Hosted by award-winning musician Lachi, the
groundbreaking series is brought to life by the industry's largest
disabled filmmaking team
NEW
YORK, July 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- One in
four American adults have disabilities, yet those with
disabilities remain underrepresented in the media. On the
anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, American
Masters, ITVS and Inspiration Films have announced the
launch of Renegades, a new digital series of five
documentary short films showcasing the lives and cultural
contributions of little-known historical figures with disabilities.
Hosted by award-winning musician and disability rights champion
Lachi, Renegades premieres Tuesdays,
October 1 – October 29 on the American
Masters YouTube channel, PBS.org and the PBS
App in honor of National Disability Employment Awareness
Month.
The groundbreaking "Renegades" series is
brought to life by the industry's largest disabled filmmaking
team.
Through authentic portrayals of people with disabilities,
Renegades offers a vibrant and experiential
understanding of disability history and encourages exploration of
the societal and interpersonal values of both non-disabled people
and those with disabilities. Renegades features World
War II veteran and U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye
(1924-2012), the country's highest-ranking Asian American political
figure for nearly 50 years; street musician and champion for
disabled parents Celestine Tate Harrington (1955-1998);
civil rights and disability rights champion Brad Lomax
(1950-1984), a key participant in the historic 504 sit-in of 1977;
pianist and composer Thomas Wiggins (1849-1908), the first
Black musician to perform at the White House; and science fiction
and fantasy editor Judy-Lynn Del Rey (1943-1986), who
published books from sci-fi luminaries such as Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Philip K. Dick, and even George Lucas' "Star Wars" in novel
form. Piloted in 2021, Renegades previously
featured race car driver and stunt woman Kitty O'Neil (1946-2018), known in the
1970s as "the fastest woman in the world."
The series is created by acclaimed writer and director Day
Al-Mohamed, co-founder of the disabled filmmakers organization
FWD-Doc, and producer of unseen; the series is produced by
Amanda Upson, interim director of
FWD-Doc and producer of A Long
March; and executive produced by Charlotte Mangin, creator of American
Masters' Unladylike2020 and
Searching for Augusta Savage.
Ryan Camarda, director of Royalty
Free: The Music of Kevin
MacLeod, also joins as producer for the series.
"We are excited to bring Renegades to audiences
nationwide," said Day Al-Mohamed. "This series not only showcases
the remarkable stories of disabled cultural icons, but also
experiences that are still very much relevant to all Americans
– both disabled and non-disabled – today.
Renegades is a rarity in the industry with its
majority-disabled film team, allowing us to tell authentic and
nuanced stories about the disabled community."
"Renegades focuses on authentic and compelling
storytelling, using a talent incubator model of filmmaking," stated
Amanda Upson. "Our team boasts the
greatest number of disabled directors, producers, screenwriters and
field production and postproduction crew working on the same
series, underscoring the historical significance of this project.
Renegades and Inspiration Films are leading the industry in hiring
disabled talent and telling their stories. There is no lack of
talent among disabled filmmakers, just lack of access to the
industry."
"Renegades sets a new standard for representation
and accessibility in media. We have spent the past year mentoring
filmmakers with disabilities, most of whom are creating work
for PBS for the very first time." said Charlotte Mangin, executive producer. "Each
short film will include audio descriptions, extended audio
descriptions, open captioning, and onscreen ASL interpretation to
enhance the viewing experience."
"Renegades is a crucial part of the cultural
movement to reclaim and celebrate disability narratives in media
and pop culture. The heroes and histories we uncover in this series
have remained hidden for far too long and amplifying these
stories to the masses – particularly from the perspective of a
majority disabled crew – will change how audiences view the
Disability identity. Most importantly, it will be the authentic
representation that disabled people like me truly deserve, having
rarely or never seen themselves reflected in the mainstream,"
shared host and narrator Lachi.
To extend the impact of Renegades, the WNET
Group's Kids' Media and Education team will produce accessible,
standards-aligned history and social studies educational resources
based on the series for grades 6-12.
