Justin began his career writing and directing for BBC1’s Doctors and Ragdoll Productions. He went on to write and direct four internationally acclaimed feature films for backers including Film Four, Screen West Midlands and Pathe.
His fourth film The Marker is a thriller starring John Hannah and Cathy Tyson backed by Creative England. It was released in cinemas last year and can now be seen on Netflix.
He is hard of hearing and since 2004 has been running training and production company 104 films specialising in disability and film. Work includes the BAFTA nominated Ian Dury biopic Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll starring Andy Serkis, the BIFA winning Notes on Blindness which was nominated for 3 BAFTAs including best British film and documentary Unrest which premiered in the main competition at Sundance 2017 and was shortlisted for the Best Documentary Oscar.
Kareemah Batts is a native New Yorker who grew up in the Flatbush area of Brooklyn. As a cancer survivor, paraclimber, an outdoor enthusiast, and a diversity, equity, and inclusion professional, she pulls from her lived experience and education to co-create a world where diversity is intersectional and accessible.
After being diagnosed with Synovial Sarcoma in 2009, leading to her partial leg amputation, Kareemah attended the Colorado Mountain School in 2011 where she fell in love with climbing. She became the first female paraclimber in a USA Climbing Competition. She was inspired to found the Adaptive Climbing Group, the largest climbing program for people with disabilities in the country, and she remains its Program Director. Additionally, she currently serves on committees across the outdoor industry for diversity initiatives such as Access Fund, Brooklyn Boulders Foundation, American Alpine Club, USA Climbing, NYC Department of Transportation, and others.
Hugh Herr is creating bionic limbs that emulate the function of natural limbs. Time Magazine coined Dr. Herr the ‘Leader of the Bionic Age’ because of his revolutionary work in the emerging field of Biomechatronics – technology that marries human physiology with electromechanics. A double amputee himself, he is responsible for breakthrough advances in bionic limbs that provide greater mobility and new hope to those with physical disabilities. He is currently Professor of Media Arts and Sciences at the MIT Media Lab, and co-director of the MIT Center for Extreme Bionics.
Gideon Gil, is a managing editor at STAT, overseeing STAT’s investigative journalism, special projects, and science coverage. He joined STAT at its founding in 2015. He previously was the Boston Globe’s health and science editor for a decade and had a hand in three Pulitzer Prizes. A 2014-15 Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT, Gideon earned a biochemistry degree from Harvard College and a master’s in journalism from Columbia University.
Caren Zucker is a journalist and Emmy Award-winning network producer who has reported on a broad range of subjects both domestically and internationally. As a producer for ABC’s World News and Nightline, working alongside Peter Jennings, Charlie Gibson, and Diane Sawyer, she covered economic summits, presidential campaigns, social trends and the Olympic Games. She was honored for her role in ABC’s coverage of 9/11 with two of television’s most prestigious prizes, the Peabody and the Alfred L. DuPont awards. Zucker was the producer and co-writer of PBS NewsHour series Autism Now. Her oldest son Mickey’s autism diagnosis inspired a new direction in her reporting: to bring a better understanding of autism’s realities. Zucker and her husband, NBC Sports Producer John McGuinness, have three children and reside in New Jersey.
John Donvan is a veteran network correspondent and producer for ABC, CNN and PBS, and host and moderator of the Intelligence Squared U.S. Debates, which are heard on public radio and by podcast. He has also been a contributing editor to The Atlantic. During his journalism career, in addition to anchoring various ABC broadcasts, John served as chief White House correspondent, and held multiyear postings in London, Moscow, Jerusalem and Amman, Jordan. He wrote and reported for the documentary program Turning Point. The winner of four Emmys and the Overseas Press Club Award, he became interested in autism’s impact on families upon meeting his wife, physician and medical school professor Ranit Mishori, who grew up in Israel with a profoundly brother. Donvan has two children and lives in Washington, DC.
David is an actor, writer and producer, who became the first lead regular disabled cast member of BBC EASTENDERS. He is currently writing a drama series for Unstoppable with Noel Clarke, and with writer Paul Viragh and developing MAVERICKS, a feature film for BBC Films.
He was recently selected to join the Writers’ Access Group at the BBC, and was named as one of the 100 most influential disabled people in the UK in the Shaw Trust Disability Power List for 2018.
David made his directorial debut with SYMPATHY FOR THE LEMON starring Genevieve Barr and Chris Rithin, and wrote the short ALARM, both of which premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in 2017. He has published THE ART OF DISABILITY, about disability representation in the media, and also works as a consultant for improving diversity across the industry.
Amanda is an award-winning documentary filmmaker with People’s Television, where she has led projects as a director, producer, and writer for high profile clients such as the Democratic National Convention, Elizabeth Warren’s presidential Campaign, Equal Justice Works, The Nature Conservancy, and The Equity Fund. Recently, she directed and produced a two-minute primetime television spot that appeared during the 2020 Democratic National Convention.
Her work has been supported by the International Documentary Association, Rooftop Films, Film Independent, IFP, and HBO.
Nicholas produced the narrative feature Valley of Saints, which won the Sundance Film Festival Audience Award and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. He previously directed the feature documentary La Americana, which won numerous festival awards and broadcast worldwide on Nat Geo and PBS. Nicholas is the founder of People’s Television, a NY-based film and commercial production company. Through People’s TV, he directs branded content for clients including Facebook, Airbnb, and Greenpeace.
