Access Reframed aims to educate, advocate and enact change towards greater access for creators and audiences in the film community nationwide. Making media accessible is too often approached as an afterthought, with only compliance in mind.

“Simply put, inclusion, diversity, and equity must absolutely include accessibility.”

From cost barriers to seemingly complex technologies, creators, presenters and funders find themselves in a constant conversation about who is responsible for meeting access needs such as captioning, ASL interpretation, audio description, and more. This project intends to approach the challenge from a place of collaboration, reframing accessibility as a societal value that's good for business.

what are the goals?

  • ENACT CHANGE in our own organization by building a commitment to accessibility throughout the life cycle of every film that we produce, exhibit, or distribute. 

  • ADVOCATE for change in the film and media arts ecosystem by engaging key stakeholders in culture, practice, and policy around media accessibility. 

  • EDUCATE creators, exhibitors, funders and policy-makers about solutions that are available to address barriers faced by disabled filmmakers and audiences.

ENACT CHANGe:

  • MEDIA ACCESSIBILITY — For every film that Full Spectrum Features produces, exhibits, or distributes, we are committed to the creation of additional accessibility assets in post production. Designed to reach audiences often excluded from the shared experience of cinema, these assets include:

    • Subtitles for people whose first language is not English; 

    • Captions for people who are Deaf or hard of hearing; 

    • Audio Description for people who are blind or have low vision.

We see subtitles, captions, and descriptions as additional layers of storytelling which benefit from the involvement of the creative team. Our filmmaker-centered approach aspires to create rich layers of access that do justice to the creators’ vision for the film, and that inspire more inclusive cinematic experiences.

—> RECENT MEDIA ACCESSIBILITY PROJECTS INCLUDE: Community Storytellers; Desire Lines; Resettlement: Chicago Story

  • EVENT ACCESSIBILITY — We aspire to model accessibility for our events and programs by distributing versions of our films with both Closed Captions (CC) and burnt-in Open Captions (OC). Open Captions, which are visible to everyone in the audience, are the most accessible way to screen a film in theaters. They guarantee that movie lovers who are Deaf or hard of hearing can enjoy our films without having to deal with cumbersome or defective captioning devices.

    We also provide real-time captioning for opening remarks, talkbacks, and Q&As. And whenever possible, we intend to exhibit our films with Audio Description at venues that have the necessary DCP technology and listening devices.

Advocacy Efforts:

  • ACCESSIBILITY THROUGH CAPTIONING: A CASE STUDY ON THE NEW ORLEANS FILM FESTIVAL

    This case study of the New Orleans Film Festival outlines a path forward for film festival organizers to increase accessibility through captioning. It examines the effects of such an initiative on the organization, staff, and budget as well as the impact on the filmmakers who screen at their festival. 

    The author, Cassidy Dimon, employs year-over-year data gathered from the Film Event Accessibility Scorecard as well as interviews with key members of the New Orleans Film Society’s leadership team and two filmmakers who, upon acceptance into the New Orleans Film Festival, re-created captions for their film to comply with the festival’s captioning policy.

  • ACCESS REFRAMED: EMPOWERING ACTION

    Access Reframed: Empowering Action (AR:EA) is a collaborative initiative in partnership with Reeling 2022: The 40th Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival, that aims to increase the number of film festivals in the Chicago area that offer accessible programming for all audiences, with or without disabilities.

    In 2022, the AR:EA initiative piloted a regranting program to build capacity at a regional film festival through training, written resources, festival-specific consultation, and direct cash assistance. This report consolidates our key learnings from Year One of program. By sharing both the successes and failures of our attempt to cultivate greater accessibility at a regional festival, we hope to encourage collective action amongst festival organizers, funders, and filmmakers towards the expansion of access to film programming.

  • FILM EVENT ACCESSIBILITY WORKING GROUP

    FEAW (Film Event Accessibility Working Group) was formed as a collaborative effort by film event representatives seeking to unify and enhance accessibility in film festivals, screenings, and programs across the industry. Through varied experiences and backgrounds, we identified a need to enhance the quality and availability of accessibility in film exhibition to better serve and represent the disability community. 

    We believe that long-lasting sustainable change is made and strengthened by working together, sharing resources, experience, and vision. We are determined to expand our impact to support any film event organization that wishes to increase their accessibility and inclusion efforts.

    Full Spectrum Features is a founding member of the working group. 

EDUCATION EFFORTS:

  • ACCESS REFRAMED: CONVERSATIONS

    Access Reframed: Conversations is an ongoing series of professional development webinars geared towards independent filmmakers who want to learn more about accessible media. Topics have included:

  • INTERNAL TRAININGS AND CONSULTATIONS

    As part of our initiative to prioritize accessibility at every stage of the filmmaking process, we recognize that Full Spectrum Features staff need frequent opportunities to learn from creators with disabilities. 

    In 2023 we underwent a two-day staff training to to discuss the 'why' of access, and to learn more about specific considerations that filmmakers, exhibitors, and distributors should be aware of when it comes to media accessibility. Invited speakers included: Reveca Torres; Rachel Kolb; Cheryl Green; and Nefertiti Matos Olivares.

    We also seek ongoing feedback in the creation of vivid and concise layers of accessible cinematic storytelling by incorporating a quality control (QC) process into post production. All captions and audio descriptions are reviewed by Deaf and blind consultants, whose input has been invaluable.