We want you to join our team as an Advisor.
We are recruiting advisors to give honest feedback on the film's themes and storyline. Our goal is to continue to build collaborative partnerships with stakeholders and advocates in the spirit of the Nothing About Us, Without Us approach to film-making.
The current version of the film features the story of a United States triathlon team traveling to compete in the Special Olympics World Games in the United Arab Emirates. Our goal is to add a broader societal and historical storyline to the film.
These additions will provide new context for the existing story about the athletes. The new content will also educate the audience about ableism in the western world and its impacts on those living with intellectual disabilities and/or cognitive delays.
- Matt Day and Ned Castle, Co-Directors
What is the Advisory Group?
Overview. The Advisory Group will include approximately 10 people with diverse backgrounds. The members of the group will work with the film’s directors (Matt and Ned) to provide input and advice around how the film is representing the experiences of people with intellectual disability.
Time Commitment. The group will meet “virtually” five times between February and September 2021. We estimate the total time commitment for reviewing materials and group discussions will be around 15 hours. The exact dates and times for virtual meetings have not been decided yet.
Accessibility. Members of the group will be asked to review text, visuals, and film. All the materials for review will be provided in accessible formats. The group discussions will be structured with multiple ways for sharing ideas so that everyone can participate.
Who will decide what ends up in the film?
This is a very important question to answer at the beginning of the process. The co-directors (Matt and Ned) will make final decisions about what ends up in the film. The role of the Advisory Group will be to inform, educate, and advocate. Below is more detail about the different roles of the Advisory Group and Directing Team.
Advisory Group Role
Members of the Advisory Group will provide input and feedback on how the film represents societal and historical topics relating to the experience of people with disabilities. Some of these topics include: ableism, disability rights, history of Special Olympics, and the film’s depiction of intellectual disability.
Directors Role
The directors will make final creative decisions regarding the film’s content. The directors will consider feedback from the Advisory Group for decision-making. The directors will also be considering variables like existing footage, available archival footage, potential interviews, the film’s target audience, financial considerations, and the wishes of the film’s four main subjects.
A message from Kate Bove.
Kate Bove has been an advisor on the film since the beginning. She is an advocate and she has competed in two World Games and one U.S. Games. We met with Kate in the early stages of the film-making process to discuss the idea of making a documentary about the Special Olympics World Games. In this clip Kate is responding to a question about the potential impact of the documentary.
Closed Captioning can be turned on by clicking the CC logo in the player options bar.
The Group Agreements
The advisors, directors, and film subjects will be asked to commit to the following three agreements to help us make sure everyone’s participation is meaningful.
Everyone Contributes
All participants are asked to contribute their expertise, experience, and perspectives to our shared conversation. Viewpoints will be accepted in all forms whether through speaking, writing, or other modes of expression.
Learning Together
We will work hard to create a culture of learning and exploration that starts with curiosity, listening for understanding, and tolerating the unknown.
Difference of Opinion
One thing we know for sure is that everyone won’t agree all the time! We will accept disagreements as an important part of the process and a sign that we are having the right conversations.
What will you get in return for your advice?
We hope working together on a project to impact audience perceptions of people with disabilities will be a meaningful learning experience to everyone in the group. We know everyone’s time is valuable and we want to compensate you. All advisors will receive film credit and a paid stipend for participating in the group:
Film Credit
At the end of the film the credits will list the names of everyone that worked on the film. Members of the Advisory Group will have the option to have their name listed under the heading: Film Consultants.
Paid Stipend
We are offering each advisor a $300 stipend to participate in the group. That breaks down to $20 per hour for the estimated 15 hours of review and discussion time. Advisors and consultants are paid a wide range of amounts in the film industry. We want to acknowledge that some films are able to pay a higher hourly rate for advisors than we are able to offer as an independent, self-funded film. If you decide to work with us we want you to know we appreciate you being so generous with your time.