The Daniel K. Inouye episode is directed, written, and produced
by Tammy "TS" Botkin, and co-written and produced by Angel Williams. The Celestine Tate Harrington
episode is directed and produced by Cashmere Jasmine, and
written and produced by Marsha
Hallager. The Brad Lomax episode is directed and produced by
Markus Essien, and written and produced by Cara Reedy. The Thomas Wiggins episode is
directed and produced by Marsha
Hallager, produced by Tameka
Citchen-Spruce and written by Diane
J. Wright. The Judy-Lynn Del Rey episode is directed by
Jeremy Hsing, produced by
Ryan Camarda, and written by
Colin Buckingham. The series
is edited by Danya Abt,
Nancy Chidi and Claudia Ramirez, with animations and motion
graphics by Adriano Araújo dos Reis Botega and Amelia Bianchi. Original music by Ethical Music
Entertainment/TheRing. The accessibility elements are created by
D-PAN (Deaf Professional Artist Network) and Social Audio
Description Collective.
Renegades is part of the American
Masters Visibility, Inclusion and Accessibility (VIA)
Initiative, which builds upon the series' commitment to presenting
programming for, by and about disabled communities. Launched in
2023, the VIA Initiative also includes enhanced accessibility
features for all programming distributed by American
Masters. Beginning with the premiere of Hopper: An
American love story in January
2024, American Masters began creating
accessible online versions of each new program and its accompanying
trailer, with extended audio description, open captioning and
onscreen ASL interpretation.
Now in its 38th season on PBS, American
Masters illuminates the lives and creative journeys of our
nation's most enduring artistic giants – those who have left
an indelible impression on our cultural landscape – through
compelling, unvarnished stories. Setting the standard for
documentary film profiles, the series has earned widespread
critical acclaim: 28 Emmy Awards – including 10 for Outstanding
Non-Fiction Series and five for Outstanding Non-Fiction
Special – two News & Documentary Emmys, 14 Peabodys,
three Grammys, two Producers Guild Awards, an Oscar, and many other
honors. To further explore the lives and works of more than 250
masters past and present, the American
Masters website offers full episodes, film
outtakes, filmmaker interviews, the podcast "American Masters:
Creative Spark," educational resources, digital original series and
more. The series is a production of The WNET Group.
American Masters is available for streaming
concurrent with broadcast on all station-branded PBS platforms,
including PBS.org and the PBS App, available on iOS,
Android, Roku streaming devices, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire
TV, Samsung Smart TV, Chromecast and VIZIO. PBS station members can
view many series, documentaries and specials via PBS Passport.
For more information about PBS Passport, visit the PBS
Passport FAQ website.
Renegades is a production of Inspiration Films,
LLC and ITVS in association with American Masters Pictures. For
Inspiration Films Charlotte Mangin is executive producer, Day
Al-Mohamed is senior producer, and Amanda
Upson is series producer. For ITVS Carrie Lozano is
executive producer and Susan Cohen
is supervising producer. For American Masters
Michael Kantor is executive
producer, Julie Sacks is series
producer, and Joe Skinner is
digital lead.
Major funding for Renegades is provided by The
Corporation for Public Broadcasting, with additional support from
the Rosalind P. Walter Foundation, Anderson Family Charitable Fund,
Philip & Janice Levin Foundation, Ambrose Monell Foundation,
Kate W. Cassidy Foundation, The Charina Endowment Fund, Marc Haas
Foundation, and Sue and Edgar Wachenheim
III.
Original production funding for American Masters
is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, The
Rosalind P. Walter Foundation, AARP, Sue
and Edgar Wachenheim III, Koo and
Patricia Yuen, Seton J. Melvin, Lillian Goldman Programming
Endowment, The Blanche and Irving
Laurie foundation, Thea Petschek Iervolino Foundation, The
Philip and Janice Levin Foundation, Vital Projects Fund, The Marc
Haas Foundation, Judith and Burton
Resnick, Ellen and James S.
Marcus, The Ambrose Monell Foundation, The André and
Elizabeth Kertész Foundation, Blanche and Hayward Cirker Charitable
Lead Annuity Trust, Anita and Jay
Kaufman and public television viewers.
Websites:
http://pbs.org/americanmasters
Facebook: http://facebook.com/americanmasters
X: @PBSAmerMasters
Instagram: http://instagram.com/pbsamericanmasters
TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@pbsamericanmasters?lang=en
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/americanmasters
#AmericanMastersPBS
About Lachi:
Lachi is an award-winning recording
artist and songwriter who advocates for disability inclusion,
equity, and accessibility in the music and entertainment industry.
