Disability Media Alliance Launches to Serve Disabled Nonfiction Storytellers Around the World

Documentary is pleased to announce that the Disability Media Alliance, or DMA, has launched today. Incubated through IDA’s own Nonfiction Access Initiative (NAI), DMA came about after research to address enduring inequities in the documentary community.   

The organization—founded by a coalition of disability-led support organizations such as the AXS Film Fund, FWD-Doc, the 1IN4 Coalition, and several others—is beginning operations in Los Angeles, CA, to help disabled nonfiction media artists build sustainable careers worldwide. By assisting other organizations globally with funding, research, and community building, DMA hopes to invest in existing community organizations to help further their missions of expanding funding initiatives and fostering a culture of access in documentary practice. 

Ranell Shubert, Executive Director of DMA and former NAI research lead, says: “Disabled storytellers are doing powerful work, but still spend too much time and energy trying to be included. At a time when support systems are being stripped away and misinformation is rising, their stories are essential. DMA was created to move resources where they’re most needed-resourcing disability-led organizations that already know how to support their communities.”

Haya Fatima Iqbal, filmmaker and co-founder of the Documentary Association of Pakistan, emphasizes the DMA’s global reach: “The media world already shuts out creators of color, especially those outside the U.S. or Europe. Now imagine being a disabled person on top of that. It’s isolating and nearly impossible to establish or expand a career. DMA matters because it sees and supports creators like us.”

Lawrence Carter-Long, who serves as board chair of DMA, concurs. “To grow, we must first sustain. It has been impossible for disabled people to build a career creatively or financially because unavailable and inadequate support systems weren’t designed with us in mind. That must change. DMA is excited to help facilitate this necessary shift." 

Grace Gordon is a cultural critic based in Los Angeles.