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The Easterseals Disability Film Challenge has partnered with Film Independent to award 12 disabled filmmakers with grants to help them develop their short films into episodic series or feature films.

Grant recipients will have access to workshops, one-on-one mentorship and networking opportunities with industry leaders through the Film Independent grantee program. The grants were made possible by the Adobe Foundation.

“We are proud of the outstanding films produced over the past 11 years and I am grateful that the Challenge has provided a high-profile platform that has enabled many of our participants to go on to such prominent success,” said Nic Novicki, director and founder of the Edfc. “Thanks to the Adobe Foundation and Film Independent, we are able to provide our talented participants with the resources to take their projects to the next level. We can’t wait to see these projects continue to flourish on the big and small screens.

In April, actor Miki Yamashita says she received a health diagnosis that requires surgery to remove non-cancerous tumors. That’s when the performer, who has appeared on Cobra Kai and voiced a character on The Lion Guard, began the race to attempt to qualify for her union’s health insurance plan by June 30. If she earned enough on eligible projects or worked a sufficient number of days by that time, she could be covered by the plan at the end of the year, when she says she needs to undergo the medical procedure.

But meeting the plan’s requirements was going to be tougher than usual to accomplish. For nearly four months of her qualifying period, her union, SAG-AFTRA, was on strike against film and television companies, and Yamashita was barred by union rules from working on many projects. In the months following, production didn’t fully rebound in the...

The Easterseals Disability Film Challenge awarded prizes in several categories at a Thursday event on the Sony Pictures Studios lot in Culver City.

The Disability Film Challenge is celebrating 11 years of advocating for diversity, equity and inclusion in the entertainment industry.

Presenters and attendees included “Ricky Stanicky” writer, producer and director Peter Farrelly, comedian Nate Bargatze, “Coda” director Siân Heder, Caterina Scorsone of “Grey’s Anatomy,” Sheaun McKinney of “The Neighborhood,” Rick Glassman of “Not Dead Yet,” Jillian Mercado of “The L Word: Generation Q” and Heather Morris of “Glee.”

The winners were selected from 135 submitted from around the world. They include:

Best Film – “Audio Description” – Lee Pugsley;

Best Director – “The Case of the Obsidian Muskrat”- Chase Chambers

Best Actor – “Emergency Contact” – Kiersten Kelly

Best Writer – “Call the A.D.A.” – David Radcliff

Best Editor – “The Case of the Obsidian Muskrat” – Chase Chambers

Best Awareness Campaign – “Out of Reach” – Sawsan Zakaria...

CBS’s Tracker premiered after the Super Bowl, a time slot that usually benefits from having the Big Game as a lead-in. Unfortunately, this year’s Super Bowl went into overtime, which meant episode one was delayed on the East Coast until 11pm. After the ratings were revealed, it turned out the late start did not affect viewership, with the series premiere bringing in 18.4 million viewers. That makes Tracker the most-watched primetime entertainment program after the Super Bowl since 2021’s debut of The Equalizer.

Episode two, “Missoula,” settles into the series’ regular time slot, airing on Sunday, February 18, 2024 at 9pm Et/Pt. Justin Hartley leads the cast as Colter Shaw, Fiona Rene plays Reenie Green, and Robin Weigert is Teddi. Abby McEnany stars as Velma and Eric Graise is Bobby Exley.

“Missoula” Plot: Colter tracks down a missing young man who has been pulled into a deadly cult and doesn’t want to be found.

Angela Harvey had one job at the Think Tank for Inclusion and Equity’s picket at the Disney lot last Friday: to take photos and document the event on social media. “I get here and go to take photos, and I left my phone in the car down on Riverside,” says the TV writer and co-chair of the advocacy organization composed of working television scribes from historically excluded backgrounds.

Katherine Beattie, a member of Ttie’s steering committee and also a Writers Guild of America strike captain, offered to retrieve it for her. “Katherine uses a wheelchair and was like, ‘I’ll be faster.’ So she went and got my phone, and it was really fast!” Harvey laughs. “She could do that because this place is accessible.” (The Disney lot, with its wide sidewalks, is considered one of the most accessible picketing locations.)

Accessibility is one of the core values for Ttie,...

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Michael J. Dougherty was new to Los Angeles in 2010, fresh from completing a master’s in screenwriting in Ireland, when he learned about the Writers Guild of America West’s Caucus program.

While attending open meetings of the guild’s Disabled Writers Committee, Dougherty, who has spina bifida, heard about a program welcoming qualified non-wga members that would provide some guild resources and networking opportunities, including the ability to attend WGA West committee meetings, for a modest annual fee. He applied to the Independent Writers Caucus, open to emerging and established screenwriters, and was accepted. “From the moment I got my card to this year, I have built I think 95 percent of my entire life both professionally and personally out of that organization,” Dougherty says.

But last December, in a decision that wasn’t widely reported at the time, the WGA West abruptly...