Alice Elliott is an Academy Award-nominated documentary director of The Collector of Bedford Street. Her second film in a trilogy with Collector is the PBS Award-winning documentary Body & Soul: Diana & Kathy. She’s in production on the third film, Carrie On, about Carrie Bergeron, a motivational speaker and self-advocate with Down syndrome. Miracle on 42nd Street, a documentary Elliott directed about affordable housing for artists, made its world premiere at the DOC NYC Festival in 2017. The film received a National Endowment for the Arts Grant and a 2020 NY Emmy Award. She completed Accommodation, three short films about accessibility on college campuses, and directed and wrote a web series of short videos for self-advocates, ACTIVATE HERE! Currently, she is co-director of Emmy Award winner Jason Dasilva’s feature debut, The Dismantled. A twenty-year member of the cooperative, filmmaker-owned distribution company New Day Films, recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, and owner of Welcome Change Productions, she enjoys combining storytelling and social justice to create change in her films, business, and teaching. Through her monthly newsletter and social media presence, she shares quality D/deaf and disability media. She is the Area Head of Documentary Studies and an Associate Arts Professor at New York University and is currently developing an app on the history of disability rights.

Alexa Smith is the inaugural Senior Director for Anti-Racism, Equity, and Belonging at The Public Theater. In this position. She is the EDI director for Broadway’s HELL’S KITCHEN, a new musical by Alicia Keys originally produced at The Public Theater and directed by Michael Greif. She is the host of WQXR’s “Young Artist Showcase” and founder of the Duncan Williams Voice Program for Black and Latinx artists. She previously served as Associate Vice President for Strategic Innovation and Special Initiatives at Manhattan School of Music. She oversaw the creation of and led MSM’s Cultural Inclusion Initiative which fosters diversity, equity, and inclusive practices throughout the school. She also served as Interim Dean of Performance and Production overseeing all elements of all performances and stage productions. She holds degrees in voice from Roosevelt University and Manhattan School of Music and an MBA from Boston University.

Kerry Candeloro – Kerry (she/her) is a disabled theater worker, currently positioned as the Access Coordinator at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (LCPA). She is also a Disability Consultant with Disney Theatrical Group as well as The Walt Disney Company. In early 2024, Kerry began her tenure as Co-Chair of the Museum, Arts and Culture Access Consortium. She has been professionally affiliated with MOULIN ROUGE! The Musical, New York Theatre Workshop, NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study, Columbia University, and the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab. As a Disability advocate, Kerry has collaborated with various organizations to bring more visibility to the Disabled community through social media. She is a youth volunteer with YO! Disabled and Proud (California Foundation for Independent Living Centers) and an ambassador with Liberare, an accessible clothing brand. Kerry is currently undergoing the ADA Coordinator Training Program. Her story has been featured on websites like BuzzFeed and FreeBird UK.

Derek Dabkoski’s films have screened at festivals around the world, including SFFilm Fest, SF Doc Fest, Indie Memphis, Imagine Science Film Festival, and Santa Monica, among others. He won Best Director from the Courage Film Festival of Berlin and the Voices of Ability Award from the Portland Film Festival. He completed his undergraduate degree from NYU despite an attack that left him with a traumatic brain injury and permanently paralyzed on his right side. He achieved his MFA from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts in film and television production, where he pursued directing. With a passion for telling stories about the disability community of which he is a part, his previous feature documentary, Derek Changes His Mind, followed his participation in a years-long study of the effects of stem cell therapy to treat his traumatic brain injury. Once production on No Handicap is complete, he intends to develop a travel program highlighting the world’s most accessible destinations.

