The Television Academy Foundation invites you to get involved with the following activities:
The Power of Television: Achieving True Disability Inclusion
In a time when representation matters more than ever, the television industry is on the front lines of influencing societal perceptions and norms. Learn from panelists who are driving disability inclusion both on and off screen about their strategies for success, the challenges they face in driving inclusion, and what it will take to achieve greater equity in the television industry.
Panelists:
Lauren Appelbaum, SVP Entertainment & News Media, RespectAbility Eileen Grubba, Performer, New Amsterdam Tali Hartman Squire, CEO, EIN SOF Communications, Inc. & Lights! Camera! Access! David Renaud, Writer/Producer, The Good Doctor Sue Ann Pien, Performer, As We See It
Moderator:
Karen Horn, DEIA Expert/Pioneer
Continental breakfast is served from 9:00 AM to 9:30 AM PST.
On-site tickets for this event are currently sold out. If you would like to join this event virtually, please join via this Zoom webinar and use passcode 902779.
If you join us virtually and have any questions, please email us at [email protected] and we’ll try to incorporate them into the conversation as much as we can.
Click here to book your tickets.
The event will be held inside the Television Academy’s Saban Media Center. Masks are not required, but disposable masks will be available at registration for those who wish to wear one.
Please do not participate if you are feeling unwell.
The Television Academy Foundation is committed to making our events inclusive. For Saban Media Center accessibility information, click here.
This is a Television Academy Foundation public event. Television Academy members and the public are invited to attend. Each person may reserve a limit of two tickets.
Can’t make the event? No problem! The event will be recorded and available to watch on TelevisionAcademy.com the week following the event.
Panelists
David Renaud
David Renaud is a former physician and co-executive producer of the seventh season of the Humanitas Prize-winning and Golden Globe-nominated ABC series The Good Doctor. He is an alumnus of both the 2022 WGA/AMPTP Showrunner Training Program (SRTP) and the 2022 Sony Showrunner Training Program. At the age of 19, David was in a near-fatal car accident that left him paralyzed from the chest down. He is committed to challenging preconceived notions of people with disabilities, and his work on The Good Doctor has been recognized by the Media Access Awards (2019 Visionary Award) and Variety (2018 Inclusion Impact Report). He is also committed to expanding opportunities for artists with disabilities in the industry, and has served as a faculty advisor for the Responsibility Summer Lab for Entertainment Professionals with Disabilities. He has also produced two network medical drama pilots featuring protagonists with disabilities.
Lauren Appelbaum
Irene Gurba
Sue Anne Pien
Tali Hartman Squire
Tari Hartman Squire’s EIN SOF Communications is a leading disability inclusive diversity, strategic marketing and employment consulting firm. “We’re committed 25/7.”
Squire has served as a consultant on hundreds of television, film, marketing and impact campaigns for clients including AT&T, Television Academy, Amazon MGM Studios, American Masters, Apple, Bank of America, BBDO, CBS, Droga5, IMDb, Jim Henson Company, Meta, Fox Searchlight, McDonald’s, Mattel (Barbie’s wheelchair user friend), Microsoft, NBCUniversal, Nickelodeon, Sony Pictures Television, USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, Verizon/Getty Images, WNET, UCLA, the U.S. Department of Labor and Women’s eNews.
After experiencing discrimination due to her temporary disability, Squire and other actors with disabilities spearheaded the SAG Committee on Disabled Performers to lobby for inclusion of people with disabilities in SAG’s affirmative action/non-discrimination clause in the collective bargaining agreement in 1980, a decade before the ADA. Squire then became the founding executive director of the Media Access Office (its first disability/media liaison), focusing on authentic casting, script consultations, showcases, media access awards and advocacy.
Her “My Left Foot” campaign (the first Disability Marketing/DC Congressional Screening) proved the ADA is a marketing opportunity. Her “Lights! Camera! Access! Career Incubator” launched at the Television Academy in conjunction with ADA20. EIN SOF is listed in the Valuable 500 resource directory and works with the U.S. Access Board to address employment barriers.
Squire and producing partner Danny Woodburn (Seinfeld) founded ADA Lead On Productions, which has employed 158 cast/crew members with disabilities and has been awarded a 2021 Shorty Award, a 2022 Anthem Gold DEI Award, and been featured in Forbes.
EIN SOF’s disability market research initiatives have been featured in Fortune Small Business and Adweek, and include the Verizon/Getty Images disability collection. Squire organized focus groups with thought leaders and key influencers for the National Disability Leadership Alliance to develop authentic photography and disability guidelines to share with 240,000 Getty photographers.
Squire co-authored with Darryl “Chill” Mitchell (NCIS: New Orleans) the Ruderman TV Challenge, which challenged 151 TV series/pilots across 39 platforms to audition performers with disabilities, laying the groundwork for the Ruderman Pledge. She is the co-author of Making News: Disability Rights Coverage, advises the AP Stylebook on disability-sensitive language, is fluent in ASL, and is producing the 2024 Sign-Right International Film Festival.
Moderator
Karen Horn
Karen Horn is a senior global leader with extensive experience building DEIA best practices for several Fortune 500 companies. She is a recognized diversity and inclusion expert and pioneer in building talent pipelines. Karen most recently served as SVP of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, North America for Warner Bros. Discovery. In this role, she oversaw DEI efforts across creative talent pipeline programs, workforce, content and production, and helped craft the company’s global DEIA strategy.
Prior to joining WBD, Ms. Horn spent over 10 years at NBCUniversal developing workforce and pipeline programs. She serves on numerous industry and advocacy committees. Karen’s work in the DEIA field has been recognized with numerous awards and recognition.