“I didn’t know Judy Heumann’s story and I kind of can’t believe that I didn’t. It feels like something we should learn about in school as a part of our civil rights history,” said Director Siân Heder about the making of her new feature, Being Heumann. “I was blown away by Judy as a character — she was so funny and self-possessed; there’s a scene in the movie where she’s talking about lasagna in the cafeteria like she’s conducting a senate meeting. When I read about the 504 protests (in her book) I was like, ‘This is a heist movie!’ and I reached out to her.”

On September 19, DGA members gathered at the Guild’s Los Angeles Theater for the Disability Committee’s event highlighting the contributions of members with a disability in the directorial craft. In partnership with Apple Original Films, the event featured an exclusive advance screening of Heder’s highly anticipated new film, followed by a discussion about the making of Being Heumann with her and the film’s co-writer, Rebekah Taussig, moderated by DGA Disability Committee Co-Chair Ashley Eakin.

The event began with remarks from DGA Past President Lesli Linka Glatter who said, “This could not be a better film to mark this occasion than honoring the legacy of disability rights icon Judy Heumann. As Directors, we know the power of storytelling. At its best, it allows us to step into someone else’s experience — to see the world through a different lens, and perhaps to see our own world differently. And that is why the work of the DGA Disability Committee is so very important. Established in 2023, the Committee has worked tirelessly to address the challenges faced by our members with disabilities. By providing a platform for members to share their stories and perspectives, the Committee continues to foster a greater sense of connection and awareness within the Guild as well as out in our entertainment community. It’s about access, opportunity, representation and continuing this work so that every filmmaker has the chance to tell their story.”

Glatter then introduced Disability Committee Co-Chair Eakin and Alternate Co-Chair Greg Bjorkman, who both shared personal stories about navigating the entertainment industry as disabled people and spoke about the Committee’s mission to examine a broad range of issues DGA members with disabilities face on sets and provide recommendations for the National Board to address these matters.

“We are all one diagnosis or one accident away from needing more support,” said Eakin. “One of our primary missions is to advocate for sets that are safe and accessible, where a Production Accessibility Coordinator is a role that every member knows exists and can access without question. We believe that demystifying disability and understanding what Disabled members actually need, so those needs can be accounted for and budgeted from the start, is one important step toward addressing the hiring discrimination Disabled directors continue to face in this town. That’s why we created our Accessibility Survey, which Greg will speak more about.”

“Access on set, it’s more than just ramps and elevators,” said Bjorkman. “It’s breaks to take medication, a PA to assist an AD in darker locations or a golf cart while traveling around a studio when pregnant. What it comes down to is treating everyone at a workplace with dignity, respect and most importantly as human. This is why we created our Accessibility Survey. Our hope is to gather more information and perspectives about what our DGA members need on set. And this doesn’t just mean disabled people — accessibility is for all, you don’t have to identify with being disabled to fill out this survey — pregnancy, a temporary injury — we want to hear about all experiences that relate to access.”

The gathering also heard from longtime Disability Committee advocates, Directors Jenni Gold, Nandi Bowe and former Co-Chair Rachel Raimist, who all individually shared personal stories of resilience and achievement as a disabled member in the entertainment industry, before introducing the screening of Heder's Being Heumann.

Being Heumann tells the true story of Judy Heumann, a young disabled woman who challenged discrimination in education and employment. In 1977, after U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare Joseph Califano refused to sign meaningful regulations for Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 — the first U.S. federal civil rights protection for people with disabilities — Heumann and a scrappy coalition of outsiders seized the federal building in San Francisco, sparking what became the longest occupation of a federal building in American history as hundreds spontaneously took over government offices and refused to leave until the bureaucrats took action.

Following the screening, during a conversation moderated by Eakin, Heder and the film’s co-writer, Rebekah Taussig, discussed the making of the film that featured 12 disabled leads and at times 40 cast members with disabilities on set.

“I think there’s something that was revealed on this movie in a very big way,” said Heder. “How do you take care of people’s bodies while you make a movie — because we don’t do that very well in this industry. This idea that what disabled bodies are asking for is not something we all need to be asking for is a problem.”

“The representation of disability that I had growing up was, at best, not there or not recognizable and at worst problematic.” noted Taussig. “It is hard to explain what not seeing your stories reflected back onto you does to a person – I felt like I was not a participant in the world. Understanding the power of storytelling is something a little bit in my bones. When I first started writing a lot of [my] work was this attempt to insist to the world that I was real and that my stories were a part of this world and that I existed. Working on this film felt like a chance to reflect the world back as it is.”

ABOUT THE PANELISTS:

About the Committee

The mission of the Disability Committee is to examine a broad range of issues DGA members with disabilities face on sets, with the goal of developing recommendations to address these matters. In 2023, DGA President Lesli Linka Glatter, announced its creation as a provisional committee, whose members would lead work to destigmatize disability as a way to empower other members to feel comfortable with disclosing their disability identity and push the industry towards greater acceptance of Directors and Directorial Team members with disabilities. In 2024, the Committee was designated a permanent committee by the DGA National Board.

• Click here for more information on the DGA Disability Committee