Cameron was born in the small snow-covered town of Marquette, Michigan to his parents David T. Mitchell and Sharon L. Snyder who are considered influential professors and researchers in the field of Disability Studies. From an early age, Cameron’s parents brought him onto set of their award winning films on disability such as Vital Signs: Crip Culture Talks Back, A World Without Bodies, Self Preservation: The Art of Riva Lehrer, and many more. Cameron’s father taught him how to draw super heroes and comic books by tracing his favorite characters from series like X-Men, Spiderman, and graphic novels such as Maus, the latter which resulted in Cameron’s first illustrated novel “Maus: T4 Nevermore” where Cameron drew himself and his family as characters in the style of Art Spiegelman’s Maus series to document their filming of the memorialization of the Nazi T4 program in Germany. Films were a large part of Cameron’s upbringing and his parents study of film resulted in his early development as a cinephile. Early favorite titles included TITUS (1999), 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968), THE MATRIX (1999), and THE ANIMATRIX (2003). Cameron immediately latched on to film’s ability to tell stories in new ways that were at the bleeding edge of society, technology, and ethics. After college, Cameron immediately set out to find ways to make a career in film including directing a documentary for the Philadelphia Film Office about commissioner Sharon Pinkenson and DPing several short and feature films. Cameron honed his craft in Philadelphia while working with the likes of M Night Shyamalan (SPLIT), Ron Howard (MADE IN AMERICA), and Domenica Scorsese (Almost Paris). In 2016, Cameron and his wife Rachel moved to Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey where Cameron enrolled as prep tech at ARRI rental wanting to deepen his knowledge of not only film but of cinematography. After a year doing grueling work scrubbing cases and pushing camera assistant carts, Cameron worked his way onto the set of Aaron Sorkin’s directorial debut and first feature film Molly’s Game. Before he knew it, he had joined the Local 600 International Cinematographer’s Guild and had acquired the gear and knowledge necessary to become a Steadicam and camera operator in part thanks to the moving camera class taught at his alma mater, Temple University. While working in the film industry, Cameron discovered a unique opportunity that finally combined all of his interests into one event: the Easterseals Disability Film Challenge. After enrolling and making his first narrative short The Co-Op in less than 72 hours, Cameron was already finding success internationally with this first short film getting distribution in Belgium and France and eventually making its way as an official selection at Slamdance Film Festival. Cameron has since gone on to direct multiple short films, program and juror for Slamdance’s Disability focused Unstoppable program, and most recently directed a piece for PBS American Masters in conjunction with FWD-Doc–another group he has joined in his effort to increase authentic disability representation on screen. Cameron currently continues to work as a Director and Cinematographer with multiple disabilities including Sleep Apnea, a spinal chord injury, and Neurodivergence–his goal is to carry on his family’s work and push until he sees work that reflects the experience of actual disabled people on screen. His next project is his first documentary feature entitled Disposable Humanity which documents his family’s investigation of the targeting of Disabled people in 1930s Germany, the formation of the Aktion T4 program, and how that program eventually catalyzed the Holocaust.

TONY GOLDWYN (Director/Producer) has wrapped production on his latest feature directing project, Ezra, with Bobby Cannavale and Robert DeNiro.  Goldwyn also has a role in the film, reuniting him with Ghost castmate Whoopi Goldberg. He can currently be seen in the much-celebrated Christopher Nolan biographical film, Oppenheimer. Other recent credits include: Murder Mystery 2, the sequel to Netflix’s hit comedy with Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler; the award-winning ensemble of King Richard with Will Smith and NatGeo’s limited series The Hot Zone: Anthrax streaming on Hulu.

Further film credits include: Plane with Gerard Butler, Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House, The Belko Experiment and Divergent. Goldwyn first caught audiences’ attention in the box office smash Ghost.  He appeared in numerous other films including The Pelican Brief, Kiss The Girls, Nixon, The Substance of Fire, The Last Samurai, and the remake of Wes Craven’s classic The Last House on the Left.  He is familiar to children as the title voice in Disney’s Tarzan.

Goldwyn made his feature directorial debut with A Walk on the Moon.  The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, receiving praise from critics as well as special recognition from the National Board of Review for Excellence in Independent Filmmaking.

Other feature directing credits include: The Last Kiss, for which Goldwyn received Best Director from the Boston Film Festival, and the romantic comedy Someone Like You.  Conviction, starring Hilary Swank and Sam Rockwell, earned Swank a SAG Award nomination, won Best Film at the Boston Film Festival and was awarded a Freedom of Expression honor from the National Board of Review.

Television acting credits include: Goldwyn’s sensational performance of ‘President Fitzgerald Grant’ in Shonda Rhimes’ Scandal, a scene stealing guest appearance on HBO’s Lovecraft Country and co-starring with Uma Thurman in the Netflix series, Chambers, as well as The Good Wife, Dexter, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Without A Trace, The L Word, the HBO Mini-Series From The Earth To The Moon, Frasier, Murphy Brown and Designing Women.

In addition to acting on the shows, Goldwyn directed multiple episodes of Scandal along with episodes of Chambers, Dexter, and The L Word. More television directing credits include: Justified, Law & Order, Damages and Grey’s Anatomy, among others.

Goldwyn began his acting career on the stage, spending seven seasons at the Williamstown Theater Festival.  New York theater credits include: The Water’s Edge and Spike Heels at Second Stage Theater, The Dying Gaul at Vineyard Theater, Holiday at Circle in the Square Theatre, The Sum of Us at the Cherry Lane Theatre, for which he won an Obie Award, Digby at Manhattan Theatre Club and the revival of Promises, Promises on Broadway.  Additionally, he starred in back-to-back critically acclaimed Broadway productions: Tony and Olivier Award-winner The Inheritance from Matthew Lopez, directed by Stephen Daldry and Ivo van Hove’s Network with Bryan Cranston.

He also dedicates much of his personal time to philanthropic work. Goldwyn serves as an Ambassador for Stand Up To Cancer, is a board member for the humanitarian relief organization Americares, a Trustee for Second Stage Theater, sits on the MPTF Foundation Board of Governors and is on the Board of Trustees at the Innocence Project.

