THE WEBSITE:
ConnecTV.org is the first disability web channel in the US - a portal to showcase our award winning documentaries, our international video conferences with members of disability organizations throughout the world, information on the latest assistive technology, news and coverage of national events regarding disability. We look forward to hosting media from other producers with disabilities. We are extremely excited about connecting our audience to the many topics and resources available. We intend to create a web community that better represents our lives and concerns. As video producers we are equipped to create significant content at any moment. With improved Internet technology and greater computer access,we can have a direct relationship with our audience without having to go through a regional cable or satellite carrier. Our content is always available, our viewers have no constraints.
ACHIEVEMENTS
ConnecTV’s documentaries have won 14 national and international film awards ranging in style from cinema verite documentaries to stop-motion animation. “Fork Over the Chopstick” won the short animation category in the Brooklyn International Film Festival in 2005 and Picture This Film Festival (Canada).
- Since ConnecTV’s inception, program participants have produced 20 documentary shorts. These works have covered many diverse subjects ranging from homosexuality with disability, living with ADD/ADHD, becoming disabled later in life, housing for the disabled, ConnecTV’s documentaries have covered many diverse subjects ranging from homosexuality with disability, living with ADD/ADHD, becoming disabled later in life, housing for the disabled, love relations and sexuality of women with physical disability, amputees and their neurosis, therapeutic riding, to alternative exercises for the physically disabled. These documentaries has been screened in dozens of festivals in seven different countries around the world, including a special screening of five pieces: “Ready or Not”, “More Than Two Million”, “On Her Own Terms”, “Fork over the Chopsticks, and “One Night Sit” by HBO in 2004.
- As leaders in their field, ConnecTV producers are collaborating with other international and New York City disability groups in order to cultivate their talents for the service of the community.
- Beginning in 2004, ConnecTV has been actively involved with the NYC Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities (MOPD) and the Disability Mentoring Day project.
- In 2004, ConnecTV launched our international video conferencing project. We brought disability groups from New Zealand, Japan, England, Peru, Hong Kong, Australia, and Jordan (to name a few), on many different subjects including being gay and disabled, managing life with Attention Deficit Disorder, living with mental and physical disabilities acquired later in life. We documented our international conversations via the Internet using various video conferencing technologies and we will continue to reach out to and include other groups from around the world.
- In 2005, ConnecTV partnered with Long Island University, launched the first Brooklyn International Disability Film Festival.
- In 2006, ConnecTV partnered with Disability Network of New York City (DNNYC) created a monthly film festival, “disThis!” Showcasing an outstanding array of films created by people with disabilities from all over the world.
- Since 2005, our members have been invited to speak at places around the country on our own program and on specific disability topics, such as NYU’s Assistive Technology Department and Rehabilitation International World Congress.
Since 2002, the ConnecTV Production Program has been training new producers with disabilities providing them with the resources to produce their own documentaries. These original shorts have been screened in eight different festivals in England, Japan, New Zealand, Bahrain and Yugoslavia. Audiences and film critics value the unique perspective that these producers bring to their documentaries. For example: Lei Chang (More Than Two Million) was a successful advertising executive and art director when cervical paralysis ended her career. She knows firsthand what it feels like to adjust to the new circumstances of a disability. Carmelo Gonzalez (One Night Sit, The Move) and Diana Naftal (One Night Sit, Disarmed and Dangerous) have been classified as “disabled” for their entire lives and have struggled against the low expectations and discrimination caused by that label. These filmmakers don’t have to “put themselves in someone else’s shoes.” They’ve been facing these challenges all their lives. For this reason, they create honest stories based on their personal experiences.
BACKGROUND
In 1999, Downtown Community Television Center (DCTV) started its first program specifically for people with disabilities: Media Instruction for the Disabled (MIFD). In this nine-month video training program, students collaborated on producing two original documentary shorts. In 2000, MIFD students tackled studio production, creating three episodes of their own talk show. With new funding in 2002, MIFD evolved into ConnecTV, a comprehensive broadcast TV-training program. As a result, ConnecTV has trained 36 students in video production with 12 students completing the full three-year course.