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Inevitable Foundation, the non-profit advocating on behalf of the disabled filmmaking community, on Wednesday named Ashley Eakin, Jamey Perry, and Simone Hawthorne as its 2024 Accelerate Fellows.
Supported by an exclusive, multi-year commitment from Netflix’s Fund for Creative Equity, the Accelerate Fellowship provides professional disabled writers with $40,000 grants, mentorship, connections, and community to help them become industry-leading creators. The expanded program also includes additional mentorship opportunities with industry experts, access to health insurance, and expanded educational and community programming, including guidance on IP acquisition.
“We are thrilled to welcome Ashley, Jamey, and Simone as our 2024 Accelerate Fellows,” said Inevitable Foundation’s Co-Founders, Richie Siegel and Marisa Torelli-Pedevska. “This cohort of accomplished writers demonstrates the growing talent of disabled creatives who will have a lasting impact on the industry.”
Since launching in 2021, Inevitable Foundation has supported over 100 disabled writers, filmmakers and podcasters via its Accelerate Fellowship, Elevate Collective, Elevate for Podcasters, and Emergency Relief Fund, also facilitating hundreds of general meetings for disabled screenwriters through its Concierge. The organization’s fellowship news comes following a recent open letter put out by the org that called for improved disability representation in Hollywood, with 30+ industry leaders co-signing. Prior to that, the non-profit put out a report highlighting that 66% of audiences are currently unsatisfied with on-screen representations of disability and mental health.
For more information on this year’s Accelerate Fellows, read on.
Simone Hawthorne (she/her) is a Bronx-born writer and proud mom whose writing credits include Ambitions, Untold Stories of Black Wall Street, and The Young and the Restless. She is a 2020 Sundance Knight Fellow and 2022 Daytime Emmy Award winner for her work on The Young and the Restless. Her writing reflects a drive to examine humanity, analyzing the idiosyncrasies of characters and their circumstances. She believes that seeing universal humanity on screen leads audiences to recognize the humanity in those around them. She is represented by the Sarnoff Company.
Ashley Eakin (she/her)is a writer and director born with a physical disability, who’s passionate about disrupting the narrative of how disabled people are portrayed in media. She has directed projects for Disney+, Apple TV+, and Netflix. Her AFI DWW film Single won the 2020 SXSW Special Jury Recognition Award and is currently being developed into a TV show for FX. In 2023 Eakin was selected for the Netflix Created By Initiative and is currently writing a feature for the platform. She is a founding member of the DGA’s newly established and historic Disability Committee. Eakin is represented by UTA and Artists First.
Jamey Perry (she/her) is a paraplegic TV writer, actor, and adaptive athlete, who writes grounded sci-fi, drama, and anything with a juicy disability storyline. She gained her first TV writing credit in 2019 when, as the writer’s assistant, Jamey co-wrote episode 109 of NBC’s Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector. Jamey has also sold two disability-led shows to Peacock and NBC, respectively. Currently, Jamey is coming off staffing on Season 3 of Amazon‘s Leverage: Redemption, where she wrote Episode 305. As vice chair of the WGA’s Disabled Writers Committee, Jamey is passionate about using disability as a way to offer new perspectives. She is represented by Buchwald.