Most recently co-starring in ReelAbilities Opening Night film, EZRA, Whoopi Goldberg is an Academy Award-winning actress, comedian, radio host, and television personality.  She is one of the only ten people to win an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony Award; and is the first woman to be honored with the prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.  In addition to her success on stage and screen, Whoopi has written three books, two of which are for children, and is a UNICEF International Goodwill Ambassador.  Beyond being the voice for many social causes, Whoopi Goldberg is outspoken about her own dyslexia and disability rights. 

Abigail Hawk is a New York-based actor, singer, writer, humanitarian, and mom.  She began performing theatrically at the age of six and landed her first television role at twelve. Hawk graduated magna cum laude from the University of Maryland with a degree in theatre performance.

Hawk is most recognizable as Detective Abigail Baker on CBS’ Blue Bloods. Other TV and film credits include Law and Order: SVU, Body of Proof, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Are We There Yet?, Distemper, A Christmas in Vermont (opposite Chevy Chase), My Wife’s Hidden Lover, Almost Paris, and Under the Stadium Lights (with Laurence Fishburne). She returned to the NY stage in 2018 in Dorothy Lyman’s In the Bleak Midwinter. In Fall 2022, Abigail made her off-Broadway debut at Signature Theatre in Grant Macdermott’s Jasper.

Hawk most recently stars in the award-winning and groundbreaking film Daruma which premiered to two sold out screenings at Slamdance in Park City, UT. CNN called the film the first film in US history to star two leads with disabilities in a narrative about overcoming a disability. Oscar winner Peter Farrelly signed on to executive produce the film in 2024. She shared the screen with Media Access Award Best Actor recipient Tobias Forrest and Slamdance Grand Jury Best Acting recipient John W. Lawson. The film also stars screen legend Barry Bostwick.

Hawk is the recipient of the Long Island International Film Expo’s 2019 Creative Achievement Award. She has performed original songs at NYC’s The Bitter End, CBGB’s, and The Duplex. She co-authored The Unofficial Guide to Surviving Pregnancy Without Losing Your Mind, and her poetry has been featured in Good Little Girls ‘Zine and Tupelo Press’ 30/30 Project.

She enjoys working with Habitat for Humanity, Covenant House, and HeartShare Human Services of New York, who honored her with The Linda Dano Heart Award. She is a four-time past Honorary Co-Chair of ADAPT Community Network, a leading non-profit organization and a pioneer in providing cutting-edge programs and services that improve the quality of life for people with disabilities, and has hosted their annual Leadership Awards twice. She has delivered keynote speeches across the country on topics ranging from motherhood to the vitality of art in education.

Hawk is a proud member of SAG-AFTRA and Actor’s Equity Association. She resides on Long Island with her busy, beautiful family: husband, two sons, three dogs, one cat, five fish, and probably a future bearded dragon or axolotl. In her (almost nonexistent) free time, she continues to write her first novel.

With her longstanding resume, Amy Smart has established herself as a versatile actress in both comedy and drama. She starred for 3 seasons as Barbara Whitmore, devoted mother to Courtney (Brec Bassinger), on The CW’s drama “DC’s Stargirl.”

Smart can most recently be seen in the independent feature “The Christmas Classic” with Malin Akerman and the independent feature film “Rally Caps,” with Judd Hirsch. On the small screen, Smart had a recurring role on “MacGyver” and a season long arc on the critically acclaimed series “Justified.” She has also starred on the John Wells series “Shameless,” as well as “Smith” and the popular series “Scrubs” and “Felicity.
Smart has been seen in the films “Break Point,” opposite Jeremy Sisto and Adam DeVine, “Mississippi Requiem,” opposite James Franco and Topher Grace, “Apple of My Eye.” Additionally, she starred in Tyler Perry’s “The Single Moms Club,” opposite Nia Long.
Her lengthy film resume includes high profile studio films “Just Friends,” “The Butterfly Effect,” “Starsky & Hutch,” “Crank,” “Crank 2: High Voltage,” “Rat Race,” “Roadtrip,” “Varsity Blues,” “Starship Troopers” and “The Battle of Shaker Heights.”  Smart also starred in indies “Bad Country,” opposite Matt Dillon and “Mirrors,” opposite Kiefer Sutherland.

Based in NYC, Steven’s work includes web design, print design, social media graphics, brand identity, copy-writing, and humor writing. As a lifelong fan of consuming content, he enjoys working on projects related to film, comedy and entertainment. Steven loves iced coffee, the limited-time-only seasonal items at Taco Bell, and the Muppets. Not ALL of the Muppets, but most of them. In 2021, he took on a new role within NBCUniversal as the Creative Content Manager for NBCU’s corporate communications team. Steven has a neuromuscular disability known as Spinal Muscular Atrophy, and is a full-time wheelchair user. He hates stairs; please do not invite him to visit your favorite staircase. His experience has led him to create the first ever disability-satire magazine, The Squeaky Wheel, and to become a leader of NBCUniversal’s MyAbilities group, where he advocates for positive disability representation in television and film.