Her journey as a born-blind musician has deeply influenced her
advocacy work, making her a powerful and relentless voice for
change. She is a GRAMMY Board Governor, "USA Today's 2024 Woman of the Year,"
"Afrotech's Future 50 Changemaker," Founder and President of RAMPD
– a global network of music creators and professionals with
disabilities, and host of the YouTube series "Off Beat - Going
Blind & Staying Fabulous in NYC." Lachi has collaborated with
artists such as Snoop Dogg, Styles P, DJ Maduk, Zafrir Ifrach, and Maxime Karouchi; she has
amassed millions of streams on Spotify alone. Hailed a "new
champion in advocacy" by Billboard and "a dedicated foot soldier
for disability pride" by Forbes, she's held talks with the White
House and the U.N. She has been featured in the New York Times, Huffington Post, Essence, Vogue,
Hollywood Reporter, and on Good Morning America for celebrating
intersectionality through her music, storytelling, and fashion, and
for her upbeat and unapologetic brand of disability pride.
About FWD-Doc:
FWD-Doc (Filmmakers with Disabilities, www.fwd-doc.org) is a
global, intersectional community of over 1000 disabled creators and
allies working in media to build a more inclusive, accessible, and
equitable entertainment industry. We cultivate and champion
disabled media-makers, and we elevate stories by, for, and about
disabled people. For more information, go to
https://www.fwd-doc.org/. To download FWD-Doc's Toolkit for
Inclusion and Accessibility: https://www.fwd-doc.org/toolkit. To
download FWD-Doc's Engagement Pack:
https://www.fwd-doc.org/engagement-pack. To read the Accessibility
Scorecard Impact Report or sign up for the Film Event Accessibility
Scorecard:
https://www.fwd-doc.org/accessibility-scorecard-impact-report-2023.
About Inspiration Films:
Created by Charlotte Mangin and Day Al-Mohamed, Inspiration
Films develops and produces vibrant, community-focused documentary
films with a specific focus on disability culture and history.
Renegades marks the latest addition to their
individual portfolios of work recognized for thoughtful and unique
storytelling.
About ITVS:
Independent Television Services
(ITVS) is the largest co-producer of independent documentaries in
the United States. For more than
30 years the San Francisco
non-profit has funded and partnered with documentary filmmakers to
produce and distribute untold stories. ITVS incubates and
co-produces these award-winning titles and premieres them on our
Emmy® Award-winning PBS series, INDEPENDENT LENS. ITVS titles
appear on PBS, WORLD, NETA, and can be streamed on various digital
platforms including the PBS app. ITVS is funded by the Corporation
for Public Broadcasting, Acton Family Giving, John D. and Catherine
T. MacArthur Foundation, Ford Foundation, The Park Foundation,
Wyncote Foundation. For more information, visit itvs.org
About The WNET Group:
The WNET
Group creates inspiring media content and meaningful
experiences for diverse audiences nationwide. It is the
community-supported home of New
York's THIRTEEN–America's flagship PBS station–WLIW21,
THIRTEEN PBSKids, WLIW World and Create; NJ PBS, New Jersey's statewide public television
network; Long Island's only NPR
station WLIW-FM; ALL ARTS, the arts and culture media provider; and
newsroom NJ Spotlight News. Through these channels and streaming
platforms, The WNET Group brings arts, culture, education, news,
documentary, entertainment and DIY programming to more than five
million viewers each month. The WNET Group's award-winning
productions include signature PBS
series Nature, Great
Performances, American Masters and
Amanpour and Company and trusted local news programs
MetroFocus and NJ Spotlight News
with Briana Vannozzi.
Inspiring curiosity and nurturing dreams, The WNET Group's
award-winning Kids' Media and Education team produces the PBS KIDS
series Cyberchase, interactive Mission
US history games, and resources for families, teachers and
caregivers. A leading nonprofit public media producer for nearly 60
years, The WNET Group presents and distributes content that fosters
lifelong learning, including multiplatform initiatives addressing
poverty, jobs, economic opportunity, social justice, understanding
and the environment. Through Passport, station members can stream
new and archival programming anytime, anywhere. The WNET Group
represents the best in public media. Join us.
Press Materials: pbs.org/pressroom or
thirteen.org/pressroom
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