Photos: We Make Movie Makes 1st Easterseals Disability Film Challenge Film In Less Than 5 Days

We Make Movies champions filmmakers by connecting them to a supportive community of like-minded artistic professionals. Their goal is to empower fellow filmmakers, provide a custom experience tailored to the needs of each project and artist, and ultimately bridge the gap between the filmmaker and the business of film.

The Easterseals Disability Film Challenge gives filmmakers-with and without disabilities-the opportunity to collaborate to tell unique stories that showcase disability in its many forms.

The film challenge is a five-day-long filmmaking contest, open to all, that provides a platform for new voices in the entertainment industry. Each year, aspiring storytellers are prompted to creatively write, produce and complete a short film. Challenge winners receive invaluable access to entertainment professionals, opening the door to an industry notoriously difficult to enter.

Actor Nic Novicki launched the Disability Film Challenge in 2014 in response to seeing disabilities underrepresented both in front of and behind the camera. As someone with a disability, Nic created the challenge to give aspiring filmmakers the opportunity to showcase their work and provide them with meaningful exposure.

In 2017, Nic and Easterseals Southern California joined forces to expand the challenge, now known as the Easterseals Disability Film Challenge. As the leading nonprofit supporting people with disabilities, Easterseals brings additional attention to the challenge, using its numerous communications channels to encourage participation.